No Longer Human

Since I've recently seen the review of TGG for this manga and thought: man you've bought it already just go ahead and read it. Ive seen many points put up from some people that they hate Oba and it that he does the most stupid things in every situation, but I've wanted to elaborate some different angles. So get ready for some SPOILES. Just as a heads up this is in no way intended to say anyone else is wrong, all opinions are valide and I can understand all of them. Ive just found my perspective was not one wich was described anywhere else.

Oba is our Protagonist whom we follow from early childhood throughout his life. From start to finish Oba seems to get in a lot of shit due to his metal state and his feelings / distaste for human beings. This distaste is not stemming from evil motives but from not understanding and feeling connected to his family and all the people around him. Thus he accepts a personality of a clown. Creating a persona around him of a foolish clown whom you schuld not take seriously. Nobody really knows who Oba really is I think he even lost himself in his persona. In the manga there are many points in wich Oba does the most ridiculous stuff.

The personality of the clown Oba accepted, was a very relatable one. Out of fear of exposing ones own personality, one might accept a persona or if you will a mask. The persona is to distract from the person that puts up the persona. He shields himself of critique and judgment by no being himself. All the judgment he would receive targets the persona and is easy to deflect and ignore.

Early on he broke his leg and went to the hospital. There he thought he could be alone and not get stressed out by other people. A time where he could relax and not feel the need to be someone else than himself. His expectation got shattered by his 2 sisters wich took turns taking care of him in the hospital. Somehow they both felt attracted to him. They one after another wanted to know whom he liked more. He being the person that he is, not wanting to upset anyone, told them separately that they were his favourite. From this emerged the violent murder of on of his sisters by the other one out of jealousy.

This is one example wich made me reflect and see my own actions. I don't want to upset anyone that time close to or event know slightly. This mindset is one I can relate to.

The above examples are ones I've found very easy to relate to from my perspective. In many situations that arise throughout the story Oba does definitely do some stupid shit. Joining a illegal communist organisation. Getting with the wrong people and nose diving to his demise. Doing drugs, hookers and really dumb shit. But seeing it from the perspective of him having psychological problems, anxiety, depression and many more. His dislikable character becomes relatable in ways I've thought were not addressed elsewhere.

Oba comes from a place where his life was bound to be shitty. He got raped several times at a young age, wich only fuled his distaste for humans. His persona got exposed by one of his classmates wich shook him to death. Wiche endet in the suicide of said classmate. I can see why Oba in this situation did what he did. He was angry that he got exposed. He was frustrated and not to forget a kid wich did probably not have bad intentions. But playing with someone's feelings is a really dumb thing and Oba learned it the really hard way. This is a case wich came to haunt him in his later years where he was haunted by his dead classmate. From the point of him being exposed his clowning never felt right since he always heard the phrase:"You did it on purpose.".

Though there were many situations I was not able to relate to Oba I've found him still to be likable. His point was when not relatable, understandable. His past kept hanging over him and never let go of his mind.

I think No longer Human was a very good story. It shows different thought processes behind sometimes wired situations. It is a grim dark tale about depression and alienation from the very race you belong to. It displays coping whit depression in blunt ways like drugs, sex and so on.

The whole story was bleak and depressing. Seeing a person decent into his own mind of madness, put in place by himself and the people around him. His exploration of all of his "10 sins" witch made him the person he ended up being. For the right people it might be a self reflection, but for others the character seems like a huge piece of shit which is not relatable at all. The earlier stages of his life I've found more relatable but the further his life Progresses the further away from any norm of living he gets. His Opium addiction, the Attempted lovers suicide, his hasty marriage. There were many things he's done witch are totally fucked and out of grasp of normality.

For the visuals, Junji Ito´s style suits the story in a way I've never seen. With his unique style so many elements come to life in the story its insane. The emotions are captured in the perfect way. The horror twist put in place helps the story convey the psychological decent of Oba.

I knew from the start that this one is somewhat and autobiography of the original author of the story: Osamu Dazai The whole idea that someone had to live through this shit just makes this hit on so many levels. There are aspects of life that should be unexplored and never lived through but he did. And all comes back to the suicide from the very first pages of this manga. Osamu Dazai killed himself in the way portrayed at the very beginning of this manga. This is fucked.

So all in all I would give this 95/100