Reviewing this won't be simple at all. I feel incredibly conflicted about Tekkon Kinkreet. It's one of those manga that, in my opinion, was neither a masterpiece nor okay. But it doesn't mean it was just ordinary. It's more correct to say that it was both fantastic and a headache, so it fell somewhere in the middle or maybe above very good.
Story Summary / Discussion (SPOILERS)
A chaotic and gorgeously lively city is revealed to us, this metropolis was constructed using components from China, India, and Japan. Black and White, two orphans, are the primary protagonists in our story.
Black represents an Anger-filled, menacing, and violent anti-hero, while on the other hand, White is a child with special needs who, despite being surrounded by violence and poverty, manages to stay pure and innocent.
Together, they provide a very clear Ying-Yang dynamic that balances one another out. Black and White coexist in Treasure Town, throughout the first quarter of the manga, protecting their territory from the Yakuza.
We witness some quite moving instances of brotherly love. Tekkon gets to show off its extremely fluid artwork and brilliant colored Panels.
A villainous foreign real estate mogul is introduced about the halfway point of the manga. This guy wants to raze the shanty where our heroes reside and replace it with a massive amusement park. We are introduced to these 3 assassins with potential superpowers or as i like to call it "Matsumoto's Powers".
The assassins will kill Black and White according to the tycoon's plan. The rest of the slum will give up hope and evict themselves, I suppose, once the two orphan defenders have been defeated...his family is going to be killed.
Spoiler, click to view
We're getting to the middle/end game and this is where things start to go somewhat wrong. The Treasure Town slum is successfully demolished, and an amusement park is built in its place, surrounded by other Chinese people. The billionaire is STILL fixated on eliminating Black and White, he devises a strategy to use his remaining assassins to kill Black in the heart of his own theme park.Spoiler, click to view
Never mind that this would cause a terrible panic and severely reduce the number of people who visited his park. The manga's character motivations are completely illogical i must admit, there was no goal for the characters and it wasn't as impactful as i thought it would be. In connection with it, the yakuza thug informs the tycoon of his decision and decides to kill him.Spoiler, click to view
After killing the businessman, the thug is shot back. His family is screwed. Without White at his side, Black experiences multiple personality disorder and goes fully insane. To not make this review too long, Black rapidly dispatches the assassins and exiles his sinister ego by reflecting on White's innocence. When Black and White are reunited, the manga again defies expectations by having a perfectly happy conclusion with them having fun on the beach, and this is referring to White's long awaited dream. Which is yet again another question the viewer has to ask themselves.Art / Details
Amazing style and artwork! This manga simply exudes elegance and individuality. It has a really distinctive appearance that somehow makes me think of Old punk fashion. I wasn't too pleased with the character development and the amount of unnecessary characters that were introduced.
Matsumoto is a master at his own style which is very elegant and unique, but that's where most people probably stop reading because many of them actually only read the manga's for it's art. You can still adore this manga even if you think of manga as a purely artwork media. Tekkon is a narrative story, and in my opinion, it fails somewhat slightly to communicate that story, even though i've already read a lot of Matsumoto's work.
Summary
The manga plays a lot around Psychology and the viewer's way of interpreting what actually happens in the story, there is a lot of theories, hidden signs of potential plot and details, which is something Matsumoto is an Expert in. This manga can really range anywhere between a 5 to a 10 depending on your preferences and your fascination for Psychology and Theories. If you like some of the previous works by Matsumoto, then you're probably gonna enjoy this one too.
It's not too long, so when you get the time, give this a read.
( Or watch the Movie Adaptation )
80 / 100 (Very Good!)