
a review by HINAchi
1 year ago·May 23, 2024

a review by HINAchi
1 year ago·May 23, 2024

First of all, I warn you that there are spoilers SPECIFICALLY from:
First of all, I want to thank the author of this tweet for giving not only me, but also several people the opportunity to say, or just think, why they like Undead Unluck. More specifically, from when.
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To tell the truth, if it were any other manga, I would have a lot of difficulty pointing it out. Since even though I have read much more as a critic than before, even though I am very aware of what I read, it is a challenge to pinpoint exactly.
HOWEVER, I was lucky enough to find half of the first chapter of this manga, wandering around TikTok. The premise and how Fuuko decided to kill herself JUST AFTER reading the end of her favorite manga, resonated a lot with my own position towards my life. As sad as this may seem, it is the purest truth and is something I won't go into further into. This post was not written with words that carry despair. Just sweet words that remind us of the truth of the beauty I could feel.
Still, that was just enough for me to WANT TO READ. (yes, that's the level, it has to be interesting from the beginning with what you want to tell. Not detailed, interesting. Then I decide to read it.).
And yet; ¹the way the line is very reminiscent of a very sincere aspect of old Mangas, almost something like Osamu Tezuka, with his """""TECHNICALLY""""" idwentical lines, which today, by ignorant people, would be judged as the "facial overfilled syndrome", which is just too simplistic. ²The way that even with such a TECHNICALLY elaborate and "square" line, it manages to do much better than these "modern and round" lines that today's manga have in abundance. Why? A GOOD COMPOSITION, and knowledge of perspectives, which are YES a good fruit of modernity when it comes to how the art of manga developed.
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All this and a little more, made me enjoy each chapter I read, AT THE BEGINNING, something that I tend not to be very critical of because it is based on the presentation of the work's concepts, you know? This is already a FUCKING ACHIEVEMENT.
Yet, the epitome of it all, arrived in chapter 15, when this face was shown to me... That strange Smile... Strange but not hideous, it carries its own beauty...

# Chapter 91, page 5
When Mahito is asked something regarding his theory of powers, he immediately responds
— Does this have to be the same for everyone?
— Considering our Jujutsu Techniques, you and I practically live in different worlds.
Faced with this, the greatest form of chaos and knowledge of Jujutsu Kaisen, only responds.
— So techniques dictate our worlds, right? Hehe...
— I liked it
This positioning given by history itself is about powers, with the users themselves having the dialogue and not a voice from beyond. This freedom while still restricted by rules, is expressed by minds that use it and did NOT actually create it. The way in which the same power is shaped is not necessarily based on a rigid system of the user's personality, but rather on something simpler. Precisely the simplicity of an imperfect being that does not operate all the possibilities of its own strength.
This is the real beauty of giving fire to an imperfect being. Prometheus being the author, and the imperfect being his own characters.
I brought all of this to light, because that's exactly what Undead Unluck showed me in chapter 15. With the revelation of the specificities that carry that smile. Falsehood as reality, a real, specific, and false love. The Untruth...

The Untruth, and everything after that. Just one page, with very few words. A story with VERY FEW CHAPTERS that I found by MERE CHANCE. It became my IDEAL SHOUNEN, something that as a creator, I will follow. And look, not even Jujutsu Kaisen, the work that gave me the most interest in working on my critical sense, MY FAVORITE WORK OF ART IN LIFE. Not even deserves this title that I, as a fan, as a critic, as an illustrator, as a WRITER who one day want to launch my own manga.
I don't know about you
But after reading, rereading, and currently following the Undead Unlucky weeklies. This is the work that most carries the name and demographic that is "Shounen" in essence. Being the greatest of all the satires I've ever read about a genre. Sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, sometimes exciting, sometimes emotional...
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