kurayami dance is probably one of the intensely complicated mangas ive read, and is honestly a must-read for anyone who loves goichi suda's 'kill the past' series.

oh yeah, and, be sure to actually play the 'kill the past' series before you read this, as well as read up on goichi suda's life before game design, otherwise a majority of the references, character cameos, and thematic motifs will not make any sense. there's also a few concepts explored in those games that are reused in this (such as the silver eyes), so be aware of that as well. i recommend going for this order:

the silver case --> flower, sun, and rain --> the 25th ward --> killer7 --> no more heroes --> you can now read kurayami dance!!! (i know its a lot, but it wont make a lot of sense otherwise)

(note, there'll also be some wrestling and references to mobile suit gundam throughout, i'd argue mobile suit gundam's is slightly more important with some of the ideas spent here? actually, fun fact, grasshopper manufacture, goichi suda's game studio, actually has their employees watch 'mobile suit gundam: char's counterattack' monthly. i thought that'd be a cool fact to share here.)

the art is probably one of the most wonderful things about this manga. takeya syuji has worked with suda in prior mangas, whether for 'red blue green' as well as the 'pre-lunatics' manga one-shot made for 'the silver case', but this is probably his art at its highest. the character silhouettes are incredibly distinct, and his usage of warped perspective is lovely. there's also a sense of 'cinematic' direction when it comes to panel sequencing, which is also a treat, in tandem with wonderful page layouts that feel like visual candy for me to look at.

the characters in kurayami dance, as usual with suda's work, are often vague and unexplored (at least with the side cast). the star of the show really would be challia and wataru, who are probably one of the most fun protagonists i've read. they have excellent character dynamics with one another, and not to mention represent some genuinely very interesting thematic ideas with some weird freudian id and superego shit.

the thematic storytelling in kurayami dance is also excellently explored across the manga. you can tell it's a very personal piece of work with how suda himself worked as an undertaker prior to doing game design, and how his feelings towards life and death are explored in this manga. of course, these are especially amplified playing his video-games where this is also readily apparent, but you can tell that this particular manga is where it absolutely resonates with him clearly.

the actual meat and potatoes of the writing are pretty nice too, but i do think the dialogue tends to be incredibly long and monologue-y. while characters interact very naturally from one another, bouncing back and forth in a somewhat meandering fashion similar to 'the silver case' and suda's other games/visual novels, it never feels like a dull moment, at least to me. to me there was absolutely a level of charisma to it that kept the flow going.

this manga may seem imperfect to many with it's wacky pace, surreal imagery, and unconventional storytelling, but for those willing to push the boundaries of the stories manga can tell and the methods they do so with, i'd recommend it. goichi suda fans should also absolutely read this. it's a love letter to all of 'kill the past'.

god is in the cables.
believe in the net.
kill the life.
kill the past.

good night, wataru.