Franken Fran is a dark-comedy manga with lots of gore. If you don’t like gore, then this manga is going to disturb you extremely. However, if you’re like me who absolutely loves looking at dismembered limbs and eye-catching grotesqueries, then you’re going to have a fun time with this. In a way, this manga is sort of like a toned-down version of the world of eroguro. It’s much more “polished” and less “raw” than guro works but still contains the organs, the dismemberment, and the bloody circus of acts that is present in eroguro. It's more creative in its approach through its diverse collection of individual stories, and there are certain chapters where the style of comedy and art feel reminiscent of Shintaro Kago’s (another eroguro artist known for his surreal illustrations) own motifs.

The thing about Franken Fran is its lack of consistency. Franken Fran is structured in an episodic way, with the titular main character Fran Madaraki going through different scenarios throughout the course of the manga. Thus, there are chapters that are brilliant, from the insect chapters to the stories with human multiplication. And then, there are chapters that are not as interesting and even some that pale in comparison to the rest. Not all of the stories retain the same level of quality. There’s an experimental edge to this manga that lies in the concepts of its individual stories. The author uses the premise of Franken Fran to delve into the components of society and human behavior, and while they’re not the most profound or probing portrayals, the playful nature of the manga contributes an amusing perspective into those things. And if there’s one thing that the manga does extremely well at, it’s in its playful and snarky way of commenting on society.

Franken Fran explores how we perceive physical appearance and attractiveness, delves into the darker side of the entertainment industry, and touches on the everyday life, all to twist these ideas to fit within the comically apathetic attitude of the manga. It’s a kind of dark humor that’s very tongue-in-cheek and makes the manga feel more fresh and fun as a result. The stories can get wild and almost always lead to an undesirable outcome for the characters. That’s what makes it brilliant though as it’s always played off in a darkly comedic manner. It’s playful and snarky in all the right ways.

Franken Fran's stories are able to flourish so well due to its peculiar cast of characters. Fran's unethical ways of "saving" her patients lead to a mixture of disturbing and sometimes even outright terrifying abominations. She’s like the crazy mad scientist except that she actually has good intentions, though it’s not always clear from the way she conjures up solutions. The characters in Franken Fran play off of each rather well, and the people that Fran meets and interacts with with each new story offer a new concept to be explored, whether that be reviving humans, wanting to look more physically attractive, or desiring to attain a new body. Fran’s own eccentricities make for countless humorous moments as she works her doctor role which, more often than not, leads to the opposite of what she envisioned. Fran is the perfect character for a manga like this, and her naivety when it comes to human behavior and her lack of concern for the ethical make for some interesting developments in the realm of science.

And then there’s the artwork.

Franken Fran’s artstyle, especially with certain illustrations, share the same kind of up-in-your-face presentation as Kago’s stuff but with a little more sheen to it. Franken Fran’s art is gross, overblown, and creative. Through the course of the manga, the author manages to impress and maintain the same level of quality of the grotesque depictions of the operations, mutilations, and chaotic bloodbaths. For anyone who loves looking at gore done in cool ways, this is definitely one of those manga where it's fresh all-around, and there’s always something neat with each chapter. Even though there are certainly chapters that are not so interesting, they’re still worth reading for the bloody bits. There are even some surreal illustrations that accompany the more bizarre stories, and they work to add a little more flavor to the manga as a whole.

Franken Fran is the kind of manga for big fans of gore, and it definitely offers more than just that. It may not be the most profound manga or the most consistent, but it’s definitely a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to sit back, relax, and envision themselves as a mad scientist (who also happens to have good intentions).