Interest Stacks

this is the left field manga.

hajime ueda's works are underlooked aside from his monogatari stuff he did for shaft, but his mangas are actual eye candy for people looking unconventional and perplexing works. the 'flcl' manga by hajime ueda is essentially what i see when i think of unconventional manga. it is much like the anime the manga is based off of, albeit it much more skewed in its presentation and story that it can be essentially its own work itself. the energy the flcl inhibits is encapsulated in the batshit sharp and abstract art style that hajime ueda is well known for, the story was never anything special but it was linear and complimentary enough to create an entire, weird and rebellious atmosphere.

all visual over storytelling, and it's amazing.

Another Ueda manga and this time it's an original concept and everything. Pretty sure, or rather most likely, was inspired by Evangelion and his dip into working on the FLCL manga as the story in this was rather similar compared to those two. His graffiti sharp art style is supported by a story that is braindead itself. A good read to spend a delicate afternoon.

the sketchier and unhinged retelling of the old testament, and it's not very much an exaggeration. the entire aesthetic is a combination similar to gothic and occult, and the character designs emit a great twist on the idea of hell being much more of an urban sarcastic dystopia than what it really is. the anime definitely upper cuts the manga as it is almost a spiritual experience guided by ecstasy.

nishioka kyoudai is another standout in manga that has styles similar to European surrealism. personally not my favorite work by them (so far), but it has a dark story, mixed with their dark art style that blends together scarily beautifully.

my actual favorite work by nishioka kyoudai (so far), it exhibit's the kyoudai siblings' art styles in a more beautiful and stylistic light with a story similar to something like kino's journey. it is much cryptic as kami no kodomo, but i personally think the story fairs better as it is the very premise that everyone can have some sort of plane of connection to.

Dowman Sayman was inspired by the Hellboy comics, the art style is a neat mix of American comics and Japanese manga. Hyperlink plot reminiscent of a Tarantino film with a rather homely setting and off-putting characters. Amazing!

Pseudo-cute manga about an alien. Interesting story that walks down a gravel path. Sketchy-pen art style at most.

kind of leans between being left field and a normal gag manga, but something that sets it apart is just how much more of a rambling of japanese society mixed with various philosophical ideas, and happens for 300 chapters which degrades to even more delusion but even greater lead into somewhat of a comedic spiral, but this was my first kumeta manga i read and didn't know until recently that kumeta was just that type of person. essentially like a encyclopedia of mid to late 2000s pop culture in japan for anyone interested, with an ensemble cast that is rather an interest case study of... something i guess.

Enlightening read. A collection of stories that are surreal in their own pretty unique way. Cute drawings over realistic imposed scenery as well as realistic imposed uncanniness that the story tells visually. A dreamlike state awake.

Can't really comprehend 90% of the time but it is quite the humorous read. The style reminds me a bit of the Der tödliche Finger comic AKA Peng! AKA the Stereolab creature.

Nishioka Kyoudai's little bundle of surreal bedtime stories. Perfectly weird, weirdly beautiful.

what tsukumizu achieves is the perfect lining between slice-of-life everyday yuri and the undertone of existentialism that punches like a gut on the entire story. looking the lens of battling archetypes, melancholic surrealism, weird formations, holes that puts stanley yelnats into shame, tsukumizu goes entirely out on shimeji simulation from their thought philosophy to the abstract but cute visuals that they are very well known for. like currents it flows almost perfect.

it is simplistically pleasant despite it's title.
also a calling card that i need to check out more of ono's work.

and there really is no need for a story at all, visual bloodshed in the vein and good times.

little excerpt from a sleep deprived write up i've done about this, just because it feels fit for here.

"...baka to gogh, The Fools and Gogh, i can attest to it being a celebration of sorts to this subculture of unconventional creativity and weirdness. it is so apparent in the style of the comic, the design choices of the characters, especially in the sense that one of the main character's focus is clothing and bizarre and leftfield fashion. reading it leaves an bittersweet feeling..."

kinda in the similar vein as voynich hotel, its wackiness deeply soaked in a surreal, fever dream-esque world. but what i really like the most about it is its twisted take on life and death, embracing the surreal, bizzaro, 'fuck it all' nature of it all, painting and writing what it is now 'kurayami dance', extremely and ever so loosely connected to kafka's 'the castle' (through a few connections at least)

i think it's time suda51 got a place on here, rightfully so.

it's really out there.