Ori no Naka

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Ori no Naka feels like watching a flaming trainwreck, and I do not mean that as an insult.

The main characters of this manga are such degenerates, and yet the author does such a good job at making you get into their heads. You understand why they do what they do, even if you disagree or, more likely, feel disgusted. Without going into spoilers (since this is a manga I recommend going into blind), it's about a lonely 29 year old man developing a fetish for his female coworker's used period pads because he's desperate for the touch of a woman. This is just in the ... first chapter mind you; the manga starts off sprinting and it doesn't slow down even a bit.

While I wouldn't say this manga relies on shock value, there's a strong morbid curiosity keeping me coming back each week. Part of me hopes that somehow shit will work out with the main couple. Part of me believes it ends with the MC going to prison. But either way, I look forward to new chapters of this series every Sunday.

The art is VERY pleasing to look at and the author does a great job at using the medium to his advantage, whether that be by emphasizing the female lead's attractiveness or giving scenes a certain sense of dread.

Not for everyone, but if you're like me I fully recommend giving this a go.

As this manga has just ended, it is finally time to write a proper review on it. Firstly, it should be mentioned that this work does not shy away from talk about sex and depictions of it. It's also a dark work that may be too heavy a read for some. This manga is very much masculine in its nature; not in the macho sense, but rather, in the sense of the problems it touches upon. Our protagonist is Gomi (literally means "trash", good one!) Jirou, an insecure pervert who is lonely and desperate for connection. He meets a girl named Yumezora Kuroko at his ... workplace, and quickly becomes fixated with her upon discovering her used period pads in the toilet's bin. That's how their relationship begins.

The neuroticism and self-loathing of an insecure, lonely man are depicted very accurately in this manga, and it often introduces themes that are recent, up-to-date, and by all means modern problems. For example, the fears men have about dating and sex today are clearly shown in Jirou's monologues, where he fears social isolation, rejection, and perpetual loneliness. He is a very realistic and human character, and it feels like part of him might have come from the author's personal experiences or even been a self-insert. However, this manga also did an excellent analysis of mental illness in women, depicting it clearly and plausibly. Generally, the characters' actions are explained very well, and it becomes easy to understand how a person might act their way. The bluntness in which some of these topics were handled in felt like a curveball, albeit not unwelcome. Much of these ideas were very on-the-nose, and perhaps something only a person who agrees with the theses could truly enjoy. That is why it is difficult to recommend this manga to most people. It very much feels like a work where those who like it will love it, and those who don't, will despise it. For example, if men fearing getting in legal trouble for approaching women seems completely nonsensical or false to you, then you might find yourself rolling your eyes at many of the monologues of the protagonist. There are many adjacent topics in this work that would inspire the same reactions.

One of the strongest points of this work is the art. While time could be spent talking about the high quality of it, it is the drawn metaphors and choices of depictions that make it so powerful, providing very clear images of the protagonist's feelings. Like Amu's last work (Watashi ga 15-sai dewa Nakunattemo), this is a rather short manga and can be read in one to two hours. It may be best to binge-read this. Amu's works tend to be rather polarising for their "WTF moments", but beyond the shocking contents, they are thought-provoking, and at the very least stimulate a feeling of relatability in what is presumably the target audience. There is certainly no lack of novelty in this manga the way it is depicted, and it is one of a kind.

To describe this work in fewer words, it is angsty, gloomy, sexual, and likely to be forgotten in a few years. It is a hidden gem for some, and a lump of sewage for others.

You see, this isn't the kind of manga you enjoy, no, you HATE every single page you're reading, but it feels like a drug you can't stop consuming.

Almost no manga go to the levels this one goes. It's depraved, disgusting, absolutely infuriating, but the writing of these people taking bad choice after bad choice, slowly digging their graves, it was incredible. It started off as a kind of anti-incel, who is actually celibate due to his self disgust and how much he auto-imposed these negative values of who he is.

This is precisely the beginning of his downfall, and it's all about that. How far ... can a person go when they know nothing about relationships? How bad can things go when in a relationship? This man manages to get caught in his depravity by the only person in his vicinity who accepts, and decides to take advantage of this because she's just as messed up as him. This is a manga about a man and a woman in love, but these two are absolute, disgusting pieces of garbage due to their pasts, and how they grew up with terrible ideas on what love might be. I felt empathy for both of them, and I still do.

Hurt people hurt other people, and these two can only perpetuate this cycle because none of the two can do anything else. I love both as characters, and I have met people like the two of these, it's maddening to talk to them, much worse to be in a co-dependant relationship like this. The issue is, both these people can't stop the thrill of being in the positions they're in, and are too cowardly to stop it. So, the only ending they could've gotten was what happened in chapter 35.

However, what makes this manga end so badly, is how rushed chapter 36 was. It felt like the main character could only repeat the same story we just saw. In his delusions, if the fantasy of a horrible relationship is the only thing left, then some don't escape it, rather they become that story. I do believe this was all about the reality of relationships, and how the fantastical hero complex can ruin your life.

That's why the manga hit me so deeply, I hate, and I love seeing people with hero complexes get truly demolished. I felt identified with that aspect, but not with the depravity, which works so well to exaggerate and exasperate the whole situation. It would've been such a good ending if it took at least one more chapter to explore whatever happened afterwards, just a little more. As it stands, it's a rushed, lacklustre chapter that could've been greatly expanded upon, to really nail that ending.

Right now? It's a great, depraved, disgusting, psychological manga that managed to break my routine and get me to catch up in a single day, and read the rest each time it came out. It stressed me out to see the notification of a new one pop-up, as I knew that was the next thing I was reading the instant I could.

8/10. If it makes you read 5 chapters in a row, buckle up, because it's not letting go of you until the end.