The Truth about what I think about Kago Shintaro
from Martin Mehawk
Every once in a while I receive a message or a comment on one of my many videos, asking me why I would even read such (referring to the works of Kago Shintaro) horrible Manga. I could of course react with a facepalm, seeing as how I am a Manga Critic and my job is basically to point out the good, the bad, the best and the worst but in a way I kind of understand what is meant.
There are now several ways for me to reply to such a question: I could potentially reply what I just wrote above but it wouldn't even be half of the truth and the last thing I want to do is lie. Besides how would it sound if I said that I'm always looking for Manga to tear apart? Of course I do that but my question is why would I admit that in public (Ignoring of course that I just stated it for everyone to read)?
Then there's the option of saying that these are the Manga I kind of enjoy reading nowadays, which again would not be entirely false (bear with me please) but surely not the whole truth either. I could just say they are requested, also not entirely false but then again, most of my viewers (/all of my viewers) had no idea such a Mangaka even existed, actually they couldn't even imagine such a Mangaka existed, not even mentioning the fact that some people took their sweet time to translate it and release it upon the world, so what I usually reply to them is some kind of mix of the above options:
“Well, it's funny to talk about bad Manga, but really Kago Shintaro is also someone who needs to be known. I've chosen this to be part of what I want to do with this show.“
Their view of me as a person kind of dwindles towards hell at that point, especially when in the then following videos, I make tasteless balls-jokes and cry for characters to – basically - die in more and more horrible and agonizing deaths. What you're reading right here though is an article, so I have every right to make it drag until all of you die of dehydration (though you'd probably stop reading before that happens) but I've always believed in simplicity (in information) being helpful when publishing any sort of media. Complexity is something for intense topics, an insane Mangaka is not.
Nice transition right there: Is he really insane? Most of what he does could be described as trolling his audience, really, but is he insane? I would argue he's not, quite the opposite actually. Kago Shintaro is one of the Mangaka that most influenced my taste in Manga, believe it (I just died a little inside).
What I mean by that is, especially if you read his more braintwisting Manga, not the ones which are a middle finger to humanity (like Superglue and Lord of the Ring) but more like the ones I'll be showing you in the very near future, you really start appreciating his work. Sure, in most cases it's disgusting and disturbing to the point of partly reaching Uzumaki's level (not Naruto, the Uzumaki horror Manga that revolves around spirals, hence the title) but in others it's truely thoughtprovoking, which is how I define “art“. I believe „art“ is when a piece of media provokes thought and/or emotion, which these Manga obviously do.
Kago Shintaro is published in a magazine in Japan by the way and has a huge fanbase there, along with a large group of haters. It's not up to me to decide weather Kago Shintaro is a “good“ Mangaka or an abomination sent upon humanity by a force more evil than Satan but I'd argue that in a way he is both.
He brings up topics so incredibly disgusting and unthinkable (also illogical) that no massmedia would ever cover it. Thought SAW was a hardcore series? Well, have you read the Shintaro in which a girl collects dead embryos? Point made. He breaks tabu's and makes your guts revolt, I think being able to do that in our age is a talent and I always look forward to new publications by Kago Shintaro - a unique original, that I really wouldn't want to miss on this world.
There are now several ways for me to reply to such a question: I could potentially reply what I just wrote above but it wouldn't even be half of the truth and the last thing I want to do is lie. Besides how would it sound if I said that I'm always looking for Manga to tear apart? Of course I do that but my question is why would I admit that in public (Ignoring of course that I just stated it for everyone to read)?
Then there's the option of saying that these are the Manga I kind of enjoy reading nowadays, which again would not be entirely false (bear with me please) but surely not the whole truth either. I could just say they are requested, also not entirely false but then again, most of my viewers (/all of my viewers) had no idea such a Mangaka even existed, actually they couldn't even imagine such a Mangaka existed, not even mentioning the fact that some people took their sweet time to translate it and release it upon the world, so what I usually reply to them is some kind of mix of the above options:
“Well, it's funny to talk about bad Manga, but really Kago Shintaro is also someone who needs to be known. I've chosen this to be part of what I want to do with this show.“
Their view of me as a person kind of dwindles towards hell at that point, especially when in the then following videos, I make tasteless balls-jokes and cry for characters to – basically - die in more and more horrible and agonizing deaths. What you're reading right here though is an article, so I have every right to make it drag until all of you die of dehydration (though you'd probably stop reading before that happens) but I've always believed in simplicity (in information) being helpful when publishing any sort of media. Complexity is something for intense topics, an insane Mangaka is not.
Nice transition right there: Is he really insane? Most of what he does could be described as trolling his audience, really, but is he insane? I would argue he's not, quite the opposite actually. Kago Shintaro is one of the Mangaka that most influenced my taste in Manga, believe it (I just died a little inside).
What I mean by that is, especially if you read his more braintwisting Manga, not the ones which are a middle finger to humanity (like Superglue and Lord of the Ring) but more like the ones I'll be showing you in the very near future, you really start appreciating his work. Sure, in most cases it's disgusting and disturbing to the point of partly reaching Uzumaki's level (not Naruto, the Uzumaki horror Manga that revolves around spirals, hence the title) but in others it's truely thoughtprovoking, which is how I define “art“. I believe „art“ is when a piece of media provokes thought and/or emotion, which these Manga obviously do.
Kago Shintaro is published in a magazine in Japan by the way and has a huge fanbase there, along with a large group of haters. It's not up to me to decide weather Kago Shintaro is a “good“ Mangaka or an abomination sent upon humanity by a force more evil than Satan but I'd argue that in a way he is both.
He brings up topics so incredibly disgusting and unthinkable (also illogical) that no massmedia would ever cover it. Thought SAW was a hardcore series? Well, have you read the Shintaro in which a girl collects dead embryos? Point made. He breaks tabu's and makes your guts revolt, I think being able to do that in our age is a talent and I always look forward to new publications by Kago Shintaro - a unique original, that I really wouldn't want to miss on this world.
