365 Days of Manga, Day 272: Monochrome Factor

MONOCHROME FACTOR • Kaili Sorano • Tokypop • 13+
Akira Nikaido, a spiky-haired slacker, had a regular routine…skip class, avoid the girl on the “discipline committee,” play video games, maybe get in some fights. But it all changed when he meets Shirogane, a well-dressed gentleman who shows Akira a new reality where kokuchi, shadow monsters, prey on human beings. Forced to “sign a contract with the shadows” or die, Akira turns into a shin, a shadow creature, a twin-blade-wielding dude with different-colored hair and eyes, and soon he is beating up kikuchi on school grounds, at home…anywhere! Except when he has to play video games, of course. Monochrome Factor tries to make up in comedy and character designs what it lacks in originality or cool monsters (the kikuchi look like simple snake-headed black blobs). There’s a lot of wacky humor, and glossy Gothy artwork with lots of dark shadows, although the characters’ faces are sometimes lopsided and amateurish. Flashy but derivative, this manga mostly made me want to read Bleach, which has a similar plot but is better in just about every way. (Review by Jason Thompson – originally printed in Otaku USA magazine.)
* 1/2 (one and a half stars)
Today’s winner is Phil H. of California! Congratulations! If you’re into experimental and underground manga, check out my recent review of Comics Underground Japan on Anime News Network.

This photo comes courtesy of Kira-chan, one of the recent winners of 365 Days of Manga. I hope you liked “A Cheeky Angel” and “Toto”, a sort of cocktail of gender-bending wackiness and pseudo-fairytale action-adventure. I’ll send you some more manga this week, thanks for sending the pic!