Goth

Goth - short, mystery, psychological, horror manga. The title alone sounds pretty intriguing.

Goth is a story about two students who are basically obsessed with death and murder cases. These students, Yoru Morino and Itsuki Kamiyama, don't initially talk to each other in school. After a brief encounter, they realize how much they have in common. Yoru usually ends up getting involved with some murderer and Kamiyama ends up either solving the case or making a fool of the criminal.

Art - I actually really liked the art. It was straight-forward and very easy to interpret, and I think that type of style was a good choice for this type of series. Some of the artwork for the more "horror" scenes were pretty interesting to see as well. Overall, I think the style of drawing fit well with the concept.

Character - Well, you only have the two main characters. In such a short length, we do get background on one of them (Yoru). As the manga reaches it's end, Yoru's background could become confusing if you don't pay attention, but overall it was good.

Enjoyment - 9/10. I'm typically a fan of mystery cases and considering Goth was about a bunch of murder mysteries, I really enjoyed it. If you enjoy a series that'll get you to think, then this series would be a good pick for you. Overall, Goth was a good manga series. ^_^

Story:
What a snooze fest. No, actually, it's worse than that. It's so linear and boring that I can't help but wonder what in the world the author was thinking when he outlined (IF he outlined) this story. Things just happen and you just accept it because reasons. Because publication. Because money. Because (insert ANYTHING other than /reason/ here.)

I mean, holy cow, dude. The author legitimately thinks you can write a main character who can do whatever he wants whenever he wants without any real foundation for doing so. I have to get into characters here before I even jump into the character segment because the whole story is just

I mean

I'm having difficulty ARTICULATING what I want to say here. That's how barren this work is.

I seriously have nothing good to say about the story itself. I don't even think I can say it's like anything, and if it is it might be like the western show Dexter. Even so, that's like the lightest comparison in that this narrative is just a dark tone filled with nonsense. Goodness gracious. Let's move on.


Art:
Perhaps the only good thing about this manga is the art. I enjoyed how graphic it could get but also respectful to the despicable events. i wouldn't mind a full-fledged narrative that pushed for this artwork. I wouldn't even mind it if it went even further and tried to shock me more than once. That said, it falls flat on a story that doesn't deserve such care and love. It's just a waste to even grade this 7/10 since the surrounding content is such crap.

Despite being the highest score, it doesn't go without fault. Proportions are off, and in the first chapter there's a scene where a woman is holding a book but in the next immediate panel it's in her other hand. She doesn't switch hands, and you'll see what I mean if you actually read it, but I'm almost positive she didn't have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs on one hand so whatever. Probably just nitpicking at that point, but it's still something so simple that shouldn't be missed.


Character:
There is not a single ounce of character development in this story. The characters are already established, and by established I mean they are just placeholders to help the story progress. I couldn't tell you anything about the characters in this work. "Oh, the protagonist can just figure things out but we never see him figuring it out. Also, he's a little coo-coo." and, "Oh, his sidekick is a girl. That's it. She's just a girl."

Like, for the love of quality, there are traits in characters that are forsaken immediately upon their mention. The female sidekick has a scar on her arm. Why was this mentioned? Why did this get like 4 panels? Why was a whole page dedicated to it? What in the hell?


Enjoyment:
You can imagine my frustration when I open this manga up reading that it's won an award and I get to the end and realize how much of a waste this read was.


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The manga Goth is a very unique short and twisted manga which i found to be a masterpiece. the story about 2 teenagers surronded by death Itsuki Kamiyama and Yoru Morino. We get to follow them in their quest for murderers and more. It is very grotesque and have some really cruel images. Even though as short as it is i still find it amazing and it's one of my favorite Manga of all times. If your looking for a mystery story with lots of darkness and intresting characters Goth is a must read!

As already stated in the synopsis, Goth goes about two morbid students who are attracted to murders.

The first three chapters go about three murder cases they solve, or rather that Kamiyama Itsuki solves. The last two chapters are centered in the main characters, and especially in Morino Yoru's past.

It would have been much better if the author had given us hints on the main story involving the main characters in the first three chapters. That would have given more unity to the whole manga, the characters would have gained in depth, and there would have been more mystery, apart from the gore.

However, the manga is entertaining. The stories are really creepy. The characters are interesting, even when they lack development.

The art is ok: dark, good gore scenes.

The problem with this manga is that at some point the mangaka tries to trick us with a rather "cheap" art procedure. Unfortunately, I cannot go deep into this issue, because it would be rendered as a spoiler. I can only say that there are procedures to create suspense that are valid, and other procedures that are inadmissible.

I have the feeling that this manga had potential to be much better, but it is still interesting to read.

Okay from my point of view this book is amazing~ I only read it twice and reading it again i dont know why but it makes me think. pretty much I'm like whoa! you seriouse! but its really good.
It is not concidered as horror its more of gore which is okay but not for younge readers though :3
remeber this though it might be in your mind forever once you read it.
"There are people who kill and there are people who get killed"

PD: Sorry about my bad English, in from a Latin American country

Goth is Intriguing, amazing, dark, and enigmatic, it shows off a lot of psychological terms that are really great to read.

Story : 7
Even if the story is amazing, it does have many flaws, the manga it's actually very short and could have had more "juice to suck on", even so as i said early it's dark enigmatic and amazing in every way, very short in my opinion.

Art: 6
The Art style of Goth it's pretty simple, as not changing in any spectacular way over other manga I've read , so to be honest it's art style it's actually not more or less than fair.

Character: 7
Although the characters are not much deepen they come up in an outstanding way to be a short manga, their stories are amazing, and for the main character are intriguing, enigmatic and leave a great doubt to think about.

Enjoyment: 8
It's amazing, great, outstanding, even if it has it's flaws it's a manga you'll love to read if you like dark stories.

Overall: 8
The enjoyment is the best part of any manga and Goth is one that is amazing in a lot of aspects, short, nice, and dark are a nice combination for you to read if you're starting in manga.

Fair warning: Know what your getting with this manga. Its not so much scary as it is filled with gore [literally it shows mutilated bodies/body parts]. The horror classification falls more with personalities of the characters.

I thought it was good but not amazing.
I don’t read much of this genre but I'm into horror/psychological movies and things like that.I read something similar to this beforehand too. If my reading order had been reversed I'm sure I would have found this more fascinating.

It’s about two students who have an interest in death and murder. They take interest in several cases of serial killings in the general area. The story portrays the different reactions and interactions of the two main characters with each incident. It consists of four separate cases, one of them being related to Yoru's past. It’s full of gore, psychological theory, and a few twist.

I guess you can say the plot gives you three perspectives. Itsuki: the perspective of someone with the capability of being a killer, witnessing the work of another killer. The killer[s]: the perspective and inner thoughts of a killer, some even as they execute their work. And Yoru: the perspective of a naive, curious girl with a troubled past.

The main character, Itsuki, isn’t anything new for me at least. I've seen a few adaptations of the apathetic, dangerous, murder capable individual. Itsuki is never explained, has left completely vague. Nothing towards his past is really ever reveled, he is just a character born completely apathetic to emotion. He is able to appear as if he fits in to society, while consciously knowing he is different. He’s twisted, manipulative in some ways, and just downright creepy. Yoru's character is pretty original and interesting. Her past is defiantly an original story. I thought that that case was probably the closest thing to realism in the manga as a whole. Her character is explained and actually somewhat relatable, I can accept it to some understanding. I don’t think the cut on her wrist was ever explained though, maybe that was left for you to interpret indicating a dark past. I just thought since it was such a focus in the first case and Itsuki’s fascination with Yoru, it would be explained or at least used somewhere else in the story. I have some issues with the realism [I will explain further] but for Yoru, how often this girl gets kidnapped or watched, really now?

Yoru’s character being naive or just choosing to disregard the true danger that lies in Itsuki seems like a debated topic. I chose to believe she is just naive to Itsuki’s true capably. In the first case about the severed hands, Yoru seems more in control. As time progresses you can see Itsuki is truly the one in control, he enjoys keeping her close and toying with the idea of one day killing her. Yoru seems to view him more as a companion than a possible threat.

Now the realism, I guess the way the story is put together bothers me. It’s just not realistic in the least...how many serial killers exist in general first off, let alone around the same place, within the time span of a few years. On top of that how likely is it that the same people keep encountering them? They were interested in the cases but it’s not like they went out into society, actively looking to solve them. They would have some sort of run-in with the murderer and things would just fall into place. I get the whole idea the author was trying to display but I think it could have been pretty awesome if made into something that could actually happen.

I think the plot is an interesting idea, I haven’t read anything quite like it. I would have liked it if there was more left for you to figure out. The murders involved in these cases were unique in their own but I felt like I was just reading about murders, no real thought or problem solving involved, the story kind of does it for you.

Its a good read, I'd recommended it. Would I read it again? No. I would read the novel if i thought it would be any better depicting or creating suspense but I think I'll pass on it

Story: 7 [good]
Art: 8 [very good, considered a 9 for being graphically daring]
Character: 9 [great]
Enjoyment: 7 [good]
Overall: 7 [good]

Goth is a horror/mystery manga which in my opinion is one of those kind of manga that are so bad that they're actually good (!)...So if you enjoy mysteries and splatter and if you don't mind how unrealistic and full of plot holes the story is ,then you'll probably enjoy it.

Story : 8
As I said the story had quite a few plot holes ,but I personally chose to ignore them and enjoy the craziness of the story...I think the plot is interesting in its own way and I believe it's worth reading

Art : 7
The art was mediocre,but it didn't really bother me

Character: 7
Of course in a 5 chapter horror manga there wouldn't be any "deep" or "developed" characters ,but in my opinion the two main characters were interesting and somewhat original so they did kept me entertained...

Enjoyment : 10
Well,what can I say...I really enjoyed this manga even though someone could describe it as mediocre or even bad

Overall : 7
I think that horror/mystery manga fans should give Goth a try.It's pretty captivating since the beginning and if you don't have high expectations of it ,it'll probably keep you entertained until the end

Story: 10
This is by far one of the most original storyline which is lacking among today's mangas. Not many authors are willing to base characters on the obsessed or the morally lacking. But at the last verse at the end of the series, it shows that this series, is actually based on the same formula as most romance mangas. There are both the hero and heroine and how the hero saves the other but it honestly never really occurred to me. Maybe I'm rather slow. O_O but with such intent at the starting, the story really follows this motive but its interpreted in such a different way that I'm fairly impressed.

Art: 7
There isn't anything special. I'm not too keen about art but this manga lost its point in it because through out volume 5, I had mistaken a minor character as the main character. There wasn't much variation between the 2.

Character: 10
Superb. Simply original and superb. Though its a waste that there wasn't much background to the main character but its his lack of humanity that amuses me. The taboo word of inhumane gave me hope that there is still hope in modern literature, hope in authors to tackle the taboo themes.

Enjoyment: 9
The story despite its originality is more focused on its evolving of character. not so much on the mystery behind the crime and the genius of the main character, in fact its more on the psychological approach which also lacks. So don't expect some genius scheme of revealing the sick mind.

Overall: 8
This manga is woth the read if you want a change of the typical genres. If you want a change in main characters, try this manga. Though it may contain some gore which can be a tad too disturbing to some, its worth a read.

I'll admit that I was pretty disappointed by this. The premise started fairly interestingly, but then we are presented with different vignettes featuring the same main characters and the initial chapter's premise is completely forgotten about. Each story features a different crime and criminal. Each has some interesting elements, and furthers the actually pretty great characterization of the main character. I say main character, singular, because I felt that the girl Yoru Morino was shallow by comparison despite getting the only backstory in the book. Instead, she is used over and over as the damsel in distress (the writer even compared her to Princess Peach in the afterword). The guy (whose name I forget since it is only mentioned once or twice) was one of the only good things about the book. I could actually feel his obsession with crimes and his willingness to commit them, and his sociopathic tendencies were depicted well.

The problems with this book stem in part from the small amount of chapters they have to resolve the story as a whole, and the fact that the authors only have so many pages to elaborate on each vignette. However, I do feel that there were ways to effectively create a cohesive story within that space, and that there were plenty of wasted pages.

The major root of the problems in this manga is the over-reliance in contrivances to further the plot. First of which is the huge amount of criminals the MCs run into in such a short time. Sure, they are looking for crime, but they are essentially crime magnets, especially Yoru who seems to always be the target, or presumed target. Even in the afterword, the author admits that this is a nonsensical series and that he must be stupid. He also admits that it is strange that the characters keep getting involved with a murder case, but that unless he wrote it like that, there would be nothing to write about, which I find to be a pretty poor excuse. It is a severe lack of imagination on the writer's part, and it shows his inability as a writer to have to rely on such a contrivance. I don't know if the original novel suffers from the same problems, but this is a review of the manga anyway. There are plenty of other contrivances in the plot, from small to huge leaps in disbelief. I would be more tolerant of this if the story was portrayed as surreal, or satirical, or silly; but the story is presented in a very serious manner, to the point where it could even be called edgy. There are some decent twists and concepts here and there, but they always fall flat due to the contrivances they rely upon and the lack of clarity in which they are presented.

As for the art, it ranges from great to mediocre. Some panels were phoned in, with a few even looking like preliminary sketches. The background art specifically looks pretty bad in general. The depictions of the crime scenes tend to look pretty damn great though, with a couple of scenes actually being pretty elaborate. So it's a mixed bag, but I do like it as a whole.

All in all, this was okay. I didn't hate it. It feels like the author only wanted to write about subtly eccentric characters with an obsession about murder, and wanted to implement some interesting concepts he had for said murderers' modi operandi. In that, I think he succeeds. That is the appeal of this book, at least to someone like me who does like sociopathic characters and creative criminals in my stories. However, the over-reliance in contrivances, pacing issues, forgotten plot threads, and occasional lack of clarity brings this down to a 6/10 for me. Overall positive experience, but I would not ever call this a good manga.