The World Is Mine

"We are saturated with unneeded information to the point that it's painful. I refuse to let this interfere with my life. The religion of progress disgusts me."

The World Is Mine is a manga that I at first hated, but after a few grueling hours I more than came around to. A story that has gotten more relevant and more uncomfortable two decades later. To call it transgressive is putting it lightly, our main characters are indiscriminate murderers. Even to those most unphased by fictional violence (by far it's not the most gory or otherwise visceral manga) the context and realism of the actions depicted in this series will probably disturb them. If it seems like I'm hyping this up, just know that it contains scenes of realistic —not hentai-like— rape, and I didn't find that to be the most shocking subject matter on display.

That being said, TWIM has a surprising amount of humanity, though its view for our prospects are quite bleak. Even our most fargone characters (yes, Toshi & Mon) have their understandable if not sympathetic moments. Ijima and the journalist also have a great plot thread going on, even if it takes some time for theirs to pick up.

It goes without saying that TWIM is a challenging read with edgy themes. Nihilism, terrorism, mass murder, the failings and hypocrisies of contemporary society, and international politics. It doesn't wax poetic about these subjects, but rather gives us a great story of it. It no doubt touches nerves by portraying awful things, yet it never does so purely for shock value. Cruelty and suffering are a part of this world, and this manga is full of it.

I'd like to mention the art is fantastic as well. And as uncomfortable the violence often is, there are genuinely cool scenes such as the assault on the police station, in which Hideki Arai's attention to detail really shines through; I get the impression he has an interest in firearms and such. If it was just shootouts with cops and wasn't as introspective as it is, I would praise it as an enjoyably violent romp. Of course it's much more than that, but it doesn't hurt it to have those moments.

I am gonna start by saying that i will definitely suggest you to read this manga, its a great read that doesnt have boring parts. Now lets get more specific. When i found this manga i was searching for a manga that hand violence and interesting characters, something similar to Ichi, TWIM was exactly what i was searching for.

Story 8/10: The story isnt anything too impressive but its still really good. It follows two storylines, one that focuses on Mon-Toshi(the protagonists) and one that focuses on Higumadon(a giant bear), and the results their action have to the world. I wont go any further because i dont want to spoil the fun, i will conclude the story review by saying that it might seem early on that there is no story but the manga puts some interesting questions on the table and makes you wonder.

Art 8/10: When i saw the art of the manga i thought it was average and it wasnt looking good early on. Now that i look at it again i cant see that the art is good and it gets better with every chapter. The art its pretty detailed and it gives you a dark vibe,like berserk, that this manga needs. The only thing that someone might dislike are the faces.

Character 10/10: The characters and the character development is one of the best i have seen in a manga. There are a lot of interesting characters but i will focus on the protagonists. Both go through multiple psycological stages and change during the story, its cool too see how they change with each decission. Both characters are interesting and a mystery at the same time, even if early on they seem shallow, you will soon understand that they are not. The other characters that play big role in the story are also extremly interesting and each one is different. The only downside i can find is that some characters can be comedic at times.

Enjoyment 9/10: I found the manga to be pretty enjoyable and it keeps you interested during the journey. Ofcourse i would have to say that this manga contains extreme violence and might be hard for some people to read it. For the rest i believe its going to be pretty enjoyable.

Overall 9/10: I give the manga a 9/10( or 8/10). I believe its an enjoyable manga that has interesting characters, great action scens, a story that would make you wonder what it leads to but also make you wonder about some stuff. I suggest this manga tou everyone that want to see an action packed manga that has violense but also an interested story that will make you question what humanity is.

For the vast majority of this series, which, adding up to 163 total chapters, takes no small amount of time to finish, the scenes and the characters shine through the page and allow you to simply sit back and enjoy it like you would with any high-tension Hollywood blockbuster. Indeed, much of this manga feels like the stereotypical action movie with all of the traditional values turned upside-down. The main character is often mute, extremely unpredictable, and given to fits of violence. The sidekick is a nervous kid with an aptitude for explosives and a wavering sense of morality. The hook is that meanwhile, a gigantic and still growing threat is tearing its way through the country.

What really drives this manga is the characters. Each one of them has their own unique way of making you remember them and care about them, and they all tend to exist outside of the "stock character" tradition. The characters in this will really make you think about the complexity of human emotion, and whether the taboos and values that have been imprinted on society and on each of us can really withstand the scrutiny of the human soul.

The problem then, is that this manga has a horrible tendency to start something that simply does not ever come to serve a purpose, and/or is never explained in any way. The main character has an unusual fear of dogs, the sidekick has a sudden urge to blow everything up, the useless chick goes from normal to manic in a heartbeat, the gigantic monster has no origin or destination, characters appear and disappear without reason; all of these things along with the shockingly over-the-top finale may leave a bitter taste in your mouth.

So in conclusion, I advise those of you with an interest to read this manga in the same manner that the main character lives: moment by moment, page by page. It IS an enjoyable manga, and until the very, very end it keeps up a consistent level of tension and constantly leaves you wondering what is going to happen next.

"Good comes from God, evil comes from ourselves. "
This is a sentence that can easily be quoted when talking about Hideki Arai's The World Is Mine.
This work is absolutely nothing ordinary, and will necessarily provoke in the reader a before and after, in my opinion. It is a deeply political story, where two men will seek to test the wrath of God in a Japan fractured by its leaders.
With this work, we go through all the feelings.
Indeed, the work is of unprecedented violence.
Whether it is in his crazy staging or in his drawings (beware! His style is quite atypical!) with his elaborate cut-outs, Hideki Arai constantly shakes us in his universe. The scenes of rape and murder are recurrent, and we are constantly confronted with their fatality. All this is obviously not gratuitous, each of these scenes always serving the purpose of the author, who wanted to be very committed to this. The protagonists are very well-written anti-heroes, each of them having a very complex personality, difficult to understand in the first volumes, but which as the story unfolds and the objectives accomplished are revealed, all this to give us the keys to understanding the story.
Much more, each character introduces to the story to a physical or moral character trait that describes him, which enriches the story ...
Damn, hard to go further without spoiler.
You have to know that if you enter the world of Hideki Arai, you will come out of it changed forever.
I think "The World Is Mine" is a life changing work, and it is good to read it at least once.