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.


((If you liked this review, check out my other reviews by going to my profile and clicking the 'reviews' tab. I review virtually all anime and manga I find!))

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.

Let me first start off by saying that there were some great panels in this manga that as stand-alones made chilling art pieces. That doesn't save this mostly barren stream of concious manga that lacks substance. For a gorefest that has characters who act bizarrely and things happen beyond reason, I'd honestly say Hikari Lychee Club did it better. That manga felt like it had something to say while Goth definitely didn't feel like the psychological dive or commentary on the human condition that I'd hoped.

The best way to describe Goth is by saying "and this happened... followed by this... and this shortly followed by that.." Beyond the concept of 2 teens obsessed with death, it really wasn't all that great. It was flat and boring. Not even the occasional great artwork could save it. It's not even consistent in quality when it comes to the art, because there's times where it flat out looks like a meas.

To all their own, but Goth was just poorly executed sequences of events with a new flavor each chapter for the damsel to be put in and the makeshift detective to suddenly show up to.

For a manga which has you suspend your disbelief but with far greater results other than Hikari Lychee Club, I'd recommend Pupa (manga, NOT anime) which has a subpar story but incredibly far out scenes and artwork far less tame.. And let's not forget the mangaka Shintaro Kago with his ultra violent obscenities and creative depictions of them all. Goth could've been more but left me feeling like I've missed a bunch of chapters in between.

TLDR: Characters, flat. Story, doesn't feel like it has much to say. Artwork, at times is great with some memorable scenes but otherwise generic.

Some people really like this, and there's even a novel that some people say is much better. I haven't read it yet, but I plan to. The manga is a short read, so I'd definitely recommend just so you can form your own opinions. I read it in less than 30 minutes.

Honestly, I don't even know why I thought reading this would be a good idea. No, wait, I actually do! This manga randomly appeared on my goodreads recommendations and I was like: "this looks interesting" and I clicked it, and I saw the summary, and then I read someone say something about gore, horror and creepy stuff and well, that's pretty much why I decided to give it a try. Because you know, I have a thing for gore-y manga, but guess what. . .it didn't work for me. The only thing I liked about it was the mystery solved around the end. Nothing else. Why? Because it didn't make sense for me, it didn’t felt believable, and most of the time I was asking myself: “really?” Maybe, if it had been a few chapters longer I would’ve enjoyed it more, but oh well. Now, if you're wondering about the gore well, it wasn't that "horrifying”. I mean, it does have “ugly” stuff, but I expected worse. . .I’ve seen worse.

In the end, I can summarize my thoughts about this in three words: I EXPECTED WORSE.

Simply beautiful artistic skills and amazing plot.Though it's only one volume,it's making your heart beat with every second,while you enter into the world of darkness.

At first it was a novel,byOtsu-ichi,later adapted into manga(Kendi Oiwa)
The story follows two high-school students,who are fascinated by murder.Somehow,Yoru Morino,one of the main characters,is like an atraction to the 6 murder cases she is solving with Itsuki Kamiyama,her classmate.

'Goth' absolutely smashes the ball out of the park with its first chapter, which is appropriately nasty, queasy and - importantly - grounded. Sure, it has some outlandish moments; but the murders are appropriately gruesome rather than glossy and the main character's conniving nature is established in a surprisingly realistic way for this kind of manga. I'd like to see more sociopath MCs in a realistic setting without being a fantasy super-genius, especially if they're as well-written as this one in as few chapters.

When the stakes get higher, everything drifts off into more anime-mystery land. The two protagonists seem surrounded by an uncommon number of serial killers; one of the mysteries in particular concludes with a pretty dangerous assumption on the part of our 'hero', whose murder-solving gets more and more effortless with each segment but feels less and less earned. The final case ends with a pretty boring and easy-to-call twist, and it's a real shame to see Yoru's character slowly descend into damsel-in-distress when she's so intriguing early on (one episode has her casually dressing up in the clothes of a murder victim, which is appropriately unnerving but doesn't quite match up with later character revelations).

With a more even balance of power between the two leads and with more commitment to a scuzzier, uglier tone, this would have been an easy 10. As is, it's a solid 8 that doesn't outstay its welcome and has rather beautiful art. The ending is disappointing but it's fast-paced, efficient and tense throughout.

ALSO BE WARNED: Others have mentioned that this is a very gory manga. They are not kidding. This ran in a shonen publication(?!) but it reads far more like seinen in every respect. Discretion very advised.

This is only my second review so forgive me if I am not very clear .I think this story is very intresting mostly because I do not get into psychological stories and horror stories , but what makes this story amazing is the characters because their attitude towards murder , death , etc is very interesting .It is nice to read a manga of this nature where the main characters don't go insane and actually stay calm cool and collected throughout the story.

Goth is a short gruesome psychological mystery horror manga. The story is about two high school students who are interested in death and serial murderers and solves them whenever one comes their way. Now I say they solve them but actually it is the female character that gets captured by the murderer in every chapter and it is the male high school student who solves it, though he does not call the police as he is almost as twisted and deranged and the murderer usually escapes.

I was hoping for abit more when I started reading this. I feel as though it could have made a really good mystery manga if it wasn't for a few things. The first is that it concentrates much less on the mystery and is much more about the gore and blood, and although it is a horror manga hence you should expect this, there's no point to it really. Also, the characters are abit generic. What with the male character being the hero and being a genius AND finding out who the serial murderer is in two seconds flat AND having all the power as he saves the female character over and over again- it's like alot of other manga characters.

But apart from all that it is quite entertaining. A shame it's only 5 chapters long. And as the final two chapters are when it really gets good. You kind of feel that if it was longer it would have made a much bigger impression as those last two chapters leave you wanting more.

My imagination went for a stroll when I read the title 'Goth' of this Manga. What could I expect? A medieval setting, perhaps, with castles and lightning, witches and torture? Or would it be about gloomy guys in long dark coats?

It happened to be neither, and for that I am thankful. Goth in this title refers more to interest in the dark side of life. The sensation that gory images and horrible stories give people. It is about a girl and a boy who try to find out the motives behind certain killings in their neighbourhood, out of nothing but interest. When they start finding a lot of clues, they might be sucked in too deeply to return...

It is a one-shot manga, with only one volume. The downside of this approach is that neither the character nor the story has time to really evolve. Some events happen too quickly to leave an impression and the protagonists seem a bit hollow - with more time given, they might have become more real.

Despite those things, Goth still is a very entertaining manga. The story may be short, but it is an interesting story. The art is brilliant and makes up for the flaws as mentioned above. The gory details are not left out, but do not take a prominent part in the manga - which I am grateful for.

In conclusion: it is a very enjoyable manga, with a nice story but it a shame that the author did not allow himself more chapters to let the story evolve more naturally.