[color=purple]Plot: Welcome to BILLY BAT Amusement Park! Wall Dismay, whossat? poof I'll make him disappear! Ehehehehe!/10 [/color]
To summarize it in a spoiler-free manner: A normal guy gets trapped into a weird, bizarre sequence of events. However, the world is as grounded and real as we know it. What is real? What is fake? WTF IS GOING ON? That's the plot, sergeant! You figure it out yourself what the effin fck is going on! That'll be your duty for this assignment!
[color=blue]Vibes: I wanna embrace the 1950s American Blues OOPSY DOOPSY HERE COMES A LOONEY TUNES AD BREAK!/10[/color]
Just like many noir series before it, this series is rife with dangerous individuals prowling at every corner of the street: It plays the serious tension really well in moments of dangers, leading up coldly to some random unsettling events... then gives you whiplash by adding sequences of some wacky cartoon strip SFX like
⦧ᨈᨈᨈᨈᨈ⦦
⧼ BOOM ! ⧽
⦦ᨈᨈᨈᨈᨈ⦧
(Think of CUPHEAD to have a rough idea)...
What's going on? Well, all I can say that it can be fun if you are into reading through the lines... And sometimes, it really goes off-tangent by jumping you with some RANDOM JAPANESE NINJA DUDE (wtf!?!?!) but somehow tries to make sense of it... like lmao!? It's so BS, but if you don't let the suspension of belief get to you it can be a blast! ---otherwise you'll be like "WTF is this?" Your challenge to not get lost: Consider these weird tangents relevant to the plot and BE STRAIGHT LACED ABOUT IT LMAO.
Personally, it gave me some 0o0 feel when the cliffhanger hits while the serialization was still ongoing. Decoding and tying the parallel of the allegorical comic strips can be fun!
[color=red]Craziness: O H S H I T /10 (when it happens)[/color]
It's "crazy" in the sense it'll make you feel "whu-who-whuuuuut"! I wouldn't say that it's super trippy. Just has this uncanny valley vibes at times when the pieces and reality hits, which can add to some slightly scary/unsettling vibes to it... Hm, how do I explain this? The series with the closest vibes I can think of as writing this review is probably "The Man in the High Castle (TV series), an alternative history periodic drama.
However, unlike series that are "always crazy". This one is only crazy when the climax hits, and so don't expect craziness every single chapter... Like for the majority of the chapters, think of it constantly brewing a budding "calm before the storm" vibe.
Characters: Human Actors/10
The way the characters are portrayed here feel more "plot-centric" than character-driven stories. So... it's not really about the "developments" but how much they can match the vibes this series try to go for. Vibes-wise, they feel like TV dramas characters, like they exist to advance the plot, rather than making you feel extremely attach to them. Not sure if it's typical of this author, but it certainly makes it stands out from the many other manga out there. It definitely has a distinct and grounded style that makes it closer to a "mature" style. In a way that they behave "closer to normal everyday people" than typical manga archetypes. But if pitted against other "mature" works like published novels, it will probably pale in writing quality.
Should you read this?
While I personally enjoyed it due to having a soft spot for crazy developments (the hyperlink is just a list of series I enjoyed for being crazy enough for my taste; viewing requires being signed in), it might not be the case for you! Tempt your expectations, and use the following checklist to see whether it'll be a good fit or not!
- If you want some comfy read to chill after a long day -> This series won't do it.
- If you want to see some braindead action -> This series ain't it.
- If you want a big world building series where everything is tied properly --> This ain't it; if the author improved on this point, I could perhaps give it a higher score; it can still be fun, but might also be a dealbreaker for many
- If you are looking for a deeper meaning; there ain't. See below.
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- It's a series about the journey, not the end.
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- BILLY BAT WAS THE FRIENDS WE MADE ALONG THE WAY <-> If you can accept such a gag ending; YOU CAN MAKE IT; otherwise, you'll be like WTF I WASTED MY TIME FOR THIS---
- If you are in need for your monthly mindf*ck because you are running out of true crime threads/discussions/podcasts. THIS IS THE SERIES.
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- Recommendation: This series is slightly slow to digest and all the fun lies in coming up the theories for it. So, in return, reading it all at once will make it boring! Wouldn't having all the clues laid bare right after the hints are given is the same as getting all the fun spoiled?
- If you don't mind going back a few chapters to catch up "foreshadowing" because hunting for clues is so fun. -> Ey yey, go for it.
- If you are looking for something that will rival actual investigative true crime stories and detective stories -> No it won't; it's just a little mystery manga with one hell of a wacky vibe, not some grand 9000 IQ mindf*ck philosophical lecture/intricately planned story.
In short, it's a nerdy love letter for casual history fans who won't mind seeing certain scenarios being "re-enacted" in manga form. It was my first Urasawa Naoki work so I went in without bias or knowledge of his previous works (I read this while it was getting serialized when I was 15 a little more than a decade ago, and this series was best enjoyed when speculating what's going to happen next). But if I were to be asked to reread it now, I wouldn't all read in one-go. It is best to read it as if it's a serialized publication, like comic strips in the back of olde newspaper. I would say that it also doesn't have that much of a re-read value (if I were to start reading it over again after finishing the whole series). But I do admit having reread it while it was still an on-going series to catch up on the missed hints! BTW, I didn't bother rereading this series after I was done with it (even though I read it eons ago) and mostly came up with the review from what I could remember on top of my head. Well, for one it's surely memorable even if flawed!
tl;dr: This isn't really a series that will change your life or anything. It's just a cool little read if you are a history/mystery/true crime nerd interested to see the attempt of an author trying to reconcile different facets of recorded history. I certainly enjoyed it mostly for the unique vibes that no other series ever provided me with. (maybe with some exceptions like those dark humours Fujiko strips)
Further Ramblings
Only go through it if you have time to kill! It's just me bullshitting mindlessly!
Be mindful that it probably has a 99.999% chance of spoil the fun of reading the series though! So only read the following sections once you're "done" with the series however you see it:
Review of the Ending
Non-sensical and whack. Might be a disappointment if you wanted something grounded and logical (the end is disappointing if you try to expect some greater answer like the creation of the universe) with a strong message/thematic.
However... ! if you can take in strides the vibes casually, you might have fun with it. Essentially, to sum it down in a shitpost tone --- Here ahead lies some spoilers about the meaning of the series. Here goes nothing!
It's about how every major event is linked to a d00d called "Billy Bat";
He is the Holy Spirit, the origin of life, traces of him existing from the eons of civilizations---and onwards to the far future!
The Bat is the root of every cause and consequence!
The Bat is one with the Universe!
We Are the Bat...
The Bat is One with Us!!!
(YOU ARE NOT TRIPPING AND THIS IS NOT A NEW AGE CULT.)
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