Print Review: Ode to Kirihito volume 1 (complete)

Review Ode to Kirihito volume 1 (complete)Written by WarpshadowRating very good/ excellent

Ode to Kirihito is one of those titles that remind me why I read manga. If you find your determination sagging maybe this title will pick it up.

The appearance of the Monmow disease stumped all of the brightest doctors in Japan. The disease has bizarre symtoms as the disease ravages the body transforming it into a more bestial state. The mystery drives Dr. Kirihito Osani to postpone his marriage to his fiance Izumi and travel to the remote village wher the Monmow disease is thought to originate. When he arrives there the worst possible situation occurs and Osani contracts the Monmow disease. When he has to face life looking like a monster he may find out that the real monsters of the world are ugly on the inside.

This manga is my first series look at a work of Osamu Tezuka and from my reading I can really tell why this guy is known as the god of manga. Ode to Kirihito is a deep and insightful manga in a way that few titles ever aspire to be with characters that feel three dimensional and a story that is complex but still easy to understand. I am more than tempted to give this manga a perfect score but I found that the artwork is less stellar than the story so I will hold off on that. This is also a very adult title with several emotionally dark scenes as well as sex and violence (although it serves the story as opposed to being fan service) so I would keep this out of the hands of children. The manga is collected into one volume at around twenty five dollars but since it is eight hundred pages long it is a very good deal. If you are a serious manga reader I suggest that you read this manga.