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MANGA ComedyFranken Fran Frantic

REVIEWS

• 

  TheGruesomeGoblin

  100/100
  Delightfully disturbing in all the right ways. An absolute must read for fans of horror.

  __WARNING!__

  If you are squeamish, do not like gore, or are particularly not a fan of horror, then immediately, this manga is absolutely not for you. Also, I do not mean the spooky scary jumpscare sort of horror. I mean the horrific side of horror. As in, your life is in the hands of a reanimated surgeon who is determined to save your life at all costs, the costs usually ending up being your humanity or perhaps your past self as a whole. That is, of course, after a horrifically painful and most likely bloody surgery or series of surgeries. This review will not come anywhere near close to showcasing the entirety of all of the messed up shit in this series, but it will likely contain a sample of it. This is the only warning.

  

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  Introduction

  Franken Fran is a series by Katsuhisa Kigitsu, and is without a doubt, one of the most singlehandedly fucked up things I've ever read. Scratch that. It is one of the most DELIGHTFULLY fucked up things I have ever read. I am absolutely not exaggerating when I state the following: this series has everything.

  Body horror, violence, an amusement park that does not share any likeness to any existing locations, super heroes, tragedy, cockroach societies, zombies, a Flying Spaghetti monster, a Kaijuu monster, lots of gore, lots of death, lots of surgery either with absurd or horrible long lasting results. And more that I didn't even mention. Absurdity, horror, gore, and tragedy all wrapped together with a bow stuck on top.

  

  To start out with, the series is a semi-episodic (it has both recurring characters as well as stories that continue to progress throughout the manga) horror manga centered around this reanimated young girl who has taken on the mantle of her father (or rather, creator), Dr. Madaraki. Her name is as you may have already guessed it, Fran. The entire series is more or less around the encounters and operations Fran does for people, and the almost constant horrific aftermath that are brought about by them. There are also chapters about past experiments that her creator did, or around Fran’s sisters whom are also creations of Dr. Madaraki.

  But it shouldn’t be a surprise what the first section of this review is going to be.

  

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  Fran Madaraki

  From the very start of the manga, I absolutely loved Fran as a character.

  

  Her design, her often spoken catchphrase (LET’S BEGIN THE OPERATION!), the way she often elongates words (in the official translation anyways), the way she’s often sometimes shown wobbling when moving (she IS a reanimated corpse after all, and not one of the ones intended to be used in combat situations), how she just adds multiple additional arms to herself when it comes to her performing her surgeries, her dubious morality, her determination to save lives at ALL cost and even if her patients actually WISH to die either because of the pain or because of the changes Fran has to make to them to save their lives, her willingness to basically perform surgeries completely changing or altering people almost willy nilly, her intelligence, and on the rare occasion, when she’s genuinely menacing or the countermeasures she takes against her much more violent and almost indestructible elder sister.

  If you’re going to do an episodic series around one specific character, I think Fran honestly classifies as an example of how to do it PERFECTLY. And in terms of horror, I love the idea of a “monster” that isn’t monstrous whatsoever, but instead, both directly and indirectly CREATES monsters. And that is Fran to a tee, as she becomes genuinely saddened or hurt whenever anybody makes the implication that she is evil or what she does is wrong.

  

  Because she genuinely and entirely believes her surgeries do only good for her clients. Though in actuality, it almost always results in horrific and nightmarish results often for even the patients themselves. If a character has come to Fran willingly seeking a surgery, they've already fucked up and have basically wandered off down a stray path leading into darkness. Fran is not some axe murderer or monster lurking in that darkness, but if you end up getting a surgery by her... best case scenario, you're alive, but your life is ruined or your very humanity is permanently altered.

  Before reading Franken Fran, I probably would have considered the idea of just combining basically Victor Frankenstein and Frankenstein’s Monster into one character as a silly idea or something that wouldn’t work out too well. But… it works perfectly. Especially if you consider… as I said before, the entire manga is more or less about Fran’s experiments and creations and the sometimes prolonged effect they have. But Fran HERSELF is an experiment or a creation of Dr. Madaraki who is in fact assumingly human, and the only thing he programmed into Fran as sort of a guideline is that she cannot kill. Rather, she tries to undo death itself every single time someone either dies in front of her, or she is paid to specially bring back someone. Then, Fran herself decides to basically take Dr. Madaraki’s place when clients start coming to the lab during his absence… with the sole guideline being that death is not permitted...

  

  While it could probably be easy to assume the morality of Fran is in fact evil (and several of the recurring human characters who know her are rightfully terrified or worried the moment they see her), she is chaotic neutral. She wishes to save the lives of who she can at all costs, and won’t hesitate to jump into surgery as soon as someone happens to die right before her even outside of the lab, but there are numerous occasions apart from when her surgeries backfire for her patients after they leave the lab where she does things… counter to this.

  She is fully willing to basically operate and enhance the bodies of even her own enemies, and at one point, has essentially given super strength and other abilities to dozens and dozens of people wishing to be heroes or… to combat the heroes Fran has created in the past. Hell, there are two chapters off the top of my head that ends with Fran calmly wondering to herself if she has threatened the very existence of mankind as a whole.

  Oh, and if some other researcher or scientist try to steal her research or her projects to use themselves and end up leading to less than optimal results as most times what they've stolen tend to be incomplete or not yet perfected, she more or less simply shrugs it off or let the people who stole from her end up having to deal with the consequences.

  

  Additionally, we are also shown that while Fran will try to save the lives of even people who have tried to attack her or the lab, in situations where she is unable to or simply can’t prevent the deaths of others, she has no problems in having her walking organ bag friend Adorea consume the corpses of those that died, to harvest their organs to help save others. And while it’s very rare since of the three Madaraki sisters, Fran is the one who is outright incapable of “killing”, she is capable of being very threatening just like her sisters.

  Also, one last note on Fran herself but, I think Fran performing impromptu surgery on her own neck after it was cut is probably one of the most horrifically badass things I’ve ever seen a character do in a manga and genuinely actually really… I don’t view myself as being very squeamish, but the level of detail he put into her cut neck was just… jesus. We'll obviously never see this animated (like never at all in this universe), but like picturing the actual motion of her sitting up with her head tilting back, only BARELY hanging on is just...

  

  She is also cut in half on another occasion and yes, she performs another impromptu surgery on herself, but that time resulting in two separate Frans.

  Like it’s worth noting that it’s established that reanimated people in this manga absolutely are still capable of feeling pain. I cannot possibly imagine the pain you would feel if you had your neck cut to that extent if you were still also alive (okay she's not alive but you know what I mean). Certainly, for ordinary individuals, it'd probably be too much for them to still be capable of mustering the concentration needed to perform surgery… let alone on their own cut neck.

  ...Thinking about it, while Fran herself adamantly sticks to her no killing rule and even tries to get her sisters to not kill when at all possible, the actual amount of deaths Fran have caused directly or indirectly by her surgeries is probably staggering. In the grand finale of the recurring "super hero" arc, Fran does state that all of the enhancement surgeries she's done following the start of the super hero shenanigans have resulted in the lab obtaining massive amounts of funding but... with each additional person she enhances to be one of these "super heroes", the amount of chaos and damage just increases rapidly.

  

  It's honestly hard for me to think of anywhere near as an effective neutral morality character as Fran. Like she does some good yes, and it's certainly admirable to a point of how determined she is unwilling to let others die before her. But... eventually at a point, death may be preferable. Even then, she doesn't at all hesitate to perform surgeries for a price that will outright enable people to kill MASS amounts of others and then send them off into the world beyond her lab.

  She has, without a doubt, earned her place as one of my favorite characters of all time.

  

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  Gore and Body Horror

  ...I personally don’t believe just plastering on massive amounts of gore, no matter how detailed or extensive, results in good or effective horror. Really, it tends to usually be the opposite. The more you add, the harder it seems to take seriously. Mind you, if done absolutely right and with just the right amount, it can work. But there has to be something more to it than JUST a huge amount of gore. Additionally, more often than not, it ends up straying off into the over the top and silly territory.

  Slasher movies, movies like SAW (or in other words, the "torture porn" genre), Paranormal Activity/Another... I have a certain place in my heart for these sorts. Sometimes, you just want to turn on a movie and watch a living doll murder people or that guy with the knife fingers fuck some people up through their dreams.

  

  But Franken Fran is... first of all, the series is loaded to the very brim with gore, but it is perhaps the most imaginatively used gore I've ever seen so far. The fact that Fran having her neck cut and her reattaching her own neck was in the last section and not this section which is ENTIRELY dedicated to gore, should probably say something. As while that panel is probably going to be one of the panels I will always remember when thinking of this series, there is just so much more.

  Rightfully so, considering the entire series is of course based around surgery. A lot of the surgery scenes in fact actually sort of got to me. As while a lot of them don't even involve blood, seeing like a person's head open and their brain exposed... and... oh... oh god. Like in the very FIRST chapter, Fran just straight up rips a guy's brain out (he of course willingly came to her seeking a surgery), and the eyes were still attached and dangling.

  

  I somewhat honestly believe to actually be capable of doing really lastingly good horror, you have to possess at least somewhat of a fucked up mind. Like both Junji Ito and Stephen King seem like nice enough people in person, and I'm sure Katsuhisa Kigitsu is as well obviously, BUT...

  

  You can't just get me to believe that you have an entirely normal mind if you spend an extended period of time drawing almost any of the shit that happens in this series. No, I don't believe you at all. You're sane and functioning and capable of fitting in society, but deep down, there's something fucked up, and that's where these ideas come up from. And as a person who really loves sections of the horror genre (mostly books and manga), It's wonderful.

  

  As for all the body horror... to be honest, I can't say I've done a huge amount of "body horror" stuff apart from the stuff that emerges in Junji Ito's manga, but it's pretty great and elegantly done in this series. I personally like the stuff that's more towards the gore category (let's be honest here, both are usually intersecting in this series), but it seemed like he was never running out of ideas. Admittedly, probably my favorite example of the body horror in Franken Fran is probably the supporting character Adorea that appears from time to time.

  Like okay, here's the cover of the second omnibus volume.

  

  Fan service, right? But then you of course actually open the book, and then after the interior page of this cover, there is a black and white version of this image, and it is what the character actually looks like. On one hand, it's genuinely kind of a deception. But on the other hand, from even the fan service version of the image alone... you should probably be wondering why or what the purpose for those zippers are.

  Because it then turns out that this character who is introduced in this omnibus volume I believe, is in fact basically a living and walking organ bag whose actual face uncovered is in fact an eldritch nightmare of tentacles that will consume corpses to obtain and store organs from these corpses for future use in Fran's surgeries or research.

  

  Like the idea of just being able to zip open your skin which is just filled to the brim with extra organs and be able to easily remove them is just... like that is a horror character/monster in itself, but she's just this genuinely nice and warmhearted supporting member of the Madraki laboratory. Granted, she does have a few chapters dedicated to her alone, but usually she's just with Fran or Veronica.

  Oh, and additionally, it's worthy to note that the gore is especially effective in Franken Fran since literally nobody is safe from it. Even children get brutally killed in genuinely horrific ways.

  When children get pulled into horror stuff, sometimes, it feels like it's solely because of the fact obviously, unless you're actually messed up, seeing horrible shit happen to children will get a guaranteed strong emotional or guttural reaction from you. I think because of how horrifically (wow I've used this word a LOT in this review and I'm probably going to continue doing so) far Franken Fran takes it, I think it actually works...

  ...but Jesus Christ, Katsuhisa Kigitsu. You have demons living within your brain, and this is how they're trying to get out.

  

  I am not including it in this review but oh yes, there is a panel following that one... and it is... exactly what you may expect. I don't think I've ever described a work of fiction as grisly, but if Franken Fran doesn't deserve it, then nothing does.

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  The Insanity of Limitless Variety

  

  ...As far as episodic things go, I have never been this fully engaged throughout a series. Even stuff like Mushi-shi, there were a handful of mushi that I didn't really find interesting or like the episodes for, but since it's episodic, it tends to be "one and done." In other words, if you didn't like this chapter/episode, maybe you'll like the next one as it's a different although similar thing. If you don't like the country Kino's in this chapter, then that's fine, since she'll be in a completely different country next chapter.

  Franken Fran kept me fully engaged the whole way through, even in the chapters that did not revolve around Fran. And even with the more straight to the point chapters (Fran performs surgery, things go horribly wrong) there was just a ridiculous variety to them that they never once lost me. Then you have the handful of recurring stories that pop up every once in a while and most of those are just completely fucking INSANE.

  

  Then in the more mundane chapters, or rather, the chapters that SHOULD be more mundane, the established craziness of the entire series is still there. AKA, "okay let's have Fran's older sister go to school and act as a teacher" and the chapter will be how she interacts with her students on a day to day basis. Putting aside the fact that we see Gavrill literally survive a direct nuclear assault in a chapter prior to this, she is just...

  

  ...My only regret is that he did not introduce Gavrill sooner than he did so we could have gotten more of her. I'd still say Fran is my favorite, but Gavrill is also glorious but for entirely different reasons. Veronica (cockroach girl) is also good despite probably being my least favorite of the three.

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  Maybe Surgery's a Bad Idea...

  

  To be honest, I'm having some trouble reviewing this series. Usually in a review, I'd tackle entire chunks of a series that I particularly liked/hated and like one specific chapter/episode could be a whole section on its own. But like, the absolute in my opinion best moments in Franken Fran that really "got" me, I would almost classify all of them as... you just need to see it yourself.

  Like if you are resistant enough to gore to have made it this far into this review (therefore probably indicating you at least have a slight interest in horror manga), you should just try it out for yourself. Because almost the entirety of the images from the manga I've included thus far are more or less teasers.

  

  The chapter this is from came very close to crushing my soul.

  Despite what I just said, I do need to state that... the amusement park is completely fucked and is one of my absolute favorite parts of this manga. Like the moment in one of the earlier chapters that Fran transplanted the brain of someone who killed themselves into the body of a giant mascot mouse body that is physically capable of tearing people apart, my hands were glued to the book. After all, I went into Franken Fran already aware that there would be recurring stuff.

  And sure enough, we do see the amusement park that mouse mascot body is intended for. And it is without a doubt, the happiest place in the world, and legally distinct from any existing locations or corporations.

  

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  Conclusion

  This is one of my favorite series of all time. Absolutely in my top ten, and as far as horror manga goes, only Junji Ito is capable of even competing. I want to say maybe there's some even crazier or more enjoyable horror manga lurking around out there, but honestly, I can't picture one topping how I feel towards Franken Fran. I felt almost every single possible emotion throughout reading the whole 61 chapters, and found myself either repulsed or incapable of believing what I was witnessing before my very eyes.

  10 out of 10. I don't know what this says about me as a person, but I can see myself rereading this series multiple times in the future.

  
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• 

  deli000

  70/100
  Good gore, good stuff

  Franken Fran is a dark-comedy manga with lots of gore. If you don’t like gore, then this manga is going to disturb you extremely. However, if you’re like me who absolutely loves looking at dismembered limbs and eye-catching grotesqueries, then you’re going to have a fun time with this. In a way, this manga is sort of like a toned-down version of the world of eroguro. It’s much more “polished” and less “raw” than guro works but still contains the organs, the dismemberment, and the bloody circus of acts that is present in eroguro. It's more creative in its approach through its diverse collection of individual stories, and there are certain chapters where the style of comedy and art feel reminiscent of Shintaro Kago’s (another eroguro artist known for his surreal illustrations) own motifs.

  The thing about Franken Fran is its lack of consistency. Franken Fran is structured in an episodic way, with the titular main character Fran Madaraki going through different scenarios throughout the course of the manga. Thus, there are chapters that are brilliant, from the insect chapters to the stories with human multiplication. And then, there are chapters that are not as interesting and even some that pale in comparison to the rest. Not all of the stories retain the same level of quality. There’s an experimental edge to this manga that lies in the concepts of its individual stories. The author uses the premise of Franken Fran to delve into the components of society and human behavior, and while they’re not the most profound or probing portrayals, the playful nature of the manga contributes an amusing perspective into those things. And if there’s one thing that the manga does extremely well at, it’s in its playful and snarky way of commenting on society.

  Franken Fran explores how we perceive physical appearance and attractiveness, delves into the darker side of the entertainment industry, and touches on the everyday life, all to twist these ideas to fit within the comically apathetic attitude of the manga. It’s a kind of dark humor that’s very tongue-in-cheek and makes the manga feel more fresh and fun as a result. The stories can get wild and almost always lead to an undesirable outcome for the characters. That’s what makes it brilliant though as it’s always played off in a darkly comedic manner. It’s playful and snarky in all the right ways.

  Franken Fran's stories are able to flourish so well due to its peculiar cast of characters. Fran's unethical ways of "saving" her patients lead to a mixture of disturbing and sometimes even outright terrifying abominations. She’s like the crazy mad scientist except that she actually has good intentions, though it’s not always clear from the way she conjures up solutions. The characters in Franken Fran play off of each rather well, and the people that Fran meets and interacts with with each new story offer a new concept to be explored, whether that be reviving humans, wanting to look more physically attractive, or desiring to attain a new body. Fran’s own eccentricities make for countless humorous moments as she works her doctor role which, more often than not, leads to the opposite of what she envisioned. Fran is the perfect character for a manga like this, and her naivety when it comes to human behavior and her lack of concern for the ethical make for some interesting developments in the realm of science.

  And then there’s the artwork.

  Franken Fran’s artstyle, especially with certain illustrations, share the same kind of up-in-your-face presentation as Kago’s stuff but with a little more sheen to it. Franken Fran’s art is gross, overblown, and creative. Through the course of the manga, the author manages to impress and maintain the same level of quality of the grotesque depictions of the operations, mutilations, and chaotic bloodbaths. For anyone who loves looking at gore done in cool ways, this is definitely one of those manga where it's fresh all-around, and there’s always something neat with each chapter. Even though there are certainly chapters that are not so interesting, they’re still worth reading for the bloody bits. There are even some surreal illustrations that accompany the more bizarre stories, and they work to add a little more flavor to the manga as a whole.

  Franken Fran is the kind of manga for big fans of gore, and it definitely offers more than just that. It may not be the most profound manga or the most consistent, but it’s definitely a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to sit back, relax, and envision themselves as a mad scientist (who also happens to have good intentions).

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