ウツボラ

UTSUBORA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
2
RELEASE
March 6, 2012
CHAPTERS
14

DESCRIPTION

The story begins when Aki Fujino, a beautiful girl who the novelist Mizorogi knew, dies under mysterious circumstances. Then a girl appears before Mizorogi, and although she introduces herself as Aki's twin sister Sakura, her true identity is a complete mystery. As Mizorogi's past ties with Aki come to light, people begin to suspect him of plagiarism. Mizorogi's life spirals deeper into darkness as his editor and the police probe further into Aki's death and Mizorogi's connection with her.

(Source: Anime News Network)

CAST

Sakura Miki
Aki Fujino

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

paradox3489
95/100
NO SPOILER REVIEW: Complex well-thought story with a rewarding ending and re-read.
NO SPOILER REVIEW: Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist

I will be talking about the pros and cons of the characters, plot, and artwork. There will be no spoilers such as major plot points mentioned in this review.

Scoring:

5 - Perfect, 4 - Good, 3- Average, 2- Bad, 1- Garbage

[+] - PROS [-] CONS

Synposis:

The story begins when Aki Fujino, a beautiful girl who the novelist Mizorogi knew, dies under mysterious circumstances. Then a girl appears before Mizorogi, and although she introduces herself as Aki's twin sister Sakura, her true identity is a complete mystery. As Mizorogi's past ties with Aki come to light, people begin to suspect him of plagiarism. Mizorogi's life spirals deeper into darkness as his editor and the police probe further into Aki's death and Mizorogi's connection with her.

Is this manga for you?

If you love psychological /mystery manga that challenges your mind, forces you to piece all the pieces together, and keep you clueless about what is going on until the end, then you will love utsubora.

Plot: 5/5

Utsubora plot is very confusing in a good way, filled with hidden/deep messages, and follows an odd timeline order that can only be full understood when re-read or analyzed.

[+] Good pacing maintaining suspense from beginning to end.
[+] Utsubora has a confusing timeline which when pieced together is very rewarding.
[+] Themes such as identity, loneliness, depression, emptiness, the purpose of life are executed nicely.
[+] Realistic portrayal of the pressure mangakas face in the manga industry.
[+] A rewarding ending that answers most questions, leaving some questions open-minded.
[+] Has a good re-readability factor.

Characters: 4/5

Utsubora mainly focuses on the 2 main characters Mizorogi and Sakura, whilst side characters interact with the main characters to give more personality to the main characters.

[+] The main characters Mizorogi and Sakura,are very mysterious, well-written characters with good depth.
[-] Side characters are not important to the story and lack depth, however for a 13 chapter manga I wasn't expecting much focus on the side characters.

Art : 3/5

The artwork was average but was easy to follow and the art style fits the story.

[+] Some interesting and creative panels.
[-] Character design is average, the geometry of the characters can be unrealistic sometimes.
[-] Background art is average, nothing amazing.
[-] Some dialogue boxes are placed in confusing places, leaving me confused on which character is speaking.

Summary

I personally enjoyed reading this manga and just being confused after every chapter. This manga has a very well-thought-out complex plot that will leave you clueless but when you re-read the manga and start piecing everything together, you will have a very rewarding re-read. The main characters bring up interesting issues and dialogues that will make you think a lot. Artwork such as character design could have been better and the side characters could have been more interesting and useful to the overall plot. For a manga that only has 13 chapters, utsubora surprised me with its unique and complex plot.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND

Continue on AniList
Benkei
65/100
A spoiler-free review of Utsubora. A mystery too complex for its size.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Considerations ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ ● __This is a spoiler-free review.__ ● __60+ in my rating means below average.__ ● I've got to read this work on a friend's recommendation. I didn't look too much into the synopsis and just started reading. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Story ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ A woman fell from the top of a building. As she collides head first, her body is unidentifiable. She carries no ID or wallet. The only clue is the phone next to her. Was it a suicide? Was it a murderer? Who is this woman? At first, they made a good mystery, and I was engaged, but I find the best mystery is the one that doesn't give you information, so you have to play the role of detective, creating your own theories with the little information that you have, trying to understand people's motivations and so on. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with this work. The story makes use of different timelines and keeps adding different pieces of information that __don't trace a straight line to the conclusion, but rather make a curvy path that you can't really focus on.__ When I was reading, I found myself creating theories about the mystery and finding those theories false because of a new addition. Then I created another theory, and another piece of new information crushed it. That keeps happening until the end, and in my personal opinion, that's not the best way to write a mystery. Although I can see people feeling euphoric about the number of theories and such. Another point that I feel is important to point out is how they approach the erotic. There are a lot of erotic scenes, and while some are justified and make sense, There are also a lot of sexual scenes without any real need, almost forced into the story. It doesn't even seem like fan service; it's just odd. (Chp. 7, page 14 ??) The good point about the story is the philosophy. There are a lot of quotes and visuals that you can look at and reflect upon. That was definitely one part of this work that I enjoyed a lot. (An example of a philosophical moment) ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Art Style ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The art at first was really amusing to me. At first, the style of slender, long body, strong expression, amazing eyes, and eyelashes really got me captivated. With time, I started to notice a lot of backgrounds lacking information, and a lot of weird proportions, especially when there's a sexual scene. The author starts to distort the character in weird ways. (Example of background) ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The Characters ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ The story focuses mainly on two characters. I think that their story is done pretty well, even though it can be confusing. Background characters have no development or depth whatsoever. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ Conclusion ════ ⋆★⋆ ════ If you're like me, you skip everything and read only the conclusion because you don't want to get spoiled with other themes. So I will try to be brief on this point: __Maybe read it.__ If you're a real die-hard fan of mystery, you may actually enjoy this work. The philosophy of the manga is also a good point, but __if you're looking for a "normal" mystery that you can read at ease, I'm afraid that's not the best choice. __
Continue on AniList