累－かさね－

KASANE

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
14
RELEASE
August 10, 2018
CHAPTERS
126

DESCRIPTION

Kasane's face is so hideous, you couldn't bear to look twice at her—and her ugliness has forced her to walk a harsh path in life. But her mother left her something: a tube of lipstick. The power of this lipstick will change everything about her downtrodden life.

(Source: Kodansha USA)

Note: Nominated for the 8th Manga Taishou Award.

CAST

Kasane Fuchi
Nogiku
Kingo Habuta
Nobuhiko Uno
Iku Igarashi
Neena Tanzawa

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO KASANE

NOVEL DramaIzana

REVIEWS

TheGruesomeGoblin
100/100
Beware the darkness surrounding the spotlight... lest it consumes you whole.

Kasane is a drama manga by Daruma Matsuura. Right out of the gate I need to state that after a certain point, I remember I started crying, and found myself unable to stop until I finished the rest of the manga. It is of course because of how deeply of a chord this manga struck within me that I am going to attempt to go through this entire review with little to no spoilers whatsoever beyond the very beginning of the manga.

Just in case though, I recommend you to just go ahead and read this manga right now.

To... back up a little bit, this series is centered around a girl named Kasane Fuchi who was born with an ugly face despite her mother being the famed actress Sukeyo Fuchi. Bullied and tormented by her classmates every single day merely for her face and daring to claim to be the daughter of a famous actress, Kasane suddenly finds herself cruelly thrust into the leading role of her class' play.

Obviously, with the intention of humiliating her by forcing her to expose her ugly face to a crowd while simultaneously preventing her from being able to take part in any of the rehearsals. Yet despite knowing this was merely an extension of their bullying, Kasane took the idea of starring in the play seriously, clinging to the hope that others could look past her appearance as she acted upon the stage.

Even while being so deeply afraid of the worst possibility.

And to Kasane's surprise, her deepest fear doesn't come true. The crowd truly does take notice of how much work Kasane has put into it and are able to actually look beyond her appearance. Yet, just as things are going great...

The leading role is ripped from her unfairly. Yet not entirely surprised by this and with the words of her mother ringing in her mind and the lipstick she passed down to Kasane applied to her face...

Kasane takes her first step down her fated path. Out from the abyss and into the light.

A Tragic Saga

I was wholly unprepared for this series.

I learned the gist of this manga before I even started reading it and a whole trashy horror series about an ugly girl who would steal other girls' faces with a magical lipstick materialized immediately within my mind. That's what I was supposed to be what I ended up reading.

Or so, that's what I thought.

Instead, I received a play in manga form. A whole cast of characters that serve their roles tremendously, several of which who are interlocked in the repeat of a tragic tale already once played out. There are several characters who are just so utterly lost to their personal obsession and no matter what sins they commit to obtain them, I find myself unable to root for or sympathize with just one of them.

As much as I like all the other characters, there’s no denying that the one standing in the center spotlight is

Kasane

We're with Kasane all the way from the start of her tragic tale to the very end. And the core of this manga no doubt is that progression of her life. For that first moment she used the lipstick irrevocably altered the course of her life forever.

She would never be the same after that day. For the temptation to use the lipstick is too great to be ignored.

Kasane bears genuine talent for acting, but constantly bullied and isolated because of her appearance, she becomes hateful of her own true face. Armed with a lipstick that allows her to change faces with anyone, she enters a never ending cycle of discarding her true appearance for someone else’s.

As she cannot act with the face of Kasane Fuchi. For that face is too ugly. Too foul. She’ll be booed. She’ll be mocked. She’ll have things thrown at her.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

She can have all the acting talent in the world and it’ll do her no good with a face like that. Beauty is a necessity.

Ugly, ugly, ugly.

Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.
Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.
Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.
Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.
Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

These sort of thoughts unfortunately plague Kasane almost through the entire manga. These thoughts and the power of the lipstick rapidly cause Kasane to truly become the ugliest character of the manga. As her sins grow more and more as she desperately keeps trying to keep a pretty face she can use in her reach.

Throughout the entire course of this manga, I had both rooted for Kasane's very destruction (the absolute worst thing that could have happened to her at the time) as well as wished for her to turn back from her path before it was too late.

But the problem was that of course it already was too late. Far too late.

Because as Kasane grows older and further hones her acting, the heavier her actions weigh on her, and the more seemingly hollow her fame becomes. She had always wished to be someone else. To have a different face. Yet, while the applause may be deafening... it is never for her. It is never for Kasane Fuchi.

It's always for Neena. It's always for Saki. Never for Kasane.

Never. Never for her.

Habuta

While it's debatable whether or not he would fall under the category of main characters, Habuta very surprisingly proved to be a very deep and interesting character.

I remember wondering the very first panel he shows up almost immediately what role he was going to end up playing. Perhaps I judged him too much solely off of his appearance, because I certainly didn't expect him to be... the character he is.

He is... genuinely intimidating and frightening at numerous points throughout the manga. At other times, he purposely throws fuel onto the fire of Kasane's obsession no matter what he must do to push her forward.

In a series filled to the brim with characters becoming consumed by obsession, whether it be obsession with beauty, obsession with revenge, or obsession with a woman, Habuta is without a doubt one of the most consumed.

For even if Kasane cries off her path and doesn't want to use the lipstick anymore, Habuta will drag her back into the spotlight himself if need be. For after all, he had promised Kasane's mother, hadn't he? He can't afford to lose her again...

Habuta, even with all he does in the manga, I felt so goddamned bad for. Because no matter how terrible his actions became, he had understandable motivations.

However, they gradually became more and more twisted due to how entangled he is within the tragedy surrounding Kasane and her mother, Izana or who would end up being known to most as Sukeyo Fuchi.

Nogiku

Nogiku, is essentially our secondary main character after Kasane. I cannot go into much detail about her as that'll spoil a lot of the manga, but I'll say that my enjoyment and interest of this series reached its very peak following her introduction. As she turned out to be the walking antithesis of Kasane.

A woman who genuinely possessed true beauty, but had absolutely every right to fucking despise it because it made her upbringing and her life an actual living hell.

And of course, like most of the other characters... she has a goal to obsess over.

Namely, bringing about the absolute ruin of the fraudulent face stealing Kasane Fuchi.

Emotion

Considering this whole manga is centered around acting and stealing faces you could take this for a given, but good lord there is so much emotion on these characters’ faces. I feel no matter how brief I am in doing so, that it’s important for me to praise this because it really adds that extra oomph when you can just feel the emotion seething from the page itself.

Whether it’s anger, sorrow, distrust, hatred, or disgust.

The Horror of Being Yourself or Losing Yourself

You may or may not have noticed that of the genres Kasane is set as, horror is included. Yet I described it primarily as a drama manga at the start of this review.

But that is not to say there is no horror in this. Far from it.

All of Kasane's actions derive from the fear and hatred of her ugly self that consumes her on a daily basis. But yet the harder she tries to discard her true identity, the more hollow everything becomes. Her options are to keep running away or to turn and face her true self. But the more she does that, the more sins she accumulates...

But that's just Kasane... as for Kasane's victims...

Using the lipstick allows her to trade faces with anyone. That means she gets a pretty face and the person she trades with ends up with Kasane's face. Kasane needs a pretty face to borrow.

But what if... what if the owner of that face no longer wishes to uphold their arrangement with Kasane? And even if they do, what if Kasane can no longer trust that person?

It wouldn't do to have someone not only possessing Kasane's true face but the knowledge of Kasane's secret to be let free, would it? No, it wouldn't. They would have to be locked away yet kept in arm's reach, for the lipstick's power lasts a mere twelve hours before the face switch reverts...

...And that's to say nothing of if Kasane is forced to interact with relatives of the original face's owner. How is one to react if a loved one suddenly and out of nowhere begins to act differently... as if they were someone else?

While I wouldn't describe Kasane primarily as a horror manga, there certainly is quite a lot of horror in it indeed...

Fin

Kasane is a lot of things. A tragedy, there's a whole section of the manga that I would probably describe as that of a psychological thriller, and a riveting drama manga with deep blood red streaks of horror.

A manga about acting, a manga about obsession, a manga about revenge, a manga about two characters so set on their goals that they're willing to sacrifice anything to achieve them.

If I ever happen to read another manga and find myself as deeply drawn into it as I was with Kasane, I will consider myself eternally lucky. I give Kasane a complete 10 out of 10, and it will probably remain as one of my favorites forevermore.

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kanch0me
90/100
Haunted by the desire of being beautiful.
- Minor spoilers ahead;
- The score is merely ilustrative.
Beauty is a characteristic that is capable of captivating those who observe it. It is a manifestation of the splendor of being that can provoke satisfaction. Even if it is relative, what is beautiful tends to be contemplated. People who are blessed with this attribute are revered and exalted. It is following these aspects that the manga Kasane narrates the tragic journey of Kasane Fuchi.

Slightly inspired by the short story Kasanegafuchi (not to be confused with the movie Shinkei Kasanegafuchi), Daruma Matsuda has no intention of presenting a tale in the style of the Ugly Duckling. The author spares no effort in showing how Kasane is denigrated and inferiorized. At one point it is mentioned that the character's appearance can make the drink taste like shit.

If by one hand Daruma exposes the scorn suffered by the protagonist, he also takes the time to work on Kasane's personality. Presented as an aggressive, harsh, and dark person, obviously for her own good. In addition, the character's desires and ambitions are manifested distinctly and convincingly, and offer identity to Kasane.

Even though the manga has supernatural elements, they are not explained in depth. Even though they have significance for the plot, these components do not offer, at least in isolation, any charm to the narrative, and what is left to do this task are the protagonist's relationships and her psychology.

Although Kasane reminds me a bit of Tom Ripley (a character created by Patricia Highsmith, who can personify his victims), she is not some kind of sociopath. The protagonist initially uses invasive methods to steal faces, but with the appearance of Kingo Habuta (a prosaic and prominent figure in the story), the approach becomes more discreet.

Sometimes the exchange of faces between Kasane and the other person is at first a mutual benefit, since the individual has good looks but no acting talent, the opposite of the protagonist. However, the harmonious relationship becomes a dependency for both Kasane and the person involved.

Of the relationships between Kasene Fuchi and the other characters, the most intriguing is the one with Nogiku, who enters the scene to show a different side. She and Fuchi are like water and oil, yet they suffer from the same misfortune, the deprivation of the pleasures of life. But this occurs differently for each one.

However, Kasane's relationship is not limited to interaction with other characters. The theater is the main setting that appears in the course of the plot, and this has a direct influence on the protagonist's psychological state. The roles that Fuchi plays in the stage plays are connected to her emotional state. A notable example is in Macbeth, where she plays Lady Macbeth. In William Shakespeare's tragedy the Queen of Scots is tormented by hallucinations. Similarly, Kasane is afflicted by the ghosts of those she has usurped the face of.

Acting consists in giving life and reality to something or someone fictitious, and managing to convince the spectator that it is true. In this context, Matsuura's character does this task masterfully. Kasane Fuchi can convert the false into the real (and this is precisely her intention). By incorporating the face of another individual, she transforms herself into an entirely new being, and transmits the following thought: "Who really is Kasane? Who is the copy and who is the original?" .

It is in this moment of transformation that the character shows us a hypnotic facade full of presence, which at times, seems to create a kind of dialogue with the reader. "See how beautiful I am. But don't look deeply". Gradually the protagonist enters a state of self-rejection.

At a deeper look, the manga seems to allude to becoming (philosophy), which is about the process of effective change that every being goes through. The concept was introduced by Heraclitus of Ephesus in opposition to the state of permanence, postulating that everything is in constant change and transformation.

But the exact definition of the concept is far from unanimous, and over the decades various scholars have dealt with the concept of becoming. Friedrich Nietzsche, in his philosophy on the subject, observes the tension between opposing forces (hot-cold, day-night). The passage from one to the other is what is called becoming, and this occurs through the conflict relation between the opposites, because for one to prevail, the other must cease to exist.

In Kasane the struggle between opposites is present in many moments. What is beautiful and what is ugly, what is true and what is false, acceptance and rejection, happiness and sadness, what is apparent and what is hidden.

Conclusion

Kasane delivers the usual message that we must accept ourselves, but the way it is transmitted is quite unique. Even though she has a reprobable nature, the protagonist shows her moments of regret and sorrow. Although she does not reveal it, she always seems to be unhappy, because her happiness is purely illusory. Sometimes it becomes difficult to wish for the character's success or to expect her downfall, because in the end she is just someone who is haunted by her own desires.
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