Brain Damage

I love manga, and I envy the beautiful drawings that are able to tell a story with such vivid details. Brain Damage was great, with bizarre stories that draw you in, whilst pulling you bit by bit into their madness. There is also a lot of gore too, for us sickos lol. There are 4 stories and whilst I didn’t love all of them, the drawings themselves are enough to keep you turning the pages. These stories have all such cool concepts, but I found that sometimes the ending wasn’t up to the premise. My favourite was Curse Room, a reimagining of the zombie trope, with supernatural elements. I must say though, that the story Family Portrait had me a bit shocked, as there is an inappropriate depiction of a very sexual teenager, being groped and sexually harassed by her grandfather. This was done in a jokingly way, which I felt a bit sick about. Not just that, but at some point in the story, the teenager is blamed for bringing this on herself by the way she dresses and carries herself, which I found so enraging and disturbing. And, by the way, towards the end it got worse and I felt really uncomfortable. All in all, I enjoyed it, but some of the elements of one of the stories really bothered me, but this is always my opinion. The drawings are really good, and I love reading manga for that! Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read it and this is my honest opinion.

I really hoped to like this and the first two stories I did enjoy. It went rapidly downhill at the 3rd. I’m someone who has read a lot of extreme horror and splatterpunk, I can handle trigger warnings but Family Portrait was just gross. Massive over sexualisation of a minor and incest involving them and a vulnerable adult. It added nothing to the story and it almost made me DNF. I did read the 4th story which was okay, but by that point I just didn’t care anymore, shame.

Brain Damage is an absolute must read! Each of the 4 stories have a lot of twists and turns to keep you guessing and thinking. The manga was very unique and well thought out. Most of the time, my jaw was on the floor as I read. it. Blood Harvest was my absolute favorite out of the stories. I liked all of the weirdness throughout the stories, aside from The Family Portrait story. Family portrait made me feel really uncomfortable with the incest and sexualizing a minor. There were some scenes that felt very unnecessary. But, it was otherwise a very great manga. Thank you to NetGalley, Author, Kago, and Fantagraphics for this ARC.

Omg this manga/book is genuinely so amazing it’s a psychological type of horror the stories are unique and scary thrillers it reminds me of junji itos work so if u love horror mangas and junji Ito u should DEFINITELY buy this so worth it although one of the stories(family portrait) was extremely weird💔

Honestly it doesn't bother me, it is noticeable though and I would've preferred it didn't have that. Regardless, it's a great Manga!

This is some of Kago's most substantial work, drawn and written with a purpose. Much of his work can be considered random and meandering (to me, in an endearing way), but this is as focused as I've seen in a long time. The book itself from Fantagraphics is very nice -- striking, good quality paper, and in general a great release. You won't be displeased.

Kago is incredible I’ve been waiting the whole year for this to come out and it is the read of a lifetime. Before that I’ve been waiting years for an English manga from him and refused to finish Dementia 21 until I knew a new one was coming out so I’d always have something of his to read