Series: Kagerou

Warning: This comic is, once again, most definitely not for children. It contains sex nudity, and graphic torture, none of which is censored.

The series

"This sounds like the plot of a really bad anime, but what the hell, right? I'll try anything once."

Stop me if you've heard this one before: A bizarrely effeminate guy gets picked up off the street and whisked off to a world of magic, where it is revealed that he has just been chosen to serve as the champion for a goddess. In order to fulfill this role, he must find a magic sword, rescue a princess, and defeat a demon king.

As far as plots go, this one's been... done. A lot. And that's the plot that Kagerou has... At first.

But it quickly becomes apparent that things are not as cliche simple as they seem. For starters, the guy chosen to be champion was picked up right after he escaped from an insane asylum. Also, he manages to last about five minutes before one of the demons kills him.

Trust me, it's rarely this silly.
Disturbingly so.

Fortunately for our hero, some elf types find him and bring him back to life, insisting that he continue the quest. It's only when he goes for the magic sword that he discovers that the goddess selected another champion while he was dead -- and the goddess who did the choosing wants him to go back to being so.

And of course, the demons haven't stopped wanting him dead either. And on top of that, he still has to deal with his hallucinations and alternate personalities -- one of whom is a rapist and serial killer who wants the main personality destroyed, and has Sylar-esque telekinetic powers. Oh, and the hallucinations may or may not actually be our hero astrally projecting himself into other dimensions, the personalities may or may not be ghosts trapped in his body, and the entire series may or may not be a head-trauma induced hallucination.

Still sound simple?

The reason I chose Kagerou for this review is because it's much like the last review I did: It's a dark and graphic but well-written story that is also incredibly obscure and under-rated. Its draws are different from Mortifer, however.

A major point about this comic is the portrayal of the main character's insanity. Despite the surreality of it, it's actually fairly realistic, as the author spent quite some time in an insane asylum himself, and is quite familiar with the disorders he portrays.

Another point in its favor is the dialogue. The author has an amazing sense of humor, which in spite of the comic's dark nature tends to shine through in conversation.

That said, the biggest draw of this series is how it takes a completely played out concept and turns it into something completely unexpected.

Kagerou isn't for everyone, though. the series as a whole is intended to be very disturbing. The warning at the start of this post is only a part of it, albeit a large one. It can also be a bit confusing, as there are entire sequences that take place in "the zones," which seem to be symbolic or... something.

On another note, like many webcomics Kagerou has a problem with early art. In this case however, this is due to the original art files for the early chapters being lost, with poor quality jpegs being the only available replacements. It's readily apparent that the early artwork would actually be pretty good if it weren't blurry. The first three chapters have already been redrawn in any case.

Lastly, the author is rather slow with updating -- rather understandable, considering his circumstances. Fortunately, there is a rather sizable archive to peruse.

Overall Verdict: Kagerou is a good series, but quite definitely not for everyone. If you are easily put off by the presence of rape, violence, and gruesome imagery in a work, you probably shouldn't go for this one.