Manga Review: Doubt

Inspired by Shiki doing her horror manga trilogy on Ito Junji, I decided to review three horror/psychological mangas that I currently love.  These are Doubt, Deadman Wonderland, and Mirai Nikki.  I consider these three series to be the “trifecta of horror/psychological manga”; if you like one, you’re almost guaranteed to like the other two.  So I’m going to start off with the shortest, and the only one that’s actually complete: Doubt.  (Not to be confused with the shoujo manga series Doubt!!)

Doubt is written and illustrated by Yoshiki Tonogai, one of the Higurashi arc mangakas.  The story premise is nothing spectacular, but is one that always leads to chills and all-around good horror.  Six people get trapped in a real-life game in which 1 of the 6 is out to murder everyone.  The entire set-up and setting of Doubt feels eerily similar to the English movie series Saw.  I actually think that Yoshiki-sensei probably used Saw as a direct influence.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hanged ...

For a horror/psychological manga, Doubt is pretty tame.  None of the murders were terribly shocking.  Also, due to it’s short length, it’s almost impossible to feel attached to any of the characters (except maybe the main character).  The story definitely kept me on edge, though, because even if you make a guess as to who the killer is … it’s VERY easy to start second-guessing yourself.  The climax was very intense and probably the closest thing to a shock that this manga can give.  However, I REALLY did not like ending.  All I could muster up after seeing that I was done was “wut?”

For a manga of its size, Doubt is definitely entertaining.  It’s probably a great starting series for people who aren’t sure about the horror/psychological genre.  Odds are, if this was too much for you, then this probably isn’t the genre you want to read. The artwork was phenomenal, the layout is pretty straightforward–no cluttering.  Aesthetically, the manga is great.  Of the “trifecta”, Doubt is probably my least favorite, and if I were to give it a numerical rating, it’d probably be:

RATING: 7.5/10

_tekky99

P.S.: Manga numerical ratings are only a quantization of my enjoyment.  In this case, it was about average enjoyment.

1 Comment

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  By Marielle Garcia, July 27, 2009 @ 6:42 am

  I totally love this manga!! I am really into mystery/thrillers, whether its a comic, manga, book, series, or movie. I am actually making a review of it right now on my site.. keep up the good reviews!! Love em.. Yeah, the flow isnt as shocking, just keeps you hanging.. but, still cool.. =D

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