Jinmen

It could be so much more.

Jinmen is a freakshow manga that blesses us with truly beautiful accidents of forced evolution, showing in godawfully beautiful detail just what happens when you decide to give animal something akin to a human brain. Sadly, the designs and art of animals specifically is literally all there is to the few chapters there are out at the moment.

Aside from the nightmare of an animal kingdom the mangaka tried to create, there really isn't much else to grasp one's attention. Its formula is classic; bad things happen, MCs stuck in the worst possible position, survival shenanigans ensue. That itself wouldn't be such a bad thing if it were taken in any direction that's even mildly interesting but I'm sad to report that aside from the animals themselves and the cute looks of the main girl, there has been so little character and plot developments, that it makes the manga seem like nothing but an excuse to draw the exceptionally well made freaks of nature; which again falls flat because everything else, while nicely drawn, is pretty bland in comparison, making it look like a weird clash of two entirely different styles.

The characters are flat, the so-called story patching itself where it can, and the style clash makes my head ache. Do read it for the interesting drawn animals, and metaphorical train wrecks of evolution but it's all you're ever going to get out of it.

The main draw of this manga is the creepy monsters that the story revolves around, the artists style makes them look almost uncanny, their faces inspire the mind and gives you horrific visuals to feast on.

Story:
The story doesn't stray far from other titles in the "Apocalypse" genre, it has a fun flavour with its unique monster but aside from that it brings nothing new to the table.

Art:
The art is good enough to bring me back again and again despite the lackluster story, i look forward to seeing what the artist will serve up on the page with each new chapter.

Characters:
The main cast are bland and forgettable, the only one who stands out in some way is the main character and even he isn't likely to be remembered long after you've stopped reading.

Oh boy, this manga. Is this even a manga? I'm pretty sure it is, but it's pretty different from any other manga I've ever read. Regardless, let's begin.

First off, I should say that I am a weirdo that loves body horror. It doesn't freak me out, but it's something I love to see. If it's a fresh type that I haven't seen before, then it definitely gets bonus points. Say what you will about the plot and characters, but this artist draws horror like none I've seen before. While there's an annoying amount of gore seemingly for its own sake, the truly striking scenes are the facial expressions that the Jinmen can show.

In most Horror manga, you'll have a mildly interesting idea followed by nothing but repeated gore, probably a ton of sexual violence and some one-note, psychological abuse, and probably a sprinkling of "but we were the monster all along" just to earn the painfully average cherry on top. I'm not going to say that Jinmen completely steps over this very dumb tendency, but it certainly approaches things in a different way. In Jinmen, the horror is most appreciable when there's little to no violence, or even any dialogue, and you just find yourself face-to-face with an abomination made by someone who understood the concept of furries from a completely backward view.

To see what was once a cute animal now give you a look of smug contempt as you remember just how low on the food chain we belong can send a chill down your spine. The artist draws these expressions with just enough humanity to emphasize the uncanny factor of the admittedly dumb base idea, making each new expression and animal another look into the horror of their world. This only becomes more unsettling as you gain more and more clues that these animals(?) not only have human faces, but may be gaining a similar level of intellect, as well. With a revelation that only seems clear in retrospect, you suddenly find yourself realizing that you aren't just dealing with animals that do animal things with human faces, but with new creatures that know what they're doing, and seem to enjoy it.

Jinmen is likely a very personal form of horror, reliant of the individual reader's idea of what is scary. As someone that finds the regular old monster interesting, and gore to be aggressively boring, it built expectations of the average story before throwing something that I do fear, and that few stories truly build upon; distrust of the familiar. Distrust of humans (or rather their faces), along with distrust of creatures we arrogantly assume are below us, makes for some scenes to truly chill you.

So, if you're interested what I've described, I'd highly recommend it. If you're interested in an utterly unique setting and art style, I'd highly recommend it. If you're looking for excellent characterization, relatable characters, or plot... eh, it's just as good if not better than most Horror manga.

The art and overall character designs in this manga are pretty nice, but since story is, of course, a major part of storytelling, I have to rate the manga pretty low because of it.

The concept in and of itself is interesting and creepy, but the actual plot gets kind of boring. It's a typical survival story of characters think they're at least somewhat in the clear and then something terrible happens again. Every chapter begins with the characters thinking they're finally ahead SOMEHOW, even if just by a single step, or they come across some kind of resource or help and it's always inevitably ruined by the end of the chapter. It's repetitive and monotonous and it seems like each chapter is more of a showcase of how the characters get screwed over somehow and have to return to point one than a journey with two steps forward and one step back.

Any survival story is going to have low points but if the characters always end up coming back to where they started, what's the point? It's like watching someone be really bad at a game and having to start at the tutorial stage again.

It's easy to argue that maybe that despair or whatever is the point of manga like this, but I'd personally say a good horror manga as at least some highs amongst the lows, and said highs last more than a single chapter.

That is to say, though, I don't necessarily not recommend it. It's still fun to look at and ultimately I do want to know how the characters get out of the situation they're in, just some of the chapters on the way can get kind of grueling to read through.