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neon_gregory_evangelion 's review for:
Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17-21
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Continuing my fixation on Fujimoto, I sought out this reprinting of his early works to see if he has always been as crazy as Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man implied.
Spoilers: he’s always been crazy.
This book contains four one-shots Fujimoto wrote early in his career. The first story is about humans dressing up as chickens to escape the insatiable appetites of invading aliens. Despite the amusing premise and a few moments that you can tell we’re really motifs for Fire Punch, it’s a tad mediocre, and I was worried the rest of the collection would follow suite: just a novelty, only interesting because of what would come from the author after. Luckily, stories #2-4 really redeem this collection into something great.
Story #2 is this amusing comedy-love-drama that alternates between tense and hilarious. Story #3 is about a love confession — It’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read with a plot that just keeps building and building. The dramatic, shadowy close-ups of the main character as he’s about to confess are great at illustrating the anxiety inside the character (it’s also hilarious how nervous he is at confessing while his crush clearly likes him).
Story #4 is also about love (isn’t it cool I read this close to Valentine’s Day?). It’s about an assassin and a vampire, and despite the many instances of violence, it somehow manages to have an ending that’s very sweet.
Fujimoto is great at compiling plots that feel like shit-posts, but filling them with just enough sincerity that you come away with a deep appreciation of what you’ve read. I think my favorite parts of this collection are the interludes in between stories where Fujimoto reflects on the pieces and what inspired them. It really humanizes Fujimoto and makes you aware that, despite all the jokes and general silliness, he is someone who genuinely loves art and takes the art of storytelling seriously. I believe him to be one of the finest storytellers of our time, and I look forward to reading the next batch of one-shots when those are released (they probably should’ve just merged this collection with the subsequent collection since this is only like 100 pages, but whatever).
I think what I respect about Fujimoto is that his stories are so deeply him. They reflect his interests, his sense of humor, and although they may pay lip service to certain tropes, no one can tell the stories he tells. Not in the way Fujimoto tells them.
To have that kind of distinct voice is the desire of every artist. I hope to develop my own voice when I begin writing stories more.
Spoilers: he’s always been crazy.
This book contains four one-shots Fujimoto wrote early in his career. The first story is about humans dressing up as chickens to escape the insatiable appetites of invading aliens. Despite the amusing premise and a few moments that you can tell we’re really motifs for Fire Punch, it’s a tad mediocre, and I was worried the rest of the collection would follow suite: just a novelty, only interesting because of what would come from the author after. Luckily, stories #2-4 really redeem this collection into something great.
Story #2 is this amusing comedy-love-drama that alternates between tense and hilarious. Story #3 is about a love confession — It’s one of the funniest things I’ve ever read with a plot that just keeps building and building. The dramatic, shadowy close-ups of the main character as he’s about to confess are great at illustrating the anxiety inside the character (it’s also hilarious how nervous he is at confessing while his crush clearly likes him).
Story #4 is also about love (isn’t it cool I read this close to Valentine’s Day?). It’s about an assassin and a vampire, and despite the many instances of violence, it somehow manages to have an ending that’s very sweet.
Fujimoto is great at compiling plots that feel like shit-posts, but filling them with just enough sincerity that you come away with a deep appreciation of what you’ve read. I think my favorite parts of this collection are the interludes in between stories where Fujimoto reflects on the pieces and what inspired them. It really humanizes Fujimoto and makes you aware that, despite all the jokes and general silliness, he is someone who genuinely loves art and takes the art of storytelling seriously. I believe him to be one of the finest storytellers of our time, and I look forward to reading the next batch of one-shots when those are released (they probably should’ve just merged this collection with the subsequent collection since this is only like 100 pages, but whatever).
I think what I respect about Fujimoto is that his stories are so deeply him. They reflect his interests, his sense of humor, and although they may pay lip service to certain tropes, no one can tell the stories he tells. Not in the way Fujimoto tells them.
To have that kind of distinct voice is the desire of every artist. I hope to develop my own voice when I begin writing stories more.