DUHHH THE CARRIAGE!!!! DUHHH THE CARRIAGE!!???!!1 THE CARRIAGE!!!!! IS THAT ALL YOU TWINCEST FUCKS CAN SAY!!??? DURR THE CARRIAGE RIDING ON FOREVER IN THE NIGHT WILL ONE DAY TURN BACK INTO A PUMPKIN I FEEL LIKE IM IN A FUCKING ASYLUM FULL OF DEMENTIA RIDDEN OLD PEOPLE THAT CAN DO NOTHING BUT REPEAT THE SAME FUCKING CINDERELLA COMPLEX-LITE THEORY ON LOOP LIKE A FUCKING BROKEN RECORD THE CARRIAGE WILL TURN BACK INTO A PUMPKIN LOL!!! THE CARRIAGE!!!1 PUMPKIN!! LE CARRIAGE!!!! I AM IN THE CARRIAGE!!!! YOU THINK THIS FAMILY SETTING WILL PERSERVE OUR FRIENDSHOP PREVENT CHANGE I FUCKING HATE THE HOST CLUB SO GODDAMN MUCH FUCKJK YOU KAORU I HONEST TO GOD HOPE YOUR HOST CLUB KING CHOKES ON COMMONERS COFFEE IN HELL YOU COCKSUCKER VUT OHHH I KNOWM MY POST IS FEEDING INTO THE CARRIAGE ALLEGORY ISNT IT?? THE CARRIAGE WILL TURN BACK INTO THE PUMPKIN ONE DAY AND THEN YOU'LL BE ALL ALONE!!!!!!
i liked it. i really love stories with themes of unconventional happiness and moral grayness, that there is no "right" and no "wrong", and no right way to be happy. Killer Killer was certainly that kind of story. Everyone was fucked up but when everyone is fucked up that becomes the new normal.
I really liked the psychology behind Hijirihara and Fujigawa both becoming killers of serial killers for different reasons as a response to the same traumatic event. They're both extremely hypocritical in their approach which I think adds to it. Fujigawa kills serial killers because he thinks murder is deplorable, but obviously, this makes himself a serial killer. Not to mention his first killing was a straight up murder witu no justification and his mentality could be read as him coping with the fact he IS a killer. Hijirihara kills serial killers because he despises their lack of passion in their crime, but the irony is found in the fact that he too lacks passion when killing other serial killers for these faults. In the end his first and only passionate killing was a lover's dual suicide - we don't see it but I want to assume it wasn't a murder suicide but a joint suicide, meaning the only passionate killing he comitted was unto himself. I like this ending being framed as bittersweet. It's what he and Asano both wanted. Speaking of Asano, her joining FF was because she wanted to help change the world, but in the end she kills herself with Hijirihara and seemingly doesn't care about anything else anymore. Reasonably, after both FF and random strangers tried to kill her to disarm the bomb collar, she had no reason to want to serve humanity anymore. And ironically, the only person who cared about her wishes and that she in turn loved and trusted was a serial killer. I love stuff like that. Morally gray swag.
Also, I do like Hijirihara's backstory. They build up in volume 1 how he falls in love easy with pretty women and cares immensely about passionate killings. Later they show as a kid he was abolutely terrified of the world and being killed and had a fear of blood, but after hiding in a locker and watching Mukuro Ikusaba kill a classroom full of other kids, his "falling in love easily" trait made the idea of murder and blood become a passionate, twisted thing as he fell in love with Mukuro as he saw her kill everyone. I like that. I think sexual arousal and fear are more interlinked than people think. A lot of people have phobias that are also their fetishes, so I think it's an interesting backstory.
I will say one thing: this manga had basically nothing to do with Danganronpa until volume 2, and even then, it really means nothing. Besides random DR3 characters showing up or the backstory with Mukuro, there's really nothing related to DR here besides mentioning the tragedy once or twice as an explanation for why there's so many crazy people in the world. And this isn't like a BAD thing. The story is very enjoyable on its own. But you could EASILY replace every single Danganronpa element and it would not change the story. None of the main characters talk about hope or despair and the Monokuma iconogrophy is BARELY used. It's really just a wholeass new story with the Danganronpa logo slapped on it. Again that's fine, I found the story very enjoyable. The art was good and rather creepy at times, which makes sense. Hijirihara and Fujigawa had undeniable toxic yaoi happening. Well, more like Fujigawa was borderline yandere for him and Hijirihara wanted nothing to do with it.
I really liked the dual dialogue between them, where they both come to the same conclusions about murder, but their summaries are completely different, with Fujigawa calling it "disgusting" and Hijirihara calling it "beautiful". I also really loved the line, "It's when you're about to kill or be killed that human life shines the brightest."
It very much is my kind of story, up there with Mogeko Castle and Happy Sugar Life, about what it means to truly live, what it means to be happy and what it means to be good or bad. And that in the end, there is no way to define these things, and I feel these stories give a good insight on that sort of murky world. Some people have an easy time defining a black-and-white "right" and "wrong" to happiness, morality, and love. Other people like myself have always struggled to view these concepts in anything other than a cloudy gray, which is why I can accept suicide being an ultimate happiness, or the true way to be alive. Stories like these really speak to me.
Anyways yeah I enjoyed the manga :]
i just read danganronpa killer killer and wow is all i have to say. give me a moment here.
part of me wants to play drv3 bc im worried i am not a True Hater bc all my opinions stem from what i have watched of it back in 2016 and going "wow this sucks" so what if my opinion changes... but on the other hand. this requires me to play drv3. and i do Not Want To Do That.
DRS AU where everyone have their own duties to make jabberwock running. Hajime got assigned as beach lifeguard. Komaeda have duties at library on monday. (he also drives the girls around)
Cursed image under the cut n.n (cw komaeda/monomi)