Dance in the Dark · review
This doesn't reads like an ordinary manga. The framing feels comic book inspired. The art is less cluttered compared to some other mangas and can be more cinematic. The story can sometimes mock the genre tropes, but at the end it appears to be a disturbing psychological horror with a surreal narrative. When i started analyzing after reading it seemed rather grim to me, especially if you pay attention on what types of characters Kaido Wataru and how they reflect something in his flashbacks - there's a handful of disturbing details, telling that what might have seemed adventurous and somewhat scatterbrained story about a guyriding on his hearse like a batmobile will end more so a tragedy wrapped into an unfulfilled fantasy. If anything the ending reminded me 2002's Dark Water which felt like a complete UNO card switch. It's also references film picks for aficionados - in a way, reminding me of how Black Lagoon wasn't shy of boasting about it's western cinema influences. But even something like the Morrissey song integration in it just screams that Suda51 might have wanted it's own anime, but couldn't do it outside of the gaming industry. You can tell that this story is imbued with those intentions which ended up as part of this format instead of another Suda51's game, considering that it was supposed to be the early draft of Shadows of the Damned. Either way, it's thies is a hard recommend if you are keen on unique mangas.