Even If I’m Not Fifteen is one of the rawest, most visceral depictions of a man’s downfall into degeneracy. This manga is a story about two people licking each other’s wounds and bringing themselves down in the process. A very self-indulgent tale that thrives on going all the way, not holding back. Everything in this story is highly exaggerated: from the unbelievably stupid decisions that the characters continue to make, to the somewhat bleak, unhappy world that the manga depicts. This over-the-top approach is what makes this manga work, as opposed to other, edgier stories. Since, with those stories, they tend to present unbelievable situations witha serious tone, which doesn't work very well. The solution to that would be to make the story more believable OR to just ditch the serious tone and go for a ‘lighter’ tone, to not let the story take itself too seriously.

Even If I’m Not Fifteen goes for the latter, and it excels in doing so. The story has a certain simplistic quality to it that compliments its tone. That simplicity, coupled with the exaggeration, creates this quasi-comedic tone despite the fact that the manga deals with some heavy themes such as depression, familial breakdown, alienation, and pedophilia (I think). Not that these are necessarily unique themes, but this manga has a very dark depiction of said themes. It’s more about the primal desires of humanity and how people will succumb to it when driven into a corner, focusing on the sexual aspect of it.

But again, it doesn’t feel hacky, it manages to be very raw and authentic. This is mostly thanks to the art, which I think is the best part about this manga. It's littered with expressionist visuals to accompany every moment of insanity. When the characters are at their lowest point, the art morphs into distortion, as ugly, black scribbles cover the page. The girl’s beauty is emphasized by zooming uncomfortably close into her face, revealing the hypnotic nature of her eyes, leading our main character into ruin. The art carries the whole manga. Honestly, if this manga looked like Domestic Girlfriend it would’ve been a 4. That’s how good it is.

Now, despite all the praise for the tone of the manga, the story doesn’t feel like it’s going to go anywhere. What I mean is that it’s a very simple, straightforward story and I don’t think it will go much further besides what you get in the first 10 chapters--which is perfectly fine, it’s great for what it is. Personally, this isn’t my favorite type of story. Though, to be fair it’s only been 10 chapters, so I hope I'll be proven wrong.

8/10

shoutout to JUM for scanlating this!