Jagaaaaaan is a Seinen supernatural manga series written by Kaneshiro Muneyuki and illustrated by Nishida Kensuke. Published by Big Comic Spirits (Gyo: Ugomeku Bukimi, I Am a Hero), Jagaaaaaan is currently in its 9th volume. The first volume consists of chapters 1-7. The series follows Shintarou Jagasaki, a police officer that lives with his girlfriend, Yuriko. He hates his job, his girlfriend, and the trajectory his life is on. Most of the day, he wears a false smile.
Jagasaki often fantasizes about “shooting” the people in his life. The following morning frogs rain down from the sky. At work, Jagasaki encounters a drunk man causing a disturbance. The man decries his life. He feels that nobody in his life gives a damn about him. He tells Jagasaki that “his life is garbage.” Jagasaki sympathizes with his plight but believes that they’re different. With his gun at his side, Jagasaki feels that he can “end it all.” He tells the man that “he’s doing a great job.”
Mr. Sasaoka the first fractured human
Rejuvenated, the man runs on to the train, and Jagasaki follows. He notices an owl on the train but becomes distracted by a boss berating his employee. Jagasaki tells him he “causing trouble.” Mr. Sasaoka becomes irate. As he yells, his head begins to transform into a grotesque figure. With his monstrous head, that spirals into a cone shape, with rows of teeth, and a tongue sticking out the top. He cuts his employees head in four pieces, decapitating him. He turns on the crowd, boasting about his wealth as he indiscriminately kills them. Jagasaki and his partner draw their weapons. Mr. Sasaoka decapitates his partner and cuts two of Jagasaki’s fingers off. Accepting his death, Jagasaki mimes a gun shooting Mr. Sasaoka. The owl compliments Jagasaki.
Meet Sanshirou Dokuyamada
After Jagasaki shoots Mr. Sasaoka, the later explodes. From the remains, a frog jumps out. The owl grabs the frog and eviscerates it, then eats it. He explains that the frogs called “mad xenpaths” make humans their “host.” While inside the human they grow. Dokuyamada or Doku calls them “frenzied frogs.” They fuse with humans feeding off of “suppressed desires.” This results in humans transforming into monsters. These hosts are called “fractured humans.” Jagasaki must defeat all the frogs leaving Doku to “collect and eat” them. Suddenly, Jagasaki shoots and kills Doku. At home, Jagasaki contemplates the latest events. A frog appears and fuses with Yuriko. She begins to transform as she talks about her desire to have children.
Yuriko becomes “Lust! The Fractured Girlfriend: Hiscorpion.” She attacks Jagasaki begging him to marry her. He kills her by shooting her in the stomach. She apologizes for “making him put on fake smiles.” When the frenzied frog escapes from he ear, Doku swoops in and eats it. He gives Jagasaki a “duhnngball.’ He explains how fractured transformation occurs. A human’s appearance is a combination of a “person’s desires and imagination.” Unlike the other fractured humans, Jagasaki’s frog is a tadpole. His transformation is slower. Eventually, the tadpole will become a frenzied frog. To prevent this Jagasaki must snort the powder from a duhnngball. His desire to “blow-off” his boring life caused his right arm to become a gun. Doku calls his arm, “Jagan,” and he calls Jagasaki “The Fractured Human Warrior: Jagaaaaaan.”
In Jagaaaaaan the reality has become even crueler
Jagasaki’s life continues. He puts Yuriko’s decapitated head in the freezer. While attending the wedding of two friends he feels guilty that he couldn’t give Yuriko the happiness she wanted. The bride becomes a fractured human triggered by her happiness. She turns into “The Fractured Bride: Medetaurus.” Now a centaur with a crossbow for a hand, she kills her husband. The bride slaughters her guest while thanking them. Jagasaki hesitates. Without the knowledge to control his Jagan, he’s helpless. He rescues a little boy and is hit by the bride’s attack. He’s able to use his Jagan to propel himself out of danger. Now outside he notices that his Jagan changed shape. He changes his Jagan into a third form. Now a sniper rifle, Jagasaki can shoot the bride through the head. With his new arm, Jagasaki is happy. He’s now getting the future he wants.
Jagasaki decides that he will “blow away every last fracture human.” As he says that we get a glimpse of another fractured human, Chiharu. Jagaaaaaan is a dark series. Jagaski begins the series as a hating his life and contemplating murder and suicide. Will he evolve or continue down this dark path? The central theme of Jagaaaaaan so far is the possible consequences of suppressing one’s desires. Jagasaki spends most of the first volume hating his life hoping to blow it away. He hides behind an obvious false smile. He’s finally freed when he becomes fractured. The fanservice in this series feels appropriate. The sex scene between Jagasaki and Yuriko felt realistic as they were in a romantic relationship.
Jagaaaaaan is a Seinen series, so it’s going to be geared towards young men. Hopefully, the nudity will make sense and won’t be too frivolous. Jagaaaaaan is a series the features “body horror.” If your unfamiliar, “body horror” is “any form of Horror or Squickiness involving body parts, parasitism, disfigurement, mutation, or unsettling bodily configuration.” It can be off-putting (I think that’s the point) but it done well in this series. This is particularly due to the art style of Nishida Kensuke. His style is realistic but unique. He puts detail in the faces of the characters. Special attention is paid to the eyes and mouths. Jagaaaaaan isn’t a series for everyone if you don’t like violent, bloody or sexual content. However, if you liked Parasyte: The Maxim, Jagaaaaaan is the manga series for you.
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