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For whatever reason, I was never much of a manga reader. While I’d been quite an avid reader of the now-defunct Co-Co! magazines and owned a few copies of Naruto (though not consecutive volumes), the medium never quite captivated me even as I grew up reading Marvel and DC comics, and eventually light novels. Of the countless, celebrated mangaka (manga artists), be they pioneers like Osamu Tezuka and Go Nagai, shonen legends like Akira Toriyama and Eiichiro Oda, and female mangaka like Naoko Takeuchi and CLAMP, it was Tatsuki Fujimoto whose works finally got me into manga proper. THE ORIGIN OF AN AUTEUR Fujimoto grew up practising oil painting at classes attended by the likes of his grandparents. Starting from 2011, he would put out various one-shot (standalone) works, all of them either winning awards or appearing in various Jump-affiliated publications - a rather impressive portfolio. This led to the serialisation of his first major work, Fire Punch. Admittedly, I’ve not read it, but general consensus, divided between the production quality (primarily the pedigree of the assistants that worked on it) and the story (featuring transgender characters and rather graphic depictions of disturbing acts), makes it understandable how quickly it went viral despite how little advertising it had. Fujimoto’s second serialisation Chainsaw Man would become one of the biggest titles of the 2020s, together with Jujutsu Kaisen and Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku. Its latest anime adaptation, a film of a fan-favourite arc in the story, became both a commercial and critical hit. I myself caught it in cinemas back in November 2025. While I was expecting to be let down somewhat because franchise anime movies (unlike standalone movies from the likes of Studio Ghibli, Satoshi Kon or Makoto Shinkai) for the longest time were nothing more than filler, I could not stop thinking about the movie for a couple of days after I left the theatre, and I could not think of a better descriptor than “Absolute Cinema” [ironically, the meme originated from a Twitter (I’m never calling it X) user using that image to describe a major scene from the first season of the Chainsaw Man anime]. Going back to Fujimoto’s own output, Chainsaw Man wasn’t my introduction to him. Instead, it was his one-shots that I first read. SHORT AND SWEET It was in 2022 that I first came across Look Back while looking for a Christmas gift for myself at the Kinokuniya flagship store in Ngee Ann City. Intrigued by the cover being very different from what I knew about him at the time, I purchased it after reading the synopsis. I then brought it with me when my family and maternal relatives embarked on a Royal Caribbean cruise towards the end of the year. In the one sitting I read it - cross-legged on my bed in the cabin - I was taken aback. While I was aware of the twist before reading it, I applauded Fujimoto’s audacity to plunge his authorial knife into my heart. As I closed the book, I became aware of how it wasn’t so much the story itself that moved me, but more the intent of it. Here was a creator reckoning with the meaning of their work, as if art was something worth pursuing in spite of the feelings of powerlessness in the face of events beyond our control (a thought that has inevitably crossed the mind of many a creative). Look Back certainly resonated with creators, with the anime adaptation’s director Kiyotaka Oshiyama apparently having drawn much of the film’s key frames on top of his directorial duties, and celebrated director Hirokazu Kore-eda not only resonating with the manga but also directing its live adaptation. The next work I encountered came less than a year later. Towards the end of Sgcarmart’s 2023 company retreat in Bali, I was walking around Ngurah Rai International Airport and found myself at a bookstore, as I almost always do in airports. To my surprise, not only was there a selection of manga to be had; Fujimoto’s latest one-shot at the time Goodbye, Eri was also there for a rather standard price (I paid around SGD$23). To be honest, I was worried that the horror undertones Fujimoto had depicted in his other works I’d read would be turned up to extremes for shock value because of the cover (exacerbated by hearsay about the edginess of Fire Punch). Eri’s expression on the cover art still scares me with the unsettling way she stares at you - I find it much worse than the merely uncanny gaze of Chainsaw Man’s Makima. Nevertheless, reviews were comparing it to Look Back favourably, and thus another blind buy it was. I only managed to read it a few days later, after I’d settled the chaos of returning from a holiday (various circumstances at home meant that while I had my relatives’ help with the laundry, I was dealing with the rest of the unpacking on my own for the first time in my life). By the end of it, though, I was in awe of Fujimoto the madlad. A quick note: Japanese manga is read right to left, so these two pages for instance are to be read from the right page, top to bottom, before moving on to the left page. While mangakas using unconventional layouts to better illustrate the story is commonplace, Fujimoto leans into his cinephile tendencies by treating Goodbye, Eri as a storyboard of sorts, as though he envisioned it being adapted eventually. As seen in a sample above (I took care not to spoil anything major), the layout of the average page is very much like an actual storyboard - equal-sized rectangles (in an anamorphic aspect ratio no less, though without measuring I can’t give an exact ratio) that depict the story much like a movie. This has led to debate over whether Goodbye, Eri could ever be adapted, since this approach to panelling (creating a sense of cinematic motion on an otherwise still medium) is arguably what makes it so special. Regardless, it solidified Fujimoto’s reputation as a boundary-pusher, and ensured the continued success of his works being adapted, like the adaptation of his one-shot compilation becoming an Amazon Prime Video exclusive. THE FUJIMOTO EFFECT While I’ve waxed lyrical about Fujimoto, his impact on manga has gone beyond his personal achievements. Specifically, Fire Punch and Chainsaw Man have been followed by similarly darker works relative to the manga of years past, like the aforementioned Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku and Dandadan (both authored by mangakas who worked as assistants on Fire Punch for what it’s worth), with many more embodying the subversive nature of Fujimoto’s works. With Fujimoto continuing work on the second arc of Chainsaw Man (which recently announced an anime adaptation of the International Assassins arc), one can only wonder what he will come up with next. Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be absolute cinema. ~ Wei Feng Images: Myself, REVIEW: Fujimoto's Look Back Lures You In and Leaves You - WWAC, A Poignant Love Letter to Film and Cinema — “Goodbye, Eri” | by Eric Dai | Medium

Hi All, Personally feel that this is pretty cool... Korean manga Just in case the link doesn't work... http://comic.naver.com/webtoon/detail.nhn?...=31&weekday

Coming very Soon. This movie is suppose to be like "Groundhog Day meets Starship Trooper". It is based on a Japanese novel named "All You need is Kill". The novel is currently being translated to Manga. You can read the manga from here (spoiler alerts though): http://www.mangahere.co/manga/all_you_need_is_kill/c001/3.html The mecha in the manga is very high-tech like Halo suits. The mecha in Tom Cruise's rendition is somewhat more realistic and raw. The movie seemed to be more serious than the manga. Either way, the main plot in the Manga and Movie should not sway too much but we can/may expect some twists in the movie version. Early reviews of the movie were surprisely good.

1. A slacker gangster, who is a total noob and beginner at basketball, can turn into one of the best players at the national tournaments after playing for only two competitive tournaments. (Anime/Manga: Slam Dunk) 2. The main male character is usually is surrounded amorously by three to many more members of the opposite sex. The group of girls who accompany, and in some instances cohabitate with the boy, and while intimacy is just about customary, it is never necessary. (Anime/Manga: Harem Anime) 3. The characters' eyes, especially the females, are at least if not bigger than their ears. (Anime/Manga: Generic Anime) 4. Fanservice is provided to the male audience, typically by the flashing of knickers that are exclusively white in colour. (Anime/Manga: Generic Ecchi Anime) 5. The outcome of intergalatic space battles can be influenced by the female leads singing in the heat of battle. (Anime/Manga: Macross Series) 6. The characters' eyes and hair are matching in colour: purple eyes go with purple hair; green eyes go with green hair etc. (Anime/Manga: Generic Anime) Please carry on till 50 is reached. Any anime or manga. Have fun.

I m tore here. friend of my poke fun at Japan manga/anime character at his FB page. invited some comment from his friend, and the few started to poke fun. I posted on his wall in polite manner to ask him to remove the post. and he take it very lightly. A friend of his even replied it was clean fun and he still feel for those victims. After few hour. my friend removed mh post instead. sigh. I scrolled through my friend's friend (he who replied me it was clean) wall and found he got 2 post poking fun direct to Japan. One was asking was Japan under possible HARRP attack, his wife replied with "hahaha n LOL". sigh. I just think Is not right at this point of time. I am very tempt to post my friends wall screen shot. But... he is my friend. What do you all think?