MAOH: Juvenile Remix: Volume 1

by Kotaro Isaka (original story) and Megumi Osuga (story and art), 196 pages

11th-grader Ando is an incredible ventriloquist. But the vehicles for his thrown voice aren't wooden puppets. Ever since he was little, he has suspected that he's not quite normal, but even he's surprised when one day he speaks up for the timid victim of a groper on the train--through her own lips. For the first time, Ando's rather proud of his weirdness, having used it in pursuit of justice; yet he worries that making a habit of such interference would be dangerous and border on manipulation of other people's free will. He'd been inspired to help by the words of another young man, Inukai, the charismatic leader of a growing community action and peacekeeping organization called The Grasshoppers. But the more Ando learns of Inukai, the more he suspects him of vigilantism and abuse of a manipulative power even greater than his own.

This manga adaptation of a psychological mystery novel plays on the notions of self-determination and of citizen action and where exactly one draws the line between combating crime and committing it. And that's not always an easy distinction to make. On the surface, Inukai's words of empowerment really do make a positive difference, as does the intervention of his group members when it comes to keeping the neighborhood streets safe. But he doesn't leave it at that. His recruitment methods are questionable, at best, and his persuasive words motivate his adherents to do far more than just pick up litter or make citizens' arrests. He's a dangerous dreamer because he knows how to mix truth in with something else all together until the two are indistinguishable. If Ando is going to involve himself any further without losing his own ability to judge right from wrong, he'll have to keep his wits about him.

Visually, Inukai's permanently dark lips (is that black lipstick or are they naturally blood red?) and silvery locks give him a convincing creepy factor while Ando's (and his little brother Junya's) perpetual bed-head lends him an air of unpolished, innocent energy. The art here can go a little heavy on the use of mid-range grey screentone, limiting the contrast, but I suppose one could make the argument that that's just another indicator of the moral grey area through which Ando finds himself navigating...? *makes doubtful face* Art aside, we'll see if future volumes maintain as strong a sense of moral ambiguity as this one, as I think it would lose something if the story's tone resolves too cleanly into easy black and white.