Manga Review | Ciguatera Volume 1

Yusuke Ogino is an awkward high schooler who’s constantly bullied and dreams of being able to find an escape once he obtains his bike license. However, at bike school, he runs into a pretty schoolmate of his named Yumi. To his surprise, she takes an interest in him and their relationship starts to blossom.

Now Ogino feels on top of the world and like he can conquer anything. However, his newfound happiness might not last forever since someone appears to be obsessively stalking them …

Ciguatera Volume 1 by Minoru Furuya is a humorous and relatable coming-of-age dramedy that wonderfully captures the awkwardness of a first-time love.

There’s a painful rawness and realness to the characters that really makes them feel believable. On top of that, Furuya does an excellent job at letting readers peer inside Ogino’s head—seeing his insecurities and all—through visual allegory and heavy-hitting dialogue.

Be forewarned though: this is a manga that doesn’t hold back. It gets dark. Its characters are messy and flawed, and honestly, tonally and subject matter-wise, this series reminds me a lot of The Flowers of Evil by Shuzo Oshimi (a personal favorite of mine), so if you love one, you’ll probably love the other.

Thank you, NetGalley and Kodansha, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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