Self
- Thread starter MangaDex
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2018
- Messages
- 4
What a trip. Thank you for translating this, looking forward to more.
Member
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2020
- Messages
- 142
does anyone know where to read raws?
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2019
- Messages
- 20
aww no more updates..
- Joined
- Mar 10, 2023
- Messages
- 3
I haven't read the manga, but women suck at pleasing their men as well. A lot of them just want to be pleased in bed as well, and if their man doesn't please them, they'd say that their men are suck in bed. A few of my exes are like that. They're just staying idle like a starfish, didn't do BJ while they expected me to go down on them, didn't want to ride because they said it's exhausting. So, while I made them come multiple times, I was still not satisfied even though I came. It goes both ways, my guy.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Nov 2, 2018
- Messages
- 603
Yeah, I'm aware of that, I've had exes like that too.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2023
- Messages
- 2,661
I just read chapters 1-39 in a single sitting, and I don't know what to think. The story is unique, to say the least, and strangely fascinating. While the art isn't brilliant, it's good and suits the material. But this thing is weird beyond belief. And the weirdness I'm talking about is not a product of the (admittedly weird) subject matter.
On the most basic level, Self is a long, seemingly serious manga about masturbation. Not just the act, but the physiology, psychology, philosophy and even the spiritual dimensions of whacking off. With strict teachings dispensed by a ascended onanism master. Who dresses in ever-shifting cosplay for no apparent reason. Which would be somewhat strange on its own, but hardly remarkable in a world that contains the likes of Ureshon! and My Life as Inukai-san's Dog.
No, what makes Self next-level weird isn't the focus on masturbation. It's the utterly alien, awkward and all but incomprehensible character writing. With the exceptions of underdeveloped bystander/best girl Izumi, and paper-thin plot contrivance/sex object Yuka, no character's motives and behavior make even the slightest bit of sense sense. They barely register as human. In that sense, it reminds me of HITS, but the out-to-lunch oddity lacks Shibata Yokusaru's delicate comic balance between alienation and wit. There's also some similarity to Nakani's otherworldly ero-manga, but without the truly operatic insanity and coherent underlying relationship dynamics.
I wondered for a long time if the whole thing was supposed to be some kind of elaborate, surreal prank, but in chapter 31, mangaka Saku Yukizo finally tells an actual joke (about buying/renting porn DVDs). And it's as painfully awkward, strained, and just plain OFF as the rest of the story. This is Twilight Zone shit. Like a "human-style manga story" written by actual aliens working from an incomplete technical manual. Which makes it hard to rate. It's genuinely bad, but of such abnormal badness that the badness ceases to be a negative quality. It just adds more weird flavor.
Recommended to fringe-dwelling abnormals like myself. All others steer clear.
On the most basic level, Self is a long, seemingly serious manga about masturbation. Not just the act, but the physiology, psychology, philosophy and even the spiritual dimensions of whacking off. With strict teachings dispensed by a ascended onanism master. Who dresses in ever-shifting cosplay for no apparent reason. Which would be somewhat strange on its own, but hardly remarkable in a world that contains the likes of Ureshon! and My Life as Inukai-san's Dog.
No, what makes Self next-level weird isn't the focus on masturbation. It's the utterly alien, awkward and all but incomprehensible character writing. With the exceptions of underdeveloped bystander/best girl Izumi, and paper-thin plot contrivance/sex object Yuka, no character's motives and behavior make even the slightest bit of sense sense. They barely register as human. In that sense, it reminds me of HITS, but the out-to-lunch oddity lacks Shibata Yokusaru's delicate comic balance between alienation and wit. There's also some similarity to Nakani's otherworldly ero-manga, but without the truly operatic insanity and coherent underlying relationship dynamics.
I wondered for a long time if the whole thing was supposed to be some kind of elaborate, surreal prank, but in chapter 31, mangaka Saku Yukizo finally tells an actual joke (about buying/renting porn DVDs). And it's as painfully awkward, strained, and just plain OFF as the rest of the story. This is Twilight Zone shit. Like a "human-style manga story" written by actual aliens working from an incomplete technical manual. Which makes it hard to rate. It's genuinely bad, but of such abnormal badness that the badness ceases to be a negative quality. It just adds more weird flavor.
Recommended to fringe-dwelling abnormals like myself. All others steer clear.
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2023
- Messages
- 8
Interesting, I'd primarily categorize Self as a comedy!
I'd be curious what you thought of the author's much shorter work Helga of the Black Hair, which is also on mangadex. That's very much not a comedy and is also pretty weird. Very surreal. "David Lynch".
Anyway great review, a thoughtful summary. You're a bit of a comedian yourself!
