Mujirushi review

AngelCharms9
Apr 08, 2021
Urasawa is a masterful storyteller - known for his sweeping epics, characters, and thrilling stories capable of holding the reader captive with mystery and page-turning thrills. Fans will experience all of their favorite Urasawa-isms in Mujirushi - fitted nicely into a charming, compact one-shot. 

This was an odd one though. I took a leap of faith and dove into Mujirushi not knowing anything about the story and was immediately immersed into the familiar space I know and love about a Urasawa-story - mysterious atmosphere, several concurrent plot threads, and lovable minor characters. The atmosphere in particular should be noted; it always amazes me that a scene can carry an underlying sense of discomfort - or even horror - just from a character's facial expression or gesture.This was certainly the case when readers first encounter 'The Director'. 

As I am reading, I can't quite shake off that this is only 9 chapters. As the chapters go on, more story threads are added and mysteries unpacked yet a climax is yet to be reached. Astonishingly, it's not until chapter 9 - the last chapter - that everything comes together in both a brilliant and obviously rushed manner. This may remind you of yet another Urasawa-ism - one I am not crazy about - were the ending never quite satisfies you in the same way the epic journey did.

Should you dive into this one? Yes. This is a nice, light afternoon read. You will want to turn off your cynical brain knowing this is a collaborative advertisement piece for the Louvre in Paris and just enjoy the quirky, Francophile, charming story. You will also want to stay away from the temptation of recommending this to a friend new to Urasawa and just have them read 20th Century Boys or Monster. 
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Mujirushi
Mujirushi
Author Urasawa, Naoki
Artist