Downfall Paperback – February 18, 2020

It's not everyones cup of tea, if you are into a more realistic view of a manga artist (or the possibility of what life is like for one) I would reccomend this, I was lead the believe that this was suppose to be some kind of horror manga. While I was slightly disappointed in that, I got a surprise that I enjoyed.It tells you of a story of a man who did finally achieve his dream of being a manga author/artist, but at the cost of intimate relationships outside of his work. The first woman he spoke of gave him a reality check that he didn't realise it until he was too far gone.The realistic style art was amazing and a refreshing change to what I normally see. I was lead to this book through a top 10 horror manga of 2020. This isn't horror but a psychological anlyzation of a manga author.

Being rather new to Inio Asano, I was a little nervous when picking this up. However after hearing praises for his other work such as Goodnight Punpun and Solanin, I decided to jump in and give Downfall a try and it fully payed off. The visuals of Downfall are utterly striking, the story is interesting although slow-paced, and the characters feel fully fleshed out. This may just be post read hype but I genuinely loved it. I'll of course be checking out his other works but, you should give Downfall a try. Just keep in mind, the mature rating is well deserved.**My 5 stars are a rating of the product rather than the contents inside. All of which came in great condition.

If you’ve read any of Asano’s previous works, you’ll already know why his stories are so unique. He’s got an amazing way of taking everyday stories and making them interesting and reflective. His works express the anxieties and uncertainties of life at all stages.This is a short-gripping story and may be interpreted in many ways. However you interpret it though, it seems hard to not see the protagonist as an embodiment of the author. This self-loathing story, with great disdain for manga industry, feels like the closest we’ll get to authors views on himself and his lowest moments in life.

Everything was good but in the back was a small scratch but I don’t mind at all.

It is such a great one shot manga. I usually enjoy shonen and action series but this kept me intrigued and into it the entire time. The one thing I don't like about the book is that the symbol showing that there will be explicit content was hard to see. So while reading, I didn't know it but I was in for a surprise.

This manga has it all, the way Inio Asano show the nature of the protagonist is wonderful, in some aspects I could see me in him and that scared me. This book is a tale from a broken person but aren’t all of us also broken in some way?

Haunting manga about an industry wringing a person dry of their empathy. (Spoilers incoming, apologies) content warning for rape, is important to note. It left me with a hollow feeling, and how something so seemingly enjoyable can have such a dark side to it almost fills you with guilt for contributing to the industry at large. I have no aim in this writing

Another great story by inio asano, it is slow paced at first but you really get to see the dark side of a struggling manga artist who gave up, and great art highly recommend for any fans of dark, psychological story's highly recommend!