I have somewhat recently entered a cult phase, in which I am attempting to view every "Cult Classic" before going off to college. Most of the classics I have seen thus far are campy horror films that should have been put out of their misery years ago, yet are entertaining nonetheless. I remember seeing Ichi on the shelves of the Video Showplace that used to take root a few minutes from my home, primarily because the cover of the movie was so disturbing that it had haunted me from first grade on. Ah but I digress, for I must begin my comments regarding the manga.
As it turns out, Ichi the Killer was originally a manga written by the great Hideo Yamamoto. As it also turns out, all ten volumes of the manga were available on Manga Fox, thus provoking me to read the series. When the series was first released, it was actually banned in several sections of Japan and Malaysia. Why is this? Let me put it this way: the extremely graphic depictions of cruelty throughout the comic were seen to be 'too' controversial among many readers. Nevertheless, I read, and to my surprise, adored the series!
Despite the fact that the characters were just a lot of immoral Yakuza, most of them turned out to be extremely dynamic. Kakihara, a masochist, is hands down the most twisted antagonist that I have ever come across (and I have seen a lot of twisted stuff, my friends). He has a slit mouth, scars covering his face, and several dozen piercings, and wants nothing more than to find Ichi--the allusive murderer of his beloved Anjou. The series itself follows the story of Ichi, a boy who has been psychologically scarred from being bullied as a child ( as a side-note, Ichi is socially inept and has the inability to smile like a normal person, as picture above). I won't go into any more details as to prevent spoilers, but I would very easily present Ichi with a five star rating.
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