Title: Pygmalion
Author:
Chihiro Watanabe
Literary
level: Intermediate
Rating: 2.5/5
Published in Mag Garden by Chihiro
Watanabe between 2015 and 2017; a short read. Japan has a certain culture of
mascots where every precinct or county has a specific mascot with a name and
personality; now imagen that they are huge monsters out to destroy humans.
Pygmalion, similar to the Greek myth, tells the story of the creation of life
without the express consent of itself. The myth goes as such, in short: the
king of Cyprus molds a statue to become his wife, the statue comes to life, and
they live happily ever after. Well, not according to this manga because the
first creation rebels against its owners and needs his gene brother to revive
its true creator. Keigo Ayahara must endure the hardships of this calamity in
order to save his little brother, Makoto from becoming the vessel and a Galatea
(in the myth it’s the statue, in the manga it’s one of the monsters).
Review: it seems like a pattern now,
reading questionable manga for reviewing purposes only. Anyways, this one,
although short, is very brutal with its content; there is a lot of blood. I
wouldn’t say it’s bad but not a work of art either, it’s an in-between I guess.
The story is very linear where the protagonist must do something and they do it
in less than a day; secondary characters are very superficial; the
antagonist has a motive but no merit to his actions because of spoilers:
the creator died and he wanted him back. It’s a one-day read, nothing more,
nothing less. The concept itself is like Frankenstein and the creation of life
without taking responsibility for what happens after conception and the repercussions
greed and capitalism can have with such inventions. I wouldn’t go as far as to
say it’s a commentary on how research is always exploited when it benefits the
pockets of the already wealthy, but it’s close enough to the themes there.
Would I recommend it? Not so much; more like reading at your own discretion.