Short Cuts

The premise behind Short Cuts is simple: gag stories that last a page or two, collected in a group of about one hundred. This simple set up never gets old or repetitive, however; Short Cuts can be at times mind-boggling, hilarious, subversive, puerile, cynical, thought-provoking, eye-opening, and sexy. The humor here, even with the language barrier to separate Japanese and English readers, almost always hits the mark if you have a taste for the absurd. However, Short Cuts, while childishly funny in some instances, can also cast a stark light on not only Japanese society, but human society at large. In one of the later Short Cuts, Usamaru, in the span of two pages, weaves a poignant tale about a woman trapped in a birdcage, yearning for her freedom as she watches the apathy of her bird captors day after day. In this comic, it's never revealed whether her dream of human society is just a dream or whether she's simply mentally unsound, desperate to spread a message about the value of liberty for all mankind. And sometimes, there are sex jokes.

I can not believe how hilarious this book is. It's full of one to two page short stories, kinda like the weekly funnies in American Newspapers. They all basically focus on "cute high school girls" or ko-gals, which as the writer says seem to dominate japanese society, think of all the anime and manga focused on teenage females. All I can say is these are some of the raunchiest, most perverted, and sick jokes I've ever read. So in other words HILARIOUS. This is definately a 16 and up age requirement. No if ands or buts about it. These jokes are just too perverted for anyone younger. A thing to keep in mind, while many of the jokes are universal, many are not. There are quite a few cultural references that only japanese people would understand and you're left thinking "What? I don't get it." Thankfully, though I didn't realize it till I was halfway through the book, there is a summary guide in the back that pretty much explains all the hard to understand ones. After you read it and then read that particular story again later, it does become very humorous. :D This is a great read for all us sickos out there that like reading this kinda thing. The art is a bit different from other manga, no big sparkly eyes, and that actually turned a few of my friends away from it before they even read any of it!! That's crazy. It is drawn very nicely though in my opinion, almost like Junji Ito's Uzumaki. Anyway get this book and you won't regret it. ^.^