Mohiro Kitoh

[Compiling_Autumn]

I read Narutaru after hearing people praise it on this board and had my mind blown. I think it's superior to Bokurano, which has a similar tone but ends more "cleanly." I love how off-the-rails and misanthropic Kitoh's stories tend to be.

Aside from those two, what would you guys say are his best?

[Mr. Tines]

@Shoujo Kakumei Asuka
You can find the answer to your spoilered question with the following search string :

SPOILER: Show

Code: Select all

site:forum.evageeks.org "end of narutaru"

[El Squibbonator]

Have you read any of the other stories I mentioned?

[Shoujo Kakumei Asuka]

I've read Bokurano as well. I've yet to read any of his other works, but I'll look through the list you gave. Unlike a lot of other works (read-Elfen Lied) what I've read of his so far is genuinely disturbing. I've got to read Norririn above all else though-I've been trying to get into mountain biking myself.

[robersora]

I've read Bokurano and it was a pretty intense experience... I'm not sure, if I'm ready for Narutaru yet, but one day, I definitely want to check it out. The Anime's kinda butchered the source material (since it wasn't finished yet), but the opening is lovely :)

[Bagheera]

The manga is worth the trouble, but be sure you hunt down scanlations of the original and don't settle for Dark Horse's censored release of the work (which, apart from being censored, is also incomplete). It will take some digging to find the appropriate scans, but as i said it's worth it.

[El Squibbonator]

I forgot that I'd already made a topic about him. Sorry. Speaking of Kitoh translations, though, do you know where I can find a scanlation for Bokurano that includes the bonus material included in the back of volume 4?

[Baz]

I read Hallucinations from the Womb several years ago, and felt dirty afterwards. It had some of Kitoh's best art, though.

Narutaru is one of my favorite manga. My only gripe is that, like most of Kitoh's stuff, it's really a collection of short stories with common themes. Most chapters didn't contribute to the main story.

[El Squibbonator]

I have to admit I've read that one too. The stories are actually pretty variable in subject--there's one about a man who returns from the dead to tell his wife he loves her (actually pretty touching), one about a girl who causes whatever building she stays in to blow up (a reference to the legend of the Zashiki-warashi) and one that's called "The Collector's Cage" (you don't want to know).

On the other hand, Kitoh has a phenomenal talent for designing aircraft. I seriously think that, as soon as he finishes Norririn, his next project should be an aviation-themed manga of some sort. Here's one from Wings of Vendemiaire, a neat double-fuselage jet:
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/vandemier ... 008/2.html

And here are a couple from Bokurano (the first two are named in the story as the "Model 88" and the "Model 96")
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/bokurano/c002/2.html
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/bokurano/c046/2.html
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/bokurano/c016/11.html
http://www.mangahere.co/manga/bokurano/c016/8.html

[Compiling_Autumn]

Just read Hallucinations from the Womb last night. Now I'm not sure if Mohiro Kitoh is just really focused on disturbing people or if he is a legit pedophile.

[El Squibbonator]

I always assumed it was the former. After all, one recurring theme in Kitoh's work is the idea that humans are fundamentally flawed and selfish, and that the supposed innocence of children is a myth. He demonstrates this by having his characters--children and adults alike-- succumb to temptations of abuse and cruelty to their fellow people.
And he's perfectly capable of writing stories without that stuff in them--most of the short stories I mentioned, like Ekrano are good examples, as is Noririn. And those stories happen to be more light-hearted and happy than Bokurano, Narutaru, or Hallucinations from the Womb. It seems to be just something he does in his darker works to creep his readers out or make them think or some-such.

[robersora]

I guess, he wants to make the readers feel the twisted logic which lies beneath Anime tropes.

[El Squibbonator]

At least in Bokurano and Narutaru that was certainly the case. By the way, do you know where I might find a translation/scanlation for this work of his? It's a oneshot, apparently, and its title translates to "King of the Wind".
http://myanimelist.net/manga/22859/Kaze_no_Ou

[Justacrazyguy]

Kitoh is awesome, Narutaru and Bokurano blew my mind when I first read them, good times.

Hallucinations from the Womb had some great stories, but "The Three Year God" was the best for me: "..I'm going to prepare God his meal."

[El Squibbonator]

Am I the only one who's slightly pissed that this:
http://mangapark.me/manga/owari-to-hajimari-no-miles
isn't going to get finished anytime soon, thanks to Kitoh's seeming insistence on focusing on Noririn? Not that there's anything wrong with Noririn, but Owari to Hajimari no Miles looks fascinating. Its probably the most original work Kitoh has ever written (with the possible exception of Wings of Vendemiaire), and like that series there is a strong emphasis on flight--it almost reminds me of something Studio Ghibli would make into a movie, if only they could figure out what to do with the, shall we say, inappropriate parts.

Edit:
I just uncovered another collection of stories by Kitoh. Called Zansho, it's actually not his normal genre. Most of them are essentially "realistic", and aren't as dark as what he's normally known for. But nevertheless you can tell they're by him thanks to the art style and the tone.
https://www.mangaupdates.com/series.html?id=232

[El Squibbonator]

The reason I'm reviving this topic is because--after years of presumed inactivity--Mohiro Kitoh has released a new manga. Called Futago no teikoku, it will be serialized in Comic @Bunch. Unfortunately no English translation of it exists, official or otherwise.
My guess is that, coming after Noririn (his cycling manga), this series is intended to be Kitoh's big return to form. Just from looking at the cover, it seems that it will feature child characters in dangerous situations and military vehicles, just as Bokurano and Narutaru did.
Here is a summary of it (warning, this summary is translated, so beware of bad grammar):
The story takes place during the 2595th year of the era KB (light). Ko, the country of the rising sun, invaded several countries and war rages. Its territory does not stop growing and in the heavens, the battleships are legion. GAW, a young boy immigrated, and Fa, a mysterious girl, will find themselves to embark on this "war".

As a final thought, do you think this means he might resume work on Owari to Hajimari no miles?

[El Squibbonator]

I know it's been a while, but we have some new information coming down the pipeline. Apparently the first collected volume of Futago no Teikoku will be coming out on March 9th this year, and we can expect a scan/translation sometime after that.

[gatotsu911]

I legitimately want to know what kind of fucked-up thing(s) happened in Kitoh's childhood to make him as obsessed as he is with the subject of violence, sexuality and cosmic horror involving children. It goes way beyond abstract thematic interest with him and into the realm of fetishistic fixation. Dude's the Larry Clark of Japanese cartoons.

Narutaru was edgy trash, but I admit I found it morbidly fascinating for the sheer uncontained extremity of Kitoh's nihilism and misanthropy. These overwhelm even the logic and pacing of the plot, turning it into some kind of incoherent scream comparable to the ramblings of a psychopath, played out in slow motion. Richard McBeef meets Pokemon: The Series.

[El Squibbonator]

Larry Clark? I prefer to liken him to an even darker, more nihilistic version of Mark Millar (the guy who wrote Kick-Ass and Wanted).

[El Squibbonator]

Well, it's been a long time, but Kith's latest manga, Futago no Teikoku ("The Twin Empires"/"The Imperial Twins") has finally gotten a translation, though of course not an official one. So far only the first chapter's been translated, but the others from the first collection will soon follow and you can find them on MangaPark.com.

The premise seems to be that (warning: spoilers below, read at your own risk)

SPOILER: Show

there are these two countries--the "Ko Empire", which seems to be a fantasy hybrid of Japan and China, and "the Continents", which are at war. A war that is being fought, by the way, with flying ships. So our heroes are a teenage boy who's been displaced by the war, and a girl who can cause anyone who touches her to die.

You know, classic Kitoh stuff.