Under Execution, Under Jailbreak is a collection of short stories by Mangaka Hirohiko Araki, more famous for his 20 year spanning, 80+ volume work JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, of which I've already spoken on a bit too much. The stories themselves are stand alone one-to-three chapter deals, though likely rooted in the JoJo universe (if only for the character cameos), and continues Araki's habit of bizarre concepts laced with incredible violence, complimented by his distinct drawing style. I can't help but think his unpopularity State side arises from his art being such a departure from the accepted standard fare, but American's having bad taste in Manga is nothing new (seriously, three volumes of Naruto on the best seller list? What?).

Moving on. It was a good read, though more the latter half than the first, so I've decided to write a brief summary of the volume. If you'd like to get your hands on it, send me a tip. Under Execution is sadly unavailable in the English reading market, or I'd already own a copy. Next time I can find a Japanese bookstore...

The opening (and titular) chapter, a unnamed man is found guilty of murder and stands in his cell awaiting execution. But after a second look, his quarters have been replaced with a well furnished living room. He gets comfortable with this new arrangement, and the death trap is sprung. It's easily the most surreal of the the works included; the room itself seemingly determined to kill its lone occupant, no real explanation for its invisible intelligence. Some of the traps are rather clever, some convoluted and random, so on the whole it was decent, but just that. Still, the story manages to capture an interesting, slightly thought-provoking ending to the end of this crazy scenario, and our man in chains ends up imprisioning himself far better than his captors could ever hope to do so.

Our second tale, Dolce and His Master, revolves around a cat (Dolce) aboard a boat stranded in the middle of the ocean, a woman dead on the deck, and Dolce's unnerved master, a WORLD FAMOUS first class architect. According to Araki's notes, the story was based off a conversation he had with his highly cat-loving editor to the tune of "But I bet you would eat them if you got lost on the Andes Mountains." That should pretty much describe the rest of the story. It's the most realistic of those collected, compared with Araki's usual outlandish content, but is also in my opinion the weakest one. A common mistake of the author's is to rush the pacing, and its evident that this story could have been more tactfully put together at some parts, although it begins and ends well.

Third on the list is a short episode featuring everyone's favorite author insert from Diamond is Unbreakable, Rohan Kishibe, though he's really more the narrator than the central character. Taking a number of photographs of a Catholic church on a trip to Italty for "Research," Rohan steps inside a small confessional box, accidentally on the wrong side of the curtain, and is treated to an unexpected confession from a guilty sinner involving vagabonds, ghosts, curses, success, revenge, and fate. I actually found it a fairly interesting read, though not up to par with Rohan's (many years) later one-shot Mutsukabezaka. Tells like a folk tale with a twist ending. I also enjoy Rohan's character, though I haven't read far enough in Diamond is Unbreakable to officially meet him yet.*

The final piece in Under Execution is the three chapter long Dead Man's Questions, and its the best of the bunch. Following a recently deceased man lingering in our world, he spends his time accomplishing odd jobs for a local Buddhist nun, taking in the scenery, and wishing he had a place to haunt with good books to read and classical music to listen to. This is not an afterlife where the restless dead can go or do as they please, but is governed by rules like our own world. Well plotted and intriguing, even if you dismiss the rest of the stories included in this book, I can at least recommend Dead Man's Questions. The main downside is that I have no idea whether or not Araki intends to continue this story, as it could certainly stand as a series in it's own right if he pushed it, and I would very much like to see that happen.

Thus speaks Bad Seafood.

Note: Apologies are accepted if the images screw up your friends list.

*First two volumes. UC, if you're reading this, I can already tell why you dislike this arc the most. The pacing is rushed and the plot is all over the place; and doesn't help that the translation is notoriously terrible. Mildly entertaining, but definitely not the best the series has to offer. Ah, but we'll see when I read the rest.