close
You've Earned Badges!
you have earned more badges → see all badges
don't want a popup? edit settings here
view your badges any time in your profile
Down in the Mississippi delta, RJ has a stable life and loving wife, but what he really wants is to play the blues better than anyone around - a dream he'd be willing to give up just about anything to attain. One night at the juke he hears a rumor that if a man stands at the crossroads at midnight and plays a song, the devil will appear and transform him into an expert bluesman in exchange for his soul. Later, in a drunken stupor, RJ accidentally does just that, dooming his happy life. With nothing to return to, he sets off on the road where he'll face gangsters, a small prohibition town determined to lynch him, and the devil himself.
A couple of chapters from Lives of Eccentrics reminded my of Me and the Devil Blues, but the most obvious similarities were in the chapter on baseball legend Ty Cobb. Cobb is exactly like most of the villains in MatDB: violent tendencies, every emotion contorts his face, unrelenting egotism and racism. Additionally, both are historical, and most of the stories in both take place in early 1900s America, a setting that's rare in manga/anime.
Rohan at the Louvre and the Winchester Mystery House chapter in Lives of Eccentrics (though a couple others are also similar) feel practically identical. Both are bizarre, modern-feeling ghost stories set in labyrinthian structures (that actually exist), and have other ties to reality as well. The pacing, atmosphere, and art style are identical as well. If you enjoyed one, definitely look into the other.
