Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly

MechaMecha Mar 9, 2023

10

I give this one shot 5 stars because the mangaka was hit by a drunk driver and they sent it to publishing as-is while she was recovering.She has only done one work since then. Hopefully more.

nathandouglasdavis Sep 6, 2021

6

The manga's decent enough, but it starts feeling sorta repetitive as Liliko keeps spiraling downward in a predictable way. It also starts feeling heavy-handed the way it keeps hammering home its theme of the extremes that people will go to in order to achieve youthful beauty and fame. It also shows how Liliko cover up the emotional void and anxiety within femself by being sexually "adventurous" and by causing other people pain. Though, honestly, the heavyhandedness wasn't that big of a deal. And the predictability of the downward spiral also wasn't that big of a deal, because there was hope for an interesting payoff at the end. The biggest problem was that there was all of this build-up and foreshadowing regarding the detective and stuff, but then the story just kinda fizzled and plopped to an end. The climax was so lackluster that I wouldn't even call it a climax. And then the final chapter started doing this weird abstract, poetic thing that felt entirely out of place and also nonsensical. Why are Asada and Liliko being treated as though there's some kind of fate connection between the two of them? That's just stupid. It was a disappointing ending to a story that, before then, was actually pretty engaging. I liked the mad scientist vibes of that one scene in chapter 3, and I sorta wish the series leaned further into that and maybe went full sci-fi or something. I liked the way police reports, tabloid articles, and random perspectives from fangirls were used as narrative tools. They helped emphasize how Liliko is in the public spotlight and, with the police reports, also helped create a sense of tension and intrigue as to what'll happen down the line. Though, like I said before, that built-up tension ends up building up to nothing really worthwhile. The art style is haphazard and sketchy. Though even though the proportions are frequently skewed and it feels like it completely lacks in detail, the perspectives and vibes of the scenes are on point. Sometimes I confused Kin and Hada as well as some of the other characters for each other. 

ulloa Jun 20, 2021

10

Helter Skelter is possibly my favorite manga from Kyoko Okazaki, being the one i got to know her work from. Honestly, this whole manga is a rollercoaster. Sometimes you'll laugh, sometimes you'll feel like "what the actual hell is going on in here" and sometimes you will be like "ok?" It's a cool experience tho, i'd like to relive it again for the first time lol. The ending got me so "what the f*ck" but ngl, it's nice. I guess, in timeline, this one goes before "River's Edge", i mention this since the new model in Ririko's Agency appears in River's Edge. Read it! Kyoko Okazaki is hella cool:)