Souichi's Birthday

nathandouglasdavis Nov 24, 2022

4

Apparently, Souichi is a recurring character within a subset of Junji Ito's oneshots. And, as such, this manga does have a vibe that it expects you to already know the characters and general dynamics, but that doesn't really ruin the reading experience. Souichi basic personality can be summed up by something Kouichi said: "[Souichi] doesn't respond to kindness, and yet gets pissed off if you ignore [fem]." Souichi hangs out in the attic and cupboards and under floorboards, and chews on nails. Fe's generally a cruel brat, whose antisocial behavior is said to have originated from feir granny spoiling fem. So in that sense, I suppose this manga is making a statement about parenting habits. I actually appreciated the backstory and I thought the story developed into a pretty well-written and endearing ghost story.