Manga 12549 Fourteen

So from what I take from this, KFC meets the president who faces off against Michael Jackson in the apocalyptic future.

Story: Get ready to get your mind screwed left right up and DOWN. The plot twists are insane. They don't even make sense BUT ITS SO AWESOME. Consider Fourteen Umezu Kazuo's twisted vision of the future, where humans have exhausted Earth's resources and progress through life through artificial means.You know shts hardcore if chicken can be grown in a bathtub. He emphasizes the consequences of human interference with nature and concludes that if we don't stop killing trees now, we're dead.

The story explores various philosophical ... and (pseudo) scientific concepts such as love, immortality, individuality, evolution, aliens; the list just goes on. Add a bit of Umezu Kazuo in there and you get things blown out of proportion. Literally, you cannot help but stop and THINK about what this guy was sniffing and how you could get some of it. It's not necessarily bad per se, its just that its so over the top that whatever material you're presented with will hit you in the face multiple times and HARD.

Art: Quite frankly, it's decent at best. The artist does capture emotions of the characters well and does a good job of consistently maintaining a dark and heavy atmosphere but the art is just bad. Specifically, the style is outdated. Considering it was made in the 90's, I guess it was passable then but in today's standards, if one would flip to a random page of this manga to see its contents they would straight up close it and put it back on the shelf.

Character: Think of Chicken George as the representation of Umezu Kazuo's thoughts and feelings towards the people and businesses that contribute to environmental hazards; its a huge middle finger aiming for their tight butthole. He comes in the story saying "You guys are all going to die and theres nothing you can do about it." When the humans finally think they have a solution; "NOP." When they ask for his help "Come find me in my unfindable castle." He performs his role as a harbinger of doom well, until the author decides to incorporate love into the situation. You'll find that for the most part, Chicken George is probably the most relatable character in the story despite him being an antagonist to all humans.

Enjoyment/Overall: As crazy as the author's ideas were, they were all entertaining to say the least. It was nice to be exposed to someone else's apocalyptic vision of the future, and one as grand as this really broadened my perspective (for better or worse). The 260 chapter experience was worth it and I'd recommend this manga to anyone looking for alternatives on the world's end.

Fourteen is a... truly bizarre experience. No, I don't think you understand what extend of uncontrolled madness I'm talking about. Fourteen goes from humanoid KFC byproduct equipped with genius mind and militant approach towards humanity, through world-wide conspiracy covering up apocalypse with the power of soap-opera to a loli with a laser gun taking over a giant mechanical t-rex in space.

Fourteen is a saga that jumps from one absurdly bizzare idea to another, and manages to connect them in well-flowing story. It is really impressive to pack 20 volumes with unique and creative concepts that just keep getting more and more entertaining. The most ... bizarre part is, in fact, how the story actually makes sense. Especially after you realize what kinds of horrors and surreal situations took place. And it still makes sense in the grand scheme of the story. I wouldn't hesitate to call this Umezu Kazuo's Opus Magnum.

Now of course, to truly enjoy this manga, you need to balance not taking it too seriously and taking it too seriously. The wackiness does cross into the comedy zone sometimes, especially if your sense of humor aligns with weird shit, but Fourteen still takes on some serious themes (of course, in it's own signature way) and especially the last arc and the finale itself is a poetical, philosophical take that might leave you in thoughts.

As the story, the art itself too treads between wacky weirdness and horrifying horror. The art seems almost... warped at times, and I mean this in a good way. It surely helps to build up the atmosphere. The illustration are often in the uncanny valley teritorry. The art might seem bad at the start, especially if you're unfamiliar to Umezu's style, but you'll get used to it fast. Well, within the extent one is able to get used to an uncanny valley.

Overall, this manga is not for everyone and some will certainly shake their heads in disbelief that people actually like it, but if you're looking for something that is both unique and entertaining, if you're looking for a one of a kind manga, you should definitely try Fourteen.

It starts of really interesting. Sketching a future, that could actually be pretty close to reality. We are introduced to Chicken George, a chicken man evolved from an artifical chicken breast who is a genius and has come to earth to eradicate human life, at least thats what he says. The message of the story is that humans are bad and destroying the earth, and that's why the plants take revenge.

All the enjoyment of this manga will be mostly from the plot around Chicken George, other main characters don't feel like real people, more like devices used in the story to make stuff ... happen. So when at the end of the story Chicken George is out of the picture, you see how bad it actually is without him. The only reason you may want to keep reading is for the ending, which doesn't really surprise.

The art is very interesting, it really fits the story with its creepiness and strong shading. Making it look like a real dystopia.

I started reading this mostly because it started of really interesting but it slowly goes downhill and becomes more of a drag. Only if you are interested in weird sci-fi future stuff I would recommend this.