It was terrible. The humor was crude, and everyone was so unpleasant. There's a weird dread and I have no sympathy for horndog Ogino.

The bad: I hated the animation style. I don't like manga that uses super realistic looking characters and then throws in the "ugly faces" for comedic relief, it grosses me out. Also, it's pretty misogynistic, with the girlfriend of one of the side characters being used as basically a sex toy, and the only plus sized female character being portrayed as a teen prostitutes whom everyone hates.

The good: It's a pretty realistic slice of life story as things go with manga, at least the parts where our main character is kind of a pushover who gets bullied, but still has goals and dreams beyond what people would expect from him.

This is not very good. It seems like a slightly darker slice of life then it will suddenly have a scene that's way darker for no apparent reason. Why do we see a random characters boobs? No idea. Why do we learn another side character is selling her body? No idea, it doesn't seem to matter at all. It seems like a slice of life that loses its focus.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for letting read an eArc.

Ciguatera begins with Ogino and Takai, two best friends in high school who bond over motorcycles when they aren't being violently bullied and exhorted of their allowances respectively. When Ogino begins taking driving classes to build towards owning his own bike he meets Nagumo who soon becomes his first love and girlfriend. But as romance takes over his life he drifts away from his best friend and their once entwined lives separate.

Admittedly, it took me a while to jump into Ciguatera. While I thought the cover art was lovely, the first few pages were quite unlike it and took some time to get used to. I also feel like I came in expecting more of a woman-centered perspective than this series is really about (don't judge a book by its cover, etc.). That said, once I got into this volume, something about it really left me wanting to read more. There's this growing sense of anxiety that builds and builds and I can't help but wonder what next is in store for the characters. It's unsettling yet strangely gripping.

TW: bullying & sexual violence

Sometimes a book just isn't for me and Ciguatera was that. The art style adn story line just wasn't doing it for me and it was hard to finish the book.

Do you know how sometimes a cover will make you stop browsing books and take a minute to read the description? Well, that is what happened to me with Ciguatera Vol. 1. The realism and colors of the cover instantly got me curious, and the description sucked me in.

Yusike Ogino is your ordinary teenager. He has dreams, ambitions, and of course, bullies. That dream of his is to get his license and a motorcycle and catch the eye of Yumi. Yet when Yumi approaches him, he can't quite bring himself to believe the truth or his luck. Is this a trap, or is his dream coming true – out of order!?

I want to advise some reader discretion for Ciguatera Vol. 1, as the bullying portrayed within these pages goes far beyond what the description prepared me for (and I was expecting a fair amount). I understand the purpose of this betrayal, but it felt heavy-handed at times, and I'm sure, very triggering at others. So please do consider yourself warned.

To make my point nice and clear: I seriously struggled with finishing Ciguatera Vol. Normally I can happily read a volume in a single sitting, but with this one, I had to keep putting it down and walking away. It's a lot, guys.

To be fair, I can see the point Minoru Furuva was trying to make here – that everyone faces suffering in their lives. Or at least, that was the point as I interpreted it. To contrast, all of those darker points would be the romance itself...which is okay?

It's neither here nor there, though perhaps it would be something developed further in later volumes. I'm not certain. All I know is that there wasn't as much as I had hoped, keeping me invested in this story.

Rating: -
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this graphic novel.
DNF@25%. Unfortunately, but this book did not appeal to me. I'm horrified by the way they've portrayed all of the characters. The portrayal of a female character. Personally, I find it disgusting. There is no relief at all. This was UGLY, to say the least. I'm not sure if this was meant to be insightful or to make a message, but it was just unpleasant and boring in its delivery. I wouldn't bother anyone who happens to be reading this.

Leaning more towards shounen and seinen vibes, Minoru Furuya (perhaps most famous in the west for The Ping Pong Club) English debut Ciguatera is dark, awkward, comedic at times but also depressing but an earnest story of youth. Seventeen-year-old Yusuke Ogino lives for tomorrow, when one day he’ll be away from his highschool bully and one step closer to having his motorcycle license. So he can drive away on a motorcycle and not be reminded of how much his life sucks and how powerless he is. He’s a loser. He’s a L-7 weenie and he knows it. The closer he gets to his breaking point is closely tied with how close he gets to his dream of getting his license and owning his own motorcycle.

Along the way in this first volume, he learns about himself and just how great and terrible life can be at his age. This first volume is incredibly heavy with the plot points of bullying, sex work, reputations at school, family obligations and failures and more. The promise of a better future, the promise of having someone have your back, the promise of friendship all loom in the distance for Minoru and it is damning and thrilling to read. I may not have always been cheering him on while reading (internally screaming at him for different reasons) yet I was invested. A little digging online tells me that this series was first released in Japan (2003-2004ish?) when I was a teenager and that’s probably why I felt so compelled to read and finish no matter how dark and heartbreaking and gross Minoru’s life became and involved.

All in all, for those who love coming of age manga, seinen genres manga, slice of life manga for mature readers (I’d say older teen and up, at least 16+), this may be up your alley. I was given a trigger warning for certain young adults being pressured and forced to do things that they didn’t want to in sexual matters (off screen, off the page) and some nudity in situations that make this volume especially not for younger readers.

Ciguatera is heavy, and that may make some readers search out lighter manga. It is also a manga that many have always hoped to read yet I have yet to see if it is too dated for the current market/generation of manga readers who may folks to more popular titles or manga with more polished artwork. I’m happy Kodansha continues to take a chance on manga that people have always yearned to see translated and printed in English. Just as I said in my review of No. 5, Vol. 1 by Taiyo Matsumoto, I appreciate this manga publisher taking a chance and reprinting this even if it isn’t a book I’d buy at first glance. Other than preserving older manga (Early 2000’s I know, I know), I’m superb grateful to read more manga, period. Even the mangaka whose works I don’t immediately love, this is my gateway to learning more about them and possibly reading more of their work as time goes by.

Ciguatera is a book about many things; bullied teens, motorcycles, first love, and friendship. It follows a teenage boy who dreams of getting a bike license to escape the reality of his everyday trials and tribulations. This book has a grown-up feel due to the art style despite the high school setting, and those who like angsty stories might be interested.

I felt like the story went in circles and got a bit repetitive, which was surprising considering the heavy topics. However, this made an already longer book drag on. I thought the ugly faces were great on their own I wasn't a fan of seeing them all the time, as a fan of more complicated art styles. This wasn't something I'd recommend to those who generally enjoy the type of manga I do, but for those who love simple and clean coming-of-age stories, they might want to give it a try.

Ciguatera is surely a love song for the miserable and awkward nerdy teen boys. Ogino is bullied in high school and so is his friend Takai. These two friends share a passion for motorcycles and now Ogino is even getting his driver's license. At the driving school Ogino meets the girl of his dreams, Nagumo, and the two actually start dating, which is interesting. But of course the bully is still in the picture and Takai is fed up with the situation and takes action. The manga follows these different characters and somehow there's this feeling of doom present all the time. Ogino is annoying in every way, drowning himself in self-pity and never learning anything. At the same time his pondering is entertaining and insightful. Nagumo then is hard to understand, which works nicely, and their relationship is weird and normal at the same time.

The art works well as it's quite realistic and the ugly faces are awesome. The manga seems very grownup in a sense and at the same time the content isn't that, especially how Ogino acts. Perhaps for me the fact that this keeps going in circles was the reason I only gave three stars though. This is an omnibus edition, so I kind of wish our characters would grow, since the series is only six books long.

Really great manga and one that I didn't think I would like. I really loved the plot and all the characters!

Thank you to Netgalley and Kodansha Comics for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

TW: bullying, violence, nudity, sexual remarks and act, crude language

This actually quite funny for a manga that seemingly focused on a character that gets bullied and also weak. To be honest, I wasn't expecting myself to laugh reading this but I did. I guess the humor worked for me. The artsyle was pretty good, it had the older style so there's a lot of funny or meme face made by our main character, Ogino.

Ogino is a typical boy, who doesnt stands out much and gets bullied by the most pathetic bully ever in this world and how he went to a driving school to get a motorcycle license and meet a cute girl. Its a story that explored about loves, relationships, growing up and surviving through school.

Its a pretty lengthy manga spanning 400 pages in the first volume but packed so much in it. I don't exactly like how the story goes with the bullying part, those left a bitter taste in my mouth on how they are potrayed. Friendship are broken and a new relationship is formed but everything seems to be a bit too smooth sailing for Ogino and it felt a bit far fetched in a sense.

Don't hate it but don't love it too so I'm like average in this.

Gosh, this was UGLY. I don’t know if this was trying to make a statement or trying to be deep, but it was just gross and boring in it’s telling. I wouldn’t bother anyone reading this.

Yusuke Ogino is an awkward high schooler who’s constantly bullied and dreams of being able to find an escape once he obtains his bike license. However, at bike school, he runs into a pretty schoolmate of his named Yumi. To his surprise, she takes an interest in him and their relationship starts to blossom.

Now Ogino feels on top of the world and like he can conquer anything. However, his newfound happiness might not last forever since someone appears to be obsessively stalking them …

Ciguatera Volume 1 by Minoru Furuya is a humorous and relatable coming-of-age dramedy that wonderfully captures the awkwardness of a first-time love.

There’s a painful rawness and realness to the characters that really makes them feel believable. On top of that, Furuya does an excellent job at letting readers peer inside Ogino’s head—seeing his insecurities and all—through visual allegory and heavy-hitting dialogue.

Be forewarned though: this is a manga that doesn’t hold back. It gets dark. Its characters are messy and flawed, and honestly, tonally and subject matter-wise, this series reminds me a lot of The Flowers of Evil by Shuzo Oshimi (a personal favorite of mine), so if you love one, you’ll probably love the other.

This book is not for the faint of heart. There's bullying, borderline sexual assault, black mail, and a possible murder attempt to come. And yet, I kept reading! Our main character is a boy who is bullied by an older classmate right off the bat, his only real escape from his crappy reality is two things: getting his motorcycle license, and his girlfriend. Of course, both of these things hang very delicately above his head. That's not even getting into the side characters who clearly have their own stories to potentially be explored. This will likely be a love it or not kind of title, but if you think you can handle the subject matter, give this one a look!

I thought the artwork in this story was very good, but the story is very angsty which is ok if you like angsty books. Yusuke is a young man who is working so that he can save up and get a motorbike. He does well at school but both he and his friend are bullied. He also has a big crush on a girl who goes to the same bike school that he does and he is shocked when he realises that this girl is also attracted to him.

The story focuses on teenage pressures such as school, first love, friendship, bullies and other challenges. Yusuke faces a lot of challenges but bumbles his way through them in a way which is sometimes comical and some times uncomfortable. I think this is a teenage angst book for an adult audience.

This is also simply a story about the coming of age and growing up. I can’t say it was a favourite of mine but it was interesting enough. I did think that Yusuke comes across as a bit silly but perhaps that is what the book is supposed to portray because he is a teenager trying to deal with what life throws at him. It was an ok read if you like coming of age manga.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This manga volume was long, coming in at over 400+ pages, however it still kept me engaged enough to continue reading. This was mostly because I was so intrigued to see where the heck this story was going. I feel like a lot happened, while at the same time feeling like only a few narratives were repeatedly shown. I didn't find any of the characters appealing, and unfortunately found all of them to be really lack luster. This was especially the case for all of the female characters, who I found to be very one dimensional. I'm on the fence abut whether this is a series I can see myself continuing in the future, but maybe to see how this unusual story will end.

Thank you to Kodansha Comics and netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review.
This wasn’t my normal choice of a story to read through but I was overall hooked and interested to see how things unfurled. This was an enjoyable character driven slice of life story following our MC Ogino. Ogino is bullied at school and because of that has low self esteem and tends to over think things. His only escape from his unsatisfying reality is his dream to one day own and ride a motorcycle. Even though he is in high school Ogino has taken up a job and enrolled in a after school driving class that will get him his license. This was all he needed in life to keep him alive and accepting of his fate of being bullied forever, until one day when the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen catches his attention. Now Ogino has a new purpose in his life and as long as he doesn’t overthink things to much he might actually have a chance at true happiness. With his new interactions he unknowingly has started the a dangerous domino effect. I related a lot with this story as I’m sure a lot of people will. Some of the interactions at school with students and crushes a like felt real and not over animate as most manga do. There is more to the story as other characters have things going on in their lives as well but the main story follows Ogino for the most part. I didn’t want to spoil anything so I left the side story info out. Though I’m sure in future volumes the story hiding in the shadows will be brought to the front and center stage and we will be taken for a ride.

Ciguatera, volume by Minoru Furuya tells us about the story of Ogino Yusuke who is bullied at school. Though he is the main character of the story, he is not particularly striking or interesting. His only dream is to have his own motorcycle and to drive away from his town. From out of the blue, he suddenly learns that a very pretty girl in his motorcycle school has a crush on him and they date.

Honestly, I found the story rather dark. It has nudity, bullying, violence, and an overt focus on topics that revolve around sex. I also didn't like how women were degraded in the story as they were called demeaning names. Though I read dark stories, I struggled to appreciate volume 1 of Ciguatera because I couldn't seem to find the connection to why the story had an overt focus on sex and nudity as it did not seem to help move the story along.

However, the one thing that I believe Ciguatera, volume 1 does well is showing readers the internal turmoil that victims of bullying undergo. Ogino Yusuke is not the most interesting guy. He's wimpy, insecure, and an overthinker who lacks a backbone. Yet it is because of those traits that he is being bullied and it is because of the bullying that his negative self-image is maintained. It sheds light on why the bullied keeps on getting bullied and also on factors that would push the bullied to become the bully.

Overall, I have to sadly say that this book isn't my cup of tea. I am not the right audience for this book but I feel that this may be enjoyed by readers who like dark stories and for those who find messy flawed, characters interesting because of the many possibilities that the character could transform into.

Disclaimer: Thank you Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a bit different than what I expected going into it. I wasn't too fond of the overexaggerated art style, and I just could not get into the story at all. I didn't find it, or the characters, very interesting, and the scenarios were quite ridiculous. Overall this one just isn't for me.