No Longer Allowed In Another World Volume 2: Ningen Shikkaku
The stage is set, a world in front of the characters with infinite futures at their fingertips. All it takes is a single step, one small stroke of a pen to begin. But, since this is a parody series, it goes nowhere and a whole bunch of ridiculous (equal parts comedic and cool) happens. The real question is where to begin?
How about with the titular Osamu Dazai himself? The writer of "No Longer Human" (which this manga's title is a parody of), as well as other novels such as "The Setting Sun" or "The Flowers of Buffoonery", though some may know him as the lead character in Bungo Stray Dogs. Osamu Dazai is a twisted man, himself seeing the irony in his own existence.
Would I say I'm disappointed in his characterization? Sort of, yeah. They sort of glorify his appearance as the suicidal novelist, which I don't really mind, but they drop a lot of his more negative aspects, which I feel help contextualize much of his reason for acting. Without that layer of depravity it feels like Osamu Dazai's.... sort of a good guy? He provides life lessons to those around him, and even supports people for the sake of "good". Without any sort of negative aspect to his character, you don't get the sentiment of pity or salvation that should arise from good deeds. You don't get the feeling that Dazai is acting to absolve himself, to delude himself into believing that he can still be a normal person.
Alas, this is a parody manga and not many people read much of Osamu Dazai's work so I don't really expect much more, but for once I wished to throw my words into the void.
Moving forward, the comedy is still fun, and with a proper direction and foundation under its feet it can do really well. Runnings gags already arise, and the whole straight man act works pretty well for it.
Even though I griped about Dazai's characterization in this manga, I really must admit that it's enjoyable in its own way. I think if you just take the overall "idea" of Osamu Dazai as the suicidal novelist it's very enjoyable. It's just that it's a far cry from Osamu Dazai. His personality is still very prickly, and pivots to focus on scaring others with his actions. In truth, it's miles better than a lot of genuine isekai protagonists, so maybe they should start taking character inspiration from famous historical figures.
While on the topic Osamu's character, I want to drift over into art for a little bit. The overall world is somewhat simplistic, but the characters have a nice degree of charm to them when there's a concept in mind. However, as you can see with the young boy above, when there's not something strong to latch onto, they can end up rather vague and stereotypical. The worst part of the art though is building exteriors. It's well hidden with angles and other details, but they're more than likely just models copied over from some 3D software.
A good example is this great scene. The camera angle, the layout, how it leads the eye and the feeling it elicits is really good, but the buildings (especially the church) stick out like a sore thumb.
Now, the meat and potatoes of this volume: where it's going and what it wants. I've got to say, I think it's a really fun idea that incorporates a name drop for the series and incorporate some of Dazai's passion for writing into it. The idea of the "fallen angels" and exploring the depravity of humanity instead of what wrests inside of Dazai is fun, and having the girl he died with on the other side is a really nice plot point. At this point it's more a matter of how they execute on it if it's able to be good, but I have faith they'll find a way.
All of this said, I really don't think my stance on the series has changed between volumes. No Longer Allowed In Another World isn't a catchall manga, it probably doesn't even have a huge audience. It's a sort of trashy but rather fun isekai parody that plays off a gimmick to establish substance and a comedic routine. If you don't like parodies and non-sequitur humor, this probably isn't something you'll like. If on the other hand though, you do find those aspects interesting, you might enjoy reading this series.
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Today is Dazai Osamu's birthday 🎉
太宰 治 🤍🍒
(1909年6月19日-1948年6月13日)
Happy birthday sensei!
Here I share some pictures I took from the Spanish version of his most famous book "no longer human / 人間失格" (indigno de ser humano)
Sensei deserves a special post because I love him and his books so much ✨💕
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went out with a friend today (to take her mind off a recent break-up and to take pretty pictures of spring flowering trees) and ended up in the mall close-by after to eat
and we ended up going into our favorite bookshop (Carturesti), and as per usual, I ended up buying a couple of things, because i cannot help myself ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
1. got my hands on the last part i lacked of the SVSS book 🥳💚
2. Ningen shikkaku and Joseito by Dazai Osamu (because I was curious and also because BSD and also because why the hell not)
Today was a good day, tbh, it's left me in a good mood altogether
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