TITLE: Imperfect Girl vol. 3
YEAR: April 2018
COMPANY: Vertical Comics
Written by NISIOISIN
Art by Mitsuru Hattori
The conclusion of “Imperfect Girl”, “I” has been locked in the closet by his kidnapper “U”. But while she goes out to school, he manages to find a way to escape the closet. But as he could easily escape from the apartment, “I” discovers the truth about “U” and what is lurking on the second floor of her home.
All this and more in the final volume of “Imperfect Girl” vol. 3!
What is “Imperfect Girl”?
Nisioisin is a well-known manga writer and novelist. Best known for his “Monogatari” novels, he already has created many series such as “Zaregoto”, “Ningen”, “Sekai”, “Densetsu”, “Boukyaku Tantei” to name a few.
In 2016, Nisioisin created a novel for “Imperfect Girl” and mangaka Mitsuru Hattori (best known for “Concerto”) would receive the go ahead to create a manga adaptation of “Imperfect Girl” which was featured in “Weekly Young Magazine”.
The series revolves around an author known as “I” hoping for a big break, but for each manuscript he has sent, he has not received one reply.
One day, while riding on his bike to get home, he sees two girls walking and one is hit by a truck and is killed. The other he sees saving her video game and rushing to her friend and then rode on.
The following day, while riding on his bike, the author gets into an accident as a recorder is stuck inside his back wheel and was able to survive thanks to his judo classes.
While the author gets home to check things on his computer, he feels a stabbing pain on his calf. When he goes to check, he sees the girl (that survived the crash) under his desk and sees her stabbing his calf with a blade.
She explains to him that her name is “U” and because she saw her, she is taking him. With the blade to his back and repeated punctures, she forces him to her home and has him go into the closet and locks him in there. As he ponders to get help, he realizes he would be a laughing stock if he told people that a young-girl has kidnapped him.
As the author tries to think of what “U” is trying to accomplish, he overthinks things, about her intention, about his life and by the time he wakes up, he realizes that he hasn’t eaten.
He is thinking it’s probably a game and her parents would come back home and he would be released…but why isn’t her parents home yet? Why is he being locked in a closet?
As a reader and viewer of NISIOISIN’s “Monogatari” series, there is always something fascinating about his style of work and the characters.
So, I was looking forward to reading his three volume series “Imperfect Girl” and I found the storyline to be surprisingly wicked.
A story about an author who has limited thinking and hasn’t had a successful novel, sees a girl get killed and her friend checking on her.
But instead of stopping, the author just keeps riding his bike and more or less is an observer that tries to use what he observes to incorporate to a future novel.
But the following day, he gets home and the girl he saw earlier is stabbing his calf with a blade. And now she has him by knifepoint and forces him to her home and she locks him up in his closet.
I found the whole story interesting and what if it was all in his head, what if he’s too stupid to do anything…break the closet down or whatever. Why does he just stay in the closet and not fight it? What is wrong with this guy? But as you read on, you start to realize, this little girl that has more or less kidnapped him, is wicked and unafraid and quite deadly.
In volume 2, the girl known as U leaves for school and the author, I is left in the closet and has to urinate.
Naturally, he finds a way out of the closet and while he has all the chances to escape, he sees how she is living and starts to feel bad for her. Wondering if her parents left her all alone in the house? Wondering if the food that she feeds him is all the food she lives on per day.
Needless to say, his curiosity leads him to stay and stay in the closet, so he can stay even longer. But will his decision to stay, rather than leave a smart decision or a decision he’ll end up regretting?
Which leads us to the final volume 3, as “I” learns the truth about “U”, as he roams freely in her home, trying to understand her motivation of why she became the person she is and what lurks on the second floor of her home.
As the first two volumes seemed like a mystery, by volume 3 we start to see the tragedy and the crap that “U” had to endure as a young child. It also showcases the mental health and “I” trying to understand the psyche of “U”.
Unfortunately, this is the part that some people may find debatable, of how “I” deals with the situation, considering he is able to find freedom but yet chooses to stay. He doesn’t call police, he doesn’t call child welfare, he struggles on what to do, because he is stuck trying to understand why “U” became what she is.
Nevertheless, the story manages to find it’s way to a solution that resolves series but also the two characters.
As for the story and artwork, the collaboration between NISIOISIN and Mitsuru Hattori is solid. Some of those experimental art that you often see in NISIOISIN’s work, you tend to see experimentation with artwork and in the pages, while dark in a horror-like way, you also get a few experimental art that really looks cool.
Overall, “Imperfect Girl” manages to be a series that started out as dark, but by volume 2 there is a glimmer of hope and by the final volume 3, we get a resolve of the storyline involving the two characters and a satisfying conclusion overall. If you are looking for a short manga series, definitely give NISIOISIN and Mitsuru Hattori’s “Imperfect Girl” a try!