Reviews for Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17–21

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Shikaku (109435) and has subsequently been merged into 17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu (141214). I saw that there were no reviews for this so I will be the first. Like many others before me, I came from "Chainsaw Man" and have inevitably worked my way through Tatsuki's numerous one-shots and full length animes. This one follows the similar pattern of his stories in the sense that the story concludes in a sort of limbo; not really happy or sad. And while it may be a reach, his work is comparable to Ito and Lovecraft's. In specific to Shikaku, Iwould refer to it as a "Reverse Romeo/Juliet" due to the ending. While there isn't much to discuss, the art is gorgeous, the characters are likable, and the overall plot is unique and interesting. It is only 1 chapter long, therefore I recommend anyone whose read Tatsuki's other work to give this one a shot. I promise you will not be disappointed, actually, you'll be disappointed- because it wasn't a full length manga.

These four short stories really show off Tatsuki Fujimoto's wacky imagination and a bit of his dark humor. Shikaku he noted as being written from a fever dream. Initially the completely wild stories were amusing, but overall felt empty as I didn't really connect with the characters or found them that relatable. Sasaki Stopped a Bullet I feel is the best story of the bunch, but is still weaker compared to the stories in the second set of short stories in 22-26. If MAL allowed half points I'd actually give this a 6.5. The imaginative stories makes this better than 'fine', but compared to other one-shotsI wouldn't consider this set a solid 'good' rating.

The story is a mess, there isn't any logic in any of these, and those feel like fragmented pieces of random, ditched ideas. The stories inside it are way shorter than one-shot volumes, and a lot of characters are underdeveloped. Even some of the plot looks weird when being analyzed deeply. A lot of the stories feel like underdeveloped stories that don't have any potential at all, and it's not even worth reading. People shouldn't buy this volume and shouldn't read it either unless they like short stories. The characters don't really react in a realistic way, and some of them even act in astupid way.

High art this is not, but if you care about Fujiyama's art and how he got to where he is now, this collection provides some valuable insight. I personally love to witness artist journeys and seeing the progress they make in their craft over the years, so this review is more about what these four stories are when compared to his later work, rather than an unbiased review of them and them only. 1. Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita. This is the most "I'm a 17 year old boy and this is the coolest idea for a comic ever" manga and I love it somuch for it. Don't get me wrong, the story isn't anything special, there's barely any character in these characters, the art's wonky and the panels are all shaped like boring blocks. This is a very mid one-shot that didn't win a manga competition it was submitted for and to no one's surprise, but you can still see Fujimoto's unique tastes peek through the jank. Niwa attempts to tell a serious and emotional (? potentially?) story via humorous and absurd characters, but it doesn't really work here. A lot of the jokes and facial expressions here give off a very "random XD" vibe, and, therefore, don't really land - I'm not sure if they just aged poorly or if they had never worked to begin with. However, it's cool to see that this was his chosen storytelling style from the start and he had gotten so much better at it.

2. Sasaki Stopped a Bullet

It is honestly insane just how much better this is when compared to the previous work. First of all, the artstyle now looks much closer to what we now know as Fujimoto's signature one, and it's very clear that a lot of effort went in to perfecting the visual part of his works. The paneling is also much more interesting and dynamic, with some very lovely choices here and there. Visually, this already looks like s "serious work" when compared to Niwa's "amateur look". And when it comes to the story, what came into my mind somewhere around the first ten pages was "this was inspired by Asano Inio (the creator of Oyasumi Punpun), wasn't it?". Now, I can't confirm nor deny that that is the case, but the surrealism combined with weird sexual overtones combined with religious cosmic powers felt like something out of Nijigahara Holograph. I personally was not a fan, I think Fujimoto handles all these themes in a much more interesting and unique to him way in his later works, but for what it's worth, this is a very interesting second project.

3. Love is Blind

Finally, a oneshot I wholeheartedly LOVED! The humor was amazing in its absurdity and the characters were surprisingly adorable and heartfelt. The facial expressions got much better at conveying emotion, the protag's body language was top notch and the speech bubbles had a lot of character to them. The presentation still isn't perfect - the hatching's kinda wonky - but finished product as a whole reads as very good to me. I would totally be down to read 100 chapters worth of a romcom like this one.

4. Shikaku

Who would've thought that out of the first four works Fujimoto has created, two of them would be romance? And both painfully sweet too, I want a proper Fujimoto romance manga now lol. The artstyle got a bit wonkier and messier than it was before - if it's because he was in a hurry or if it's growing pains I can't say. It's harder to read than the two previous oneshots, but in exchange it looks much closer in artsyle to what Fujimoto's works usually look like. This work continues with the "real life in the real world until some crazy insane bullshit starts to happen" theme established by the previous to works, which I love - feels very on brand. Other than that, I don't have much to say - it's just a sweet little romance thing, a bit less interesting than the previous one but still plenty cute.

And that was Fujimoto, aged 17 to 21! In that time he's established the general aesthetic his storylines follow and developed his own unique brand of humor. Nothing so far has been truly "great" (except for maybe Love is Blind, but I might be biased), but I really feel like we're getting there!

Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa This is my favorite manga ever. It's so incredible, it's honestly hard to even describe. Literally every line is either an insane and hilarious plot twist or an insane and hilarious philosophical aphorism. It's the perfect post-modern vignette. Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita This manga is incredibly original. I can't comprehend the mind that comes up with something so insane. Fujimoto's work has a way of making you think what he makes is really deep and profound, even though it's hard to tell whether that is true or not. This manga is very unusually composed, because there is just barely enough information presentedfor the reader to have any kind of idea what is going on. At some junctures there isn't enough information and it's hard to follow. That being said, the plot progression is so scintillating that I can't dock him too much for that; you can easily extrapolate a satisfying explanation for yourself.

The plot is very clever but the concept is a little too out there. Originality is a torus where something too original bleeds into randomness. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so I gave it an 8. The art is pretty bad but he was only 17 so I gave him a 6 for that aspect.

okay, this is my first review on this site so let gegin i will be very positive. I found each manga in this collection is very different 1. Niwa ni wa Niwa Niwatori ga Ita. It definitely one of his weirdest oneshot, his art for this manga is very normal (it was his oneshot when he take a break when drawing fire punch and alot others oneshot), but the story is very interesting. 2. Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa (Sasaki-kun Has Stopped the Bullet) 3. Koi wa Moumoku (Love is Blind) These 2 is definitely the strongest on this collection, the story, the art, the energy i get when read these2 oneshot can't be said by words, STRONGLY recommended

4. Shikaku.

Still remain my favorite oneshot on this collection. Very lovely oneshot.

It was drawn in 2014 !!! and you can clearly see the similar between Chainsaw Man and Shikaku.

The story and art is definitely good but 2 and 3 is better imo.

Hope you find this helpful

Also you can see that every Fujimoto work, all have love between human, familiar, brother, sister, etc,...

Love his work, felt like Junji Ito but the theme is Love instead of horror.

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Koi wa Moumoku (108414) and has subsequently been merged into 17-21: Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu (141214). *Disclaimer* Just personal scratch. Advised, possible spoilers. Opinion & Informal Art: 7/10 By the same author as Fire Punch, the art was just as good if not better since this was a one-shot. The anatomy and proportions of the human characters checked out and the non-human characters looked fine. There was nice detail in the backgrounds and supporting bits. Expressions and reactions looked good and the romance-y bits looked cute.Panel Progression: 7/10

A lot of supporting tones which made the overall presentation look good. Dialogue was clear and flowed in an understandable way. Pacing was also fine. Good amount of flair in the form of layout choice and panel-cutting.

Characters: 5/10

Simple characters in a confession story. Male MC was forward and resolved. Female MC was a bit plain but was expressively cute in her reactions.

Plot & Development: 5/10

Plain confession setup but gets interesting about halfway through with the introduction of new characters and the development of wacky circumstances that try to interfere with the confession.

Conclusion: 6/10

A nice happy ending that felt right despite the craziness of the latter half of the story.

Overall: 6/10

A fine read in you're bored and coming off of Fire Punch.

17-21 is classic Fujimoto: a work of creative insanity that still somehow manages to provide the reader with engaging character work and heartfelt storytelling. Of the collected stories, "A Couple Clucking Chickens Were Still Kickin' in the Schoolyard" and "Love is Blind" are notably superior compared to the remaining two - but seeing as you can finish off the whole volume in an afternoon, it's still well worth your time to read them all. That said, I think that 22-26 is the stronger of the two one-shot collections. For that reason, I recommend reading this set before 22-26 — which is probably what you wantto do anyway given that the volumes are roughly presented in chronological order (based on Fujimoto's publications, not the stories themselves). Overall, a solid 7/10

It's genuinely unreal how Fujimoto's brain works. 4 absolutely great one-shots on par with his other one-shots, if a little lesser in content. There is no doubt a certain frequency that Fujimoto creates at, and these 4 stories are some of the earliest frequencies of this phenomena. Somehow, his words have their own aura to them. Even though these four stories are so vastly different in themes and art, the tones and messages feel so very... Fujimoto... that they could be placed in the same universe and I would bat no second eye. 3/4 of these one-shots feel actually life changing, hence the 9/10 rating.I have to talk about each and every one, so excuse the long writing.

The first story, A Couple of Clucking Chickens were still Kickin' in the Schoolyard, on top of the absolutely wonderful title that could be the album name to a Japanese shoegaze band's magnum opus, is such a smart telling of a story. I continue to revel at Fujimoto's ability to tell such stunning themes under such short-page counts, and this is such an example. The main plot (not including the Tsundere alien bodybuilder girl) is one that can be summed up in a single phrase, "Remember that a couple clucking chickens were still kickin' in the schoolyard." Remember. Remember that true alliance ship cannot be found without cultural relativism and a self-reflecting "I don't know..." Truly a magnificent display and critique of culture, heroism, and transient understanding. Fujimoto wrote this at age 17. Unreal. The artwork is definitely a little crude, and the paneling is yet to reach the modern-Fujimoto standards, but it's aliens in chicken costumes man. I can't be too harsh.

The second story, and for sure the best one, is "Sasaki Stopped a Bullet" This story had me crying, a short, 30-some page one-shot written by a teenager had me crying. Sasaki, as a character, is one so strongly grounded in his morals that he will do anything to prove them right, because of course he won't know until he tries. It's just common sense, of course. Fucking awesome man, such a great story that intertwines anti-nihilistic philosophy with the mind of a silly little kid and a strong act of stubbornness. I love this one-shot, especially the final page and overall message, extremely relatable to my personal philosophies as well as just being emotionally powerful as a work of fiction. Let. Fujimoto. Cook.

The third one-shot, "Love is Blind" (not the reality TV show) is VINTAGE Fujimoto absurdism, with an extreme Dandadan feel. Everything from the art to villain design to characters just looks and smells like Dandadan, which makes me wonder how Fujimoto was assisted on this one (Dandadan author used to be a Fire Punch assistant if I remember correctly.) Serves as a simple and beautiful "Fuck you" to Shonen Jump's editorial district as well as a fun little love story. A 31 page confession scene, only one that a genius could keep interesting. A nagging supervisor, aliens, thieves, the end of the world, and you. Immensely based MC, as all Fujimoto MC's are, with an almost Love is War feel to the whole thing. The funniest one-shot of the bunch for sure.

The final, and in my opinion weakest one-shot is "Shikaku," a very goofy silly love story between an unforgiven all-too-cute assassin and a suicidal vampire. The vibes are immaculate, and this has to be the best one art-wise. Beautiful character design and setting shots. Once again, a simple story plot wise, but fun with a very cute ending. I think if any of these would have benefitted from a longer page count, it would be this one. Shikaku, given even just a "Goodbye Eri" level of exploration would've been an even better experience, one that could no doubt spawn a Spy x Family type of absurd romcom. Two bored individuals do things to become not bored. What's not to love!

Overall, there is much in these one-shots that simply feel intrinsic to Fujimoto's later work, as some were quite literally spawned in these short stories. My favorite thing about Fujimoto's one shots is that they don't bite off more than they can chew. He knows what type of story he is writing, plot and theme wise, and never tries to add fluff that might get the one-shot piloted into a full fledged series, at least that's the vibe I get from these 4. Self-contained masterpieces that deserve their own credit for being smart, unique, and, as the title mentions, Fujimoto before he decided to write full-length peak in the form of SJ published manga series.

If you enjoy manga, read these four one-shots. That is all. #FUJIMOTOSWEEEEEEEEEEEP

English The following review is in Spanish and English (translated with the support of DeepL) The version read is the one licensed in Spanish by “Norma Editorial”. Currently Tatsuki Fujimoto is one of the most recognized “new authors” nationally and internationally, due to his successful works that you will surely recognize if you follow the medium. A little more than a decade ago, prior to his first serialized work, he published different One Shot, some for contests and others for Jump Square, these were compiled in two volumes, the present one being the first one. I will not make a particular qualification by story, the note of thevolume attached to the review you can consider it as an “average” that I give to each particular, if it is not that note it is close to be superior or inferior.

Niwa ni Wa Niwa Niwatori

There is a marked irony in its approach, it presents a catastrophic situation with a certain comic touch, in that contrast we have its characters necessarily complex (considering their limited presence) to interest us in the story. Its main impact is in the punch line, effective for the moment and encompassing a theme of “communication” and “understanding”.

It is a first-time work in every aspect, so first and foremost I consider it not to be contradictory or wasteful of the elements presented, and it fulfills both conditions, maintaining coherence in a simple story in the world presented. The final twist is far from original, but fulfills its purpose. The panels are a square outline, and his drawings, again, are remarkably first-timer, being the main panels where he devoted more effort to detail and impact, while in the rest, in simple movements, facial expressions and background management inconsistencies are noticeable.

Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa

First of all, it is worth mentioning the marked evolution for his second work, compared to his first work, the drawing has improved in every aspect, be it the facial expressions, the representation of movement, the background detail in each panel, and the different visual flourishes typical of a comic book. While his outline is still quite “gridded,” he has some more dynamic concrete choices for particular moments.

And it's a genuinely great story. Its realistic approach addresses an illogical action framed around a boy's feelings of love and sexual discovery, leading up to the lesson of the power of trust in the most unrealistic way feasible but still possible as long as the framework of opportunity exists. Even if it is somewhat “over the top” in its conclusion, in the context in which it is presented it fits perfectly because each element was used for its narrative purpose.

Koi wa Moumoku

It was published in the same year as the previous one, so the evolution in the artistic sense is not so explicitly remarkable, but I consider that in terms of the approach of its elements in terms of panel placement and rhythm guide, it is much more interesting even in its shorter duration. It is already noticeable that Fujimoto felt more comfortable with varying the ways of structuring the expression of his story, and it may also be the motivation in being structured around the same joke. It's a funny one-shot, it has a premise and commits to it to the most ridiculous extreme.

Shikaku

A story whose core is found in romance and the most extensive so far, although it has fewer narrative elements, in fact, it is quite direct in its approach, it presents those who will make up the duo, the dynamics between them and the problems that bring them together.

The fantastic context and the characterization of this pair, is a demonstration of his narrative sensitivity because even with its bloody, exaggerated and strange moments, there are panels of sincere feelings, where he smiles as an accomplice. His way of structuring the action and the drawing also improved notably, it is more varied in the presentation, he perfected his approach to shading and perspective, achieving more than a couple of vignettes with great detail.

Español

Actualmente Tatsuki Fujimoto es uno de los “nuevos autores” más reconocidos a nivel nacional e internacional, debido a sus exitosas obras que seguramente reconocerás si sigues el medio. Hace poco más de una década, previamente a su primera obra serializada, publicó diferentes One Shot, algunos para concursos y otros para la Jump Square, estos se recopilaron en dos volúmenes, siendo el presente el primero. No realizaré una calificación particular por historia, la nota del volumen anexa a la reseña puedes considerarla como un “promedio” que le doy a cada particular, si no es esa nota es cercana sea superior o inferior.

Niwa ni Wa Niwa Niwatori

Hay una marcada ironía en su planteamiento, presenta una situación catastrófica abordada con cierto toque cómico, en ese contraste tenemos a sus personajes lo necesariamente complejos (considerando su limitada presencia) para interesarnos en la historia. Su principal impacto se encuentra en el remate, efectivo para el momento y que engloba una temática de “comunicación” y “entendimiento”.

Es una obra primeriza en cada aspecto, así que ante todo considero que no sea contradictoria ni desperdicie los elementos presentados, y cumple ambas condiciones, mantiene la coherencia en una historia sencilla en el mundo presentado. El giro final está lejos de ser original, más si cumplidor en su propósito. Los paneles son un esquema cuadrado, y sus dibujos, nuevamente, son notablemente de primerizo, siendo los paneles principales donde dedicó mayor esfuerzo al detalle e impacto, mientras que en el resto, en movimientos sencillos, expresiones faciales y manejo de fondos son notables las inconsistencias.

Sasaki-kun ga Juudan Tometa

Ante todo destacar la marcada evolución para ser su segunda obra, comparado a su primer trabajo el dibujo ha mejorado en cada aspecto sean las expresiones faciales, la representación de movimiento, el detallado de fondo en cada panel, y las diferentes florituras visuales propias de una historieta. Si bien su esquema sigue siendo bastante “cuadriculado”, tiene algunas elecciones concretas más dinámicas para momentos particulares.

Y es una historia genuinamente genial. Su planteamiento realista se dirige a una acción ilógica enmarcada en los sentimientos de un muchacho, de un amor y descubrimiento sexual, para desembocar en la lección del poder de la confianza de la manera más irreal factible pero aún así posible mientras exista el marco de la oportunidad. Aún si es algo “exagerada” en su conclusión, en el contexto en el que es presentado encaja perfectamente gracias a que cada elemento se utilizó para su propósito narrativo.

Koi wa Moumoku

Se publicó en el mismo año que la anterior, por lo tanto evolución en el sentido artístico no es tan explícitamente notable, eso sí, considero que en cuestión de planteamiento de sus elementos en cuánto a la ubicación de paneles y guía del ritmo, es mucho más interesante aún en su menor duración. Ya es notable que Fujimoto se sentía más cómodo con variar las formas de estructurar la expresión de su historia, y también puede que fuera la motivación en estar estructurada alrededor de la misma broma. Es un One Shot gracioso, tiene una premisa y se compromete a la misma hasta el extremo más ridículo.

Shikaku

Historia cuyo núcleo se encuentra en el romance y la más extensa hasta el momento aunque tiene menos elementos narrativos, de hecho, es bastante directa en su planteamiento, presenta a quienes conformarán el dúo, la dinámica entre ellos y la problemática que les junta.

El contexto fantástico y la caracterización de ese par, es demostración de su sensibilidad narrativa porque aún con sus momentos sangrientos, exagerados y extraños, se encuentran paneles de sentimientos sinceros, donde se sonríe como cómplice. Su forma de estructurar la acción y el dibujo también mejoró notablemente, es más variado en la presentación, perfeccionó su enfoque respecto al sombreado y sobre la perspectiva, consiguiendo más de un par de viñetas con gran detalle.

before this i read some american comics & before that years ago i had skimmed a bit of the MHA manga after watching the show, when i decided to rly commit to reading manga recently in late 2023 i started by reading a couple my hero volumes from the top since it was easy, but after that this is the first manga i ever started & completed. i chose it bc i wanted to check out chainsaw man & realized it would be cool if i checked out tatsuki fujimoto's lil back catalogue. i realized the importance of wanting to understand a specific artist's style& purpose, i would do it in any other artform so why wouldn’t i do it for manga yknow? & from the top i do rly appreciate this cool format of artist origin one shot collections, or at least how these specific stories were readily presented, i guess it would just be like an anthology right? but yea at least for beginners of reading a big name artist it’s def a nice convenient way to get a real sample platter to get to know a mangaka by having them so easily accessible & in order from the beginning. & yea this first volume p good. it's cool i mean there were some cool kind of sharply-cutting writing in the stories & i like the sharp style of violence he uses also, how it’s portrayed almost instant & nonchalantly at times but at the same time so extremely violent. the chicken story prob my most memorable, i kept thinking about it randomly after reading this volume the first time. the art is kinda ass at times in it lol but i mean he was a kid making it so its not rly a big deal. but every time i read it i feel like i like it more & fast forward to 2025 & i kinda love it these days tbh, feel like he could've done a whole series stemming from that. love is blind was rly funny, the main character reminds me of iida from MHA with the funny seriousness. but i like that one too it's a feel good funny one. other than that shikaku had a couple cool drawings, but it's kinda basic & sasaki stopped a bullet was my least fav first time through, i just felt it was messy & the message just doesn't quite come through that well by the end, but after rereading it i understand it clearly now & it is p good actually, even if the translation in the last couple panels is still a bit unsatisfying & worded kinda confusingly imo

it's a weird position reading these bc it was simultaneously my first experience with one shots/short stories, which i loved, prob just the satisfaction of being able to finish something right away creates an environment of no pressure, & a guaranteed relief, either a relief of closure/completion, or a relief of simply being able to move on to the next story. but i’m trying to balance that with also seeing fujimoto for the first time & i’m trying to seperate the two, but hopefully if i end up liking chainsaw man or anything by him in general, this will all feel cool that i was able to read this!