Reviews for Innocent

"Grandiose et romanesque, ampoulée et pittoresque" Shinichi Sakamoto is one author of a kind . Pretty discreet, he have been "revealed" with his previous manga "Kokou no hito", that made a lot of fans. Me too, when I heard about his new project, "Innocent", I was very exited and eager to read it, and that is because Shinichi Sakamoto have a style and way of doing things of his own. I entered this manga expecting impressive art, lyrism and some exuberant metaphorical and symbolistic drawings along with a story shouldered by a lot of studies from the author for the domain and historical period he was immersinghimself into.

The result ? I got exactly what I expected.

Maybe not exactly thought, since unlike the synopsis might make it seems, the present manga doesn't cover the event of the french revolution but "before" it happen. For that, we will surely have to wait for the sequel ("Innocent Rouge"), that, as I am writing this, is still publishing.

One other related point: the manga as it is now doesn't offer any satisfying ending on it's own, and that is because it appear clear that the sequel I talked about (and haven't started reading yet) is connected to it directly and will take its follow were this manga ended. So if you enter reading "Innocent" now, you might as well consider that it is still "ongoing" or is just the first part of the "Innocent saga", to not have a bitter taste at the end of volume 9.

Those important things cast aside, now is time to look into the various aspect of this manga for themselves.

The manga being quite interesting and peculiar, there would be a LOT to say, so I hope you won't mind that I will have my own approach to it and won't talk about everything I could have.

The story of Innocent is set in France, before the turning point that will be the French Revolution.

To take a look at this event that is as passionating as it is difficult to handle, our author have chose to show us a very special family, the Sanson family, cursed generation after generation by the title of royal executioners. Which is to say, the duty of ending the lives of criminals in the front of a crowd avid of blood and gruesome "spectacle", in the name of justice.

Inside this lovely family, our "main" protagonist : Charles-Henri Sanson, and taking more importance late, Marie-Joseph Sanson.

It is important to note that all important characters of this manga have really existed, and will be provided a little notice when they first appeart, showing their names, function and destiny.

Which get me to the personal "theory" that I will use to talk and construct my view of the manga for this review : Innocent follow the structure of a theater piece and can be view as one. Innocent is an "opera manga", a theater piece in a manga dress.

Let's take a look at two exemples:

- Charles-Henri is alone in the landscape. Out of nowhere, a beautiful young man he never knew before apear by his side and it's love at first sight. *Poof*, just like that.

- Charles-Henri is alone in his house, lamenting on his knees, in a secret room. A beautiful lady pop up just in front of him, naked. He think it's a divine apparition, but it's not. Two page later, *Poof*, they have sex.

You think it's ridiculous and pretty absurd ? It is.

But Shinichi Sakamoto don't care about that, and it make sense in it's own way: all the characters in this manga are comedian entering the scene when they are sumoned by the author. Each chapters are acts and scenes with specific characters comming from the backstage to recite their line.

At some peculiar points in this manga, Charles-Henri will even, in the middle of a talk, start to... sing.

That's right, out of all realism, this manga can turn into a musical.

It's strange, and you'll be quite surprise and might chuckle, but again: it's an opera you are reading.

As a theater piece, Innocent have a huge list of second characters, all more colorful than the others. This might be one of the point of the manga where I am the most circumspect: some famous characters apearence (like Casanova or Mozart to only name two) seems to have little to no relevence to the plot, and most likely they are just here for the pleasure of the author to draw those mytical human figures. Characters pop up from nowhere and can disapear as fast, but that is because they gravitate around our two executioner Charles-Henri and Marie-Joseph, and also Marie Antoinette, that are like magnets passing through historical events. Attracting and then repulsing second characters in front of the reader's eyes.

I said Marie Antoinette, yes.

She start to take importance in the last half of the manga, and can be view as the third character of the story.

Have you seen "Marie Antoinette", the movie by Sofia Coppola ? If you're like me and you had seen it before reading this manga, you'll find pretty amusing some of the event depicted in later parts of this manga, since it's strictly the same as what you'll see in the movie, but with a completely different mood and view of the characters. If you haven't, I recommend watching it after reading this manga, it should put some other lights on the events and had a very amusing touch to your experience of the two works. Seeing two different artistic view of the same things but with a totaly opposed style is quite an interesting thing.

Now might be the time to talk about the art.

More than anything else in this manga, and most important of all, is the art in this manga. if you had to chose only one aspect about this manga, it would clearly be this.

In one word: Amazing.

Not a single superlative is enought to describe the art that Shinichi Sakamoto is able to pull out of his sleeves.

I didn't said it before, but when it comes to this manga, every quality can be view as downside and every ridiculousness view as genius. Most of the time it's even both.

The biggest point of the author style consist about using very often what I would call graphical metaphore. Explaining it would be difficult for me, but if I had to say something, it is that the author is never afraid of doing too much and being the most lyrical he can.

Over the top, absurd and psychedelic, it's all that.

Other than those absolutely beautiful panels, the drawing of the characters is a feast to the eyes. Curled hairs, piercing eyes, the characters are erected as deity of beauty and refinement.

Marie-Joseph, as a bloody and terrifying beautiful angel of death, is the most impressive of them all.

The author abandon the anatomy of muscular bodies like he drew in "Kokou no Hito" to work this time on the most feminin slenderness he can draw.

By the way, if the idea of two man kissing, two woman kissing ,a man and a young girl in bed, or any depiction of sexual intercourse bother you, you might encounter problems reading this manga.

If you like yuri manga though, it should be all right: just think that the characters are all beautiful girls with long hair. It should be easy.

Also, Marie Antoinette's eyebrows in this manga are out of this world (I should definitly be sorry for those two jokes...)

This is a "libertin" manga.

If Shinichi Sakamoto had been born in France in the past, he would have been a paintor. His skill would have been praised and honored at first.. and then probably cast away because his over the top symbolistic and metaphorical paintings with unbound freedom of visions would have worried the "beaux art" academician and critics.

See the marvelous hommage he do in volume 8 about the wonderful painting of Gustav Klimt named "The Kiss".

The author we have here take his influence and inspirations out of everything and use it to draw is own sensibility and convey what he want to make the reader feel.

Again, one author of a kind.

Let's make a digression to talk about something very significant that surely might stay as completely unnoticed otherwise. Even if you're reading this review after having already read this manga, I'm pretty sure there is a good chance you'll be very surprise by what I'm going to say here:

There is no onomatopoeia in this manga.

That's right. You would have guess that a manga with plenty of sliced neck and choped off heads would have a good amount of *slash* , *splotch* or other things like that. Well, you'll find none.

And there is a good reason to it, it's because Shinichi Sakamoto don't believe in those, he even explained himself about it in a preface of one of his volumes of Kokou no Hito (talking about those introductions, this is another speciality and distinctive aspect of the author. Those little sentence are always strange and filled with his own very serious thoughts and utmost believings. It's something that would be a shame to miss when reading this manga, since it have those too).

His stance might be summed up as this: manga don't need graphical depiction of the sounds, wich at best is only something redundant, and at worst a superfluous element that distract the reader from the narration and what is happening in front of his eyes.

Shinichi Sakamoto believe that if he work hard enought with his drawing, he can reach directly the readers soul and subconscious and make the sound "directly appear in his head", without graphicaly depicting it.

One author of a kind, as I said.

Comming back to the characters. As you may have understanded, the author don't aim to make you feel for them or root for them. Their actions and way of acting are those of a comedian that have a role to fit.

Shinichi Sakamoto is not interested in crafting a continuous story, he willingly make some jump in time of several years, or go back in time to introduce a character the reader had no idea he existed in the life of the protagonist before.

He his interested in the "moments", nothing other than depicting precisely and with the most lyrical and "romanesque" charge what he want to show to the readers eyes.

While reading, you have to accept being throw here and there by the author and just look and read, like an eye looking at events from the side, detached but curious. This is a peculiar way of doing things, and it might have it's problem.

Don't try to hold to much importance in the character evolution and personality of Charle-Henri Sanson for exemple. It's not really what interest the author (or then, his way of doing things is so fragmented that it is difficult to see it that way).

Violence and love, terrors and cries, torture and lust, meanness and vanity, everything is done in an emphatic and exagerated way.

The story of Innocent make some detour, it wander and try to depict the rotten and absurd monarchy France was at the time, and how women were treated as nothing but men's disposable proprieties.

This will lead me to the last point I'd like to talk about in this lenghty review: Marie-Joseph Sanson.

Androgynous, deadly gream reaper and spirit of total freedom, she is the very essence of this fastuous and magnificent opera of a manga.

While all the other characters are handled in the limit of their true existing historical figures, Marie-Joseph Sanson dynamite all likeness and realistic take of the time period to be an utmost modern figure, with no care about gender role or watsohever. It is by her that the author have found the element of trouble to shake all the French society that is show in his story. A rebelious girl, as an avatar of angry uprising that will surely be the embodiment of revolution in the futur, in this theater of mankind that is Innocent. A revolution that will be tainted in rouge.

Thank you for reading this review to the end.

Firstly, this manga's biggest strength is the art. Its simply gorgeous, everything from the depiction of France, the character design, the flow, the individual panels in themselves are all extremely beautiful. But that's where the good things come to an end. The story is a mess, rather the mangaka did not know where to proceed. It started off as a character drama based on MC and the trials and retributions he had to face to be the man the future would remember him as. The presentations regarding MC's qualms about killing criminals was quite philosophical akin to Vagabond. This had me instantly excited as Vagabondwas one my favourite manga. The sadistic father and the scheming grandmother were all excellent additions and were like spices to a delicious story which was cooking. But one by one the side characters were stripped of the roles to bring focus to the growth of the main characters. These characters who acted as hurdles were removed not because of growth of MC but rather mere circumstances. When the grandma was removed from the plot the story shifted its focus to the only other member of the family the MC Kun's sister. The story now was not a character drama related to MC kun's internal struggles but a wannabe feministic story regarding women's role in old France. The focus was now on how a girl grew up to become an executioner despite all odds. During this time the MC kun had sex and became a totally changed man. A scared and unsure MC kun became Hugh Hefner after having sex once. The girl he fucked later became Royal Mistress.

At this point, the story introduced other characters like King Louis XI, his wife Marie Antoinette and other royal families who later on became central figures of the French Revolution. By this time MC kun merely existed to do random stuff. The story for a brief time (less than 5 chapters) tried to be a story about the struggle for the title of the King of France. A move which excited me a lot since I thought it would now be filled with smart schemes and treacheries. Yet, the only thing this arc provided was a jealous cousin spreading rumours that the king did not fuck the queen. Then this manga proceeded to highlight the events which led to the French Revolution. Alas, it provided mere snapshots. It did not dwell into details like the economic policies or the class inequality but just showed some random events and then set it aside for an arc about how the new Queen was jealous of Royal Mistress and how the MC kun dressed as a girl solved this. ( He actually didn't do anything and merely crossdressed for his amusement). It ended with the appearance of a random foreigner and his death. This character who was introduced for the first time, even mentioned for the first time suddenly became the most important man in MC kun sister's life and I reckon the revenge for the foreigner's death would be the story of the next path.

Like I said the story wavers from one point to another without concluding the previous one. The conlcusions provided to previous conflicts are neither satisfying nor smart. The character aspirations are just changed according to whims of mangaka and to progress the story random time skips are used. These time skips conveniently change the relationship between characters and highlight progress or deviations in their thought process and character without dwelling deep into the reason for such a drastic change. This was extremely frustrating as the mangaka merely stated time as the sole factor for the character growth.

Overall, Innocence is merely a bad gift which was wrapped with shiny wrapping paper.

Think of a moment when you really need to get yourself off, but at the same time just can’t get into it. You feel the need, but your inspiration isn’t there. Then Versailles no Bara comes up in your mind, no matter the reason – and you start to work desperately on what raises those chemicals. Let’s make all the characters into sophisticated smashing androgynes – think you – who want to have sex with each other in weird situations and combinations (and with each other’s families, and in front of one’s family). Then you toss in executions and torture, psychological issues and taboo, excitingnudity and pretty costumes. You make everything tantalizingly dark, postcard pretty and visually metaphorical (sexually, of course). And somehow you’re also a well-read* intelligent person, interested in the historical period of pre-revolutionary and revolutionary France, so you add spicy facts, like the last days of French monarchy and the executioner dynasty of Sansons, the architecture of Paris and the debauchery of Versailles, Christian values and Christian delusions. You close your eyes tighter – and it all comes together in a feverish self-indulgent lucid dream to shamelessly explore and wallow on your sheets in. That’s basically what Innocent (and then Innocent Rouge**) is, similarly addictive and also an opera at some points (I’ll explain later).

I’ll skip the fluff and go directly to the main question – why isn’t this more popular?

The art is out of this world and fast travelling to another galaxy: It’s. Just. That. Good. The level of detail is tiny lip folds and individual eyelashes. The level of beauty is scary angelic, with people better then either sex suffering in blood and roses, laces and dirt, extensive visual metaphors and meticulously reproduced everyday environments. A hyperrealistic dream with panels ready for expensive printing, Innocent is so worth reading for the art. And if you’re a fan of gothic aesthetics maybe you should drop whatever you’re doing and go read it immediately – so much exquisite pleasure awaits you. There’s no fault in Innocent’s drawings.

So maybe writing? The very fabric of the manga also shows no structural weaknesses. The early chapters are pure awe, sex and tears. By the way this is not torture porn as I had feared – Sansons are public executioners, they don’t extort confessions (they torture at home sometimes), nor is this proper porn – copulations tend to have context and are censored. The eroticism is varied – sometimes cynical and dirty, but more often XVIII century sensitive or romantic: executioners are said to curse by touch, so braver people use our heroes’ bodies as ritualistic objects of severance.

A lot of ambition and earnestness is poured into the story by the author – big people, big history, big ideas come together in the edge and pathos that are, for once, warranted and work. There’re attempts at a serious message: Innocent talks about future, fate and change, about the weight of blood and seeking freedom. Though as far as the plot as the chain of events goes it does drag and become sillier later on – with cheap sensationalism and some characters seemingly having no direction, like the secondary protagonist Marie, whose role seems to just be very cool and ignore the established rules of their universe. Yet even some of the later chapters produce moments that make your heart sink or flutter.

Maybe the dark topics? Innocent shows very graphic, very barbaric violence. The lives of people are shitty. And while the main characters grows and changes before your eyes and we know his ideals, it’s hard to empathize with him – so alien his occupation and mentality are to us. In order to read and enjoy this manga you should be onboard with scenes like a lady sending a perfumed handkerchief to a tired executioner to remind him of their night together after which he is invigorated and happy that he can send more people to God. The ideas about women are icky and become progressively more so in the course of the story (believe me it’s a very strong sort of cringe, also I should give a rape warning, including rape of minors).

But being dark and sort of monotonous has not hurt series like, say, Tokyo Ghoul and Berserk. So my best bet is on the complexity of writing. Innocent demands a certain level of cultural knowledge and reading experience. It meshes verbal and non-verbal storytelling, references music, art, books and, especially, Biblical mythos. I got through it without feeling that it’s rocket science (but then I probably have missed a ton of things), but you definitely should be fast on literary uptake

And then Innocent is very free with its narrative mode. In the postmodern manner it turns Versailles into a comedic opera or even social media parody, and the closer to the revolution they get, the more the events remind of an absurdist stage play. It’s better to understand from the start that Innocent isn’t strictly realistic, while otherwise more or less consistent and historical. Also I must add that music is present along the whole course of this manga and works of art contemporary with revolutions tends to be theatrical, so maybe it’s the nature of the event. But no matter the explanation, these interruptions are indeed immersion-breaking and hard to swallow – are these what causes Innocent to elude many dedicated seinen readers? ...I am kidding, of course, you need to get far into the manga first, and they’re not that big of a sin compared to the virtues of this work.

What I am hinting on is – there’s no good reason for the Innocent series not to be on more reading lists and yours in particular too. Everyone who has stomach for its topics should attempt to read it. Innocent is rich, intoxicating, complex and unique. Even if it asks for some effort (mostly suspension of modesty) – it is all around worth trying for yourself. Just think about the fun – executioner families conversing about hangings during a family dinner or a handsome executioner making love to a lady while ashamedly visualizing dead bodies! Even if not all fetishes click with you, something is bound to reach your soul or other parts. Something is bound to touch you, and here the pile of good things is so big, that more likely than not you’ll get there, if only by repeated friction.

* Sakamoto Shinichi references the books he has used, it’s mainly “Executioner Sanson” by Adachi Masakatsu. But all in all Innocent is not 100% historically accurate, just fyi, you history nerd.

** Innocent Rouge is the direct continuation of Innocent in another magazine.

Innocent is such an interesting piece in the world of manga. If you research it online you will see the same question pop up, over and over and over again - "why is this manga not talked about more? it's so gooood!". And well, guess what, I'M GONNA PONDER THAT QUESTION TOO! Because dammit, this manga truly blew me away in spectacular fashion. To me personally, Innocent needs to be up there on a pedestal with the greats of seinen manga like Vagabond, Kingdom or Vinland Saga. Maybe even Berserk. It has both the art and the writing to stand alongside them. I believe you'redoing yourself a disservice by not reading it, so allow me to explain why this aggressively French manga is so tre bien.

Firstly, let's talk about the most obvious - the artwork. I swear, Sakamoto Shinichi is the reincarnation of some legendary Renaissance painter because his art is truly otherworldly. First of all, his line work has a kind of gentleness that I have never seen in anything ever. It's so soft and tender that it's as if everything is made out of silk, like he used a feather instead of a pen. This leans greatly into the setting on many levels. The characters, regardless if men or women, have a type of Griffith-esque ethereal beauty to them with at least a hint of androgynous appeal. The faces are both exceptionally expressive but also flawlessly crafted, the perfect proportions and exquisite textures making them look like they were sculpted out of marble. Their eyes are these portals that draw you into expansive worlds of emotion. Don't even get me started on the lips - oh my goodness, these are the fullest, most detailed and most beautiful lips ever put onto a page.

Beyond just the characters the clothing and backgrounds lean into this style too. The clothes look so gentle and soft, the line art making you almost feel all the silk, velvet, linen, feathers, gold incrustations, embroideries, etc. The fashion game is top notch here (it is France after all). Also, the backgrounds benefit from this just as much - the Baroque and Rococo frescoes of the wonderful Parisian architecture are all-engulfing, glorious and triumphant, but also crushing and claustrophobic when the story demands it. The trees, flowers and blades of grass can be seen billowing gently in the wind, like nature dancing with itself in contrast to human tragedy. And don't even get me started on the lighting, as this manga uses light itself in both the most realistic and the most artistically engaging way ever. Listen, I could go on and on and on about how well drawn Innocent is but it truly needs to be experienced. I think Sakamoto-sensei needs to be considered among the real greats of the manga world for being able to craft something like this.

However, fantastic art alone does not guarantee an interesting read, for it's the story that is always most important. But, guess what - the writing is almost as sophisticated as the art! There is something unique about how this story flows that is very hard to put into words and it also plays into my personal theory that Sakamoto-sensei got isekai'd into our world from the Renaissance. The dialogue here is very sharp and manages to flow naturally and be exceptionally elevated and poetic at the same time. The deep use of allegories, the rich and dense subtext, the Shakespearean cadence of the speech all leads to this work that feels incredibly theatric in the best way possible. Another review on this site said that Innocent is like an opera in manga form and that is quite accurate in my opinion. The fact it also has the closest a comic can have to musical numbers helps too.

Innocent is a rich and enthralling experience that touches on so many deeply human things - love, hate, family, honour, pride, greed, wealth, power, status, justice, compassion, humility, parenthood, dreams and so much more. I don't want to go into detail here, because to do so would ruin the point, which is for you to experience these yourself and ponder these questions against your own beliefs. Innocent will present these ideas before you but will not present a definitive answer, for it's obvious that such an answer doesn't exist. These are some of the most intrinsic and complex conundrums of humanity and we've been pondering them since forever. Integrating philosophical quandries into a story can be hit or miss, as there is a huge danger of becoming either preachy and pandering or dry and boring. Neither is the case for Innocent though! Here, these ideas are presented flawlessly in an incredibly gripping historical tale that will envelop you in the rich and nuanced world of 18th century France. The world breathes and feels lived in and real in an incredibly immersive way. And all of this will be carried confidently by the large arsenal of morally grey characters, each with their own agendas, goals, dreams, literal and figurative scars, good and bad aspects. Each character is a masterful patchwork of personality traits that form these real and believable people that truly spring to life on the pages. They are probably not good people, but they are definitely real and while you may not agree with their actions, you will understand them. For this is the glorious complexity of the human soul.

The last thing I want to mention is an aspect that is, for me at least, unique to Sakamoto's work and that is the use of visual metaphors and allegories. What I mean is that often, instead of literally depicting a certain scene, he will present it in symbolic fashion. A non-spoiler example would be a person getting decapitated being represented by a chef slicing vegetables, characters touching each other erotically being represented with tarantulas crawling on their bodies or sexual release being represented as raindrops falling on blooming roses. This and so much more is a perfect example of what you get when you have a person who is equal parts a brilliant artist and a brilliant writer. The story and artwork come together in this perfect symbiotic symphony to represent something in a beautifully artistic way. These, combined with the incredibly vibrant and expressive posing and the strong inspiration from classical paintings give Innocent this true artisanal feel to its visuals that belong more in a gallery than on a page! These go far above and beyond the expectation of manga pages and truly transport you into a different world.

In conclusion, Innocent was one of the most breathtaking works I've ever read and I was personally deeply moved by it on many levels. To me, this is the pinnacle of what a seinen manga needs to be - a deep and introspective story that is both beautiful and brutal at the same time, touching on mature themes from all walks of life, populated by vibrant characters that bring to light the best and worst that humanity has to offer, all presented through breathtaking art. Innocent should be put on a pedestal up there with the greats. Hell, it even has the luxury that some of the best that seinen has to offer couldn't afford - it actually ended. It even got a sequel that also saw its conclusion! And to think that, in the grand scheme of things, Innocent is just the establishing half with all the big resolutions kept for the second part. And despite that, it's still so good! My only concern now is that almost any other manga I go to next will look like scribbles with teenage fanfic on top in comparison. Anyway, I've gushed on long enough. Do yourself a favour and read this artistic masterpiece!

I hate the Fr*nch and I still loved every page of this, that should tell you enough. Adieu!

Japanese authors may sometimes have a weird perspective on European history, be it Middle Ages, Queen Victoria's ruling, or introduction to French Revolution. Ironically, the downfall of this manga is caused by its indulgence and excess--the very things it portrays as leading to the downfall of the French aristocracy. You see, especially in the latter half, it indulges in symbolic and metaphorical pictures, as well as snapshots of potential futures or poetic representations of events. (I noticed at least twice when they had characters presumably singing their internal thoughts). All that means that each chapter has very little actual content. The character of Mary from a free-fallingsociopath becomes some sort of analysis on gender roles, LGBT history in 18th century france, polyamory, racial discrimination all in the span of 10-20 chapters. It's so on the nose it's almost funny.

Charles had a slow transition into the character of his father that went slipping down at the speed of light as soon as the author decided to focus on Mary, all she has to do is drop random quirks about how he changed as he whines about family obligations.

He tortures his own son. His opposition to torture set the basis of his character from the beginning, it defined his values and worldview to the point where he was ready to topple the seemingly endless power of his grandmother. It led to his liberal sympathies. it was the central reason he didn't want to kill people violently, which was what would have led him to seek out the guilottine.

The reader is never given any reason as to why he changed, he just did. There's two comments about the world being rough and how raising kids made Charles more conscious of his family. Which could certainly be explored as a reason for him to enjoin with the system. But here it's a magical incantation that transforms him from a grey, morally tormented character one page into a saturday cartoon villain the next. Replete with last minute d'oh moments as his dastardly plan to have his sister married is befuzzled scooby-doo style.

Everybody gets simplified, flanderized, almost a caricature. At the start it was beautiful, and read almost like a novel. The father, grandmother, uncle were all "villains" but were given ample space to prove that they had a 3-dimensional personality and were acting out of selfless motives but constrained within a hierarchical system that forced them to participate in violence, which hurt them as much as the victim.

When father Sanson tortured Charles. He acted out of a belief that the firstborn must inherit the family business, and therefore has to be strong in character to take a life. Something that can only be achieved by getting one accustomed to violence. Said torture also had a secondary purpose of forcing compliance with the unreasonable demands of his family, such as the inheritance itself. He knew it was painful for the son, but justified it by claiming that his son was his flesh and blood and an extension of him. Despite voluntarily participating in child torture, he is a victim as well.

What could be done to fix this?

Removing constricting family institutions, authoritarian systems, class-based understandings of occupation, societal acceptance of child violence, patriarchal norms. For there to be no Jean, the whole political, economic and cultural landscape has to be changed from the grounds up.

When a bunch of white french aristocrats attack a half-black french noble for being mixed, then burn down his orphanage with the children still inside, provoke him to a fight, kill him and publically leave their family emblem in his body. They did it because they were assholes of comedic proportions. Even with all the discrimination present in pre-revolutionary france, burning down an entire orphanage wasn't something people laughed off.

What could be done to fix this?

"Literally, like, stop being evil. "

That's all the message there is. No compulsion from a higher system, no psychological explanation for their actions. The reason they burned kids alive was because they wanted to burn kids alive. The way to stop them from burning kids alive is for them to stop burning kids alive.

The art is admittedly well-drawn. Though, to be honest, it might be too ornate. The lips are overly lush and shiny. The backgrounds are grainy and at times there's too much going on, making it hard to focus on the relevant details. Also, sometimes characters' eyes look badly placed on their faces--like they're just tacked on. But even if the art was perfect, that wouldn't justify adding needless pictures. If this manga had trimmed all its padding and perhaps been only about half as long, it would've had the potential to be a masterpiece.

The last half of the manga introduces Marie Antoinette into the storyline and begins setting the stage for the events which lead into the French Revolution. But that's all that it's doing: setting the stage. The entire last half doesn't really feel like it has much purpose other than acting like a prequel for the next manga.

English part. History (4/10): On the edge of the French Revolution from the point of view of the family of executioners in the service of Paris. The premise is quite good, not any historical manga comes to touch this issue and more from the original point of view that is from the Sanson family, known very well in French history as the death angels that brought bad luck to those who They were surrounded, Innocent begins telling the story long before the French Revolution exploded based mainly on who will be the protagonist of the story "Charles-Henri Sanson" from the beginning hating the family office to become thehead of the family, although the manga is not 100% true to the story and has original content from the author but still maintains the main events and strongly realistic setting of what is the dark era of France that consists of everything dark, depraved, bloodthirsty, sexual and cruel that was the time .. Although, history follows the main events and is preparing things for the French revolution is when the problems begin more of the same manga, first presents characters that seem "important" to never show them again in the remainder of the manga (there are many examples but I will cite one specifically that would be "the son of Damiens"), the manga also love to present historical figures of that time every time but also return to the same to present them for a single moment in specific and never show them again in the remainder of this manga, do not close any plot-point in the whole manga just to leave it in the sequel, the last time skip in which the manga participates before finishing is the accumulation of all the problems that before indicated and more by the fact that the participation of Charles is relieved by giving camera to Maria Anttoinette that in itself not It's bad that but she's pretty boring when she has focus protagonist.

For the cake cherry the last 10 chapters are those that transform the manga a "Clusterfuck" presenting a character that in the 99 chapters we had never seen and tell us that it is the love of all life of Marie, shortly after appears to the next chapter everything that had been achieved is destroyed and end up killing to leave it in cliffhanger in the last chapter .. Pretty fucking shit

Characters (5/10)

I mention it right here, the only character that is genuinely good is Charles, has a very good development since its inception with ideals of his youth hating the work of his family to the point of becoming like his father, all the moments in which he stars the scenes are the best thing that has to offer "Innocent" from then on is also Marie who is justified that is a shitty personality and her actions that take course in the story have meaning around breaking the stigma of her family, here the problem with Marie is that her character in the last time skip her personality reaches a maximum point of being annoying, when she was still a girl you can enjoy her participation in the protagonist focus but when she reaches adulthood she becomes the worst character in the manga, not I mention all the other characters because they have no relevance except Maria Antoniette but her appearance is until the last part of the manga, hence nobody else matters

Art (10/10).

I will not extend, I'll say it simple and concise, art is the best aspect of the manga and the author has an excellent use of panneling as well as his visual metaphors

Enjoyment (7/10).

Enjoyable and interesting experience, it is an entertaining manga although I would not recommend it and more because you have to swallow all the open plot points and the horrible ending to read the sequel that closes all

Overall (4/10).

It is a manga that leaves everything for the next part without concluding anything and that the only good thing is its protagonist and the realistic setting

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Parte en Español

Historia (4/10):

Al filo de la Revolucion francesa desde el punto de vista de la familia de Verdugos al servicio de Paris.

La premisa es bastante buena, no cualquier manga histórico llega a tocar este tema y mas desde el punto de vista tan original que es desde la familia Sanson, conocida muy bien en la historia francesa como los angeles de la muerte que traían mala suerte a quienes les rodeaban, Innocent empieza contando la historia mucho antes de que la revolución francesa explotara basándose principalmente en el que será el protagonista de la historia “Charles-Henri Sanson” desde sus inicios odiando el oficio familiar hasta volverse la cabeza de la familia, aunque el manga no es 100% fiel a la historia y tiene contenido original de parte del autor pero sigue manteniendo los eventos principales y la ambientación fuertemente realista de lo que es la era oscura de Francia que eso consiste a todo lo oscuro, depravado, sanguinario, sexual y cruel que era la epoca.. Si bien, la historia sigue los eventos principales y va preparando las cosas para la revolución francesa es cuando empiezan los problemas del mismo manga, en primera presenta personajes que en si parecen “importantes” para nunca volverlos a mostrar en lo que resta del manga (Hay muchos ejemplos pero citare uno en especifico que seria “el hijo de Damiens”), el mangaka tambien le encanta presentar a cada rato figuras históricas de esa época pero tambien volvemos a lo mismo de presentarlos para un solo momento en especifico y jamas volverlos a mostrar en lo que resta de este manga, no cierra ningún plot-point en toda el manga solo para dejarlo en la secuela, el ultimo time skip en el que participa el manga antes de acabar es el cumulo de todos los errores que antes señale y mas por el hecho de que la participación de Charles se releva por darle cámara a Maria Anttoinette que en si no es malo eso pero ella es bastante aburrida cuando tiene foco protagonico.

Para la cereza del pastel los últimos 10 capitulos son los que vuelven al manga un “Clusterfuck” presentando a un personaje que en los 99 capitulos JAMAS lo habíamos visto y nos dicen que es el amor de toda la vida de Marie, poco después de que aparece al siguiente capitulo todo lo que había logrado se destruye y lo terminan matando para dejarlo en cliffhanger en el ultimo capitulo.. Tremenda mierda

Personajes (5/10)

Lo menciono aquí mismo, el único personaje que es genuinamente bueno es Charles, tiene un desarrollo muy bueno desde sus inicios con ideales de su juventud odiando el trabajo de su familia hasta el punto de volverse como su padre, todos los momentos en el que protagoniza las escenas son lo mejor que tiene para ofrecer “Innocent” de ahí en mas esta tambien Marie que tiene justificada que sea una mierda de persona y sus acciones que toma rumbo en la historia tienen sentido en torno de romper el estigma de su familia, aquí el problema con Marie es que su personaje en los últimos time skip su personalidad alcanza un punto máximo de ser molesto, cuando aun era niña se disfrutaba su participación en el foco protagonico pero al llegar su adultez se vuelve el peor personaje del manga, no menciono a todos los demás personajes por que no tienen relevancia excepto Maria Antoniette pero su aparición es hasta la ultima parte del manga de ahí en mas nadie importa

Arte (10/10).

No me voy a extender, lo dire simple y conciso, el arte es el mejor aspecto del manga y el autor tiene un uso del panneling excelente al igual que sus metáforas visuales

Disfrute (7/10).

Experiencia disfrutable e interesante, es un manga entretenido aunque la verdad no lo recomendaría y mas por de que tienes que tragarte todos los plot points abiertos y el horrible final para poder leer la secuela que cierra todo

Conclusión (4/10).

Es un manga que deja todo para la siguiente parte sin concluir nada y que lo único bueno es su protagonista y la ambientacion

I always find the depiction of sexual violence problematic in most media and Innocent is no exception. It focuses more on depicting the act as a spectacle rather than conveying the agony of it so it is seen as just something perverse as opposed to an act of oppression, which it truly is. Had this issue more with Berserk but Innocent also suffers from it. And why does every character want to have sex with each other on meeting, people are incredibly disinhibited despite being in such a rigid society. Despite the excessive violence, which at the end of the series crescendo'ed into a climax ofabsolute brutality which was fitting for a specific character's arc, it's worth the read. It's really cinematic and beautiful, with no use of onomatopoeia, it really aims to show not tell. There's a lot of non-digetic scenes like the use of Twitter and the slice of life scenes, which can pull you away from the atmosphere and is almost jarring. But much later in the story you realize sometimes the story doesn't take itself too seriously which may help accept that. Stunning art I must say but I guess it did take me a while to get used to how gaudy and overdressed everyone looks, but in keeping with the period. Yeah, give it a try maybe you'll like it more than I did, it's definitely not for everyone but I'm sure it's really impactful for those who do appreciate the era, the ideologies thereof and just really well drawn grotesque violence.

If you look for a psychological manga- Innocent is for you. Innocent is another, after Kokou No Hito, wonderful case study of human minds by Sakamoto Shinichi. It's a wonderful psychological story, artistically presenting events and emotions using abstraction as a paint. It's a story about a family. Family of executioners in Paris, before the French Revolution. You will be a witness to many historical turmoils, thanks to this wonderful setting. There is no much action or plottwists. It's all about the people, our actors on the big stage of France. How they live, what they believe in, how they react to suffering, who theylove, how they think.

The setting is just PERFECT. You see everything mostly from the executioners perspective. And it's soooo interesting. You see beggars, kings, revolutionists, murderers, prostitutes- just as everyone is even before death, everyone is even before the executioner eyes.

The characters are portrayed in a specific way. They can change fast. But it's not without a reason. You see, that story is made for taking it slow. It's good to think about WHAT is happening and WHY. Human mind is complicated and in this manga, it is shown clearly.

There is an abstraction in every aspect of the story. If you don't want to connect dots or think about metaphores-> you will be bored to death.

The whole thing is BRUTAL. And sometimes I had to avert my eyes because it was so intense and realistic. The executions are presented in a very detailed way, with the explanations how human body reacts during beheading or wheel breaking. You will see many deatiled executions so be prepared for it.

....making it short: Innocent is a very good manga, psychological portrait of historical figures, brutal description of how society used to functon and the story of one particular family living during these extraordinary times:)

After reading The Climber, I had a lot of hope for this series. And honestly, It mostly delivered. The ending sets up the plot for Innocent Rogue pretty nicely and I'm excited to see where it ends up going, I feel like it'll be even better tbh. STORY - [8/10] I found the story to be very interesting. It takes place in the French revolution as you follow the Sanson family (mostly Charles Sanson), which is a family of executioners responsible for executing anyone found guilty by the French. The story is mostly pretty good, it really is. But you begin to notice something a bit offtbh. The story begins to just go all over the place, and very frequently. By this, I'm referring to how the story likes to do this and then do that and exc exc without really giving sincere enough closure to whatever was currently taking place. It usually does this with a time skip or something, and it begins to get a bit tiring. As a result, it begins to feel like the story doesn't really know what it wants to be about as it jumps from topic to topic tirelessly. When you think about it, this kind of makes sense when you consider you're following true events based off a real person, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.

Despite all this, the story is still very good and enjoyable. Just something I began to notice mid-way through.

ART - [9/10]

It's one of the best artists in the manga world imo. It's great. I did give it a 9 though because I just felt like some of the art was a bit off early on, but like 90% of it is top tier stuff.

CHARACTERS [8/10]

I found the development of Charles Sanson and Marie Sanson extremely interesting. I think they did a really good job at what they were supposed to do as protagonists but I'm not gonna lie... I personally thought Charles became a lot less interesting after his primary development. The conflict between his personal thoughts and opinions on executions at the beginning was really good, but once he developed and changed... it was just a bit of a sudden and random change and also not for the best imo. I do really like Marie's change though tbh. Her rebellious nature sets up really nice things for the story and TBH, I notice that other reviews rip apart Marie towards the end and her progressive tone, which I don't understand. Her progressiveness goes against the oppressive standards set at the time of the story, and the contrast comes out very nicely. It only benefits the story.

OVERALL ENJOYMENT - [8/10]

Overall, you should definitely read this. It's a very unique and enjoyable ride that sets itself up for a (probably) even better sequel. Sure, the story doesn't really know what it wants to be at times, but its still very enjoyable no matter what it is. I recommend it a lot.

Okay so Innocent by Sakamoto Shinichi is definitely a wonderful work, from its marvelous art to a wonderful balance and characters, the manga as a whole is an outstanding experience. The work flows around the Sanson family, a family of executioners for the french crown, our protagonist is Charles-Henri Sanson, future head and his morals and ideas revolving around his "cursed" work as a executioner. I mean cursed due to the old beliefs that families of executioners had cursed touch. Its historycal setting is done exceptionally good , altough not 100% accurate, the author managed to, not only get his personal flavour into what's alreadyan interesting theme, but he also managed to stick to the existing flavour of its setting, The Revolutionary France (in fact this manga has its story leading to France's revolution).

Not to mention that after I was done with Innocent, my interest about its characters and figure peaked, so I went on a research spree to learn as much as could, due to the fact the manga has an immense potential to get you emotionally attached and interested in it.

Onto the art, the art it's simply amazing, out of this world, it conveys such angelical beauty that even the most grotesque and nasty scenery actually looks wonderful, there are takes so cinematographic and artistic I'm awe to this day.

The characters are so angelical and equally beautiful, almost everyone in this work seems androgenous, and I don't mean bad, every character has its flavours, be it dark or light, and the art emits it in such a way it's remarkable.

The story has a healthy balance of "dark and light" so to say, nothing it's too out of proportion, when it has to bring its dark aspects it does beautifully and in contrast to its light moments. The lyricism and symbolism are strong and marvelously done, the metaphors and monologues have a beauty of their own. Historically speaking it's not full accurate, as said before, but it is still historical and revolves around "big" figures of the time period, also giving value to the setting and the author changes.

Now not everything is perfect and Innocent pace certainly isn't, sometimes it can't feel all over the place, plus it's also a letdown that Innocent ended being a saga (with Innocent and Innocent Rouge), due to the bitter taste the end gives, of course moving into the next part of the saga will most likely take away the bitterness, but cutting it short just to keep it going it's still something many people don't like, I myself included, but there are circumstances and we must respect it.

Characters, oh characters, the characters in this one are masterfully done, each design, each personality and traits it all blends well, the growth for our important characters is so satisfactory and gorgeously done. That aside many characters are just tossed in and cast aside, making them loose relevance.

In short Innocent it's an artsitic manga, with deep lyriscism, vast use of metaphors and a protagonist that has a lovely growth, alongside with his struggles in a marvelous walk leading to a bitter tasting end that is continued in Innocent Rouge, my score is a solid 9/10.

Reviewing Innocent feels like the definition of "Reviewing for Quality vs Enjoyment" While being a gorgeous, great looking manga I couldn't help but feel kind of disappointed, it's like the mangaka upgraded all skills of illustration and world-building yet writing not so much. It felt very dragging to me, some characters even feeling so one dimensional that I couldn't really bring myself to care about them. There are still interesting moments but it's mostly carried by the artstyle. It felt like it lacked "Spice", eventfulness that makes a story stick to people and make them think about it long after they finish it. Finishing Innocent, especiallytowards the end, felt like a chore. There is also a strange abundance of timeskips, I know it's a historical manga but it kinda made it feel like a history lesson rather than a gripping story that has you on the edge of your seat.

I honestly wish it wasn't this way as I really did want to like it. Too bad....

Don't get me wrong, it seems to be a really good manga but its just not my type. I mean, I liked the context of the work, French revolution and stuff; its a great manga, an incredible artwork but the plot and the character development it's not for me. I don't know, "it didnt catch me as much" is the real thing here. If you like history in general, French revolution history or even if you want to just read something really different from the "regular" seinens/mangas in general, The Innocent is a great choice for that, you should really try it out.

Great ideas, a strong premise and beautiful artwork but heavily flawed. After having also read the beginning of "The Climber" I'd say Shinichi Sakamoto is a mangaka who has a great story in his head but not the experience or perhaps skill to transform said ideas into a well-written cohesive whole. Innocent certainly has a main character with an arc that on paper could be one of the best in the medium. But unfortunately the vital moments of change in Charles-Henri's life are not fluid enough. Due to a thematic shift, the ending of the manga also simply leaves him in the cold. This thematic shift isthe decision by the author to put more focus on Charles-Henri's younger sister and turn Innocent into a story with feminist themes. Something which I'm certainly not opposed to, but ends up making Innocent into a very messy whole. Marie Sanson is just far less interesting than her brother and this shift in focus ends up being very underwhelming and disappointing.

Innocent....Before reading that ,I used to believe that it wasn't something special ,in the end it proved me wrong cause it's actually pretty good.The story is about a family of executioners that lived some years before the French revolution began.The protagonist is a boy that doesn't like what's happening but as the next executioner of Paris he had to be get on work at a young age.As the story continues the protagonist will realise how harsh and unfair the world can be.Due to the numerous executions he performs, he ends up changing quite a lot until the end.The manga is beautifully drawn , theart is truly unique ,the way expressions are drawn is able to make readers fully realise the emotional state the charactes are in ,which in my opinion is a very strong aspect of Innocent.Taking the aforementioned into account,Innocent according to my point of view is very striking and magnificent and it is my firm belief that it deserves a lot more attention

The concept for this manga is genius. Exploring the perspective of the Sanson family is an inherently interesting concept because of the hypocritical way they were treated. They were well known in Paris. Viewed by many as no more than brutal, cold-hearted, satan worshiper killers. Yet people would show up to enjoy the executions. They were treated like scum but were also needed to keep order. The manga later develops past the personal conflicts of the protagonists and focuses on larger thematic ideas of inequality, wealth, aristocracy, fate, and sexism. I believe it mostly succeeds in tying them together with the characters personal journeys. Theart is obviously amazing and one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. The setting is well conveyed and both the character designs and the backgrounds are unmatched.

Unfortunately, it isn't perfect. Due to the author's decision to advance their stories through time skips, the pacing feels off at times and there are events and character development that happens off-screen which is pretty annoying since what is actually there is written pretty well. The ending is not satisfying but it is intentional because there is a sequel. Overall it's a fascinating concept with some of the best art and compelling characters but also isn't told as thoroughly as I would like.

Also, I've seen a lot of men complaining about the character Marie-Sanson. They say she is annoying and that she doesn't feel right yo follow in a story about Charles. Whoever says this is either missunderstanding the message of the story or so scared by the thought women being their own selfs that they feel the need to post about it on anime forums.

Innocent is such an "almost perfect" manga, it has everything to reach the high of one of the greats, a beautiful story, an amazing concept, so many ways the story could've developed, but the last arc fell so hard, it was like a tonal whiplash, something that I really had to read very on and off since my investment was intense from start to chapter 80ish, but I can't deny what it does amazingly well and even if the ending is a mixed bag, there is a lot of merit to this piece of art. As I stated before, the story is amazing in its ownright, period pieces aren't my cup of tea, and just recently, plunging my foot in the genre there are some jewels like Innocent and what maintained my attention was the story, a drama about an executioner with dreams of pacifism, denying his "destiny", imposed by family values and he himself fighting what feels like a personal tragedy, only to realize, the world is much more complex that what his dreams are, he encounters many people fighting for their own values, using their own tragedies as driving forces and the collision between each other is the interesting part of the story; the exploration on executions, the way science waives itself into every panel of destructive brutality, and many moments almost brought me to tears, mostly a certain execution that felt so personal, so horrifyingly tragic, not many things make look away to compose myself, but this manga does it, and the subjective moments are perfection, moments of pure surreal, experimental paneling and expression that is matched by the perfect art.

A 20/10. What shines in this manga more than anything is the art no doubt, every panel, and really, it sounds like a joke but every, single, panel, was an absolute piece of art, unmatched by almost anything I've read ever in my life; if I stopped to look at the detail in every single panel, I'd spend months in this manga, it was almost a disrespectful act not to look at those page spreads, every powerful moment was elevated by the pure perfection in expression, in the screams, the tears, anger, hate, jealousy, sexual desire, the team of artists working on this manga deserve every award they got.

Now here is something that didn't shine as much, of course I love many of the characters here, I was so relieved to see some in the future that appeared before, it was like looking at people I can empathize with and know, yet, so many others were impossible to like or to even understand, and I don't talk about Marie, which many people seem to hate, I don't get that, I loved how it felt like a destined path to conflict but again, the resolution for the characters wasn't there, and maybe it's because in the sequel they fix that, like a second season per se, and maybe I'll be back here to correct this.

I really enjoyed the first 80 chapters of this beautifully crafted period piece, some moments being what I'll remember it for, but the ending is a mixed bag, it starts to jump around, to get away of what it established really jarringly and of course the art never falls off, but that being what keeps me into reading it till the end is not a good compliment overall, this manga stays as a super solid 8 with only flaws in characters and story since both don't work as well together when they introduced so many all at once, taking them out, changing them, skipping time, everything out of nowhere and not in an interesting way, but I still commend this manga for doing what it does, their focus, their art, their lesson and character study in people that are so vastly different from us in a whole different world, it feels like a fantasy, but it was just the past, one many want to forget.

I recommend Innocent, as an art gallery and as a great story with not the best ending, but the sequel will speak and defend this part of its story.

I went into this manga with high hopes. I anticipated a great manga on par, or at least approaching, that of Kokou no Hito, which I boldly claim is the best manga ever written. However, if Kokou no Hito is a masterwork landscape painting, Innocent is a shoddy mess attempting to create a masterwork. It's strange as well, that Innocent came after Kokou no Hito - you'd think Sakamoto-sensei would know what he's doing by now. I hold Sakomoto-sensei in high regard so Innocent greatly disappoints me. The art is good yes, and the one arc with Damiens in it was exceptional, however the rest ofthe manga is completely and utterly aimless. It gives me the feeling that the author was indecisive, and could not fully understand where he wanted this manga to go. Some characters are introduced, but forgotten with time, others are transformed into something completely different, some have no character depth whatsoever, some characters are introduced for the sake of it, and SOME characters get introduced at the very end and we, the reader, are expected to care for them as they become the central piece of whatever the fxck ending was supposed to be.

I wanted to like this manga, since it doesn't mock Christianity directly, which I think is a first for a manga, but even if it is to show how absolutely decadent the French nobility had become, I think the author went outside the bounds of historical accuracy, all to disgust the reader. This is by no means a pleasant read - I don't mind the gory parts that much, but the constant sexual imagery and inclusion, even in places where it doesn't necessitate it, makes me sick to my stomach. Even more so, when that imagery is deviant.

Absolute ass. KnH was lightning in a bottle, surely.

masterful art and paneling an interesting premise but thats about it. Story is a complete mess and the characters have failed to be explored in any interesting way. The MC changes personality almost every chapter and is incredibly boring. The pacing is fucking horrendous. this manga has amazing art presented very well but the ADHD smattering of ideas in every chapter and the lack of any actual intrigue (action, character progression, character exploration... no.) tanks it completely in my eyes. If you have an extreme interest in french history then, maybe, but otherwise other then just enjoying the art, its not worth much

First of all I would like to thank the mangaka a thousand times for this manga (art piece). While reading, at first 'Ahh history? I started by saying, 'I don't like it at all. But when I finished, my heart started to pound and I don't know what to say. Words are not enough. I'm sorry, but I can say that this is my favorite manga now. I can't say. Really my favorite manga is now Innocent. I cannot thank you enough for this work. The characters, events and connections... Incredibly, incredibly beautiful. The love of Marie and Marie impressed me, although it didn't last long...Marie and Henry they are truly amazing characters. I think the manga style was pretty good too. It was the best manga I've ever read. I'm still staring at the screen with my mouth open. It was just perfect, no it was great. I don't know what to say and I'm starting to read Innocent Rouge now.

Congratulations and appreciation for this work of art. I hope we can continue to see manga like this. This manga 10/10...

Ever since I read “The Climber” by Shin'ichi Sakamoto, I haven’t hesitated to call him my new favorite mangaka. His hyper-realistic drawing style, the choice to not use sound effects in his panels, the use of metaphors and symbolism to express concepts, and the detailed illustrations that are meaningful rather than just filler – all of this was a revelation to me. I immediately thought he would be the mangaka to revolutionize this new generation. I still believe in this to some extent, but I’ve also stopped putting him on a pedestal and started critiquing his works that came after “The Climber,” especially Innocent. Innocent is amanga set in France during the 18th century, specifically in the famous period of the French Revolution. It’s based on a real person, Charles-Henri Sanson, who belonged to a family of executioners working directly under the royal family. They enjoyed quite a bit of popularity, but this was a double-edged sword: while it provided work and a comfortable life, they were also seen as bringers of death by the French people, leading to social ostracism.

The story is pretty straightforward, following the growth and maturation of the main character, Charles. In his youth, he is tormented by the idea of succeeding his father as an executioner because his nature makes him dislike violence. However, as events unfold and due to family and social circumstances, he gradually comes to terms with the idea and accepts his role without losing his humanity. He becomes an executioner with the dream of making France a better place by turning executions into a painless release rather than torture.

His development is surrounded by secondary characters, mostly his family members. Here, I think one character, in particular, takes up more space than others, and that’s Marie-Josèphe Sanson, his younger sister. Unlike her brother, she is more inclined towards the role of an executioner, showing an interest in the anatomy of animals she killed for fun at a young age. Her main problem compared to her brother is being a woman, which, for various reasons, hinders her from becoming what she has wanted to be from the start – an executioner.

It’s no accident I said she takes up too much space in the story, because from the middle of the series onwards, the focus shifts almost entirely to her growth and development, while Charles’s character is largely neglected and even demonized to highlight women’s rights and Marie’s dreams.

From a historical and contextual point of view, I didn’t like the choice to introduce LGBTQ+ themes in this manga. Without any apparent reason, we encounter many LGBTQ characters and scenes filled with diverse sexualities. At first, I wondered if my issue was with seeing these themes in this particular manga, but after reading another of his works, “DRCL Midnight Children,” where the same themes are handled equally if not more prominently, I didn’t feel the same sense of incongruity. This is because DRCL is set in a time when sexuality was being questioned and women’s rights were increasingly coming to the fore. However, in Innocent, it felt like a forced woke campaign to attract a specific audience, something I didn’t find in his previous works like The Climber, Masurao, or Kiomaru.

Artistically, Sakamoto is still impressive, but this time I feel like his tendency to make everything excessively beautiful is becoming a bit too gaudy for my taste. Where there used to be variety in character design, now everyone looks too similar, with almost identical facial features, making it hard to distinguish some characters. The panels are always rich with symbolism, but sometimes they’re so packed that they feel too chaotic, even though they’re well-crafted.

I enjoyed reading it up to volume 4-5, but as I mentioned before, the focus then shifted almost entirely to Marie. The rest of the story felt like a long prelude to what would become the sequel, Innocent Rogue. I struggled to finish this manga because of too many plot holes and senseless elements, like Charles’s sudden character change. If he initially despised his father’s behavior towards him, he suddenly becomes a carbon copy of him. In the last five chapters, a new character, never mentioned before, appears, who supposedly was always significant in Marie’s childhood and life, only to die in the last chapter. It all seemed thrown together without proper development, just to add fuel to Marie’s character.

I thought reviewing this work a month later would change my thoughts because maybe, in the heat of the moment, I couldn’t see things objectively. Yet, I find myself thinking the same things, if not more strongly, about what didn’t convince me about the work.

I would recommend it, but only to those who are really into Shin'ichi Sakamoto and his works because it’s interesting to see how his amazing style evolves.