I’d seen the original novel in the #BookTok section at Books-a-Million, so this manga caught my eye when I was scanning the manga shelves at FYE. I didn’t have the money for this massive manga, but I did manage to find at least one volume of it to read online, and it was an experience.
This is easily the most depraved thing I’ve read this year, and I’m afraid to read any further. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Remember how I said I’d be here all day if I listed out content warnings for Fire Punch? This is, only one volume in, worse.
What starts as a relatable story of a kid who doesn’t really know his place in the world and tries to be the class clown to win people over takes such a grimdark turn. I mean, I literally picked this up thinking it would primarily be that, a simple, relatable tale. However, I guess I should’ve been clued in by the art on the front.
And as I’ve said before, I’m one of the last people you’ll see straight up wishing characters dead, but I fully understand now why the story starts with that flashforward of him trying to kill himself. He’s proved himself deserving of shuffling off this mortal coil dozens of times over. How much further can this guy regress? No Longer Human indeed.
Literally all that has me wanting to read further is morbid curiosity. When the bar’s already been raised so high, I need to know how they’re going to raise it even further. Because, my god, I know they will.. and I’m scared.
