Tekkonkinkreet
By Taiyo Matsumoto
Can surreal art be emotionally effective? Sometimes its hard to tell. Surrealists do create art, and they do get people to think, ponder, and wonder about said work. But most of the time surreal art exists purely to be surreal, and only the artist can truly get it. “Tekkonkinkreet” is a surreal manga by Taiyo Matsumoto. Unlike most manga I've read, this one doesn't look clean or slick. The artwork is wobbly and dreamlike. It contains point of view shots that look like they are put there deliberately to give the reader a nauseated feeling.
The world of “Tekkonkinkreet” seems to be without rules or common sense. The story revolves around two kids named Black and White, who seem to defy the laws gravity while everyone else walks, and kill with pipes while everyone else uses guns.
It's a world that purely lives in the mind of its creator, yet that creator has something to say. The kids who inhabit this world see it as their playground. They fly freely around the city, feel they own the place, and kill mercilessly as if it were some game. They are part of the city and the city is part of them. The adults in the city seem more grounded in reality, scoffing at the kids they refer to as “stray cats.”
The kids view the world as a playground where everyone can do anything they want. The adults view the world as an ever changing entity, one that progressively seems to be getting worse. What does one say about a world that could produce kids like Black and White? If there is no order in the world, how can the human race continue to live?
Mobsters and assassins live in Treasure Town as well, but they seem to be powerless to keep holding onto their status and control. “Tekkonkinkreet” is a little more than 600 pages when the book is complete, but it contains many emotions that are apparent throughout the book. Matsumoto likely see's society as a constantly deteriorating world. One that the old helped corrupt, and one that the new will continue without seeing the corruption.
The power struggle between the old and the new is also apparent, as the new generation doesn't want to follow the rules of the old. Through the dreamlike state of the artwork, Matsumoto is clearly posing this as all hypothetical, but the seriousness of the book leads me to believe that - deep down - he believes the real world won't be much different from this one.
Despite all the political themes of the book, there are also themes of love and purpose. As the characters find out, no matter how strange and unsettling the world can be, there needs to be purpose or else there's little reason to inhabit it. And if you can find purpose, you can find hope. I suspect a lot of people won't like “Tekkonkinkreet” very much. It'll be too weird. The themes will fly over the readers heads. People won't be able to make heads or tails over the “rules” of the world. Normally I would dislike a series for these very reasons.
And yet...the world “Tekkonkinkreet” is in a class of its own, and develops a strange emotional connection that is hard to find in the mass-market friendly titles out there. At $29.99, “Tekkonkinkreet” will be an investment. But you'll discover a series that is unlike anything else you are ever likely to read.
Grade: **** Stars
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