[Manga Musings on Mondays] Let’s Talk About Ethics. – Review

 

Hello, one and all!

As you must be well aware, all the shows airing this season have been adversely affected in various stages of production which has led to multiple delays or a considerable decline in quality. These are not the most exciting of times for following seasonal anime but on the flip-side, it’s a great time to sit in the comfort of our homes and read up on some manga!

And so that we can read along together, I shall be starting a new weekly series: Manga Musings on Monday. As the title suggests, every week, I would be going through a manga and posting a write-up with my thoughts on it on, well, Mondays. The manga I’d write about would be decided on the basis of a poll at the end of each post (scroll down to see the one for next week). The poll options would be a mix of series from my personal TBR and your suggestions (feel free to comment down below the series you’d like me to cover next and I’ll make sure to add it to the next poll).

Though, there are some ground rules put in place.

 

Firstly, due to the self-imposed constraint of posting the write-up every week, I would also have to finish the manga I start each week before the following Monday, at the latest. So, it would be preferable if you would recommend and vote on shorter series. Over time, I do plan to cover series like Kingdom, Holyland and Psyren but that will have to be done in chunks (maybe a few volumes per week) and for the time being, I want to put my best efforts into making MMOM a weekly feature.

Secondly, I would not be covering massively popular series like Demon Slayer, MHA or Yakusoku no Neverland. Instead, my main objective behind starting MMOM is to highlight lesser-known and under-appreciated gems of the medium. Also, I don’t dislike any particular genre but have a soft spot for josei, seinen and stories with dark, psychological undertones. So, covering something along those lines would be right up my alley!

Alright, with that all said, let’s dive in to the first manga!

 

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Let’s Talk About Ethics.

by  Shiori Amase

 

      

 

Koko wa Ima Kara Rinri desu. or Let’s Talk About Ethics. is a seinen manga created by Shiori Amase who is best known for drawing the rugby manga All Out! but from the art style to the themes, everything about LTAE. is such a polar opposite of that series that you’d be easily forgiven for thinking that they were both drawn by two very different artists. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that there’s nothing quite like LTAE. in all of manga (barring one example which we’ll talk about in a bit). But just because something stands out from the rest doesn’t necessarily make it better, does it? Let’s try and dissect the series further to see how good it actually is.

 

 

THE PREMISE:

Let’s Talk About Ethics. is a series set in high school. Yeah yeah, I know. So original! Though, inspite of sharing the same setting as almost every manga ever, LTAE. differentiates itself because of its choice of protagonist: the Ethics teacher, Mr. Takigawa. The series follows him as he tries to connect with his students and empathize with their problems, while suggesting solutions to the best of his abilities.

 

WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT:

Now, I know what you’re thinking. That’s basically the plot of GTO, isn’t it? Well, not quite. While GTO tends to follow a similar narrative structure, it’s overall a very uplifting and fun series. Sure, some of the issues that Onizuka has to deal with are pretty serious but you know that he’ll figure something out, because he’s Onizuka! As awesome as a teacher can be. But Mr. Takigawa is no Onizuka. He is not as boisterous or friendly and is more or less an introvert. He cannot even beat up the bullies because he feels that it is ethically wrong to do so. But that is how Mr. Takigawa and the series as a whole sets itself apart. By being concerned with the morality of things.

 

 

Mr. Takigawa isn’t perfect. He is in fact, deeply human. And just like any other human being, there will be times when he will try his best yet still fail. There will be things about him that you won’t approve of and things that he himself despises. Things he knows that he should change but he just can’t bring himself to. Though, to some extent, aren’t we all that way? At times I even saw parts of myself reflected in his personality and that of the students. It forced me to reflect on some rather unpleasant moments of my own life and how i could have chosen to react differently and how it would have led to things turning out a lot differently. And there’s always something to appreciate any story which makes us feel that way.

Though, the most important aspect in which I say that this story is more or less peerless is in the themes it touches upon. If it wasn’t clear up to now, then I guess I should just go about and say it: This is not a happy story. It deals wth some really sensitive topics. Things like fluid sexuality, harassment, depression, suicide, bullying. And it is unflinching in its portrayal of all these issues. So, if you can handle heavy topics being put forward without any sugar-coating and are someone who enjoys dark stories where the line between good and bad, just and immoral, self-destruction and normalcy, is never really clear then you might come to like this story.

 

 

WHY YOU SHOULDN’T READ IT:

As I have already mentioned, this is a very heavy story. You really need to be in the right headspace to be able to sit down and fully appreciate it. It is in no way a casual read and requires your undivided attention. That being said, the series does start off a little rocky with Mr. Takigawa coming off as almost pretentious and one-note but from the second volume onwards, as more layers behind his character are peeled off, he does become more relatable (sometimes uncomfortably so). Another thing of note that this story falls prey to is inconsistency. Though, considering the scope of the stories that this series tries to incorporate, something like that is bound to happen. Not every story that it covers hits its mark but when they do, the results are quite devastating. Lastly, I guess if you have no interest in psychology or human behaviour, this story may not really appeal to you as you will find the themes a bit too heavy and uninteresting. So, you’ve been fore-warned.

 

FINAL THOUGHTS: 

Let’s Talk About Ethics. is a manga I stumbled upon a couple of weeks ago, purely by chance. It wasn’t recommended to me by anyone nor did I see it being talked about in online circles. I went into it expecting another mildly entertaining yet somewhat forgettable read and ended up being pleasantly surprised. I am a person who finds herself being deeply affected by stories about people and how flawed, how human, we all can be. That’s why this story almost feels like it was tailormade to appeal to my tastes.  And I hope I have convinced you to give it a shot as well. It won’t always leave you feeling as though you can relate to what it’s trying to say but when you do, you may end up feeling a lot like this:

 

 

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Thank you all for reading my thoughts on something that’s a personal favorite but in all likelihood, is unfamliar to you. I really appreciate it. I will be covering Jiro Taniguchi’s A Distant Neighbourhood next week. And to decide what I cover the week after, make sure to vote in the poll here!

Feel free to comment which other series you’d like me to cover next and I’ll add them in the poll. See ya next week! ^^