Crime-thrillers and stories featuring forensics are my cup of tea so I devour materials depicting them be it film, TV series, books and graphic novels. Having enjoyed Koga Kei’s “Trace: Kasōken Hōi Kenkyūin no Tsuisō (Trace: Recollections of a Forensic Researcher)”, I knew that I would love his new spinoff manga.
Meet Homicide Detective Chief Dan Hiroki, the good looking, and talented protagonist of “Satsujin Kansatsukan no Kokuhaku (Brutal: Confessions of a Homicide Investigator)”. As the son of a former police superintendent general, his successful career and amiable demeanor win him admiration among colleagues. Unbeknownst to them, Hiroki holds a dark secret: he is a serial killer responsible for perpetrating numerous murders of vile personalities beyond the law’s reach. He considers his twisted morals of “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” type of justice as a “good deed” done towards the society.
The manga started in 2019 and is still ongoing with four volumes to date. Illustrating the work superbly is artist Izawa Ryo, and serialized at Comic Tatan (Tokuma Shoten Publishing). And so far, there isn’t much information yet about the reason behind Hiroki’s murderous actions. He can be seen simply going after the bad guys and giving them a dose of their medicine. Maybe the future volumes will shed light to this.
Given the dark themes of the manga, this is an adult publication due to the graphic depiction of gore, sexual violence and crime. Trigger warnings for depictions of rape and suicide though, and true to the manga’s title of “Brutal”, it’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
Interestingly, despite the heavy topics touched in the story, it isn’t as dark tone-wise thanks to the comic relief brought by the protagonist himself. I like how he could be gentle and sweet towards children yet goes on a psycho sadistic mode towards evildoers. The duality of this man makes you root for him in spite the fact that his vigilante brand of justice is absolutely erroneous. And I can no longer look at imperfect pottery items the same way again. Hahaha!
It’s also amusing how he gets away with all the bloodshed he caused due to his power and money. Kind of a severely twisted Batman with the ideology of another dark protagonist Yagami Light from the manga “Death Note” (also a favorite of mine), who punishes criminals to death by writing their names on the deadly notebook. It left me with a scary confirmation that influence and wealth can tip Lady Justice’s scales to their favor.
Vigilante justice isn’t a new concept, but I guess living in a world where the crimes shown on the manga rings close to reality, it’s no wonder society may wish for champions (overtly or not) who can serve justice like them.
Now, I don’t condone extrajudicial killings because whether they deserved it or not, it is evil whichever angle you look at it. But I also couldn’t blame those who eventually resort to killing out of revenge, frustration and desperation. Especially those deprived of fairness and the law for years or even decades while the culprits get scot-free or only get a slap on the wrist. In the end, I could only cling to the hope that righteousness will prevail and true justice will be served to the guilty. And we won’t need to have a real-life Hiroki to do that.
If you are into this kind of genre, then be my guest and I recommend you check this provocative manga out.
ladyveilchen writes 