tamakun | FrankenFran

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I recently stumbled upon one of the most bizarre fan-translated mangas recently, titled "FrankenFran". It's a very odd manga that, initially, I was reminded of Black Jack as it could be considered gross under the label "medical violence". About there is where the comparisons have stopped, however.

With that, be forewarned that this manga is not for everyone: It is a manga that deals with, well, FrankenFran, an oddly-cute monster of the creator (think typical schoolgirl/lab assistant) who takes care of jobs and requests that come their way - and while her Professor isn't around, the results have more dire consequences than usual, but FrankenFran is a bit bubbleheaded and doesn't even realize...

If you've seen any Black Jack anime or manga, you've probably seen some graphic internal medical stuff. I have to admit that nothing particularily turned my stomach in this manga but the level of detail is eerie and creepy. I found myself actually taking in the images, not just scanning over the drawings looking for the next text bubble. I have to admit that FrankenFran is the main reason I kept reading - she's a cute character (though you'll notice that she, herself, is a mishmash of parts) and she definitely has no "greater idea" in mind, but it appears that when it comes to the people she helps, they are the ones that have skeletons in their closet, and therefore, greater (or sometimes horrifying) ideas in mind...

I was honestly expecting something much more grotesque based on the concept, however, I am not disappointed with the way things were handled. I have seen some absolutely disgusting gore mangas and I am shocked at what some people's minds come up with. I hate to keep making Black Jack comparisons, but I find that the stories, while not as deep as Black Jack's stories can be, they are strangely intruiging and while yes, they are a little more disgusting at times, I find it an - shall I say, enjoyable read. It's not all violence and intestines. I actually found the omake (the scene regarding a movie) the most disturbing of them all.

Looking at the translation, the text flows wonderfully from bubble to bubble, and it's not overly detailed or hard to read - it's a nice, smooth flow and the "voices" sound very natural. No stilted dialogue here :)

What's wierd is that I can't find the original creator's name on this manga at all. It's not mentioned anywhere. (If anyone knows, let me know, please. I'm curious to see what else this artist has created.) You can download the first 7 chapters via BitTorrent through SnoopyCool's website.