If you look for an psychological manga- Innocent is for you.

Innocent is another, after Kokou No Hito, wonderful case study of human minds by Sakamoto Shinichi. It's a wonderful psychological story, artistically presenting events and emotions using abstraction as a paint.

It's a story about a family. Family of executioners in Paris, before the French Revolution. You will be a witness to many historical turmoils, thanks to this wonderful setting. There is no much action or plottwists. It's all about the people, our actors on the big stage of France. How they live, what they believe in, how they react to suffering, who they love, how they think.

The setting is just PERFECT. You see everything mostly from the executioners perspective. And it's soooo interesting. You see beggars, kings, revolutionists, murderers, prostitutes- just as everyone is even before death, everyone is even before the executioner eyes.

The characters are portrayed in a specific way. They can change fast. But it's not without a reason. You see, that story is made for taking it slow. It's good to think about WHAT is happening and WHY. Human mind is complicated and in this manga, it is shown clearly.

There is an abstraction in every aspect of the story. If you don't want to connect dots or think about metaphores-> you will be bored to death.

The whole thing is BRUTAL. And sometimes I had to avert my eyes because it was so intense and realistic. The executions are presented in a very detailed way, with the explanations how human body reacts during beheading or wheel breaking. You will see many deatiled executions so be prepared for it.

....making it short: Innocent is a very good manga, psychological portrait of historical figures, brutal description of how society used to functon and the story of one particular family living during these extraordinary times:)