Warau Kyuuketsuki isn't about plot, and it's important that you go into this manga without expecting some sort of genius story or touching character development. The brilliance of this manga is the art. Every page arranged panels in the most delicately calculated position, and within each panel, you'll find an absurd amount of detail. Suehiro Maruo's genius lies in the way he guides the eye across a page, the way he alters an image's message just by drawing an extra line somewhere. There's not a single centimeter of wasted space in this manga; there's not a single drop of ink unaccounted for.

And the scenes are like an art movie. The characters' poses, the movement in their hair, a slight fold in the curtains, everything is so elaborate and deliberate. It sets the stage for some pretty incredible drama. Ero-guro is about sexual corruption, hedonism, and evil. I'd say that the primary function of Warau Kyuuketsuki is catharsis, and what a decadent feeling Maruo creates.

I might as well address the story and characters here. They're one-dimensional because they're supposed to be simple and shallow, blank mannequins for Maruo to butcher. That's pretty much what he does: take a dull axe to the classic archetypes of a hero story. And by "butcher" I also mean that they meet pretty gruesome ends.

It's probably clear by now that I'm not an artist, since I don't have the words to describe exactly what I'm seeing, so I highly recommend you take a look for yourself. It almost has historical significance, as Maruo's magnum opus, a landmark contribution to the world of horror manga.