-INTRODUCTION-

After finishing the great anime adaptation, I found myself craving for more mysteries, more of the clever humor, and of course, more Neuro. I hesitated at first because of the artwork. In fact, I spent the first few chapters complaining about it. But before I knew it, I got completely sucked in and ended up reading most of this manga in a marathon.

-STORY- 10/10

The manga mostly consists of short cases. And although the criminal is usually made obvious to the reader, the process of deduction and explanation is still exciting. This is the kind of mystery series where the author focuses on the "How" and "Why" parts of the case rather than the "Who". Each story is interesting in its own way, and each criminal has unique reasoning for breaking the law, usually having to do with a psychological condition of some sort. Later on, as the main plot progresses, the readers are exposed to stronger criminals that Neuro has to face, and eventually, a main group of antagonists.

One of my favorite aspects of Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro is the humor. The overall story is rather dark and psychologically disturbing, but the author manages to "lighten" the mood with some equally dark comic relief. It may sound contradicting, and perhaps it is. Because Matsui-sensei makes the reader laugh at things that are not funny at all. I am certainly not a fan of violence or cruelty, but I always find it somehow amusing when Neuro tortures his prey and destroys their psyche. Most likely it is because Neuro himself is a contradicting individual, which is where my next favorite aspect comes in.

-CHARACTERS- 10/10

This has got to be one of the best (if not -the- best) parts of this manga. Let's start with the title character. Neuro is most certainly one of the most unique characters I have ever encountered throughout the many years of being into anime and manga. I may have said this about many others, but I am definitely not exaggerating when I speak about Neuro. What makes him interesting is his ability to capture the reader's heart with his... negative qualities. He is selfish, sadistic, manipulative, hypocritical, and plain psychotic. He takes pleasure in inflicting mental and physical torture upon others, including his partner Yako, and will not miss a chance to belittle human beings. He might as well be the main villain himself. However, Matsui-sensei successfully makes this character lovable to the public. What is Neuro's charm? What makes such a seemingly repulsive individual so attractive? Is it his eccentric appearance, or his childish demeanor, or the overall mystery that surrounds his very existence? There may not be an answer. Neuro is a paradox, a hateful character that cannot be hated.

Our co-main character is Yako, a pretense detective and Neuro's favorite "toy". She may appear as an ordinary girl and quite a pushover, but she actually has a very strong personality and a lot of courage. She is not afraid to speak her mind when confronting the criminals, and is deeply concerned about their motives. Her main purpose is concealing Neuro's true identity, but she is also an important aid in solving the cases, because she is very knowledgeable about human psyche, unlike Neuro who only cares about solving the puzzle. She is very open with Neuro too, even though her life is in danger every time she talks back at him. As the story progresses, Yako also matures and starts living up to her title of a detective.

There are numerous other characters, and I will not go into detail about all of them. I don't think there is a single boring personality in this manga; both the positive and the negative characters are intriguing in their own way. I have noticed that Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro does not have the overused stereotypes that are often present in this kind of setting. There is no invincible hero who does not get hurt and can easily get out of any situation. The legit detectives are not as useless as they usually are in a story where an amateur is involved in an investigation. The group of antagonists are not your typical gang bent on taking over the world; in fact, there is no good versus evil scenario here and no two sides are clearly defined. There are no "flat" characters; all of them grow and change, for the better or worse, which makes the story very exciting and at times unpredictable.

My only concern is that absolutely nothing is known about Neuro himself. Everyone seems to have some kind of back story and motive, but Neuro just exists. He is from Hell and he eats mysteries, that's it. Whether or not the author planned it this way, for the protagonist to be the biggest "enigma" himself, is unknown. In fact, I am not sure whether there is really a need to learn more about him. Even though he is a mystery, his character seems to be complete, and it didn't even strike me until the end. Only after I finished reading the manga, I thought back and realized that I don't really know anything about him. Maybe Matsui-sensei plans to have some sort of revelation in the second series. Or perhaps it is just another paradox.

-ART- 8/10

As I mentioned earlier, I was a little repelled when I just started reading. The proportions don't seem to be realistic and there is some general inconsistency throughout the designs. The main focus goes to the foreground, while the characters on the background are drawn with a lot less detail, to the point that some of them don't have facial features at all. It appears that the author certainly focused on developing the story and the characters a lot more than on making it visually appealing.

Even though the actual panels are nothing extraordinary, the full-page chapter inserts are definitely worth looking at. This is where the artist shows his talent by drawing the characters with a lot of detail and in difficult perspectives. Among them are some very fascinating illustrations that add to the disturbing side of the manga; for example, an image of Yako sitting in someone's eye and looking up from under a contact lens. Also, looking closely at those inserts, we can see how they depict some of the character quirks; for example, an image of Neuro wearing a kimono and black boots inside a Japanese house, which is clearly unacceptable, and thus shows his indifference and disrespect toward the humans and their customs.

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Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro is in my Top 5 most favorite manga series, and Neuro is among my Top 5 all-time favorite characters. I highly recommend this to everyone -- it will surely keep you entertained. There is a "to be continued" notion after the cliffhanger ending, and I am definitely looking forward to a second manga series.