ベアゲルター

BEAGERUTA

MANGA

STATUS
RELEASING
VOLUMES
Not Available
RELEASE
Invalid Date
CHAPTERS
Not Available

DESCRIPTION

Wergelder: in Germanic law, the money paid by a murderer or his family to the victim’s family in atonement. A mysterious deal goes down on a remote island known as a red-light pleasure district. An insane fight between a blonde sniper and an assassin in a Chinese dress brings up questions about who the players are in this deal. A group of misfit yakuza gets caught in the crossfire while trying to get in on the deal, or at least find out what’s being dealt. At the center of it all is a woman who has been wronged in the worst imaginable ways. She will have her revenge. Eisner award-winning creator of Blade of the Immortal Hiroaki Samura presents a new badass thriller with some very bad ladies!

(Source: Kodansha USA)

CAST

Nami Savrasova
Aza Shinobu
Jie Mao
Soli Kil
Eisuke Fuji

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

elletedbirbie
80/100
A dark sci-fi mystery story set in a gritty pre-cyberpunk world where everything and everyone is fucked.
Beageruta is a dark sci-fi mystery story exploring criminal underworld set in a gritty pre-cyberpunk world where everything and everyone is fucked - both literally and figuratively.

If you enjoy flashy over the top action with a dash of realism and don't mind violence, drugs, profanity and sex this is quite a ride waiting to be experienced.

"You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star." (Art & Atmosphere)

One thing you'll notice right away is dark and gritty atmosphere. Going through the pages you simply can't shake off the pessimism permeating the scenes. The only thing you can be certain about is that everything has a price and nothing is ever clear-cut.

The opening scene alone is enough to get you hooked by the art. There is something about it which you don't often see - realistic flow of movement. It might seem a bit contradictory at first - "flashy and over the top but realistic sci-fi action" - however it turns out that the author has great knowledge of human anatomy and that clearly shows. While story has sci-fi elements you can clearly imagine the action scenes being played out in a Hollywood movie set in a modern day or near future setting. The only thing that might throw you off are the female character faces. For some reason they are very similar, so much so that sometimes you might mistake a newly introduced character scene for a flashback of already existing one. Good thing that they have plenty of different outfits, haircuts and personality traits to set them apart.

"Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." (Characters)

Reading this manga you will quickly learn that every character has a secret. It ranges from something small to extremely complex which almost always defines them. Characters have intricate backstories which play major role in the story and serve as motivation for their actions. No one is simply "good" or "evil" - they are people shaped by their upbringing and environment trying to make the best of shitty situations they find themselves in.

“Contrariwise, if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.” (Story)

The story is absurd. Wait, don't go - let me explain! Each chapter constantly reminds me of Snow Crash. For those unfamiliar it is a famous cyberpunk novel which is bombastic and completely over the top - however that was the intention from the start. Backstories here are overdramatic, situations are over the top and the main plot is completely implausible but handled with such care and precision that you can't help but grin going through the pages wishing to see more!

"Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it."

While this is a very enjoyable read it is definitely not for everyone and has a few problems, however it is a high quality near future fiction which is something that's not easy to find. Reading through available chapters you can tell that this is going to be a long haul as we are still getting introduced to new characters and author is taking his time with releases. The official English translations are slow and it will be a while before volume 5 comes out, but I shall be eagerly waiting for it to arrive.
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baba13
85/100
The Return of Flash and Pretentious Martial Arts!
Die Wergelder isn’t Samura’s magnum opus, however, it’s an excellent manga. This is a tough series to recommend due to its graphic nature. I genuinely believe it’s best to be comfortable with Samura’s style before reading it as the first chapter can be a lot. Even with the context of the manga, that chapter is a bit of an oddity. However, it establishes some very important elements: The drug trade, the exploitation of children, government secrecy, a revenge tale and the inherent tragedy of it all. In general, I think Blade of the Immortal (BOTI) eases you into some of the more sexual elements on display and the horrific violence that can be afflicted on the characters. It's somewhat of a blend of his more obscure works (Brute Love, Bradherley no Basha, Harukaze no Snegurochka, Ohikkoshi) with BOTI characterisation and scope being interwoven.

Art

This section will be similar to my 'Wave, Listen to Me!' review as a lot of the core strengths from there is applied here.

Samura is one of the best working artists in the industry. His ability to depict subtle features of people and human expressions is extraordinary. Just from the composition of the frame, the lightning informs so much about the character's perspective. As this is a more veteran Samura he's not struggling to find his specific style, it's just as polished as the latter half of BOTI but from the beginning. The man's depiction of the human anatomy is wonderful, you can just immediately tell he's done sketches of people with his unique and indistinguishable art style. It's less experimental than BOTI however it's more creative than Wave, Listen to Me! which is appropriate for the kind of narrative he is exploring here.

Panelling

This is easily his best panel work by far. This is due to the focus of the manga being more action-oriented. He coined a term called "FAPMA" which stands for "Flash and Pretentious Martial Arts". This is most readily apparent with Jie Mao who is an excellent ass-kicking character. There's this wonderful flow throughout, even the non-action sequences but those action-oriented sequences are where he flexes his ability as an artist. He's not just an excellent artist but an excellent comic-book artist (akin to old Disney, Tezuka or Toriyama).

Dialogue-Writing:

Samura's dialogue is some of the best in the industry. I've stated this numerous times, but he has written some of the best female characters depicted in this medium largely due to his dialogue. The character interaction is never clunky, but rather natural. The writing is excellent, the plotting so far has an excellent pace to it and it's rather intricate. As the series progresses the scope widens and has some interesting ramifications. As a whole, I’m interested in all the plot lines from Nami, Jie to Shinobu. Samura has given these characters a good amount of depth especially with the limited-on-screen presence utilising his time very efficiently. I love all the main characters here and I want to see them succeed. I would like to note the atmosphere is also brilliant which is a combination of excellent writing and being a great artist.

Conclusion

To cut this short, this is a fantastic series from one of the best in the industry. There are some over-the-top elements, but it’s executed with sincerity (and heart). It’s a shame there is not much discussion for the series due to its lack of accessibility, being bimonthly and being released in omnibuses, so each release takes up to 3-5 years. I’ve recently reread volumes 1-4 to read volumes 5-6 and the quality progressively gets better. In volumes 5-6 there's a ton of lore being dropped, the plot progressed in very meaningful ways, recontextualising some past events and interesting character explorations. The artwork and panelling are fantastic, the writing is intricate and it’s a high-quality series which is what you expect from Samura. I can see this series getting better and better as it progresses. I would recommend it, but the caveat is the slow release as he’s releasing Wave, Listen to Me! Monthly.
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brainbombs
100/100
A cinematic crossroad of gangster action, perverse decadence, questionable ethics and grand conspiracies
This review is spoiler-free.

On the surface, DIE WERGELDER is a Tarantino-coded seinen created by Hiroaki Samura. A femme-fatale dominated cast of martial artists from Japan, China and Mongolia to as far as Germany find themselves, for differing reasons, investigating a secluded Japanese island as bloodied combatants in the ordinarily machismo underworld of organised crime's violent gunfights and rampant sexploitation.

But hidden beneath the bare-knuckled violence and sick sex is a deep well of connections with uncomfortable questions and elusive answers, often suppressed with violent, sudden deaths.

The quiet island of Ishikunagijima secretly revels in a colourful sex racket operated by Yakuza, out of sight of the rest of the world. Sex is not just a commodity, but a ritual. Bizarre erotica, sadism, institutionalised rape and unrestrained human experimentation foul the air black with an unpunished immorality akin to Genesis' Sodom and Gomorrah. Filthy brothels serve their chattel to hounding sex tourists while gangsters harshly enforce the law when necessary, protecting their property and business interests from rivals and journalists alike.

Die Wergelder convincingly explores the food chain of an elaborate criminal conspiracy from bottom-to-top, showing the hierarchy is strung together by abuse, exploitation and violence. From the lowly prostitutes to the sex tourists, to elected officials and the main cast itself, participants play a vital role in the ecology of Ishikunagijima.

The stressed importance of sexual abuse as a tool and its severe consequences on the human psyche is explored to a degree almost unheard of in gangster settings, making for an especially candid commentary with a female cast at the forefront. Sleek and sexy women with distinguished physical features, bright expressions and deep emotions, propelled by powerful motives, confronting a world hellbent on their utter subjugation, for reasons far beyond and much sicker than mere sexism and misogyny.

The savage depictions of violence are creatively twisted, as is necessary for any emphasis on martial arts. Arms are torn off, faces twist upside-down, holes are punched clean through chests and eyes jettison from their sockets in response to powerful blows. Grabbed by the head with a pair of legs, a Yakuza member then performs a flip, throwing a seated man behind him like a pillow. The implausible kinetic forces of simple punches and open-palm strikes, stun gun shoes, gunchaku and quarterstaff produces grisly, gory and unforgettable panels illustrated with a ludicrous level of quality not seen since Berserk.

With DIE WERGELDER, Samura has produced one of the strongest and most unique mangas I've had the pleasure of reading.
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