The Strange World Of "DeadTube"

So let's talk about a very strange manga and that is "DeadTube". " DeadTube" tells the story of Tomohiro Machiya, a timid, nerdy high school boy who has a hobby of carrying a video camera is one day asked by the most popular, beautiful girl in high school Mai Mashiro to film her for 2 days straight (filming her sleeping and even going to the bathroom). During the filming session, Mai is about to get down with her boyfriend (with Machiya filming) she proceeds to bash her boyfriend's skull in thus revealing her true nature as well as Machiya's true nature as a voyeuristic sadist. And from this event, we dive into the psychopathic world of "DeadTube". 

Let me be honest, I wrote a story similar to " DeadTube" a good while ago so I had a vested interest in how they handled the idea of a Youtubesque site specifically for snuff films. My story featured a club of people who film murders they commit and eventually they are contracted by a megastar on their website to commit the perfect murder, so that was my story, DeadTube, the website goes like this; usually, a target is selected and the Deadtubers are instructed to film the target. and then the rules are 1) Be the only person responsible for filming 2) Don't stop filming no matter what. and the 3rd rule (more like fine print) if your video fails to reach #1 you will incur all debts and punishments racked up by the #1 video. The nature by which you film the target is entirely up to your imagination and usually results in death, results in as in the process getting there is...well...messy.

I won't mince words, "DeadTube" is as gory as it sounds and falls into the realm of torture porn, and it goes there, from rape to incest to murder, it doesn't beat around the bush and dare I say it, that's almost what's charming about it. What I mean to say is that it's aware that it's gore and it doesn't pretend to be any deeper than it is. Now granted we have a group of characters we follow and of course, they discuss their actions but it's clear that they're aware of the world they occupy. That's another thing, from reading this you'd wonder just how in the world these characters find themselves in these scenarios with these kinds of people (psychopaths) and the answer is they're psychopaths themselves and like will attract like, especially if you have a website they can all use. 

The characters are so psychopathic that it's almost laughable how insane they are, and the book doesn't shy away from showcasing the characters' full depravity (looking specifically at you George L.) so that you can hate them all the more. But despite being an outright gore fest, filled with all the sex and nudity that'd even make the directors of "I Spit On Your Grave" ask "WTF?", "Deadtube" can shift into subgenres of the horror genre, going from a "Hostel" type vibe to a murder mystery to a slasher. It's all pretty crazy. But "DeadTube" is no worse than "Battle Royale" in the gore department and by that I mean once you get past the initial shock, you pretty much expect it afterward. Not shying away from the violence in a book like this is necessary in order to understand the full breadth of the character's psychotic nature. Having written a book similar (in which the violence wasn't toned down) it shows us something disgusting in full view and makes it clear that the characters not only accept this world but are a part of it and in many cases applaud it, but again there's a stark difference between "Battle Royale" and "DeadTube" and that's emotional violence. There's a difference between teenagers being forced to kill each other and someone carrying out the deed with tears in their eyes and someone gleefully bashing in the head of a rapist, one you feel sorry for the other you don't.

Speaking of feeling sorry for, the characters are not at all sympathetic, but that isn't to say they're not compelling. The main character Tomohiro Machiya, like I said is a timid, nerdy-looking guy who girls wouldn't give a glance at. He's the unassuming anime protagonist with glasses to boot, BUT the guy is a complete and total sadist, going so far as to not be able to get an erection unless he's seeing or witnessing something horrible (a classmate relays a story to him about how she was raped and his member seemed to respond positively to that...). Not to mention he's essentially a prodigy when it comes to filming murders and a genius when it comes to figuring out a setup.

Seriously though, he's one messed up dude...Seriously!

Tomohiro is a tough nut because despite being an absolute psychopath there is a line he doesn't cross and that's his family.  You see Tomohiro is addicted to his voyeurism through the lens of a camera and therefore compelled to film even if there is something he cares about being destroyed. This addiction to voyeurism doesn't extend to his family and in an uncharacteristic moment, he actually tries to save his sister rather than film her destruction (despite wanting to). Having a morality pet for a psychopath is always a good trope, because it tests the limits of just how far gone this person is. Despite being a psychopath, Machiya does seem to love and care about his father and sister.

The next character I wanna talk about is Machiya's muse, Mai Mashiro and she is my favorite character. That isn't to say I like what she does but whenever she's on panel things get interesting. Mai Mashiro is, to put it bluntly, a human killing machine activated by Machiya's presence and his camera. As strange as it is, despite not dating, she considers Machiya to be her's, and despite what he says he does consider her to be "his". In a way, they're almost like Dino Velvet and Machine from "8mm" with Machiya being Dino and Mai being Machine. The reason I like Mai Mashiro is because of her absolute honesty, she's a psychopath and she doesn't hide it at all. Granted, she does hide this from her classmates but whenever she's able to be her true self, she will. Despite not being supernatural or possessing any powers Mai is fueled solely by bloodlust and exhibitionism, therefore her endurance and strength goes up to 11 as long as Machiya is filming her. This symbiotic relationship she has with Machiya would actually be kind of adorable...if they both weren't batsh*t crazy.

Why are the hot ones always crazy?

The other characters are not much to discuss except for Miwa Hanae who gets tangled up in DeadTube through sheer ignorance and now is stuck with Machiya and Mashiro in order to survive. Miwa, despite the hate she gets in the community is the only sane one of the bunch (and that's relative) but she genuinely comes off as a good person. Mizuno Saki is also another semi-sane character and is much of the fan service in the series (all the women find themselves nude...yes, ALL). I've just begun The Justice Man Arc but I'm taking a much-needed break from the series, I can only read so much gore, but overall it's not as bad as people say. The series doesn't pretend to be anything else but a loose story to tell gory scenes and for that, I can forgive. This isn't a recommendation, but just me saying that "DeadTube" is a What you see is what you get and if you're reading something called "DeadTube" and surprised by the gore, the joke's on you friend-o. After all the artist was a doujinshi artist. Catch you cool kids later!