Ive read the manga from start to finish 120 chapters in Japanese so this is a review of the story in its entirety. Spoilers will be hidden using the spoiler feature but the spoilers only contain specific examples so the review is completely understandable without expanding spoilers as well 128606 Monkey Peak 128604 Monkey Peak is about a group of employees of a medical company Fujitani Pharmaceutical who go on a teambuilding company trip into the mountains after the company was embroiled in a malpractice scandal. What what supposed to be an easy overnight hike turns into a severalday survival endeavor when a genocidal demonic monkey traps them in the mountains and starts killing them one by one. Though it may seem like the manga would be filed under the genres horror and mystery I would sooner categorize it as a survival thriller. It has its ups and downs so lets climb this mountain together The Climb Reportedly this is a recent work in the mountainclimbing manga genre a genre I didnt know existed. It does though and Monkey Peak decidedly walks in those footsteps: though the monkey is plenty dangerous what truly makes an impression is the peril of the mountain. Woefully unprepared for such a treacherous trek the employees have to contend with dehydration starvation foot injuries due to unsuitable shoes rockslides and broken bones. As a survival story its briskly paced highly varied and fascinating and the monkey spices it up after all if youre going to learn about the hardships of mountain climbing why not do it with a psychopathic simian on the loose? Making use of the setting the manga presents readers with a route map of the mountain which displays paths and landmarks such as peaks and lodges. This is a fantastic decision with a deceptively large impact on the reading experience With the locations laid out in advance it gives the impression that the entire story was planned out in advance. Of course this isnt necessarily the case though the locations are fixed what will be found there is still up in the air but nevertheless providing the reader with a docket of where the story will go ensures that twists rarely feel like they came out of nowhere. Its also rewarding to imagine what a place might be like and then find out the reality of it several volumes later The map provides yet another affordance: it allows you to reason around the story. By comparing where the characters are going to the map you can foresee some things in advance theyre going the wrong way that way this kind of danger might await them etc. which is highly rewarding. The map isnt the only source of foreshadowing. The author is quite smart and typically foreshadows twists sufficiently in advance. The observant reader is rewarded: if you notice something odd ranging from obvious story things such as why is this character always suggesting bad ideas to subtler things only visible in the art such as why does this character look so unsettling chances are itll become relevant later. This manga was made by a writerartist team but you wouldnt think so: the art conveys plot details that arent mentioned in text in a masterful display of writerartist collaboration. The art also serves one of the mangas strongest characteristics: exciting moments. Owing to the grounded setting these moments hit harder than they would in a fantasy manga. I dont tend to care much for action and even I found myself clapping my hands and yelling. Ive lost count of the number of times someone pulled off a ridiculous maneuver resulting in a moment that can only be described as hype. Spoiler: My favorite action moment in the manga. The Descent Now that were at the summit theres only one way to go: down. And down the story goes. Especially of the way through the story around volume 8 which at the time of writing hasnt been translated into English in any capacity significant fissures start to show. Monkey Peak fancies itself a mystery story. Why is the monkey doing this? Who is the monkey? Whos the traitor? Some of the mysteries it presents it never answers. Others are answered but in the most predictable way. I personally didnt mind this much I wasnt reading for the mystery but if youre invested in it this may be disappointing. What I did mind was the characters. The story has two types of character development. The first type is turning villainous. A lot of time is spent developing people into evildoers and charlatans who use and abuse the others. Conversely little time is spent on neutral or morally good characters who are relegated to another unpleasant type of character development: epiphany followed by heroic sacrifice. Time and time again someone will have a flashback to their tragic past decide to overcome their problems and immediately use that determination to launch a suicide attack. Not only does this feel dreadfully clichd but its a shame that we rarely if ever get to see a character grow and continue to partake in the plot in their developed form. The tender moments when characters truly connect are sweet but brief and vanishingly scarce. Faced with such overwhelming adversity it would be nice to see camaraderie bloom every now and then but this doesnt happen lending the story a faint tinge of misanthropy. More palpable than the misanthropy though is the characters stupidity. Spoilers: examples of the most unsatisfying character arcs. Stupidity isnt a plot hole. People constantly make poor decisions. One might even say stupid decisions is a mainstay of the horror genre. On the other hand as other works in the genre have proven if theres an overabundance of stupidity its only frustrating. Bit by bit Monkey Peak builds up such an overabundance. In addition to being exceedingly unskilled in deducing who is to be trusted and not the characters continuously go deeper and deeper into the mountains. Although the aforementioned map makes it clear that this was the plan all along the way in which this happens feels farfetched and lends the story the feeling that its being drawn out perhaps due to it being a commercial success. Spoiler: Examples of particularly egregious stupidity. The final boulder in this rockslide is the ending. Far from a satisfying conclusion the manga ends up sending a message thats so inexplicable abhorrent and morally detestable that its a wonder that it went to print. This may leave more than a bad taste in the readers mouth. Spoiler: The ending. The Foot of the Mountain Monkey Peak was an exhilarating read theres not a boring moment. I found myself engrossed throughout I hollered and threw my hands in the air with excitement at more than one occasion. However just as it has high peaks it also has abyssally low valleys. I will likely read this mangas spinoff and sequel Monkey Circle and Monkey Peak: The Rock respectively but should they be off to a good start Ill be wary not to let it raise my expectations too high.