Bleak grotesque chaotic lighthearted. Q Hayashidas craft is embodied by these traits and excellently incorporated them into the seinen cult classic known as Dorohedoro. Turning the clock back to 1997 Hayashidas debut oneshot Sofachan already laid the ground work for and implicated her distinctive style. A bizarre narrative surreal personifications of mundane objects a murky heavy use of black and an equilibrium of lightheartedness and horror. And today this style has earned Hayashida to be one of the faces on the nonexistent seinen Mount Rushmore. Seinen is often viewed as an umbrella term for anything gore violent and dark. Which Dorohedoro and Hayashidas other work unapologetically are. But giving them more than a brief glance youll see how carefully crafted her stories are. Beyond the extravagant bloodiness and chaotic narrative Hayashida crafts marvelously fun characters multiple engrossing mysteries and a memorable story. Of course I wholly understand those who arent fans of her style. But theres no denying the popularity her work has garnered which is now focused on her most recent and ongoing work Dai Dark. 520https://i.ur.com/F8Bpzce.png Dorohedoro ... in Space While Dorohedoro was set in two separately connected worlds Hayashida makes a grandiose move by setting Dai Dark in the vast universe complementing her style extremely well. The vast outreaches and emptiness fun fact: space is actually not empty of the universe contrives the common mans fear of the unknown and dark. And Hayashida capitalizes on this to simultaneously craft grand worldbuilding and a spice of horror. Unknown territories creatures and phenomenon are constantly explored enrichening the storys world. The plot itself consists of 14year old Zaha Sanko legendary throughout the universe for the rumors of his bones fulfilling anyones wish and his wisecracking grumpy and boney companion Avakian. In their quest to release Sanko from his tragic situation they encounter many enemies hunting down the two down and strange experiences. From the getgo fans may see that Dai Dark bears some similarities to its popular predecessor. How Sanko and Kaiman bear unfortunate fates one stuck with a reptiles face and one hunted down anywhere he goes and their goals to escape them all while encountering many people along the way. But Im not suggesting Dai Dark is simply riding the tail coats of Dorohedoro this series has its own unique and enjoyable charm. Most notably its space setting. Expanding more on it Hayashida manages to flawlessly weave in different planets and places in a single chapter from another. Itd normally seem like a tedious challenge to characterize the immenseness of the universe and end up scrambling and lost in that immensity. However Hayashida doesnt trip herself up in this grand setting and info overload her audience but instead takes her time to lay the ground work of the story. While some settings like the Dark are essential to the overarching plot that is still being crafted others exist for episodic misadventures. Or in short Hayashida places differing importance in the changing subsettings while retaining enjoyment in every chapter. 620https://i.ur.com/hmjd4Dg.png Oh the horror And additionally expanding on the horror its expectedly enjoyable. Hayashidas trademark lighthearted horror plunges in strong in this series with its persistent gore and frequent skull and bones imagery. And thanks to its space setting Hayashida creates a plethora of uniquely horrific aliens and species from threeheaded giants to a skullfaced dog?. It also provides interesting abilities to its diverse cast often gorey. Sankos abilities all have darkness in their name and include melting bodies into bones. And theres Shimadas ridiculously overpowered death abilities allowing them to casually blow enemies up in a frenzy of organs and guts. So as long as you follow the mischievous protagonists desensitized to gore and death youll be guaranteed to witness humorously bloody massacres. 520https://i.ur.com/4wIplpQ.png Buff women and excessive gore While Dai Dark has an array of unique looking aliens and creatures youll be sure to notice hints of Hayashidas memorable artstyle and design. The characters are generally towering with 14year old Sanko measuring in at 190 cm 63 in burger units and others following in similar suit. Sanko also bears striking resemblance to Shin from Dorohedoro. And of course whats a Q Hayashida series without muscularly loveable women? Besides character design Hayashidas excessive use of black is blotted in nearly every panel. In conjunction with the gore it adds greatly to the bleak and chaotic nature of the series. Theres also the occasional standout panels permeating an unsettling tone and sense of surrealism that I adore. Admittedly I suppose the art and paneling can be hardtofollow at times if youre not used to the deranged use of black and general chaotic nature of Hayashidas art and narrative. I see this as strengthening that chaotic and erratic personality of the narrative but its something that may turn some off. And to once more fawn over the space setting Hayashida creates a diverse cast of unique aliens and creatures that constantly reminds of us that its set in different planets and places in the vastness of space. While Dorohedoro had Devils and peculiar masks that erased the presence of humanoid characters Dai Dark features different species nearly each chapter and cloaks humanoid characters in unsettling garbs. 520https://i.ur.com/Utcnzkj.png 520https://i.ur.com/EoBMVDy.png Silly and Goofy And again Hayashidas trademark style is found through the casual and dismissive nature of death. Even if youre new to Hayashidas work youll find yourself rapidly desensitized to the gorefest of spilling organs and torn faces and instead smirking at how comical these deaths can be. Provided you have a somewhat tolerable stomach that is. But Hayashidas comedic repertoire also extends to humorous dialogue and lighthearted banter between characters that offsets the rampant chaos from the previous panels. Sankos skeleton companion Avakian is perhaps my favorite character whose sarcastic and irritated wisecracks I look forward to the most. And theres also some downright silly sides and traits to our seemingly hardboiled and daunting protagonists like Sankos obsession with mespa meatball and spaghetti sandwich and Shimada casually eating the deceaseds spirits like chicken wings. 520https://i.ur.com/ARl7EKN.png 520https://i.ur.com/ggijqH8.png Conclusion Fans of Dorohedoro and dark comedy praise be to the almighty. Though just under 20 chapters of the series have been published as of now Dai Dark is shaping up to be a worthy replacement of Q Hayashidas magnum opus. The dichotomous personality between gorey horror and lighthearted fun that earned her a cult following runs strong in this series blood. And with its grand setting in space youll be sure to enjoy the prolific misadventures our protagonists get themselves into and the idiosyncrasy of the character design. Im confident that this scifi move Hayashida made turns out to be one just as enjoyable as Dorohedoro with its own charm. 520https://i.ur.com/rUPDuD8.png