There’s plenty of dark manga out there, but few tend to focus on the complete collapse of a seemingly happy family. Blood on the Tracks follows a young boy, Seiichi, as he tries to grapple with the difficulties of his life and overly protective and obsessive mother.
At first, it almost sounds typical, even relatable. However, Oshimi makes a great effort to showcase how a parent’s overbearing possessiveness can devolve into twisted obsession, delusion, and abusiveness towards their child.
Personally, I believe noting key examples defeats the purpose of reading this work, so I will steer clear of specifics. Despite some extremities here and there, the immoral and near-psychopathic nature of Seiichi’s mother still remains believable, especially as Seiichi is robbed of his free will and is often coerced to obey the adults around him. It’s plausible that any obsessive parent could physically intervene and injure others. It is not hard to grasp that a deranged person like Seiichi’s mother would actively ensure her son does not form any meaningful relationships, especially with girls, in his formative years.
With ~150 chapters, Blood on the Tracks tells a suitably long story of how Seiichi’s life is ruined by his mother, alongside how the events affect other members of the family and those Seiichi found solace in. It’s a story designed to make the reader miserable, quite like Goodnight Punpun, through its defeatist mentality and power bias.
The sketch-like art style also adds to the experience, making everything feel unclear and hasty. The art only continues to devolve as chapters progress, with panels becoming increasingly less detailed and more dream-like, as though no one can truly grasp how fragmented Seiichi’s life and sense of self-worth is by the time he reaches adulthood.
It’s definitely a recommendation for anyone who is particularly fond of darker genres of manga. Just keep in mind that it’s obviously for more mature audiences.
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