Ultra Violent Loneliness: Happiness by Shūzō Oshimi
Happiness is a Japanese manga written by Shūzō Oshimi, serialized in Shōnen Magazine from March 2015 to April 2019.
It has a supernatural horror/thriller story, a Japanese take on vampires.
The story follows Makoto Okazaki, a high school student who lives with his parents in Tokyo. Apart from being bullied by Yuuki and his girlfriend Nao, Makoto lives a quiet life. One night, Makoto is on his way to return a rental DVD and gets attacked by a mysterious female vampire by the name of Nora. She asks him one question if he wants to die or live and become like her. Makoto doesn't want to die yet, so he replies with the latter, and wakes up in a hospital.
Once he gets back to school, he is nauseous and realizes he isn't the same as he was before. But the biggest difference is that he is now highly attracted to blood; Makoto has now become a vampire.
Everything begins to get out of hand from this point; what once was a typical Japanese high school life for those involved becomes a gruesome, violent, fatal story.
What sounds like a typical vampire story turns out as a very dark, abstract and deep manga that focuses on loneliness, human behaviour, and depression. Shūzō Oshimi’s drawing style underlines those emotions via pitch dark, sometimes dreamy, distorted and lucid panels. The storyline turns ultra-violent, occult, and abstract in a seamless manner that leaves you stunned and attracted at the same time.
A hidden gem that you should have on your radar. Go read the manga to see the rest of the story.
