Initial Results: The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins
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(spoiler warning for all the available chapters)
Ever read something and just been…confused, horrified, excited, and gone through the entire emotional spectrum? Then, in the end, it turns out most people have not even read it much less heard about it? Well, that was not exactly the case for me since this series was shown to me by a friend of mine, but I had not seen anyone talking about it until I went out of my way to look it up.
The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins is by far one of the strangest series this side of English publications, and I say this while the series only has 15 chapters. The author, Taizan5, is most known for their 2021 series Takopi’s Original Sin which went semi-viral for its darker subject matter related to bullying, a lot of which seems to have transferred over into this series as well.
For those who are unaware, which is likely most people reading based on its general level of popularity, The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins follows a family of amnesiacs who has recently woken up in the hospital following some sort of accident. The group, unsure of the nature of their past relationships, tries to reconnect by discussing potential memories. However, it seems as though there are some darker secrets hidden behind the fog of the past.
Normally, I would just put the spoiler warning and call it a day, but if you’re at all interested in this series based on that description I highly recommend just catching up since it is still pretty early on and most of the chapters are pretty short. It is not unrealistic that medium-paced readers could catch up in about an hour or so, and probably a little over two-ish hours for those on the slower side like myself. So yeah, go do it.
If it was not clear enough already, this manga is crazy. The premise and more psychological/horror vibes to the story feel reminiscent of the early 2010’s Amnesia series that got popularized by a lot of Lets Players like Markiplier and PewdiePie. Although, without most of the gorier elements of those games, by which I mean all of them really, at least so far.
Tsubasa, the second youngest of the family of six and a high schooler, serves as main vantage point from which the story unfolds. The story reveals very quickly that, despite having fairly positive attitudes about their situations overall (minus Shiori but we’ll get to her in a sec), it is obvious there are some darker secrets that are being hidden by the rest of the family.
Younger sister Shiori, for example, ends up getting messaged by an older man who is implied to have been messaging and hitting on her prior to the accident. She ends up trying to please this man only for Tsubasa to come in and get her out of it. All of this happens while Shiori is angered by Tsubasa’s seeming lack of urgency about their situation.
One of the things that really contributes to this often uncomfortable but nevertheless intriguing atmosphere is the contrast between the manga’s story and its character designs. Outside of being solidly written, the manga’s characters themselves are drawn in a way that feels very family friendly, with big, expressive faces that simultaneously look depressed as hell.
With respect to that sentiment, Taizan5 really knows how to draw his characters eyes. Tsubasa constantly has a look in said eyes that feel both full of hope and yet somehow constantly defeated. This is especially true in the opening chapters when dealing with his best friend turned bully and the rest of his classmates.
Despite being 15 chapters in, a not insubstantial amount, it feels like The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins has only gotten started. Between Kakeru being memory swapped out of existence by the new guy and his mom just straight getting CIA eliminated in the last chapter, the level of what the fuckery is only elevating.
As far as the actually quality of the series, I am a bit torn so far. On the one hand, the writing does feel pretty good. However, it does seem like there is a nonzero possibility that the manga keeps introducing plot points for shock value and then ends up with a lot more questions than answers by the end of it. Still, I am hopeful the series can stick the landing in the future.
Have you read The Ichinose Family’s Deadly Sins? What are your thoughts on the series? Let me know down in the comments.
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Originally published at http://animatedobservations.com on March 8, 2023.
