Metamorphosis (変身, Henshin) — originally subtitled Emergence — is a hentai manga written by American-Japanese mangaka Shindo L. It was originally published between 2013 and 2016 through Comic X-Eros.

Plot

Saki Yoshida (吉田咲), a first-year high school student with no social life, decides to change after graduating from middle school by getting a makeover. On her first day of high school, she makes two friends and spends time with them after school. After parting ways, Saki goes to a convenience store, where she encounters a man who compliments her appearance and invites her to a karaoke box. In the karaoke box, he gives Saki alcohol and MDMA and rapes her, lying to her that he is only doing it because he loves her, while she believes that he is simply having consensual sex with her. Afterward, he puts his cell phone number on her phone. On her way home, after regaining consciousness, she receives a message from the man revealing his name, Hayato. The two start dating, and she quickly gets addicted to having sex while on drugs. Back at school, while chatting with her peers, when she lets slip that she is not as well off as she appears, a school acquaintance recommends compensated dating, also known as sugaring or sugar dating. Saki accepts, and on the weekend, she makes an appointment with an older man named Kumagai. After having dinner with Kumagai, she is driven to a hotel where she is paid cash for sex with him. Ridden with guilt, she comes home late and breaks down, with her mother reassuring her that she will always be on her daughter's side. At school, Saki is approached by male students who show her a photo of her with Kumagai. They then blackmail her for sexual favors. Saki's father is laid off, and afterward drinks heavily and then rapes his daughter in her room. Her mother finds out about the rape from the perspective of the father, who has spun the story to imply that Saki seduced him. Betraying her earlier promise, Saki's mother does not allow her to explain herself and beats her. In response, Saki runs away from home. Having lost her home, Saki drops out of high school and pursues a life with Hayato, who has accumulated eight million yen in debt at a local heroin bar. She vows to help pay back the debt to the bar owner, Mr. Obata, who threatens to kill Hayato if he does not repay. She does not have the money to pay upfront, and bar patrons seize the opportunity to pay her for sex work so that she may make up the difference. She is then pierced and tattooed on the breasts and clitoris by Hayato. Saki, who now has the appearance of a gyaru, becomes pregnant after various sexual encounters. Hayato convinces her to abort the pregnancy, and she soon finds herself returning to Kumagai, who, unimpressed with her body modifications, forces her to do increasingly degrading things to make the money she needs. Mr. Obata sexually assaults Saki with other workers at the bar and injects heroin into her to make her more compliant. She quickly develops an addiction and begins to forget about paying off Hayato's debt in favor of buying drugs. When Saki is robbed, and Hayato only finds drugs in her wallet, he becomes enraged, abandoning her and leaving her homeless. Found by other homeless people in a public park, she is raped while under the influence. The following day, Saki realizes she is pregnant again and decides to carry the baby to term, vowing to quit drugs and change for the better in the process. She continues her prostitution for money at the expense of her baby's well-being. Now in constant pain, she resumes her heroin use. Saki builds up some savings to help with the cost of her unborn child, which she stores in a duffel bag in a public coin locker. She runs into her former classmates, who assume the money is stolen, not believing that Saki could have earned so much on her own. They rape her with various objects and beat her stomach, intending to kill the baby and steal the money while also knocking out some of her teeth. Saki stumbles into a public bathroom, bleeding profusely. Looking at herself in the mirror and becoming emotionally distraught and horrified at the person she has become, a despondent Saki shatters the mirror and commits suicide by overdosing on her entire remaining volume of heroin. The story ends with a dream sequence showing what Saki's future life may have looked like had she been able to carry the baby, Hana, to term, followed by a shot of Saki's glasses lying on the bathroom floor among drops of blood.

Publication

Henshin was first serialized in Japan in Comic X-Eros from 26 July 2013 to 26 March 2016. It was later published in tankōbon format on 31 May 2016, and a paperback version was published on 30 June 2016. It was published in English as Metamorphosis by FAKKU digitally on 27 October 2016 and physically in February 2017; a hardbound edition subtitled "Hard Edition" was announced at Anime Expo 2022 and released at Anime Expo 2024.

Reception

Reviewers have described Metamorphosis as highly depressing and disturbing to read, albeit while also praising the storyline and editorial quality. The Manga Sanctuary staff reviewer was more critical, criticizing the sex scenes for seemingly serving no purpose except to be transgressive, and questioned the value of the work, failing to see any underlying message or moral. Some manga artists have created derivative works based on Metamorphosis. The most notable is an alternate ending where Josuke Higashikata from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure saves Saki.

Analysis

Shindo L claimed he "originally had Kafka in mind" when he thought up the title, inspired by the short story of the same name, drawing comparisons to the dark themes and plots surrounding transformation. He initially intended for the story to end with the suicide of Saki. However, Wanimagazine editors wished for a happier ending, which led him to draw the dream sequence as a form of compromise. He also writes in the manga's afterword that he intended Metamorphosis to portray the "charm" of a miserable female protagonist.

Publications

Shindo, L (w, a). 変身 (31 May 2016). Wanimagazine, ISBN 978-4-86269-430-0, (in Japanese). Retrieved on 18 August 2020. Shindo, L (w, a). Metamorphosis (10 November 2016). FAKKU, ISBN 978-1-63442-060-0. Retrieved on 18 August 2020. Shindo, L (w, a). Metamorphosis: Hard Edition (4 July 2024). FAKKU, ISBN 978-1-63442-503-2. Retrieved on 6 September 2024.

References

External links

Emergence / Metamorphosis / 177013 entry at Know Your Meme