YMMV / Kagerou

• Archive Binge: It's very tempting to tear through all fifty-plus chapters of Kagerou in a single weekend.
• Archive Panic: When the archive page keeps expanding to show the over 45 chapters with 850+ pages, it can definitely get a little intimidating.
• Complete Monster: James Valentine Beethoven, known almost exclusively as "Red", is one of the entities residing in Kano Jurgen's mind, and by far the most evil character both inside and out of his head. In life, Red was a sadistic Serial Rapist and Serial Killer who kidnapped, raped, and tortured young women for hours before brutally murdering them, notably doing so to an old school crush of his simply because she spelled his name wrong once. In another notable case, Red kept one of his victims locked up for half a year, subjecting her to daily rape, torture, and mutilation, before finally beating her to death in a rage. Though killed by one of his attempted victims, Red lived on by jumping into the young man Kano's mind, and began trying to take control of the mentally unstable man to continue his spree. In his final scheme, Red subjected Kano to brutal Mind Rape in an attempt to destroy his psyche, tried to rape the only girl who would help Kano, and finally tried to goad Kano into killing him to corrupt him into becoming a killer. Darkening nearly every scene he featured in, Red was a classic psychopath, acting only on whatever whims occurred to him at the time, disregarding any and all consequences for his vicious actions.
• Creepy Awesome: Dark. Terrifying. But he's adorable! But, brrr...
• Draco in Leather Pants: If Red weren't so pretty, we'd hate him a lot more.
• Epileptic Trees: A story this convoluted just invites them. (But still.)
• Funny Moments: Heyoka to Kano: "Oho! I get it now, we're playing the angsty teen! Lemme play too! Can I be the sexual deviant?"
  • "You're not a Republican!" "I don't think so, no."
• Genius Bonus: Every twenty-third page of a chapter in Kagerou has "SKIDOO!" at the top of the page, a reference to the phrase "twenty-three skidoo," obsolete slang from early 1900s America. It sort of meant...skedaddle.
  • It is useful for a reader to know that "5150" (fifty-one-fifty) is a section of the California Welfare and Institutions Code which refers to involuntary psychiatric hold. That is to say, restraining a psychiatric patient without their consent, because that patient is deemed a danger to themselves or others due to their condition.
• Heartwarming Moment: Kano's impulsive, awkward, adorable hand-on-the-shoulder-comfort moment with Cho. It's especially heartwarming because Kano despises physical contact.
• Moment of Awesome: Red gets one when he kills Monster. It's also a Moment of Creepy.
  Monster(currently being choked by Red's hair): Aren't... you... the Champion?
  Red: Sure. What's your point?
  Monster: You're... supposed to be... the GOOD guy!
  Red: Oh. I'll keep that in mind.
  He snaps her neck.
  • Kano receives one all his own a little later in his mindscape: he snaps out of his Heroic BSoD just in time to stop Red from raping Fuuka, which he accomplishes by beating Red half to death (...again) with a tire iron.
  • Tonbo, who before then had been a Damsel in Distress, telling Tcaolin exactly where to shove it after getting her speech back:
    G-Go f-fuck yourself... M-My lady.
  • Dark has one in the form of setting Red on fire after making him read the names of every person he had ever killed. And then stabbing him with giant fiery fingers.
• Nightmare Fuel: Anything that happens in Kano's head qualifies. The horrible tentacle creatures? Hung from the ceiling with pipes through his chest? The Breaking Noise Monster? Yeesh.
• One-Scene Wonder: Father Kwellar.
• The Woobie: All of the main characters take a turn as The Woobie, but Kano, Kid, and Tonbo/Fuuka come out on top.
  • Dark blows them all out of the water.

---