Dead Tube

Dead Tube
The cover of the first volume of Dead Tube
デッドチューブ
Manga
Written by Mikoto Yamaguchi
Illustrated by Touta Kitakawa
Published by Akita Shoten
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Champion Red
Original run June 2014 – present
Volumes 10[1]

Dead Tube (デッドチューブ, Deddo Chūbu) is a manga series, written by Mikoto Yamaguchi and illustrated by Touta Kitakawa. It is being serialized in Champion Red since April 2014.[2] The manga is published in France by Delcourt-Tonkam.[3]

Plot

Member of the Film Research Club, Tomohiro Machiya is called by school idol, Mai Mashiro, to film her, and after he tapes her swimming, she asks him to film her continuously for two days. He agrees, hoping. Everything seems normal until Mashiro kills her "boyfriend" who was a former bully and delinquent, while Machiya films it all. He then finds out Mashiro is uploading videos to a website called Dead Tube, where users post content and are rewarded with money based on the number of views they get. The users are encouraged to post videos, but there's a catch: the person or people whose video gets the lowest amount of views has to pay for the expenses and the crimes of all the other participants. As Machiya gets dragged deeper and deeper into the world of Dead Tube, he starts questioning his ambiguous relationship with Mashiro and the dark feelings lying within himself.

Characters

Tomohiro Machiya (町谷 知浩)
The protagonist of the series. He is a member of the film research society. He is unwillingly brought into Dead Tube when Mashiro has him film her killing his bully, posing as his girlfriend. At the beginning, he is easily frightened and terrified when it comes to the idea of killing, but as the series progresses, he is shown to have less and less aversion and his fear is replaced by a dull lack of interest. He is shown to be an expert cameraman, not flinching or phasing while filming, and always catching the lead actor (usually Mashiro) in their most beautiful state. While filming, his personality changes drastically, and he remains completely focused on the film. He has a younger sister, who becomes the victim of a Dead tube game, in an attempt to draw out his talent.
Mai Mashiro (真城 舞)
The heroine of the series. She is the one who brought Machiya into Dead Tube by asking him to film her continuously for two days, and then killing a bully that terrorized Machiya before the series, after posing as his girlfriend. She is in love with Machiya for various reasons, but always states that he is the one "who captures me (on camera) most beautifully". She is a violent, ruthless killer, and shows little to no empathy for others, save Machiya. She is extremely possessive of him, and will even respond with lethal force to any woman who tries to steal his affections. Her primary weapon of choice is a collapsible baton. She is also a virgin.
It is revealed that she met Machiya at one point in their childhood and became fascinated with his desire to capture beautiful things on camera, and made him promise to capture her on camera in the same way.
Miwa Hanae (三輪 ハナエ)
Another girl in Machiya's class who got into Dead Tube carelessly without finding out all the instructions before hand. As a result she was under the belief that one would receive a pay as long as they were first, and was unaware of the penalty until Machiya warned her. After her first game, she joined with Machiya and Mashiro, and remains the most human in the group, responding to death and torture in an violent and angry fashion as compared to Machiya's and Mashiro's indifference. She often tries to make Machiya "normal" and is relieved by his acts of normalcy, such as lust when she tries to have sex with him, and fear when he discovers his sister is placed in a Dead Tube game. Mashiro often treats her as a rival and has once tried to kill her because she nearly had sex with Machiya.
Despite her initial carefree and callous demeanor, she is actually kind hearted and willing to place others before herself.

Reception

The manga was selected by Le Monde as part of "15 new manga for Japan Expo".[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Search - DEAD Tube". Akita Shoten (in Japanese). Retrieved 10 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "山口ミコト×北河トウタの美少女学園バイオレンス、REDで". Natalie (in Japanese). Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  3. ↑ "Le manga Dead Tube se partage chez Delcourt/Tonkam". Manga News (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  4. ↑ Croquet, Pauline; Monasterolo, Bernard; Orsini, Alexis. "15 noveautés manga pour la Japan expo". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  • Dead Tube at Media Arts Database (in Japanese)
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