Franken Fran is one of the most kind-hearted people in all of the Horror Manga stories I have read so far. Despite her appearance and the acts that she performs, she remains friendly and always driven to help those in need of it.
I have only read the first ten chapters or so, but thought I’d go back to the very start and write my thoughts on each.
In Brains, we get our first glimpse into the world of Franken Fran; into the strange mansion in the woods and the creatures that live within. We are brought here on our maiden voyage by two men. These men appear at the door of the mansion in search of Professor Madaraki. However, they are greeted by a strangely attractive young woman who looks to have been patched together in a Frankenstein fashion.
But despite her bolts and stitches she is still quite an attractive woman.
Her name is Fran.
On hearing one of the men tell the story of him losing his son in a car accident, she is compelled to help. You see, Professor Madaraki is rumoured to possess the ability to bring the dead back to life. This is what the man desires more than anything. However, due to the Professor being away at this time, Fran jumps forward to offer her own skills - skills that have been passed down to her.
Reluctantly, they accept Fran’s offer just as they are running fearfully from the mansion. However, the grieving father’s story may not be as honest as he presented to Fran, and that deception may just be his undoing as she begins to make good on her promise.
Within the first few pages of this first chapter, one thing that jumped out at me was the great sense of humour that the creator has. Just the simple act of having Fran’s eyeball fall out mid conversation and seeing the men’s reaction of horror as she picks it up out of the tea.
The banter between Fran and the lion boy was great too. They seem to have an interesting push / pull teasing kind of relationship that I look forward to see being expanded upon in the future chapters.
I loved how detailed the gore was too. The surprise panel I turned over too - of her pulling the brain out of the man’s head, his eyes sunken back yet still alive. This was a level that I wasn’t expecting having been through the relatively calm and charming opening pages.
I absolutely loved this story and its characters from its very opening pages. Fran is such a unique character with charm and grace, a great sense of humour and wicked skills with a scalpel.
I already feel at this early stage of my journey through Franken Fran’s world, that it’s going to be a layered, funny and often brutal look at a girl who just wants to help people.