As much as I love Douman Seiman’s shorter works and oneshot anthologies, I love his longer series the most. Yes, Douman is a master of short works— he can do more with eight pages than most mangaka can do with eight chapters — but longer series give Douman a chance to display his talent at crafting plots and character developments that otherwise never have the opportunity to blossom in a storyline that is limited to a few loosely connected lchapters.
In Oddman 11, we follow “normal” high schooler Setsu as she embarks on her mission to defeat a series of unusual ex-girlfriends, and in the process we get to see how determined, spunky, and kind Setsu is, and how that earnestness wins over the hearts of several jaded girls. Itami is really a sidenote, the real story is about the quirky misadventures Setsu encounters with her growing circle of Oddmen companions, and how Setsu’s battle to win over Itami turns into the Oddmen’s battle to win over Setsu.
Is this series perverted? Yes. Is it weird? Yes. But as to borderline pornographic or overtly lewd? Not even close, especially after considering some of Douman’s other works, or the fact that Oddman 11 is serialized in an H mag. That’s not to say I would read this series with my grandmother peering over my shoulder, but once you come to with the fact that nudity is normalized and high schoolers are horny, Oddman 11 is relatively tame in of explicit content. (Not that explicit content would deter most Douman fans, anyway...)
Oddman 11 is hilarious, irreverent, heartwarming, and of course, odd, as the title might suggest. I agree it’s not for the more prudish reader out there, so I wouldn’t reccomend this as someone’s first foray into Douman’s works, but it’s a definite must-read for any returning Douman fan or anyone looking for an odd adult comedy-slice-of-life. 🙂))