Neun

A manga about a child born from a secret Nazi mission by Heinrich Himmler to create heirs of Adolf Hitler escaping through Germany with his protector.

We’ve discussed this manga on an older episode.

I’ve gone back and revisited this manga to try and see what Tsutomu Takahashi is trying to do with this story about Nazis. My conclusion is that it’s trying to tell an interesting narrative about this ninth heir of Hitler who possesses an almost spiritual connection with souls that plays with the Nazi idealism of a perfect race. Once Neun awakens in his abilities he teams up with another heir of Hitler and sides against the Nazis, so that’s positive at least.

But it’s also filled Nazis and SS imagery that are given an almost beautiful look through Takahashi’s amazing ink work. I don’t think Takahashi is trying to romanticize Nazis as he writes them as evil and depicts their inhuman atrocities and horrors of war. But he sure likes to skirt that line as you have a female guardian dressed in a Nazi uniform brandishing a samurai sword and a cannibalistic SS doctor who keeps a literal human swastika in his office. It’s a problematic narrative with it’s subject matter and sometimes absurd content. I’d definitely recommend several other works by Takahashi over this one.

~dakazu