The strange career of Takemura Sesshu

I cannot think of an artist who has accelerated faster into insanity than Takemura Sesshu.

Take On Me, which is as far as I know their first major work, is certainly lewd enough, but was sufficiently unobjectionable to be given an official US release (retitled Domin-8 Me for… reasons); there are some dubiously consensual S&M scenes and a character who looks a lot younger than her stated age, but as weird shit in hentai goes that barely pings the meter. I like it for the illustration style, which combines a solid anatomical base with interesting angles and the customary absurd quantities of fluid secretions, and for the pairing of a tall, quietly lustful girl and a short nervous guy. Also Sesshu clearly has a thing for glasses, and I appreciate that.

The followup volume, Take on Me 2 (and for heaven’s sake don’t click that link until you’ve finished reading!) sees Sesshu handing their beer to a bystander and proceeding to perform a triple axel backflip into This Will Never Fly In America territory, opening with a story of two actual genuine prepubescent children just straight up fucking, before rolling right on into the crossdressing incestuous bisexual twins from Brazil, a straight-up no-fun violent rape, and sex on top of a building in a lightning storm (which isn’t offensive but is tied for “worst sex idea” with standing in a hammock…). The art is still as skillful as ever and some parts are what I’d still call good dirty fun, but cripes what a minefield.

As far as I know, pretty much all Sesshu has done since the two volumes of Take On Me are Idolm@ster doujins, which sounds about right.