Variante



Variante is a horror manga by Ikura Sugimoto. When Hosho Aiko is killed, she should be dead. Instead, she wakes up three days later in the morgue, with an shiny new monstrous arm. Quickly confronted by the monster that killed her parents, she learns that this arm is perhaps the only weapon in the world capable of cleanly handling the creatures.

Of course, this makes her very interesting to a certain government funded company that is dedicated to keeping the monsters covered up, and cleaning up after them.

Having seemingly everything robbed from her, Aiko must decide whether she wants to die as a specimen, or live fighting the monsters, and her resolve is constantly put to the test as conspiracies and, ultimately, the truth behind the monsters is revealed.

This manga provide examples of:

 * And I Must Scream: It's implied that
 * Applied Phlebotinum
 * Back From the Dead - And its not exactly a happy moment.
 * Barbie Doll Anatomy
 * Bittersweet Ending
 * Body Horror - She has a freaking monster arm that . And the arm is really tame compared to most of the rest of the series.
 * The Chimaira are pretty much predatory Body Horrors.
 * Defector From Decadence:
 * Downer Ending - YMMV, but it can certainly be interpreted as depressing.
 * Extreme Doormat: Aiko. She pretty much lives her entire life trying to please everyone around her.
 * Eye Scream - Nana.
 * Heroic BSOD: Aiko goes through quite a few. But the biggest one comes after
 * Heroic Sacrifice
 * Hot Scientist
 * Immune to Bullets - There's a reason Aiko has to fight the Chimaera.
 * Mood Whiplash:
 * The Woobie: Oh, good God, Aiko.
 * Unsound Effect - "Reach", "Grab"
 * Unsound Effect - "Reach", "Grab"