Neighbor No. 13

Neighbor No. 13 was created by the Japanese mangaka Santa Inoue and released in the late 1990s. The manga emerged during a period of experimentation in the seinen genre, blending psychological thriller elements with a grim, stylized aesthetic that reflected Inoue's signature gritty urban sensibilities. It follows the story of a man who adopts a violent persona as a form of vengeance against childhood bullies, serving as a darker, more introspective companion piece to the author's more widely known street-culture work, Tokyo Tribes.

The visual design of the series is heavily influenced by Inoue's background in hip-hop culture and underground art, featuring sharp, angular character work and a stark use of negative space. Critics and readers noted that the narrative serves as a brutal exploration of repressed trauma and moral disintegration. While it did not achieve the same mainstream commercial ubiquity as the author’s other series, it received praise for its unflinching portrayal of psychological decay and eventually inspired a live-action film adaptation released in 2005.