Author Archives: dakazu

Michi Jigen

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Michi Jigen

A manga about a man who discovers his city has been stuck in a time loop for over 5000 years. Breaking it exposes him and the city’s residents to attacks from evolved humans known as consciousness-information-lifeforms.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

What a weird and strange manga.

The creator Souta Sugawara is a CG artist known as SOTA. He created this manga by combining CG artwork and tracing over photos of real life people in poses. The combined result is equally strange as it is off putting. On one hand the CG artwork is fairly unique but it looks really out of place in a black and white manga format. That combined with what is essentially photos of Sugawara’s friends and family posing makes this book unlike anything you’ve seen from a traditional manga. The closest work that I can think up is Gun Dragon Sigma. This was fascinating to read for how unique it was but not necessarily because it was good. Two volumes of strange art and strange story is probably the perfect length for this oddity.

~dakazu

Nikusogi Mura

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Nikusogi Mura

A manga about mysterious remote Nikusogi village rumored to practice cannibalism. When high school teen Ryu Natsume receives a letter from his missing older brother he seeks out the village. There Ryu is hunted by the Nikusogibito, a ghostly killer who skins his victims.

The premise for this horror story is alright. Kei Aomi does a decent job of stringing you along to the true nature of Nikusogi village. The problem here is that ABD Inoue‘s art just isn’t scary. Half of the Nikusogibito’s face skill is missing but it just doesn’t covey any horror to me. Perhaps I’m just numb to manga gore in but a horror manga that isn’t scary is not getting a recommendation from me.

~dakazu

Akujiki no Maria

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Akujiki no Maria

A manga about St. Avline Academy which houses twelve female students. One night at dinner a student is killed during a blackout. Since the teachers refuse to report the murder to the police it’s up to the student Kei Homura to track down the killer and kill them herself.

This is manga is really dull. Everything from the story pacing to the art fails to convey horror or build tension. There’s flashbacks that suggest Kei has a troubled past but it was so rote that my eyes glazed over. I’m pretty sure this was canceled since I couldn’t track down a second volume. As least the artist Ryu Kaname is currently drawing a manga about a woman who makes parfaits for the demon lord and that seems much more successful for them.

~dakazu

7 Billion Needles

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7 Billion Needles

A manga about a solitary high school girl who ends up being vaporized by a meteor that is an alien entity. The alien resurrects her while sharing her body and tasks her to help it hunt down another alien. Loosely based on Hal Clement‘s science fiction story Needle.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

By all accounts 7 Billion Needles is a fine science fiction series with body horror elements. My issue with this manga mostly lies in the fact that I read Parasyte before reading this. Every aspect from the art to the story in this book pales to Parasyte and their similarities make it hard not to compare them. Nobuaki Tadano is completely competent as a manga artist but it’s just hard to recommend this when you can go read Parasyte instead.

Available in English from Kodansha.

~dakazu

364 – Manga in Motion 49 – Perfect Blue

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364 – Manga in Motion 49 – Perfect Blue

Night 2 of October Extravaganza has us looking at Satoshi Kon’s directorial debut with the psychological thriller Perfect Blue! We also have a spoiler-filled discussion on BEASTARS volume 14 and dakazu talks about the ending of Kunihachibu and Shintaro Kago’s Choudouryoku Mouko Daishuurai!!!

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Abara

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Abara

A manga about humans fighting a losing battle against alien invaders intent on destroying the Earth.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

Another wonderful book by Tsutomu Nihei! Abara was made before Nihei focused on commercial manga so it still carries a lot of his distinct darker ink work from earlier in his career. I personally prefer this style that was founded in BLAME!. If you’re a fan of BLAME! more than Knights of Sidonia than I would recommend this to you. It maybe thematically the same “Dying Earth” genre that Nihei uses but it’s such a visually stunning read with some truly grotesque body horror.

Available in English from VIZ.

~dakazu

Shokuryou Jinrui Re: Starving Re:velation

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Shokuryou Jinrui Re: Starving Re:velation

The sequel to Starving Anonymous where human society now revolves around the honor of becoming food for the “divine beings”.

This is pretty great! There’s a real good tension in the first chapter where we follow our main character in high school. He’s afraid of dying and immediately shunned by his teachers and classmates for not chopping off his finger for the “divine beings”. This sequel makes me excited to read it because I want to know how we arrived here from the ending of Starving Anonymous. These good hooks are what I expect from Yuu Kuraishi‘s writing. The later reveal of the “divine beings” is where Kazu Inabe‘s horrific monster designs really shine. Inabe is a master of gore so this is definitely not for the faint of heart. Hopefully this will be a future English release from Kodansha.

Available to read online in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu

Petshop of Horrors

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Petshop of Horrors

A manga about a mysterious pet shop hidden in Chinatown run by Count D that deals in legendary and fantasy creatures.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

This is a really great! I really enjoyed Matsuri Akino‘s Colorful Crow so I was looking forward to reading this. What I didn’t expect was for Akino to present the fantasy creatures in human forms. It adds an extra beautiful and creepy aspect to these episodic morality plays about the human buyers who often mishandle their creatures. This usually ends in tragedy which reveals the actual animal forms of each creature. Akino’s art is deliciously steeped in 80’s/90’s shoujo. You have to enjoy that style if you want to enjoy this book. Unfortunately the English editions are now out of print. Someone please bring it back for me and Morgana!

~dakazu

Abyss

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Abyss

A manga about a humans teleported to a strange world filled with monsters. They fight back by using trigger switches that unlock psychic abilities such as telekinesis and pyromancy.

Pretty good horror manga and debut work. The story is a little rote with the main character having amnesia. It later ties into a time travel which is also pretty standard for stories in science fiction horror genre. The standout here is Ryuhaku Nagata‘s monster designs. They’re very monstrous and decently horrifying. Nagata will focus on these monsters to make his next series Satsujin Ryoudan – MADMEN –. It’s just a shame that his art sometimes doesn’t push the horror elements further.

~dakazu

Gajuu

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Gajuu

A manga about people who are trapped in a subway tunnel filled with horrific animals who are hunting them.

This is a decent horror manga but nothing unique. It follows a lot of horror troupes such as individuals who betray the group, individuals who lose their sanity, and individuals who sacrifice themselves to save others. I enjoyed these troupes in Nokuto Koike‘s previous work 6000 a lot more. Horror is obviously a strong point for Koike but this work feels a little flat for me.

Available to read online in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu