This book is the latest Junji Ito story collection put out by VIZ. I liked this collection better than Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection as it has fan favorite stories of The Enigma of Amigara Fault and Human Chair. However the titular story didn’t have the same horror flair Ito is usually known for.
The other stories don’t quite stack up to the hits in Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories but this book also contains beautiful color pages that include illustrations from Ito’s adaptation of No Longer Human. Overall, this is another great book for Junji Ito fans to own.
A manga about a strange cat eyed boy who is hated by humans and demons.
I rather enjoyed this manga! I liked how the titular cat eyed boy was morally grey and how is sometimes ambivalent towards the plight of humans. He even sides with the monsters if the humans are evil and deserve to be punished. I can see the appeal this series would have to young readers, as cat eyed boy isn’t your straight forward hero. Kazuo Umezu‘s monster designs are creepy and he does include violence but I wouldn’t say it’s extreme enough for a content warning. I’m glad this series is available from VIZ.
Here’s another horror series by Masaaki Nakayama. He did this prior to PTSD Radio but its almost exactly the same. Lots of 4-7 page shorts that end with a person coming face to face with a creepy looking apparition. I still find Nakayama’s work to be a little half-baked because they always end right after the confrontation and you don’t get to see the aftermath. I’m legitimately curious about tracking down a Masaaki Nakayama horror series that isn’t short form like this or PTSD Radio.
It’s great that Chi no Wadachi is now official available in English from Vertical! Shuzo Oshimi has created the slowest of slow burns that just builds dread without using any spoken dialogue. Oshimi’s use of subtle glances and closeups are enough to put you on edge as you turn each page! The story has gone into so crazy places that I can’t wait for English readers to experience. I highly recommend this book if you love tense thrillers!
We’re wrapping up October Extravaganza with the master of manga horror himself, Junji Ito! We’re reviewing his latest collection of spooky stories in Venus in the Blind Spot! Join us as we discuss our favorite stories from the book and share our admiration for Ito himself!!!
A horror manga about a deadly giant owl called Minerva who can kill anyone just by looking at them. After the American government captures the owl and then it escapes, an old hunter is the only hope for survival as Minerva wreaks havoc upon Tokyo.
This is one of Kazuhiro Fujita‘s manga he did for a seinen magazine. Because it ran in Big Comic Spirits it doesn’t have his usual shonen action manga themes of friendship and courage. Instead, Fujita is able to focus solely on a some really amazing fights between the hunter and a truly horrific monster.
Minerva the giant owl is easily the best part of this book. The winged beast zips around the sky and it’s humongous eyes continuously cry bloody tears. Fujita does some great creepy moments by drawing characters reflected in Minerva’s eyes, showing that they’re in peril. I think this series stands up to Fujita’s most creepy content from Ushio and Tora. It’s a shame it’s not available officially.
Another Junji Ito collection from VIZ. It’s good but I think I prefer the overall group of stories in Shiver: Junji Ito Selected Stories more. This book contains a lot of comics revolving around one of Ito’s reoccurring characters, Soichi. These stories are tonally comedic and more irreverent compared to Ito’s more horrific works. They seem heavily inspired by Kazuo Umezz‘s works like The Drifting Classroom that are targeted for younger readers, and in that sense they don’t appeal to me compared to Ito’s other works.
A manga about a struggling novelist who steals successfully steals identify of a recently deceased friend and uses his wealth to build an extravagant island amusement park.
I really liked this book. Since this is an adaptation of Edogawa Ranpo novella, you get all of Suehiro Maruo‘s elegant artwork without any of the extreme content he’s known for. Maruo does a fantastic job creating the beautiful and almost otherworldly scenery within the island paradise. His take on the aquatic tunnel is especially impressive.
I recommend The Strange Tale of Panorama Island to readers who want an easy entry point into Suehiro Maruo‘s work. It’s available in English from Last Gasp.
This is my first Shintaro Kago book and the experience feels extremely similar to when I read Ultra Gash Inferno. Kago’s work has also been called erotic grotesque like Suehiro Maruo but Kago himself says that is actually limiting compared to the wide variety of stuff he creates. If you search for his art pieces you’ll find a wide variety of works that tend to be on the surreal side, which makes sense since Kago was heavily inspired by Salvador Dali.
The problem with Super-Dimensional Love Gun is that some stories focus on really disturbing content. This book contains stories about feeding body parts to others, cutting away skin, and scratching yourself until you skill turns raw. Compared to visuals of extreme violence like decapitations and dismemberment, Kago’s beautifully drawn images invoke relatable injuries that make your skin crawl. Strangely, many of these stories are dark comedies that end with punchlines.
I also want to issue a content warning for this manga because it includes a lot of female exploitation. Rape is abundant in these stories but I don’t think female exploitation is a necessarily a central theme for all of Shintaro Kago‘s works. Super-Dimensional Love Gun just happens to be a collection of these types of stories. I didn’t really like this but it did make me interested in checking out Kago’s other stuff.
A horror manga about a hideous newborn who is thrown away by the father. After spirits possess her dead body she revives as a monster who must constantly feed on blood and flesh to survive.
This is another out-of-print book by Hideshi Hino. I continue to be impressed by Hino’s distinct character designs and surprisingly beautiful backgrounds. When the hell baby travels into the city the buildings are dark rectangles with bright windows on them. The stark contrast really caught my eye.
I think the story here is more melancholy then some of the disturbing themes in The Panorama of Hell. The hell baby eventually finds her family and beautiful twin sister but is unable to bring herself to take revenge. This is a great sympathetic monster story and a real shame that it’s not available in English anymore.
