Category Archives: Written Word

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Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection

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Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection

Junji Ito‘s manga adaptation of Mary Shelley‘s Frankenstein.

We’ve discussed this on an older episode.

I personally really enjoyed this book. Junji Ito is such a master of horrific visuals they work so well with the classic Frankenstein story. There are some amazing pages that show how disgusting Victor Frankenstein’s grave robbing was. This even gave birth to the classic Frankenstein fairy meme!

I will say that since I am not that familiar with the Shelley’s original novel I wasn’t effected by many of the artistic changes Ito did for his version. Seamus was not pleased during our Retrospective on this manga and ultimately felt Ito did a disservice to the original book. So if you’re a big fan of the novel you may not enjoy this manga as much as I did.

~dakazu

Siren Rebirth

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Siren Rebirth

A manga adaptation of the Siren video game.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

It book is pretty mediocre by horror manga standards. I’ve played a bit of the Siren videogames and unfortunately Yukai Asada fails to capture the creepiness of the ‘shitibto’ living corpses. But what I didn’t know was that this manga is a reboot of an original Siren manga adaptation called Siren – Akai Umi no Yobigoe. That series went on indefinite hiatus when its manga artist Wataru Kamio became ill.

Siren Rebirth is literally a rebirth of the original manga adaptation that was supervised by the game developers of the Siren game. I’m happy that they got to finish this project almost 15 years after the original game. It’s just a shame I didn’t enjoy it.

~dakazu

Cthulhu no Yobigoe

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Cthulhu no Yobigoe

A manga adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft‘s Call of Cthulhu.

It was interesting to read an adaptation of Lovecraft that isn’t done by Gou Tanabe. While Kousuke Miyazaki‘s character art is a simpler style than Tanabe’s art, they are still able to effectively convey the cosmic horror you would expect from the Lovecraft universe. Miyazaki did a particularly great job with the monstrous look of Cthulhu from “The Madness from the Sea” chapter. I also like how in between chapters there were essays by Cthulhu mythos scholar Ryo Morise that introduced Lovecraft and other writers who were influential to the cosmic horror genre.

~dakazu

Mieruko-chan

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Mieruko-chan

A manga about a high school girl who has to ignore evil spirits she can see to avoid being attacked.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

This series is a bit one-note but otherwise fun manga. Tomoki Izumi does a really decent job drawing creepy spirits. It helps accentuate titular Mieruko-chan‘s plight of pretending she doesn’t see the horrors around her. There’s even some more touching moments between her family that seems to be a good story hook. I’m not immediately reaching for the next volume of this series but I know I’ll enjoy it when I do.|

There’s currently an anime running right now but I was disappointed how they seem to be leaning heavily on fan service. I’ll stick with the manga.

Available in English from Yen Press.

~dakazu

Shibuya Goldfish

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Shibuya Goldfish

A manga about how people in Shibuya ward in Tokyo are suddenly attacked by giant flying killer goldfish.

This manga is just another series that tried to cash in on the survival horror craze. It’s no different than Fukujuu Toshi, Pygmalion, or Bougyaku no Kokekko. Something mundane is turned into a killer that hunts humans and in this case it’s goldfish. This series isn’t terrible but even from the first chapter it’s extremely generic. I think Magical Girl Apocalypse might be the most interesting title in this genre but even that suffers from wonky sci-fi plot points towards the end. This brand of horror no longer interests me.

Available in English from Yen Press.

~dakazu

Eater

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Eater

A manga about a half human half alien teen Benimaru who swears vengeance against the alien invaders who eat, impregnate and annihilate humans.

This was another manga like Godsider that my older cousin had. I remember being blown away by the graphic artwork and violence. While this also gave me nightmares I remember really liking how Benimaru was able to apply his life to objects by holding them when he transformed into his alien form. He used this to have living bullets from guns or living piano wire to slice up his opponents. This manga is the debut work by Masatoshi Usune who is most known for Desert Punk. Even from this first series Usune’s art is phenomenal and really helps bring the graphic horror of alien on alien action to life. Revisiting this as an adult I can really appreciate all the gore without the nightmares.

~dakazu

Satanister

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Satanister

A manga about the serial killer hunter Satanister who enters the ultimate serial killer tournament to hunt down and defeat the serial killer known as Valkyrie.

This is another over-the-top horror action series by Rei Mikamoto. I’m a fan of his campy gory horror comedy Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw but I wasn’t that enthused about this book. It was strange that the first two chapters focus on the serial killer Valkyrie having her way but forcing her victims into gory death games before the titular Satanister finally makes an appearance. Once she shows up the series devolves into a gory battlefest that follows Satanister and her sidekick fight against other serial killers. Mikamoto is well versed in action which was enjoyable to read but I missed the ultra campy comedy of Chimamire Sukeban Chainsaw. A decent horror action but not my favorite of his works.

~dakazu

Hideout

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Hideout

A manga about a writer who tries to kill his wife on a tropical island paradise when they are both kidnapped and confined by a terrifying old man in his secret hideout.

This is a slightly older horror manga by Masasumi Kakizaki, who is probably best known for being the artist on Rainbow. Kakizaki is an excellent artist and his drawing skills shine within the horror genre. Specifically in this book he does amazing work focusing on the horrific looking eyes of the old man. They actually give me the chills when I look at them too long.

The story here is also done really well with constant flashbacks that show the tragedy that drove the writer to madness. It’s interwoven with the horror of the hideout that imprisons the old man’s victims. I appreciate a horror story that has no sympathetic characters because the brutal violence that follows seems fitting. Kakizaki even throws in a great hook at the end to bring everything together.

~dakazu

Kasane

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Kasane

A manga adaptation of rakugo storyteller Sanyutei Encho’s ghost story opus Shinkei Kasane-ga-fuchi. A young man becomes the obsession and then curse of an older woman.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

I so glad I found this series. Not only is the Kasane-ga-fuchi the story basis for Daruma Matsuura‘s Kasane but this manga adaptation is done by Gou Tanabe who drew H.P. Lovecraft’s The Hound and Other Stories! There are so many connections to series we’ve covered here on Manga Machinations!

This manga was really interesting to read. Kasane was an early work in Gou Tanabe‘s career and looks very different from the hyper realistic illustration style he uses for his H.P. Lovecraft adaptations. The designs match Japanese art from the Edo period and look much more manga-like. It was interesting to see how Sanyutei Encho expanded on the original Kasane-ga-fuchi ghost story to create a full drama involving a scorned woman. Tanabe does a great job emphasizing the woman’s decent into jealousy and depicting the growth on her face that represents it. It’s a wonderfully subtle horror series.

~dakazu

Dragon Head

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Dragon Head

A manga about high school teenager Teru Aoki, who awakens to find himself trapped in a tunnel with only two other survivors after an earthquake derails the bullet train he was riding.

We’ve discussed this on an old episode.

Dragon Head is a prime example of a series that starts strong but fizzles out afterwards. The situation of being buried alive drives the survivors of Teru, Ako, and especially Nobuo, into real madness. Minetaro Mochizuki creates fantastic tension with the first arc of this story. Unfortunately I feel the story dips after the first two volumes. The rest of the series is a decent post-apocalyptic survival story but it never lives up to the looming horror of the Nobuo losing his mind.

Available in English from Kodansha.

~dakazu