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

Neko wo Hirotta Hanashi

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Neko wo Hirotta Hanashi

A manga about a man who saves a cat-like creature that is probably a monster but he loves it anyway.

We’ve discussed this on a recent episode.

If ever there was a manga made for Morgana, this is it. The creature is both extremely cute and disturbing with it’s one eye, three legs, tentacle mouth, and sneezing tail. On top of all of that it’s the size of a bear. Despite all of that the creature loves its human owner and it’s just so sweet and wholesome.

This manga is horror, comedy, and iyashikei all at once and so very good. Atarou Terada has found a winning combination with this book. I love it.

Available to read online in Japanese on Comic Days.

~dakazu

363 – Triple Dip 55 – Dai Dark, Cat Eyed Boy, Otherside Picnic

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363 – Triple Dip 55 – Dai Dark, Cat Eyed Boy, Otherside Picnic

It’s time for another month of horror themed episodes for this year’s October Extravaganza! We’re kicking off Night One of the festivities with a Triple Dip on Dai Dark, Cat Eyed Boy, and Otherside Picnic! Also, dakazu reads another version of Kasane along with Taeko Uzuki’s newest book that was eighteen years in the making!!!

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Sawanabe Zombie

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Sawanabe Zombie

A manga about a man who becomes a zombie but retains his consciousness.

We’ve discussed this on a previous episode.

This is a great short story. The zombie genre is overplayed but Kakio Tsurukawa kept things entertaining with some really hilarious moments. Tsurukawa does not shy away from the violence so just be prepared for a good amount of gore.

Available in English digitally from Star Fruit Books.

~dakazu