316 – Manga in Motion 44 – Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust
Our October Extravaganza continues this week as we review the 2000 animated feature, Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust! The hosts talk about watching the movie together, Morgana geeks out about vampires, dakazu is shocked at how many parts John DiMaggio played, and we start a Darfox fire alarm beep counter! Also, dakazu talks about the end of BEASTARS!!!
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A collection of short creepy stories.
Masaaki Nakayama is very similar to Junji Ito with his ability to draw creepy horror. But Nakayama focuses on even shorter stories than a normal manga chapter. Each story usually presents a setting and victim, and then they see something horrible and it ends. It’s a different kind of scare that honestly didn’t effect me as much. While I appreciated Nakayama’s ability to draw really creepy images it never personally unnerved me. I may be numb to his brand of scares but in that sense this book might be good for someone looking for a milder horror series.
Available from Kodansha Comics.
~dakazu
Ultra Gash Inferno
A collection of Suehiro Maruo‘s erotic grotesque comics.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
While I am very vocal about a lot of the awful manga I read, I rarely have to give a content warning for just the sheer amount of graphic violence that’s drawn in this book. Ultra Gash Inferno is not even a Japanese release either. Creation Books collected Suehiro Maruo‘s most extreme comics for a Western release. This is not for the faint of heart and only for fans of Maruo looking for his most ero-guro works.
~dakazu
Dissolving Classroom
A collection of horror stories revolving around a young man named Yuuma Azawa and his sister Chizumi.
This is an enjoyable newer Junji Ito work. The majority of the stories involve Yuuma and Chizumi causing people around them to dissolve. There’s a great dynamic between the creepy Chizumi who wants to suck brains and her quiet apologetic brother Yuuma. Both siblings blame each other for the horrors that befall people around them but it can also be interpreted that neither of them is innocent.
Ito delivers a lot of visuals of humans dissolving as viscous fluids flow out of eyes, noses and mouths. If you’re sensitive to those kinds of visuals I would suggest skipping this book. Otherwise this is another entertaining horror manga from Junji Ito that I would recommend.
Available from Vertical Comics.
~dakazu
Vampire Hunter D
A novel about a mysterious hunter, known only as “D”, who travels the post-apocalyptic world defeating monsters and vampires.
Here’s a rare instance where I’m actually talking about a novel and not a manga! I fell in love with Vampire Hunter D after seeing the first anime film. I’m a huge fan of Yoshitaka Amano from his video game work like Final Fantasy and Front Mission. When they started releasing the novels in English I bought them as soon as possible.
The actual books by Hideyuki Kikuchi are good but nothing great. They fall under the category of pulp fiction so it’s filled with action and racy content. I’ve read through more then a few Vampire Hunter D books and they’re entertaining but also highly forgettable. I would only recommend this book series if you’re a big fan of the anime. They’re available from Dark Horse Books.
We’ll be reviewing Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust this month so I look forward to discussing that with the other hosts.
~dakazu
Creature!
A horror manga about grotesque monsters emerging from the ground after an earthquake across Japan.
We’ve discussed this manga on an older episode.
Wow, I didn’t know that they put out an English release of Hakaijuu! Though I question the generic title of Creature!, this series is great if you want to experience what Darfox calls “creepy monster pasta”! Shingo Honda has excellent monster designs are plenty of gory action to keep you satisfied!
Available in English from Akita Publishing Co.,Ltd.
~dakazu
Gyo
A horror manga about aquatic animals rising from the sea using metal legs powered by a death stench who terrorize the lands.
This is another classic series from Junji Ito. I personally rank it fairly low compared to Ito’s other works. While the horror of the device powered shark is terrifying, Gyo pretty much can be summed up as an extended fart joke. It’s definitely unique and horrific but I would recommend Uzumaki over this one.
Available in English from VIZ.
~dakazu
315 – One Shot 30 – Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist
Welcome to the start of our October Extravaganza at Manga Machinations! We’re going to be covering creepy, spooky, and horrific content all month long! To start, we’re doing a One Shot on Utsubora: The Story of a Novelist! Dawn from The Anime Nostalgia Podcast joins us to discuss Asumiko Nakamura’s psychological thriller about a novelist haunted by a mysterious woman who threatens to expose his secret of plagiarism!!!
Follow Dawn on Twitter! Listen to The Anime Nostalgia Podcast!
Continue readingUshio and Tora
A manga about the boy Ushio who releases the monster Tora from his imprisonment in his storage basement from the Beast Spear that grants humans incredible power in exchange for their soul. Now Ushio must battle demons while keeping Tora in check.
We’ve discussed this on an older episode.
An absolute masterpiece of shonen action horror manga from Kazuhiro Fujita. Fujita ends up cramming all his ideas into his debut series, for better and for worse. While some story arcs drag a bit, all of them contain amazingly horrific art work that still creeps me out today.
Unfortunately the manga has never been officially licensed but you can watch the excellent anime adaptation while praying for a release like Morgana does!
~dakazu
The Panorama of Hell
A horror manga about a painter obsessed with blood and various stories about his family members and their strange obsessions.
This is my first time reading through a Hideshi Hino book and I have to say I was shocked at how effective he is as a horror storyteller. In the beginning Hino’s slightly cartoony character art came off as charming and cute. They juxtaposed stories of blood flowers and boys sucking on pig eyeballs. The drawing seemed tame compared to the content they were trying to portray.
However halfway through the book I found myself being really horrified by the casual cases of domestic violence, both against women and children. The painter’s family was prone to violence and torture and these acts transformed the cartoony art into something more sinister. I really praise Hino for his art and I really loved of black ink blood filled with white dots representing snow.
Unfortunately The Panorama of Hell is out of print along with all of Hideshi Hino‘s English releases. Hopefully a publisher will rescue Hino’s works and release them so more manga fans can experience his unique art and dark themed stories.
~dakazu