Genre: Horror
Age Rating: Mature
Price: $9.99 (USA)
ISBN # 1-4215-1387-0
If anything, the state of horror manga has been tenuous over the past couple years. We have seen some classic series get out of the gates (Scary Book, Museum of Horror) only to see them stopped after three volumes. We are seeing another push at a mini-surge in horror releases, and momentum seems to be on the side of publishers this time with some high-profile titles like MPD Psycho and The Drifting Classroom. Viz’s choice to rerelease master Junji Ito’s out-of-print Uzumaki and Gyo is timely and welcomed with open arms.
Junji Ito may be best known for the Tomie series of stories (featured completely in Museum of Terror for the first time in English) as well as Uzumaki (both titles had live-action movie counterparts). Ito is known for his original stories and horrifying tones and the two volume Gyo series is no exception.
Like all good horror, (and common of Ito’s style) Gyo starts small with a boyfriend and girlfriend, Tadashi and Kaori, on a beach trip. The annoying Kaori is sensitive to strong smells, and Tadashi’s efforts in keeping her comfortable are mostly fruitless. A stench has permeated the beach, and Tadashi’s search for the source gives even the most amateur of readers a sense of dread. I won’t reveal what Tadashi finds, and what comes afterward, as this discovery is one of the most fun parts of the Gyo story.
The layers peel off and the camera zooms back as the epic size of the story slowly unfolds. Knowing this is a two-volume series, (and having read both volumes) it can be said that the story doesn’t quite merit two complete volumes, and a little too much might be revealed in the story-heavy first volume (as opposed to the moody, dreadful and slower-paced second).
Ito brings something unique to every story, and although the “monster-factor” carries only a certain level of creepiness, the real villain here is the “Death-Stench”. The smell of rotting fish and intestinal gas almost drips off the pages, and it is easy to say that Gyo is one of the most disgusting without being grotesque or egui books I have read. Where Gyo stammers in story, it makes up for in atmosphere, and this smell from this one sticks with you long after you have put it down.
8.5