Skip to main content

Manga Recs: Gyo by Junji Ito

 Gyo is not Ito's best work, but it is one of his most interesting. While most of his stories are surreal and dread filled, Gyo is a full on creature feature. It hits differently than a lot of his stuff, while still keeping with his wonderful, creepy visuals. 

The plot is straight out of a SyFy original movie, with robotic legged fish coming from the ocean and invading the land. You have a whole bevy of killer sea creatures on robotic legs, a virus that has some very nasty side effects, and even a mad scientist. This one is like Ito is playing out a love for B-movies that you don't see in some of his better loved works like Uzumaki. The closest I can think of in comparison is Remina maybe?

Gyo kind of got buried when it first got released. Uzumaki had made such a splash, but when Gyo hit, it was so different that I remember critics not being as warm to it. It didn't get bad reviews by any means, but it for sure was considered lesser than. I guess it is, as this one hits the ground running much faster, and the story is much less developed due to a shorter length. It is plenty memorable though. There are panels from this manga that are burned into my brain. 

I think part of the reason I have such love for Gyo is because this came out before people really latched on to Junji Ito's work. We really only had this and Uzumaki. There were a few story collections released by Dark Horse and a few other publishers, but it took a few years before he really caught on. Horror manga in general always seemed to have a hard time making a break into the American market back in the early 2000's. I think there was really just this, and a bunch of Hideshi Hino stories that got released by Cocoro Books under their Hino Horror line. It hasn't really been until recently that I have noticed horror finding more solid footing in the manga market. 

This is going to be a shorter post, but I thought I would end it mentioning that the anime adaptation of this one is actually really fun. If you can find it. It for sure leans harder into the B-movie sleaze than the manga does, and shuffles the story around a bit to keep things fresh, but it really brings the horror vibes. The animation was pretty solid, if not the prettiest, and the creatures looked plenty creepy. 

Gyo is a classic. It is made by a master of the genre, and while it isn't his best work, it is probably one of his most fun works. If you love Junji Ito, you owe it to yourself to read Gyo if you haven't yet. 

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2025 Reading Challenges Update

Thought it would be a good idea to update my reading goals and challenges.  I did make progress on one of my goals, which is completing the Marmalade Boy  series. I finished volume 4 over the weekend. I only have 1 volume left to go there.  Also, I am changing my overall reading number, as I have been on a manga kick lately, and those tend to read very fast for me.  Not much else has changed just yet, as most of what I read over the weekend was manga. Will probably do a round up on all the titles I read at some point in the near future.  Goal One: Read at least two fantasy books this year Progress: 0 out of 2 books read Goal Two: Read the "Vivid Girl" books Progress: 1 out of 4 books read Goal Three: Read at least one classic novel Progress: 0 out of 1 books read Goal Four: Finish A Manga Series-  Marmalade Boy Progress: 4 out of 5 books read Overall Progress: 11 out of 40 books read
Post a Comment
Read more

Manga Mayhem: Wedding Peach vol. 1 - Child Brides Attack!

 As gross as the base idea of Wedding Peach initial felt to me, I was surprised at how much I appreciated the simple quest for cuteness that Wedding Peach turned out to be. Yes, the series feels very dated, with a group of boy crazy heroines who have to fight demons looking to remove love from the world. There is no dark twist. Nothing here is aiming to subvert the genre. Wedding Peach is here to give the reader exactly what is says on the tin. This is pure magical girl cuteness. The sacred items that they are sworn to protect are called "The Four Sacred Somethings" for crying out loud. (Something old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue).  And I didn't hate it! This is a solid three (out of 5) star read for me. There is nothing ground breaking here. The art is nice, the story telling well paced, and the characters aren't annoying. In fact, there is something about reading something so wholesome that is kind of refreshing, especially after some of the ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Random Thoughts: Mood Reading

 I am guessing that most people are mood readers. You read what feels right to you at the moment. Like, for me currently, I am on a manga kick because that is what is giving my brain joy. That may switch to romance novels next month, or maybe 90's horror paperbacks.  I cannot force myself to stick to a specific kind of schedule when it comes to reading, because if I am not feeling it at that moment I cannot force myself to finish the book. I used to try. I used to torture myself over not being able to to complete books that really just were not for me. Then I realized that I only have so much free time, and I need to be okay with not wasting it on something that is making me grind my teeth.  I have, for a while, considered doing a book related YouTube channel. I ended up deciding against that because, for a channel like that to work you need to at least occasionally read some of the books that are popular at the time. Currently fantasy romance is the big trend, and while ...
Post a Comment
Read more