Scary Book: Insects by Kazuo Umezu

 

(pb; 2003, 2006: second volume in Umezu’s Scary Book manga series. Japanese-to-English translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian; lettering and retouch by Kathryn Renta. Followed by Scary Book: Faces.)

 

From the back cover

“Kazuo Umezu, ‘The Stephen King of manga,’ returns with the second frightening volume of Scary Book. In ‘Butterfly Grave,’ a young woman, Megumi, is paralyzed by an inexplicable, devastating fear of butterflies, a phobia brought on by the mysterious and untimely death of her mother when Megumi was still an infant. Upon visiting her mother’s grave years after her death, Megumi becomes haunted by a black butterfly that only she can see and which seemingly causes waves of destruction and misery to Megumi’s family and friends wherever it appears. But when Megumi’s father decides to remarry. Megumi begins to fear that her new mother is turning into the very thing she dreads most.”

 

Review

As with the first Scary Book (Reflections), manga/J-horror fans may easily find much to enjoy in this second volume of Umezu’s Scary Book trilogy. The artwork is mainstream manga-realistic, plausibly slipping into its characters’ visualized mindsets and realities (veering between horror, silliness and bloody violence), its writing mostly solid, entertaining, at least until its last third.

Unlike Insects, this second volume is one 227-page story (“Butterfly Grave”), a mix of The Babadook (2014; director/screenwriter: Jennifer Kent), J-horror manga and Alfred Hitchcockian psychological mystery and intrigue. It’s Babadook-esque in that Megumi is often irritating and bizarre in her loud, violent constant-panic-mode behavior (like young Samuel in Babadook). It’s Hitchcockian in that as the story progresses, it seems Megumi’s off-putting behavior might be justified by the seeming intentions of some around her, who might not wish the best for her.

As noted before, Insects has a good, entertaining, steady build storyline for the most part. Near the end Megumi’s seemingly irrational flights of nightmare and its Reveal/climax scenes run a bit long. Still, it’s a fast, worthwhile read, one worth checking out. Followed by Scary Book: Faces.

Scary Book: Reflections by Kazuo Umezu

 

(pb; 2003: first volume in Umezu’s Scary Book series. Japanese-to-English translation by Kumar Sivasubramanian; lettering and retouch by Kathryn Renta.)

From the back cover

“The spine-chilling influence of Japanese horror cinema has taken hold of Western audiences, with many of these terrigying films being adapted from classic manga stories. The acknowledged grandmaster of horror manga is Kazuo Umezu—known as ‘the Stephen King of manga,’ with several of his stories being adapted to film—and Dark Horse Manga is proud to bring his Scary Book horror anthology to Western readers for the first time. Reflections offers two feature-length tales of terror: ‘The Mirror,’ in which a narcissistic girl’s reflection begins to take ruthless command of her life; and ‘Demon of Vengeance,’ where a sadistic warlord bent on seeking retribution for his selfish and reckless son’s injuries finds the tables of revenge turned against him. . .”

 

Review

Manga/J-horror fans may easily find much to enjoy in this first volume of Umezu’s Scary Book trilogy. The artwork is mainstream manga-realistic, plausibly slipping into its characters’ visualized mindsets and realities (veering between horror, silliness and bloody violence), its writing solid, entertaining. “The Mirror,” less traditionally violent than its follow-up (and shorter) tale, “Demon Vengeance,” provides a leavening counterbalance to “Demon”’s grim samurai tale. An above-average work (“Mirror” runs longer than I might’ve liked), Reflections is worth checking out, possibly owning if you’re into collecting worthwhile manga. Followed by Scary Book: Insects.(2003).