Gyo, Vol. 1 (2nd Edition)

by Junji Ito | Graphic Novels |
ISBN: 1421513870 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 9/5/2010
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, September 5, 2010
This is the first of a two-part manga (see volume 2 here) about - well, the subtitle is "The Death-Stench Creeps", and that more or less covers it! Oh, sure, there's the way it creeps - via fish on what look like mechanical spider-legs - and the way it spreads, and the overall creepiness...

This volume opens in dramatic fashion. Main character Tadashi is scuba diving on a sunken wreck, and after a few panels showing the lyrical beauty of the sea, we get a closeup of the wreck - and of the sharks that are beginning to gather! But he escapes them and gets back to the boat and his fretful, picky girlfriend, Kaori. She's more worried about odors than sharks, complaining that he should brush his teeth more often - a typical lover's disagreement there, or something else? When they get home she claims there's still the odor of dead fish somewhere, even though Tadashi doesn't smell it. But something is scuttling around the apartment behind the furniture, and when they find out what it is, the story really kicks in.

Some of the scenes are both horrifying and funny, depending on how well you can put yourself in the characters' position. [Since books don't come with "smell-o-vision" we're spared the most significant trait of the threats here, an appalling and pervasive stench; not that I'm sorry about that, as I'd much rather imagine a stench than smell one!]

The initial threat is from one bizarre creature, but soon the kids discover that there are many, many more fish (and other sea creatures) stalking out of the sea on those odd metallic legs. Small fish at first, but then larger ones appear, and eventually... well, when the first land-shark showed up I had to laugh, though it wouldn't have been funny if I'd been there!

Our heroes escape all this and flee to the house of Tadashi's uncle, an eccentric scientist, who's fascinated by the walking-dead-fish syndrome. He soon learns more than he may have wished about this, but it doesn't seem to faze him; however, Kaori's still whimpering about the increasingly-bad stink, and then she starts to... change...

While the relentlessly disgusting nature of the plague can be a bit much to take, I liked the story overall; it's definitely an unusual take on the nature-fights-back theme!

[I first heard of this via its TV Tropes page, after reading Ito's horror trilogy Uzumaki.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Well-Read Books, Great Elm Plaza, Rte 125 in Plaistow, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, September 25, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (9/25/2010 UTC) at Well-Read Books, Great Elm Plaza, Rte 125 in Plaistow, New Hampshire USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I plan to leave this book on the OBCZ shelf inside Well Read Books in Plaistow, at around 6 or so. Hope the finder enjoys it!

[Update, 2011: I've heard that this OBCZ is no longer active. No idea where the book is now, so I hope someone's enjoying it...]

*** Released as part of Secretariat's You're Such an Animal release challenge, as the title means "fish". ***

Journal Entry 3 by wingOBCZ-Plaistowwing at Plaistow, New Hampshire USA on Friday, October 8, 2010
Got this from Gory Details. Thanks.

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