Genre: Horror
Publisher: Shogakukan (JP), Viz Media (US)
Artist/Writer: Junji Ito
Serialized in: Big Comic Spirits
Original Release Date: April 21, 2015
While most reviewers this week are eagerly digging into Junji Ito’s newly licensed anthology work Fragments of Horror, I’m going back to a shiny hardcover re-release of one of his horror classics, Gyo. This third edition by Viz makes way for the deluxe treatment, with the entire two volume series now contained in one sleek black hardcover omnibus, similar in style to the Uzumaki re-releases. It’s big, it’s shiny, and it’s heavy, but do killer fish with legs still make for a creepy story?
Let’s face it: Fish are kind of weird. They’re slimy, slippery, and do weird things with their mouths, which means I feared getting anywhere near them during my grand total of two childhood fishing trips. Tadashi’s girlfriend Kaori is somewhat similar, but it’s mainly the fishy stench that gets to her; so much so that even on a romantic getaway she’s hesitant to kiss Tadashi because he smells of the ocean. Tadashi’s stale breath becomes the least of their worries though when they come across a half dead fish with legs. Despite their constant bickering, the pair stop long enough to bury the fish… only to have it reappear again, and again. When the mysterious legged fish start popping up all over Japan, Kaori and Tadashi do everything they can to outrun them.
Sure, the premise is ridiculous, but here’s the thing about Junji Ito: his ridiculousness can easily be transformed into the really unsettling. He’s done the same with Uzumaki and spiral imagery, so murderous fish are actually a more believable stretch. A lot of the creepy factor is the result of his recognizable art style. People are generally realistic-looking without being overly so, but any type of monster or fish is drawn with horrifying detail. Hatching, shading, large dead eyes, and (as a nod to the great letterer) well integrated English sound effects make this a pretty immersive thriller. There’s no real character development here, it’s just people running from freakishly fast fish (and later sharks, and dead people-fish). Despite the lack of character development though, I found myself constantly amused by Kaori’s and Tadashi’s relationship. Kaori is the catalyst for a lot of what happens and Tadashi continually tries to rescue her, but you can’t really tell if the two actually like one another. Kaori’s fishy smell-related outbursts really seem to grind down Tadashi, and like so many of Ito’s characters he tends to have the expression of “Oh, not this crap again.”
Occasionally though, things get a little too ridiculous: there’s a circus segment at the end of the volume that really seemed tonally out of place and more of a badly timed info dump. Also, Tadashi’s mad scientist uncle, while a believable antagonist, did not leave me believing for one second that anyone, especially Tadashi, could hold a conversation with him and not realize he was missing an arm. I’ve read that part twice and that still bugs me…
There’s a lot to like here though, and there’s a reason why Gyo is a classic. Even better, this omnibus volume doesn’t leave out two of Ito’s best side stories, The Sad Tale of the Principal Post and The Enigma of Amigara Fault. The first story in particular showcases how well Ito can do creepy and absurd in just a handful of pages. Amigara Fault actually may be my favorite Ito story to-date; I’ve talked to people that aren’t avid manga fans who somehow still know that story. In short, more Ito is good Ito. If you haven’t picked up Gyo in one form or another, this nicely packaged omnibus is the way to do it.