Manga: A Discussion of Horror Manga 2017

Time Codes: 00:00:26 - Introduction 00:03:10 - Setting up this year's manga horror show 00:06:52 - Domu: A Child's Dream 00:31:12 - Panorama of Hell 00:56:25 - Mail 01:12:42 - Dissolving Classroom 01:32:47 - H.P. Lovecraft's The Hound and Other Stories 01:52:51 - Neo Parasyte M 02:03:12 - Wrap up 02:04:39 - Contact us Shea and Derek are back with their second manga episode of the month! On this show, they discuss several horror manga that will get you in the mood for Halloween tomorrow. As they did last year, the Two Manga Guys are both thrilled and chilled with by introducing listeners to a variety creepy titles, some older and some brand new. They begin with Katsuhiro Otomo's Domu: A Child's Dream (Dark Horse Manga), a story that is probably the least horrific of those discussed, but it's nonetheless one of the guys' favorites on this episode. As the guys point out, it's a shame that Otomo's canonical Akira tends to overshadows other impressive efforts such as Domu. After that they look at a markedly different kind of horror manga, Hideshi Hino's Panorama of Hell (Blast Books). This is a very violent and blood-filled work, so if you have a weak reading constitution, this might be a challenge for you. After that they cover the three-volume Mail, written and drawn by Housui Yamazaki (Dark Horse Manga). As Derek describes, this is a "lighter" narrative compared to some of the others discussed, but one that nonetheless has them wanting more. From there Shea and Derek turn to a favorite creator of theirs, Junji Ito. However, his latest graphic cycle, Dissolving Classroom (Vertical Comics) is definitely not what they have come to expect from the horror mangaka. Somewhat similar to Fragments of Horror, which the guys discussed last year, Ito relies a little too heavily on over-the-top graphics at the expense of any bedrock terror. But the guys are more impressed with Gou Tanabe's H.P. Lovecraft's The Hound and Other Stories (Dark Horse Manga), an adaptation of three classic Lovecraft stories. In addition to the titular reference, Tanabe also presents manga versions of "The Temple" and "The Nameless City." Finally, Shea and Derek discuss Neo Parasyte M (Kodansha Comics), the latest anthology inspired by Hitoshi Iwaaki's Parasyte, which ran between 1988 and 1995. Including contributions from a wide variety of creators, this volume is similar to last year's Neo Parasyte F, which the guys discussed on the 2016 manga horror episode. However, they enjoyed this anthology even more than last year's.