Lucy in the Sky with Spirals
Mar. 13th, 2010 11:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
intertribalAnybody know of the manga Uzumaki by Junji Ito*? I'd been wanting to read it for years, and when I mentioned this on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
ontdcreepy, I was told it could be read online - so of course I sit down and read half the whole thing (me: "egad! manga can be read online for free? what a brave new world we live in!"). It is fucking psycho. It's about this little town that's cursed by... spirals. Spirals, the most "mystical" shape, the most "perfect" shape. Mesmerizing, undying, self-perpetuating... and found everywhere. I'm hard-pressed to classify it beyond "horror," because the real antagonist here is the spiral. It's incredibly graphic and horrifying but also, you know... captivating, as much as I hate to say it. Some chapters (like Jack in the Box) are just damn creepy/horrific/awful/High Octane Nightmare Fuel, but others (like Medusa, or even The Snail) have a real aesthetic grace to them.
Which makes sense, because the spiral itself isn't some kind of evil entity - it's more of an unknowable entity, with very real ties to the phenomenon of love (Twisted Souls, The Snail, The Scar, Jack in the Box... um... all of them, really). Hence the obsessive behavior of those afflicted (that continues after death), the irresistible draw of the spiral, the self-destruction, the way the spiral twines and intertwines.
Ah, it's great stuff, and I really recommend the series - but be warned there is serious Disturbing Imagery therein, and some of it may hit one of your squick points. I decided to take a break after Chapter 11 (The Umbilical Cord), because that was just viscerally awful, and I had to read like three volumes of Dragonball to get back to my happy place.
D:
* He came up with Tomie, you may have heard of her. He also did Gyo, which I really want to read too, though I suspect it's like incredibly grotesque.
ontdcreepy, I was told it could be read online - so of course I sit down and read half the whole thing (me: "egad! manga can be read online for free? what a brave new world we live in!"). It is fucking psycho. It's about this little town that's cursed by... spirals. Spirals, the most "mystical" shape, the most "perfect" shape. Mesmerizing, undying, self-perpetuating... and found everywhere. I'm hard-pressed to classify it beyond "horror," because the real antagonist here is the spiral. It's incredibly graphic and horrifying but also, you know... captivating, as much as I hate to say it. Some chapters (like Jack in the Box) are just damn creepy/horrific/awful/High Octane Nightmare Fuel, but others (like Medusa, or even The Snail) have a real aesthetic grace to them. Which makes sense, because the spiral itself isn't some kind of evil entity - it's more of an unknowable entity, with very real ties to the phenomenon of love (Twisted Souls, The Snail, The Scar, Jack in the Box... um... all of them, really). Hence the obsessive behavior of those afflicted (that continues after death), the irresistible draw of the spiral, the self-destruction, the way the spiral twines and intertwines.
Ah, it's great stuff, and I really recommend the series - but be warned there is serious Disturbing Imagery therein, and some of it may hit one of your squick points. I decided to take a break after Chapter 11 (The Umbilical Cord), because that was just viscerally awful, and I had to read like three volumes of Dragonball to get back to my happy place.
D:
* He came up with Tomie, you may have heard of her. He also did Gyo, which I really want to read too, though I suspect it's like incredibly grotesque.
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no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 06:50 am (UTC)His shorter work, like Tomie, is better in my opinion.
(Uzumaki and Gyo, BTW, are available from Viz, while Tomie is serialized in Junji Ito's collection, Museum of Terror, from Dark Horse.
Gyo, BTW, is available in the same site you linked to: http://www.onemanga.com/Gyo/
The problem with the free-manga site, is that it's illegal to semi-illegal (I elaborate on it here (http://charles-tan.blogspot.com/2010/03/essay-fandom-and-piracy-part-2.html).
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 07:00 am (UTC)I did have some suspicions about the whole "free! manga! online!" thing. Too good to be true, I guess. At any rate, I would definitely buy Uzumaki.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 07:18 am (UTC)It's predecessor (in terms of reputation) would be Kazuo Umezu but the problem with Umezu's artwork and storytelling is they look and feel dated. His shorts aren't as effective but his longer work--such as the Drifting Classroom--work better (but they're not outstanding to me).
What you might want to check out is Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service (Dark Horse). Not flat-out horror, but something of a cross between science fiction, mystery, and the supernatural. (The art though is quite visceral.)
Another psychological thriller is MPD Psycho (Dark Horse) but in my opinion, suffers from most serial manga--which is that they're too long (and makes George R. R. Martin or Robert Jordan seem like a standalone series).
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 07:48 am (UTC)I remember reading about The Drifting Classroom. Just from the google images of his stuff I see your point, though.
KCDS does sound interesting; I'll have to consider that one. I hope it's not too scary, as I see there are ghosts involved. I was traumatized by a (very simple) horror manga when I was little.
and makes George R. R. Martin or Robert Jordan seem like a standalone series
LOL! That's crazy how popular MPD-Psycho is... I feel like the computer-speak combined with psych-speak in that one might defeat me (I had a similar problem with Lain). Death spirals I can handle but personality transfers strain my suspension of disbelief... haha.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 08:32 am (UTC)Here's a link to KCDS: http://view.thespectrum.net/series/kurosagi-corpse-delivery-service-volume-01.html
There are ghosts but it's not really horrific. The most gruesome scenes are probably corpses (inanimate I might add, not zombie-rising-from-the-grave type). The Dark Horse releases are worth it as the cover is cardboard thick and there are some bonuses. (Overall one of the best production values.)
Considering Dragonball was from 1984 – 1995, yeah, series's can be looking.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 07:24 am (UTC)It's predecessor, I mean, is Ito's predecessor.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-14 05:30 pm (UTC)I had to laugh at your reading Dragonball Z to clear your palate :D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-15 03:58 pm (UTC)No Z, actually - Dragonball is the more innocent, child-like predecessor.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-15 04:01 pm (UTC)Ha! I never distinguished. Thanks.
Childbirth I'm done with, so, well, no problems there. Mosquitoes I already don't like much. It'll be a shame to lose snails, smoke, and thunderstorms, though.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-15 04:09 pm (UTC)Snails were definitely ruined for me, unfortunately... but at the same time, the snails are sort of... good, passive characters.
Actually, I thought the thunderstorm chapter reminded me a bit of a psycho version of "Lake Tahoe's Lover," FWIW. It may not utterly ruin thunderstorms for you ;)
what comes to mind
Date: 2010-03-14 06:31 pm (UTC)"What comes out of all this is that a spiral is a figure that retains its shape (i.e., its proportions) as it grows in one dimension by addition at the open end. You see, there are no truly static spirals."
Re: what comes to mind
Date: 2010-03-15 03:53 pm (UTC)What's that from?
Re: what comes to mind
Date: 2010-03-15 05:43 pm (UTC)