Reviews with content warning for Death - Gyo: Kıpırdanan Dehşet

Junji Ito might be the only artist who can get me to read and enjoy manga. Uzumaki was a favorite of mine this year, so I went ahead and bought Tomie and Gyo as well, so this is my section exposure to him. And it was very, very good.

I will continue to praise Ito's use of space and the page as a physical tension builder for the reader. I love being afraid to turn the page to see what beautiful horror he's created on the other side. This is especially true here because Gyo is big on body horror. As in, physical "EUGH" reaction body horror. This is a weird and nasty little tale.

The illustrations, as always, are vivid and immaculate in their horror and detail. As a very visual reader with no internal monologue, these panels really pull me in and envelop me into the story - which, of course, means much more visceral reactions to everything. I thought the premise here was intriguing and the evolution of the plot was well though-out and executed. I do wish we had gotten more of an explanation about the legged creatures; many times I'm okay with ambiguity but a plotline for answers was explored but never fully concluded. The ending was good but not my favorite, and while I loved how Uzumaki had some broader themes about the human condition, those were more absent here.

All in all, a quick and fun read, but Uzumaki reigns supreme for Junji Ito so far.

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jacob_dion's review against another edition

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3.5

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mxpringle's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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zakcebulski's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

So, fucking what the shit?

This story was crazy crazy.
Germs infect fish and then the fish come on to shore and start to infect other animals and then people?
Jesus Christ Ito did an amazing job with this story and the art therein, but it is absolutely fucking insane.
I get the feeling that the theme of this book is the raping of nature via humans and the gradual approach toward humans becoming the commodity for sale of other humans.
As well, I wonder if there is a sexual angle to read this book through as the way in which people are attached to the machines is in an overtly and very intrusive way comparable to rape or sexual assault?

I did think that Kaori was a very one note character that ultimately became a stand in for a object to drive the story forward.
Overall, this story was easily the most stomach churning of all of Ito's works that I have read to this point. His illustrations were horrifically on point, as they always are.
I felt that there were a few loose ends that were not tied up or resolved in this story which is why I am dropping the rating down a little bit.

We are lucky to live in a time where Junji Ito makes manga.

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