Reviews with content warning for Body horror - Gyo: Kıpırdanan Dehşet

Read the story on the internet a few years ago and thought it was mediocre - mainly because of the open ending. Now, after reading every other Junji Ito books and making peace with his style of storytelling, I appreciate Gyo for what it is good at: transporting you into a disgusting fever dream of body horror. I still have problems with how Ito writes such annoying characters and tropes (e.g., women depicted as always being the first to go crazy/contradictory and throw tantrums). I fully hope Junji Ito is out there enjoying healthy and fulfilling relationships, because couples/spouses in his stories will make you think "Why the hell are they not broken up and hating each other already?" That said, with Gyo's female protagonist, we have some sprinkles of backstory (her upbringing) and exposition (let's be honest, I'd probably act like her as well if I smell the stench of rotting corpses all the time) to justify for her actions. All in all, excellent art. One of Ito's Big Three for a reason.

Content Warnings

abbyjme's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark fast-paced

4.0

My thalassophobia and chronic fear of smelling bad was NOT prepared for this one…

Content Warnings

iheartm4m's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.0

what the hell 🔥
ok but seriously this is probably my least favourite junji ito story im sorry
i was not scared or creeped out at all, and i read it in a pitch black room at 12:30am.
um idk this felt like it was missing the thing that makes a junji ito story a junji ito story.
like idk i didn't even like the premise. or the plot. or any characters. complete apathy.
the only thing that gave me a feeling of unease was

kaori's suicide

but other than that.... i was not spooked. and that's one page
like tell me why the bonus stories scared me more? like the enigma of amigara faults actually made me scared more than the entire gyo story. junji ito my love you flopped here <3
im kidding junji ito can never flop but this so far is my least favourite work from him </3
i found nothing redeemable about this story im sorry
also who moved first one star of 2024

Content Warnings

grey_jayne's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Gyo is pure nightmare fuel. The imagery is intense and aggressively unrelenting. I don't know if I like the narrative as much as the visuals, but that doesn't even matter when things are this consistently horrific.

There are two unrelated stories at the end of the book and they're great, especially The Enigma of Amigara Fault, which really played with my claustrophobia. This book is terrifying!

Content Warnings

sarahweyand's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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.

Content Warnings

More...