[REVIEW] Gyo

title: Gyo

author: Junji Ito, Yuji Oniki (Translator)  
genre: manga, horror
published: April 21st 2015 by VIZ Media LLC (first published 2002)
my copy: hardcover, 397 pages
purchase: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
rating: 4 / 5 stars
goodreads

Something is rotten in Okinawa...

The floating smell of death hangs over the island. What is it? A strange, legged fish appears on the scene... So begins Tadashi and Kaori's spiral into the horror and stench of the sea. Here is the creepiest masterpiece of horror manga ever from the creator of Uzumaki, Junji Ito. Hold your breath until all is revealed.

Junji Ito never disappoints!

I read Uzumaki by Junji Ito years and years ago. It was such an old (and maybe even classic already) horror manga and it was haunting. Gyo is honestly on the same boat. It's got that creepy story and haunting atmosphere.

Gyo follows Tadashi as he and his girlfriend, Kaori found a smelly fish on their vacation house in Okinawa. What's stranger is how Tadashi got rid of it and for some reasons, it still found its way back inside the house. It's all very odd and combine this story with Junji Ito's art just makes it more creepy and disgusting to read. Junji Ito's art creeps me, okay? He's amazing at that.

Comparing this to Uzumaki which is the other Junji Ito manga I've read, I'd say that the storyline or oddity of the events were explained well. It's entirely interesting and realistic isn't something I'd go for it but I like how it was given proper explanation and was not left off as some strange occurrence or oddity or some kind of curse. 

Tadashi, the main character, was another convenient main character though. It kind of intrigued me why he never got the illness and how he's just special like that but I just decided to take it in and just focus on the story. The whole progression of the death-stench was well-written, to be honest. I like how it was strangely done but was given proper explanation and was given proper time to actually spread throughout the country. And as I have said repeatedly, the art complements the horrifying story. It doesn't just end with the death-stench being a scary disease-like occurrence. This whole thing is an apocalypse I'm telling you. Humanity is going to be wiped out and people are scared and are going crazy. It's all too interesting and I really wish that the manga went farther than it did.

ANYWAY, this edition included two extra one-shots which are both interesting. The first one involves an unanswered occurrence where in the father of a family found himself stuck below their house's pillar which is super odd. The second one involves mysterious holes in a mountain. Each hole looks specifically made for a particular person and people get this strange feeling that they had to get inside that hole WHICH IS HORRIFYING ADND SERIOUSLY JUST WTH!?

OVERALL, Gyo is a highly recommended read if you enjoy horror manga or horror in general. The story is creep af and the artwork is on-point. Junji Ito's art is detailed and definitely a combination of disgusting and horrifying. 

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