MANGA REVIEW | Dragged Down an "Alley" Towards Hell
You’re never too certain what to expect from a Junji Ito story. What you do know is that it’ll either be weird, or it’ll creep you the hell out! Alley, a collection of ten stories published in 2011, leans a lot more into the latter, with stories that will send you shivers and nightmares. It also knows when to mess with the audience, with a couple of twists that’ll leave you laughing maniacally.
There’s a bountiful of creepy tales here, beginning with the title narrative. A boy moves into an apartment, only to hear the sound of children playing late at night. The more he wonders about the sound, the closer to the truth he gets. And when he finds where the playful chattering is coming from, he winds up in a serious predicament. However, it’s not him that gets swallowed up by the madness, with the ending feeling like just desserts for a certain woman.
Speaking of desserts, “Ice Cream Bus” is one that’s both weird and hilarious! A mysterious ice cream man is the talk of the town, with all the kids eating his cold treats. They also have the habit of climbing in his truck and engulfing more frozen goodies than the average man could stomach. A divorced dad and his son are new to town, and when the boy is taken in by the ice cream man, the father’s world gets all too swirly. When the tale reaches its conclusion, it delivers a twist that’s both creepy and laugh-inducing, like one of the weirder Kids in the Hall skits.
© JI Inc./Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.
Ito’s MO is leaving his readers still wondering what’s going on. “Descent” delivers exactly that, with a suicidal wife and a plethora of missing people. Slipping in and out of her slumber, the woman starts uttering about people falling from the sky. True to her word, humans plummet from above, with their faces showing that they’ve witnessed a true horror. It’s not exactly one that has a satisfying conclusion, but it has the right amount of weirdness that keeps it entertaining.
“Inn” also fits this motif. An old man claiming that a hot spring is below his family’s house results in him digging a hole for two months. When he actually hits a spring, it causes his wife and daughter to move out. A friend of the daughter overhears the tale, giving him enough curiosity to check it out himself. What follows is a dip in a springs that even a devil would be too cautious to enter!
“Town of No Roads” has its own fair share of weirdness, starting with a girl whose paranoia is justified. Her family is spying on her, to the point where they drill holes into her wall and ceiling to get a peek. It drives her bananas, to the point where she takes a trip to visit her aunt. From there, she is swallowed up by a maze of houses and alleyways, with townsfolk sharing their own sense of privacy and lunacy. A good story, but it does leave things a little too open-ended.
© JI Inc./Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.
Where the weirdness shines in Alley is “The Ward”, the tale of two accident victims sharing a hospital room with four strange women. The narrative is all over the place, but the focus on the four mysterious women is what makes it shine. Their white eyes and cold mannerisms find ways to keep the skin crawling for any reader. Even if it has an open-ended conclusion, how it wraps things up is plenty unsettling!
The short “Smokers’ Club” involves tobacco grown near a crematorium. It’s not the most engaging, but the art work of Ito here shines whenever characters are taking a puff of these deadlier cancer sticks. “Mold” also shares some of that sentiment, with a weird tale about a home in disarray thanks to certain visitors. But where it succeeds is in its conclusion, with Ito’s visuals showcasing a man being swallowed up by the growth that’s overtaken his home.
Perhaps the best story in the pack is “Blessing”. It’s a simple tale of a couple who look to get married, but the girl’s father just won’t allow it. You never know where this story will go, as it goes back-and-forth between giving readers hope and deep, dark despair. Not only does it give you narrative whiplash from all the big left-turns, but it ends in a way that you’d never expect. There’s a reason why I’m keeping quiet about this particular tale, as it’s best to go in blindly to it to see for themselves.
© JI Inc./Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc.
Alley is more proof that no other manga author can touch Junji Ito. His works are truly unique, and this collection shows why he can bring about a funny feeling into anything he writes about. Whether it’s about having a smoke, enjoying a frosty treat, or taking a dip into a hot spring, Junji Ito will finds a way to make you wince and shriek over what his imagination is capable of. Forget Stephen King or R.L. Stine; Ito is the true king of the creep factor!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media. In stores July 23rd!
