MANGA REVIEW | Latest Ito Collection "Moan" Delivers With Shivers and Guffaws
Halloween is right around the corner. It’s the time to take out some scary stories and share them amongst friends and family. And there’s no better manga author to give the heebie-jeebies than Junji Ito. In the nick of time, a new Junji Ito collection has arrived, in the form of Moan. Do these six short tales have enough spookiness for those wanting to stay up all night on October 31st?
Moan begins with “Supernatural Transfer Student”, a tale that blends a terrific mixture of weird and humorous. A group of students have formed a supernatural club, with the leader Shibayama having the knack for bending spoons. But things get weirder when a new transfer student, Ryo, arrives and discovers strange things around town. Eyeball flowers, a massive waterfall, and even a lake with a behemoth living inside of it are just some of the things that Ryo discovers.
It’s in “Supernatural Transfer Student” where we see all of Ito’s strengths front and center. The creepiness of the plants, the detail in the lake monster, and the flat-out weirdness of the anomalies that occur have all of Ito’s trademark vibes and styles. However, while there are some scary aspects to the story, it’s in their presentation that leans more towards it being funny. And like many of the author’s tales, it ends with a wild climax, followed by a delightful little question mark.
The collection’s namesake follows, and it’s here where the terror truly begins. It starts off with a family of clean freaks, with daughter Reina being followed by a smelly classmate. Her sister, Mari, decides to bring the classmate to their house, only for their mother to pelt him with eggs. From there, the horrors start to leak out, both figuratively and literally!
Where “Moan” shines is in the visuals. The ugly classmate, the sight of the mother constantly washing herself, and even the final scene deliver some chilling sights that’ll have some readers up all night wondering what happened. Although it starts off humorous in tone, “Moan” shows Ito’s storytelling prowess whenever he aims to deliver something bone-chilling. Again, the tale simply ends, leaving readers to wonder what the hell’s going to happen to this family.
“Blood Orb Grove” continues with the more terrifying side of Ito’s work. A young couple gets into an accident, only to find a village filled with bloodsucking children. Soon, they meet a man who claims to be the only villager left. He tells the story of his beloved, who died from a strange occurrence involving her blood.
As one can guess, the young couple is eyed as the villager’s next victim. The visual of the massive blood orb trees is haunting, with the amount of detail one would expect from Ito’s repertoire. Although the terrifying elements take a bit to build up towards, their arrival nevertheless delivers something delightfully weird. By the story’s end, one can certainly imagine what fate has in store for the young couple.
“Flesh-Colored Mystery” dives into the body horror sub-genre, as a kindergarten teacher deals with a weird-looking student. His desire to tear down pictures and even harm his classmates makes the teacher wonder about his home life. At first, the child’s aunt and mother seem like good people. However, a lingering fear sticks with the teacher.
There’s a solid amount of the unknown in “Flesh-Colored Mystery”, with even the main horror not revealed until much, much later in the story. But when it does, it no doubt will send chills down the spines of almost every reader. Again, the attention to detail in the horrors is mesmerizing, with the mother’s true body reveal showcasing Ito’s knack for the grotesque. It’s certainly one of those tales where you don’t know whether to laugh or scream in horror, but perhaps that’s the point of it all.
“Near Miss” is a quick story, as three friends try to figure out what happened to a colleague’s plane. One tells a tale of how he experienced a plane crash, a thought that upsets his friends. But when the colleague’s plane appears, it leaves the friends wondering what’s going on. While it has some good visuals, “Near Miss” ironically is its namesake due to the tale going too quickly. (Maybe Ito had a deadline?)
The final story, “Under the Ground”, does the short storytelling better. A class reunites to unearth their time capsule, with everyone wondering how the treasures will look. Two friends start talking about their memories, with one misfit classmate standing out the most. Many people can guess what it all leads up to, but the final visual in “Under the Ground” does deliver one last creep factor in the collection.
It feels appropriate that this collection is named after “Moan”. After all, you’ll either moan from the pain of laughing too hard at “Supernatural Transfer Student” or from the horrors of “Flesh-Colored Mystery” and “Blood Orb Grove”. Ito’s latest collection is the right amount of creepy and kooky that would be perfect for any Halloween read-a-thon filled with chocolates and candy. Just make sure there’s no mysterious red filling in those sweets; it might be from a cursed grove!
FINAL GRADE:
Promotional consideration provided by Chantelle Sturt of VIZ Media.
