horror

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Lenni Reviews: “Alley: Junji Ito Story Collection” by Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short horror stories leans heavily towards urban legends like spirits in creepy alleys and cursed ice cream trucks. Your scare milage may vary throughout this as the stories are hit or miss for me. The hospital one freaked me out the most. The body horror alone gave me chills and is the best in the volume, in my opinion. It isn’t perfect and I don’t wanna say too much lest I spoil something but it’s a decent collection but if body horror isn’t your thing, best skip this one because Ito is very good at that. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 1, by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where the sun is gone, humanity’s last hope is Transfloration: a process by which human beings are turned into plants to produce precious oxygen for the rest of the population. With a crappy job and a sick mother, Kamiya considers volunteering in exchange for enough money to change whatever life he has left.

This has some impressively creepy body horror and a compelling premise. This is a great first volume; even addressing the moral implications of the Transfloration program. It gets you immersed in the world building and starts toying with the complications and problems with this system right away so, it’s not fucking around. Trigger warning for child abuse and again, body horror. This feels like it’s gonna get wild and I’m ready for it. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead” Vol. 14, by Haro Aso & Kōtarō Takata

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Izuna comes into her own and starts fighting back as the group are trapped in a zombie infested facility. We also spend some time with Kencho as he tries to see his family.

While the looming threat of the Umbriel Corporation endures, Kencho’s side story was nice since we get to learn more about him. We know a lot about Akira so it’s good to give other characters some time in the spotlight. I enjoy these little stories even though they’re not focusing on the main plot so much. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dark Gathering” Vol. 7, by Kenichi Kondō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Keitaro, Yayoi, and Eiko are on the way to collect another sealed graduate, trying to get ahead before school starts again. At the same time, a sinister force is hoping from body to body.

So, not only do we have to worry about what the spirits can attack with, we have to worry about body switching that may or may not be detectable? As if all of this wasn’t horrifying enough getting attacked, possessed or – in this volume – cannibalized. This series is just damn creepy. I love it but it’s really unsettling. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Choujin X” Vol. 6, by Sui Ishida

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After being kidnapped from training camp; Sora Siruha tells Toki and his friends that a dark future lies ahead. Their hesitation to immediately obey her drives Tokio and the others to flee for their lives to avoid her wrath. The enormity of what they’re facing makes Tokio make a life altering decision.

There is one heck of a time skip after the big battle against Sora that’s really well done and pushes the characters into some interesting scenarios. The weirdo cult around Sora is genuinely creepy to me and it still tickles me that they had this big ole dramatic prophecy around Tokio and he just turns it down. It’s intriguing to see them all grow and I am curious to see how this will all play out because I’m getting the sense Sora is full of crap. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Alice in Borderland” Vol. 9, by Haro Aso

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

For Arisu and Chishiya there is only one face card left after their final confrontation with Niragi.

Niragi is one of those characters that makes me go “Why are you still here?” The entire time of the last appearance, I was just metaphorically tapping my foot for the Queen if Hearts part. I did wonder if the source material would have the same ending as the show and (spoilers, I guess???) it’s pretty much the same and I do like the way it’s handled. It’s creative and I think it’s more interesting than some huge ass battle or another game with math that gives me a headache. These omnibus editions were really satisfying and I had a lot of fun reading them. If you like these survival game stories, this is a good series. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Stitches” by Hirokatsu Kihara & Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This is a horror anthology but is not like what I would typically gravitate to as a work featuring Junji Ito. It’s not a full on graphic novel. It’s a short story collection with illustrations from Ito in the same vein as Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark with a complete comic at the end as a bonus. The stories aren’t bad but the illustrations do NOT take advantage of how horrifying Ito’s art can be, which is shocking. How do you have Ito collaborate on a project and have him draw more than a puppet on the ground or a pretty girl dancing? The stories are decent, they give the sense of unease and do their job but holy crap was attaching Ito’s name to this a let down… 2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dark Gathering” Vol. 6, by Kenichi Kondō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After using the Damned Sargent to acquire such a powerful spirit they all barely survive and need to rest up, giving Eiko some time to think about how dangerous all of this ghost hunting really is.

Eiko didn’t waffle very long as she decides with Yayoi to buy a cheap house to store spirits and the story behind this old house is fucked up. If you do not do well with body horror, you will NOT like this volume. It’s less funny and much more horrific than anything that’s come before it. Aside for the murder, there’s also incest so, trigger warning for all of that. I guess the most unbelievable part of this volume for me is a young person just having the money to buy a haunted house on a whim. *cries in post-capitalism America* 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Call of the Night” Vol. 15, by Kotoyama

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

While on the school trip, Ko’s classmate Saki is attacked by Haruka, a vampire, and Ko goes to rescue her. Meanwhile, Mahiru makes the final preparations before Kiku turns him.

With Haruka added to the roster, we’ve got a lot of characters and a web of connections between Kiku and Nazuna’s mother. And since the entire point of this trip was to find Mahiru, we got some time with him and Kiku along with some insight into Kiku’s motivations. No spoilers but I’m uncertain about how I feel about what was presented as an explanation but maybe more will be added later to justify to me the ruin Kiku has left in her wake. 3.9 out of 5. 

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Lenni Reviews: “The Summer Hikaru Died” Vol. 2, by Mokumokuren

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

After warnings from a local woman, Rie, Yoshiki struggled to resist keeping Hikaru in his life. Meanwhile, there are adults in the village are aware of some unknown entity living in the mountains.

While there is still that feeling of overall sadness, this volume is more of Yoshiki getting to know this new Hikaru while also letting us know what happened to the real Hikaru. There’s also whatever is goign on with Yoshiki’s little sister, Koaru. She can see spirits and isn’t going to school for some reason the small town is gossiping around to figure out. I like this series. It’s building up well. Like “Erased” but with less murder (so far). 4 out of 5.

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