Sunday, October 27, 2013

Longbox of the Damned: Gyo vol. 1



Longbox of the Damned 27. ‎

Posted by Lewis Lovhaug at 7:00 AM

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10 comments:

Ozaline said...

I kinda wish this was on the regular show just for the inevitable use of SNL Landshark/Jaws II clips, that skit is so great.

Personally I don't find Land Sharks that scary, AIR Sharks like the one in Doctor Who those are scary, the scary thing about water based predators is they can come at you from below, give them legs and that's no longer an issue.

Still Gyo is well worth checking out, excellent video.

October 27, 2013 at 7:30 AM
Unknown said...

I like it when a author/creator decides to go creepy weird on his readerswith his work. Especially if its done well, and if it is I'll be able to ignore the pain in the ass girlfriend.

October 27, 2013 at 9:43 AM
Literate Dead said...

Ah, more Junji Ito... Such a pity that so little of his body of work ever made it to the US (heck, the guy even did an adaptation of Frankenstein that's supposedly rather faithful to the original novel! I'd -love- to read that!). I'm always a fan of his deranged and surreal works, and thankful for anything that gets ported over!

Still, Gyo, while having the agonizingly annoying Kaori, is still a fun one. At least, the first volume... Something about Ito and endings; like Uzumaki, this one kind of falls apart in the last act. But still, I enjoy the heck out of this one, if nothing else than for the creatively deranged premise and creepy 'machines'.

All thanks be to Moarte and his Longbox for the excellent season of comics we've had so far! Egads, I've picked up so much just from this series (and the guy who owns our state's only comic shop should be pretty thankful too, since he's been my supplier!).

October 27, 2013 at 10:44 AM
Information Geek said...

Gyo is weird. I think I wrote a review on that for a website a very long time ago where I gave it an 8. Nowadays, it falls into the 6 range. The art is good, but the darn the story is just really silly and the girlfriend character is awful. Plus, the ending is like the author just got to a point and ran out of ideas. It just stops.

Fun fact, the series got an OVA (original video animation) adaption a while back. The girl character is much more likeable but there are changes to it. Here's a link to the video trailer (lots of spoilers apparently.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnuN3Jpk2Cg

October 27, 2013 at 10:54 AM
Movie-Brat said...

Okay, this seems like a better story about land sharks than the movie about land sharks (not kidding there).

But goddamn this story seems like a hoot. Count me in.

October 27, 2013 at 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...

T̤͖͍̼͇̰͘i͎ṃ̢͚e͓͍͕̙̲̰͇͡ ̡̗̳i͘s̷̟͈̦̪̭͈ ̶̻̙a͞ͅḷ̪̖͍͓m̱̻̞o͎̻͠ṣ̗t̺͉̖͍̻̙̟ oú̗̭͉t̴.̱͓͠.̻͕͠.̧̘̘̻̲c͚̦͠h̦̩a̺̯͚̫̤m̡̰̱̱̭̲͇p͚̰̳̥̟͡i̮̥̙͚̞̘ǫ̳͈̱̼̬̭̖n̮̘͎̲!͏͙
̬
̴̫̱̦͎̥̺̙"̺̦̯̙͉͉̳͘H̪̪e̯̣̠͎ ͚͓̦͠w̡̰̳ͅh̜̙͓͈o̬͚͝ ̦w̺al͙k̺̻s̷ ̧̥̣ǫ̰̘̭͔͍̹͍n̹̼̤̪ ͓̥͎̺̲̟̪t̪͠ḩ̳̗̭̹̠e͉̩͈͞ ̧̗boŗ͖̩̟̟͇de̡̮r̦ ͅb͉̜̲͈̗̝͜e̱̗͢t̪͚͎̠̮w͍͇e͙̫̝̠͍̦̕en̞ ̹̩͘ͅL͏̖̗̺̭̭̹ͅi͇̻͇͝fe̙ ą͖nd̢̩̞̠͙͔̼ͅ ̳͔̳D̦͍̦̙͔̮̻͜e͕̳̕a̠̪̲̗̖t͍͚̟̱̘̲͢h̷̟̗
͏͉̙͙S͎̣͓͕͞a͘n͚̳̘͎̣̪i̖̖̰̼̝͟t҉̙̙͚͕̺̲̱y̞̝̞̫͠ ͙͇̦̩̞͈a̸̱n̫̰̖͈͠ḏ̞͎̣̥̙̕ͅ ͏͉̳̥͉M͏̥̘̲̘̝ͅa̱͚̟̝̥d̖̬̳n̬̘̥͚͚̝͢e͇̳͓͈̗͉̣ss̳͙̘̪̼̞͞
̣̟̟̯H̩͓̰̮̖̳͡e̪̭̖̲͇̙l͎̦͙͞l̯̩͔͙ ̱͠a̬̞̙ͅn͏̬d͇̤ ̢̳̯̪͚͕E̻̰͕̠̺͈͘a̳̭̭r͔͉͚̹͓̲t͏h̞

̢͓̠̙̗͓͎H͕e̴̙͓̺͎̺̝ ̴̣͕̳w̵̜̥h̡̖̬o̟̦̖̣͚͡ ̦̜͖w̤͓͖̬̣̕á͕͓͚̟t͠c̣͕̝h̶̙̼̺̘̜͕ͅe҉̣̫͈̙͖s̠ ̼̝͎o̦̩̠̝ṿ͚̞͈͖̪e͜r̷͓̻̠̼͇ ̩t͠h̦̗̗̣̩e̛̫̼͙ͅ ̴͎̱Cu̠̗͚̘r̺̣̮̺̼̀s͠ed̳͉̥̝̯̞̠ ͈͔͕̀Ḇ͓̼o̵x͈̜̻̠̪ ̧̳̞̩̼̮͚͔ḭ̩ͅn̤͜ ͇̳̯̥͓p̢͔̟̪ḻ͚̹a҉̟̳͈͚c̵e̸̤̭͉͍ ͖̲ó̫̟̥f̟̤̖̯͎͇͔ ̢͖̟̬̭i̸ͅt̺͢s̻̜̤̳ ͏o͝r̢̙̗̘i͇̭̳̠͇̜͉͡g̡i̺̰̘̮̞̤̝ṉ̵̰a͢l̥ ̳͔̤͝m҉̪͈̘̟̻a̮̰͝șt̜̙̫̗͓͉e̡̻ṛ̤̗̮̀
҉̟H̢̺̥̯̯̱̳ͅe̙͖͖͝ ̼̠͓w̕h̗͎̰̲͎̫ͅo̯̪̙͔̺ͅ ̞͓̺̜a͉͍͕̞̥̹b͔͖͕̲̬̖̜a͏̫͈̤̣͍n̛̫̩͕̟d͇̘̹͍̣oǹ͙é̱̯̖̬̯̼d̙̘̯̞ ̖e̙͈v͙̦́e̡̗ṛ͓̩͍͈͇ý̯̣̤̯̮͔t̜h̜̝̹̭̻̼in͙̱̯̱g̛̺̝ ̥̪̺̬͙i̞n̗̜͔̖̣ ̹͍͓̯̲ę̪̱̟̳͖̮̬x̸̻̤c͎͢h̞̙̤̻̗a̶̺̱̝̩̪n̨̫̹ͅg͓̝͎͞e̥͖̠̗̘͉ ̛̫̦fo̦̞̻r͍̠̤ ̻̲̘͖̞͔̙e̛̳̙͓̰̥t̥̥̯̰̫͓͢e̫̝̮͖͡r̩̼̬n̥͈̤̬a̦l̹͖̬͉̻̼͉͝ ͢li̗͇̝f̩͖̼͝ȩ̬̖͈͕͈̯
̵͔̪H̢e̘̜̤̹̟͈̫ ̫͍͙͈͎͖̀w̖h̺̭͇͈͇̺o ̲̗͙w͖̳i̻̰͇̣̙͙̬͘l̟͎̰͕̱͝l̵̦͇͕̲͍̼͇ ͈͖͕̹̟͕̞͢s̴u̵̯͓̮͕̙̗r҉̲̘̣v̷̞̹̹̼̻̼̱i̜͔̱̞̦̫v̤̥̯̣̹̗̙͞e͎̞̪̣ ͖̟̝̪̙̳̗t̮͔̘h̘͉̳̬͍ͅe̫͇͍ ̖̥̭̥͚͍͎W͎̰̘ŕ͓̺̣̹a͉̺̱͞ͅt̲ͅh̢̜ I̛ ͍̞͎̗s͙̻̖̣͝ͅe̹͡e̷̪̝͖̱̝̹ͅḱ"̜̲̩

October 27, 2013 at 1:24 PM
KamenRiderGumo said...

*eyes plate of fishsticks that is his dinner* Damn it, Moarte....


In all seriousness, I'm genuinely interested in checking this one out. Seems like my kind of story.

October 27, 2013 at 7:24 PM
Patrick said...

Wow, are we really going to go another year without adding "Locke & Key" to the Longbox? I'll be somewhat disappointed if that doesn't make the cut when apparently "Gyo" did.

October 28, 2013 at 12:18 AM
Anonymous said...

The thing that makes sharks so scary for me isn't the animals themselves, but the fact that I'm pretty much helpless when I'm likely to encounter them. Out of my element, like a non-fish in water.

Land sharks would kind of defeat that part of the fear.

... but still be dangerous wild animals, which should never be forgotten.

~ Mik

October 28, 2013 at 2:15 AM
Doresh said...

@Literate Dead:

"Ah, more Junji Ito... Such a pity that so little of his body of work ever made it to the US (heck, the guy even did an adaptation of Frankenstein that's supposedly rather faithful to the original novel! I'd -love- to read that!). I'm always a fan of his deranged and surreal works, and thankful for anything that gets ported over!"

Indeed, he made a very fine adaption of the work. Takes a few liberties with the "Make me a wife or I will regret it"-part of the story, but it's so far the only adaption I've seen that portrays the actual creation of the monster close to the source material (at least partially).

Frankenstein from the novel was not a grave digger. He designed all the body parts himself, which explains the size of the monster (he basically upscaled it so he has an easier time with arteries and veins).
In the manga adaption, he still uses corpses, but he grows the brain himself, and the resulting monster is still very large (which the manga captures pretty nicely).

As for Gyo, I found the overall narrative a lot better than in Uzumaki. Uzumaki always felt more like Itou's usual short stories that just happen to feature the exact same protagonists and locations (and Uzumaki does work a lot better as an anthology story).
In Gyo, we finally have a coherent narrative and protagonist who don't miraculously forget all the crazy stuff that happened last week.

October 29, 2013 at 1:59 PM

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