Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: April 21, 2015
Price: $22.99
Creator: Junji Ito
Format: 400 pgs., Black & White, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7915-3
Age Ratings: 17+
ICv2 Ratings: 2 Stars out of 5
Have you ever watched a B grade horror movie and thought to yourself, "This would be great if it were in manga form?" Well wish no longer because Junji Ito has granted that desire with the very campy manga, Gyo.
The story begins with a couple taking a vacation in Okinawa. Things are rocky for them right away as they are constantly fighting about random issues, but things get even worse when fish with legs start crawling up out of the ocean and attacking them. Yes, that's right… fish with legs are attacking the mainland. They think that things will be better once they get back to Tokyo but the fish follow them and soon many areas of Japan are on high alert for these marine animals that are crawling everywhere with a desire to kill.
From the very first pages of this release you know exactly what you're getting into: campy horror at its campiest. This is a release that revels in its over the top plot and will throw in every single hallmark of the genre including the annoying female lead that you just wish would die, a quirky scientist who may or may not be mad himself, and unexplainable monsters who appear out of nowhere and are out to kill anyone in their path.
Of course, it has its good points such as wonderful artwork done by the author (who you might remember as the creator of Uzumaki) but for the most part this is a series that is made specifically for those who don't want a horror story that will scare them or creep them out but more just make them laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the overall story.
For hundreds of pages, Gyo will do everything in its power to make you believe that these fish are a horrible threat to the lives of everyone they encounter, but as a reader I never felt sold on the premise and was thus never truly sucked in.
If you really want something that is going to creep you out, this is not the manga that you want to pick up. As mentioned previously, this is a horror manga that you pick up purely to have a laugh and nothing more.
--L.B. Bryant