Oh, The Horror of it All!

My apologies to all those who read my blog for taking so long to put out another post. It's long overdue, I had a few issues to resolve. It's back on track, every 2 weeks is the post schedule. Thank you for sticking with me.

Japanese Horror Comics have been around for a while, spawning a new genre of girl horror comics.  Mainly popular in Japan, girl horror comics are gaining popularity in the U.S.  Here is some background on this popular genre and sub genre of girl horror comics as well as a little anime and manga. Japanese horror tends to focus on psychological horror and tension building (suspense), particularly involving ghosts and poltergeists, while many contain themes of folk religion such as: possession, exorcism, shamanism, precognition, and yōkai. My steampunk romance still prominent but I must allow room for other romances and Japanese Horror comics is a budding subject of interest.

The origins of Japanese horror can be traced to horror and ghost story classics of the Edo period and the Meiji period, which were known as kaidan. Elements of several of these popular folktales have been worked into the stories of modern films, especially in the traditional nature of the Japanese ghost.

Ghost stories have an even older history in Japanese literature, dating back to at least the Heian period (794–1185). Konjaku Monogatarishū written during that time featured a number of ghost stories from India, China and Japan. Kabuki and noh, forms of traditional Japanese theater, often depict horror tales of revenge and ghastly appearances, many of which have been used as source material for films.

Gekiga, is Japanese for "dramatic pictures." The term was coined by Yoshihiro Tatsumi and adopted by other more serious Japanese cartoonists who did not want their trade to be known as manga or "irresponsible pictures." It's akin to Americans who started using the term "graphic novel" as opposed to "comic book" for the same reason.

Just like Gekiga, horror manga started to appear in the lending libraries (Kashihonya) of the late 1950s and early 1960s and expanded into the mainstream through the works of artists like Shigeru Mizuki (GeGeGe no Kitaro), Jirō Tsunoda (Kyōfu Shimbun), Kazuo Umezu (The Drifting Classroom) and Shin'ichi Koga (Eko Eko Azarak). While most of them published in shōnen magazines and often with scary, yet sympathetic protagonists leading through tales about ghosts and demons, Umezu for instance got his start in shōjo magazines, where psychological depth was the main focus, a famous title being Hebi Shōjo.

Horror stayed a niche in mainstream manga. There was no magazine specialized solely on horror comics until the 1980s, when Asahi Sonorama founded Halloween magazine in 1986 due to the recent success of artists like Ryōko Takashina in mainstream shōjo magazines like Ribon. Junji Itō became the most famous contributor to the magazine with his Tomie series. 

Vampire Hunter D is a series of Japanese novels written by Hideyuki Kikuchi and illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano since 1983. Hideyuka Kikuchi is one of Japan's top horror writers. Over the past two decades, several of his works have been adapted into live-action and anime movies, including Vampire Hunter D, and his first novel, Demon City Shinjuku. Drawing from such inspirations as Hammer Films' Horror of Dracula, Kikuchi has spawned over 17 novels in his Vampire Hunter D series.

Similar publications like Horror M (Bunkasha), also mainly targeted at women, started to appear. Magazines like Nemuki (Asahi Sonorama), Susperia Mystery (Akita Shoten) and Apple Mystery (Shufu to Seikatsusha) were also founded as part of this movement, but concentrated on more subtle and less graphic depictions of horror. Artists drawing for those magazine like Ichiko Ima (Hyakkiyakō Shō), Matsuri Akino (Pet Shop of Horrors) and Narumi Kakinouchi (Vampire Princess Miyu) became famous.

Although largely unrecognized in the United States, "girls’ horror" is a concept arguably as old as horror itself.  Character-oriented and plot-driven, horror aimed at a young female audience has an appeal that can extend not only across ages and genders but even across genres to individuals who otherwise would never think of reading horror stories.

In Japan, horror has always been a major division of comics for girls (which is in turn a major division of all comic releases).  Currently, more traditional forms of girls’ horror seem to have largely given way to murder mysteries of a style all too familiar to Western audiences. 

Although Horror M was officially listed by the publisher as a ladies’ magazine, its new incarnation, Digital Horror M, is specifically labeled on its web site as a girls' magazine.  Meanwhile, Spica and Web Spica have been replaced not by another magazine but by an anthology book series titled Comic Spica. Here is a review of three horror writers for girls. 

Although the works of writer/artist Chie Watari originally appeared in magazines for general girls’ fiction, her stories definitely fall under the category of horror.  She writes only short pieces, which may limit the chance for character development, but doesn’t keep her from interesting character portrayals or complex story lines.  It also provides an opportunity for an unusually wide range of characters and subjects, which she uses to great advantage.

Like most girls’ horror authors, Watari tends to the "creepy" rather than the gory.  Her works are aimed at a primarily teenage audience, but contain little graphic material.  This, along with the fact that any one of her volumes can be read independently, makes her a good choice for readers new to girls’ horror.

Writer/artist Takakazu Nagakubo combines intricate story-lines and interesting characters with subject matter researched with a thoroughness that would put most journalists to shame.  The result is stories that are not only emotionally engaging, but intellectually stimulating.  He also has a sense of humor which lends a unique personality to his works.

Nagakubo seems to write primarily for a teenage audience, and some of his works do get a little gory.  They also can require a fairly high reading level (or a lot of patience), as can be seen just from the titles.  But the stories are well worth the effort, and his works are highly recommended to more experienced or adventurous readers. 

Writer/artist Michiyo Akaishi is best known for her romantic fiction, and not without reason.  Alpen Rose was made into a two-part animated video series, Honoo no Alpen Rose:  Jeudi &.  P.A. was also released as a novel [text by Hiroko Nohara, and a 10-episode live-action TV series.  The TV series was translated by NTV and has had at least one subtitled broadcast (under the title The Stand-In).

None of Akaishi’s works are officially considered horror, but many qualify as mystery or suspense (and some are easily as bloody as recognized horror titles).  Ten yori mo Hoshi yori mo ("Than the Heavens, than the Stars") is probably the most popular of these "mysterious romances."   It is a good series, especially if you’re familiar with the relevant history and legends.   All of Akaishi’s works have the characteristics most readers associate with girls’ comics:  a softer, less realistic art style and a strong romantic bent.  But they also have a delicacy surprising to those readers more familiar with the histrionic soap operas which are all too common in any media intended for girls.

For more on horror comics for girls got to: www.thirteens.net/~ghc/ or www.thirteens.net/~ghc/intl.html

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With my steampunk romance still brewing, my long love of comics still has much to offer.  It's creative and ever evolving. Hope you enjoyed the overview.  Thank you for reading my blog.

See you next time (2 weeks! lol) at Same blog time, same blog channel!