This graphic novel is a short story collection that has Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and a few original stories by Ito.
* Frankenstein
Victor Frankenstein becomes obsessed with creating life through science. His creation experiences nothing but fear and hatred by humans, adopts monstrous behavior, and coerces him into making a mate with the threat of violence and death if it doesn't happen.
This is a slightly different take on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with eerie, detailed art. Victor's tranformation from idealistic college student to deranged grave robber is shown through his physical appearance. He looks almost possessed with shadowed features, blood splattered everywhere, and a maniacal gleam is his eye. Ito's own work tackles a lot of different types of obsession and compulsion, so this is a good fit. The creature itself looks completely horrific with portruding veins, disgusting eyes, and rotted skin. I think we've gotten used to more palatable versions like Boris Karloff's that we forget that the creature is a bunch of mismatched corpse parts sewn together. The character is also more monstrous in action than most incarnations. After he kills Victor's little brother, the creature throws himself into being monstrous, killing many, and being exceedingly cruel. Other incarnations are much more sympathetic, especially compared to Victor, the guy who just runs from all of his responsibilities, but it's not the case here. The most heartbreaking scene is where he's rejected by the family he learns language from, but it doesn't outweigh his horrific deeds.
Most of the deaths are depicted in a surprisingly restrained manner. Both human deaths have the events leading up to it shown and the event is offscreen. This seemed on odd choice for Ito, whose work can be very graphic, but he made it all up with the creation and fate of the creature's bride. This is the main change from the book since the bride is successfully put together and reanimated. Later deaths have Victor discovering corpses and the read never sees exactly how it happened. The ending kind of puts everything into perspective in terms of the creature and shows a little bit past his murderous, cruel actions. As whole, this adaptation is Ito's unique view of the story with some fundamental changes that make Victor more reasonable and the creature less sympathetic. Overall, the art is incredibly detailed and adept at showing each character's inner state in creative ways.
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The next 4 stories all take place within the same world with the same characters.
* Neck Specter
Oshikiri is an unabashedly awful person who is insecure about his height and murders his best friend because he happens to be taller. He buries the body in a shallow grave only to find the neck incredibly elongated and sees living people with the same type of deformity. This short story has body horror, the supernatural, and toxic masculinity. Oshikiri's guilt perhaps makes him see grotesquely taller people everywhere, reminding him of his crime, or it's real body horror. It could really go either way in an Ito story.
* Bog of Living Spirits
A bog is supposedly the place where a woman died and her spirit lured young men to their deaths. The site is covered in garbage and Oshikiri's school decides to clean it up. His friend Kojima, who has an entourage of girls follow him around, disappears in the bog. This Oshikiri is not the homicidal one of the last. This one is quiet and a good friend. The girl fanclub that follows Kojima around doesn't actually help him and only serves to push him away. In spectacular Ito fashion, the obsession mixes with the supernatural and becomes an alien destructive force.
* Pen Pal
Oshikiri is all alone and still super insecure about his height. He meets Satomi, a classmate who makes a lot of self portraits and has no need for in person friendship due to her pen pals. At first their friendship is fine, but then she becomes increasingly obsessed with reading her friends letters and writing back even when all her friends seem angry that she has a real life friend. Who are her pen pals really? Oshikiri is pathetically obsessed with his height and essentially guilts a girl who doesn't want a real life friend into being his friend. Beyond that, the obsession and subsequent reveal of the friends is unnerving and strange.
* Intruders
Lonely Oshikiri finally finds some friends, bonding over supernatural occurances, and they investigate his house with all the eerie noises at night. This story ties together the Oshikiri from Neck Specter with the Oshikiri in the rest of the stories, who is clearly not homicidal. The reason is fantastical with a dash of science and explains why there are two Oshikiris and why he hears weird noises in his giant, empty house. I feel a little more for him because his parents are constantly gone and don't seem to prioritize him and the ending leaves him alone once again.
* The Strange Tale of Oshikiri
Oshikiri sees more weird things at his house. A girl from his school is screaming in the hall and the next, she's gone. This is by far the best story in the Oshikiri collection. Like much of his work, the stories increase in intensity with each one. It has the most horrific body horror for the most simultaneously depraved and ridiculous reason. The implications of the ending are insane and almost cosmic in nature.
* The Strange Tale of Oshikir: The Walls
Oshikiri hears bug like sounds in the walls and investigates. He finds pictures of people half inside the walls of the house only to find no marks or signs at all of it when he looks at the spot in the house. I think this should have been the second to last story, since the previous one is much more intense and crazy. However, this one still has a disturbing ending that links to the other stories and packs a punch.
* The Hell of the Doll Funeral
30% of the world's children are turning into dolls: their skin hardens, their eyes become unfocused and stationary, lines appear around their mouths, cracks appear aorund their joints, and their facial expression freezes. One couple opts to keep their daughter instead of burying her to horrific results. This story was incredibly short, but the transformation of the girl's body and the grotesquely detailed last frame make the art and body horror the main focus.
* Face Firmly in Place
A woman is trapped in a dental machine that holds her in place with metal bits in her ears. The dentist is injured on the way to her and leaves her forgotten for the night. This is an odd, almost Final Destination type story. It's short and doesn't really deliver what I expected. The ending was a bit of a cop out.
* Boss Non-non and Hide and Seek with Boss Non-non
These are two stories about Ito's dog. The first shows the dog's flaws and gross conditions, but shows how pet owners love their pets no matter what. The second is adorable with a sad ending. These stories are a bit out of place with the other horror stories, but they show the softer side of Ito.
My rating: 4/5 fishmuffins
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