I enjoyed the first two volumes of the Junji Ito Horror: Tomie tankoubons (manga collections) one hundred and fifty percent! The dark and eerie walking dead killer teen story, puts so called similar plots like I Know What You Did Last Summer seem like a Scobby-Doo Episode. So when I found out about Flesh-Colored Horror I had to get it! And I can honestly say this tankoubon that would make Tomie cringe. While Tomie does not return in this third installment, the stories and characters more gruesome and graciously prove that Ito is either a certified master of his craft or just one demented bastard.
Flesh-Colored Horror contains six stories printed in Japan between 1988 through 1995. Each tale is more gruesome than the last. The first story Long Hair in the Attic, tells of a young girl whose self-centered boyfriend becomes bored and to have some fun asks her to grow her hair longer. Once the girl's hair is half way down her back he tells her it is not becoming. So to help herself overcome her grief she cuts her hair, just one problem her hair has become a breeding ground for her grief. So as it lay in the basket it decides to come alive and not only seek revenge on the girl but on the boy that forced the girl to cut off her hair.
Approval was my favorite story featured in this tankoubon. It is a real supernatural thriller that will leave you speechless. Approval is the story of a young man named Kyosuke and his Fiancé Misuzu who desparetly seek her father's approval. The father adamant in his dislike for the Kyosuke tells them no. Misuzu unable to sever her bonds with her family eventually looses Kyosuke, who moves on with his life. But as soon as Kyosuke finds another girlfriend Misuzu returns. Mysteriously once Misuzu returns Kyosuke's new girlfriend ends up dead. Once again Kyosuke begins begging for Misuzu's hand in marriage. After many years Kyosuke so disgusted by the bitter old man decides to slowly murder him by poisoning his favorite drink. But in the end Kyosuke's efforts are all in vain as the old man gains his final revenge on Kyosuke and Misuzu.
The third story Beehive is very, very, very strange. A creepy boy with a love of hornets mysteriously disappears. When Takano, a young man who collects beehives, sees the boy in the forest one day he becomes a little too distraught. Takano is jealous of the boy who has a supernatural connection with the hornets. However, Tanako discovers the hornets were more matronly and intelligent than he gave them credit for.
The fourth story was a little weak, but interesting none the less. Dying Young is about several very unattractive girls who one day becomes extremely beautiful and then mysteriously die. The rumor at their school is that these girls might have engaged in some type of cannibalism in order to achieve their beauty. Just one problem, now all of the students seem to have the beautiful disease and with each day of beauty they attain, each comes closer to their own demise.
Ito's fifth story Headless Sculptures was not just strange but perverted. The story opens with the art teacher of a local high school becoming famous for his headless statues. The night before his big exhibit, the teacher is murdered. The last two people to see him alive were two students named Rumi and Shimada. The next day, Shimada threatened Rumi not to tell anyone about her whereabouts the night before. Rumi bewildered after this incident immediately seeks to investigate the crime scene only to be cornered by dozens of headless bodies seeking a head-even if it means two bodies must share one.
The last (and my second favorite story) Flesh-Colored Horror is hard to describe without giving the away the end, but I will try. Imagine obsessing on your youth so much that you would use a chemical peel experiment on your child to see if it worked. This is Chikara's story. A five-year old boy with a strange pasty skin and pulsating veins like that of a monster, his lips are purse and he looks mummified than alive. Without warning he will physically and violently attack any child. His teacher concerned decided to visit his home, only to find a family more human than human.
Ito is phenomenal series. I applaud Comics One for taking the first step and introducing horror manga to the English world.
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