Viz has been the biggest beneficiary of the Junji Ito horror manga craze, but it wasn't until this year that they were willing to capitalize on that and bring back some titles from an even older horror mangaka.
OROCHI, by Kazuo Umezz. First published in 1969 and first published in North America in 2002.
PLOT:
Orochi is a mysterious girl with a timelessly young face and untold supernatural power. She wanders the world, inserting herself into other people's problems and using her powers to try and solve them. Sadly, things don't always go as planned, whether it's helping two sisters suffering from a family curse or a tormented young wife who wishes for her beloved husband to return to her.
STORY:
The all-too-brief blurb on the back of this volume would have you believe that the titular Orochi is a more malicious figure, a sort of ancestor to the likes of Junji Ito's Tomie. That's simply not true. While Orochi does tend to bring misfortune upon the people she encounter, she's ultimately doing so out of good intentions.
It's not her fault that she keeps coming across some of the most tormented, neurotic ladies possible while psychically inserting herself into various jobs. Rumi and Emi were just two reclusive sisters, trying to stay together in the face of a curse that will turn them into mole-covered hags on their 18th birthdays. Chie endured a childhood of abuse and neglect, only to lose the husband who saved her from that life. Orochi only wants to help them, employing her vague mental powers (and sometimes a bit of necromancy) to grant their despairing wishes.
Horror stories in manga tend to be morality tales, and if there's any moral to take away from Orochi it's how badly a lie can ruin a life. Rumi and Emi's relationship is ruined not by the family curse, but by a secret that Emi knows. This lie snowballs until Rumi loses her mind, ruining everything around her. Chie lies about the circumstances of her husband's death, and that comes back to bite her monkey-paw style as her husband's revived (and slowly decaying) corpse slowly but surely hunts her down. Orochi might be the most supernatural creature here, but she's most certainly not the monster here.
ART:
Umezz got his start in rental manga and early shojo horror, and even though this was published in a shonen magazine it's still visually rooted in the shojo style of the late 60s. That means most of our limited cast is female, with perfect porcelain doll looks that sadly sacrifice motion for beauty and consistency. About the only time their placid faces move is when they are injured or scream...which in fairness is fairly often. Even the paneling is pretty stiff and most of the backgrounds tend to be inky dark rooms.
Occasionally Umezz lets loose with the horror, and those are the best points. Moments like Rumi's fiery breakdown, Saburo clawing his way out of his own grave, and the slow breakdown of his mind and body as it decays are striking and will likely be the parts I still remember long after this review is posted.
PRESENTATION:
Most people will probably be surprised to learn that this is not the first time Viz published this manga. In fairness, it seems that they only put out a single story 20 years ago (and not one of the ones in this volume). It was not a great time for horror manga outside of maybe Uzumaki, so not shockingly this release went completely unnoticed. Thankfully, this new release is much better with a fresh new translation from Jocelyne Allen, fine paper, and a fancy hard cover complete with shiny red foil.
So yeah, technically this isn't a new manga but its previous release was so obscure that I'm letting this instance slide.
RATING:
This series is published by Viz. This series is complete in Japan with 6 volumes available. 3 volumes have been released and are currently in print.
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