BRIDE OF DEIMOS (Deimosu no Hanayome), written by Etsuko Ikeda & art by Yuho Ashibe. First published in 1975, and first published in North America in 2005.
PLOT:
Minako Ifu is a lovely and hopeful girl, but ever since the fateful day she encountered Deimos, the Greek god of fear, her life has been haunted by misery and death. Deimos believes her to be the reincarnation of Venus and wants Minako as his bride. When she refuses, he torments her by making those around Minako suffer in a supernatural fashion. Even when Deimos does not directly interfere, Minako's life becomes increasingly infested with monsters of all shapes and sizes with agendas of their own.
STORY:
Once again, we're looking at a horror anthology, but where more notable ones like Pet Shop of Horrors is mostly sedate and moody, Bride of Deimos is soaked in pure 1970s shojo melodrama. It's a lot all at once, but if you're game for some serious camp it can be a good time.
While this is an anthology, it's a lot less formalized in structure then a lot of other horror anthology manga. From fairly early on, Ikeda shakes up the formula of "Deimos torments Minako," letting Minako take the lead in investigating the strange goings-on around her and not making Deimos the cause of every ill omen. That's a good thing because Bride of Deimos certainly can't support itself on personality.
Deimos is a total drama queen. When he's not glowering and dramatically posing, he's weeping over his lost love. He's an enormous dick, but I'd be lying if I said that he wasn't an entertaining dick. Just try not to scream when he goes into his tragic backstory if you're a mythology nerd like me, because it turns a minor son of Ares into a Byronic figure punished by Jupiter for loving his twin sister Venus (who is traditionally his mother, which only adds another dimension of weirdness). Meanwhile, Minako is mostly there to react to all the strangeness around her, be it shock, dread, agony, or sadness. Meanwhile, the various victims around her fare no better. If anything I feel sorry for them, if simply because they got too close to a very nondescript girl and her extremely jealous, petty, and shape-shifting stalker.
Yet I couldn't quite stop reading it. Part of the reason is that there were some stories with unique spins or concepts, such as the Princess Kaguya reimagined as a werewolf tale or a ghost story that involves mad science and possessed concrete. Part of it was just that it was such an emotional ride. Every feeling is heightened, every twist is thrilling, and you can't help but wonder what spectacle Bride of Deimos will present you with next.
ART:
Unlike most of the older shojo artists that get published here, Ashibe wasn't part of any larger artistic movement like the Magnificent Forty-Niners. Nonetheless, her art is very much of that era, and those who love their shojo art to be full of flowing hair, jeweled eyes, and dreamy, theatrical montages will find much to please them here. Her panels and pages tend to be busier than a lot of her peers and not quite as free-flowing, but there are times where she creates elegant compositions full of decadence and emotion. Her art also gets noticeably better and more ambitious as the volume goes on, which bodes well for the rest of the series.
RATING:
Bride of Deimos is a bit of a campy mess that coasts more on atmosphere than on character, but it's enjoyable nonetheless if you let the ridiculousness and old-school art wash over you.
This series was published by ComicsOne. This series is complete in Japan with 17 volumes available. 7 volumes were published and are currently out of print.
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