Check these out if you’re looking a dose of spooky and creepy shoujo manga that can be read within the extra hour many of us have this weekend.
“The Eye of the Needle”
by Yumi TAMURA
SUPER NATURAL POWERS WILD COM. © 1999 Yumi TAMURA/SHOGAKUKAN
[Included in the single-volume collection WILD COM. from VIZ Media.]
If you pay any attention to the manga-tagged entries on this blog, you are already well aware of my love for Tamura’s Basara series and my fervent hope that her latest manga, 7 SEEDS, will be licensed for North American publication.
Tamura is a manga-ka who routinely shatters the stereotypes typically associated with shoujo- and josei-targeted stories with challenging material and incredibly multi-faceted characters. Lest this sound high-brow, she also has a warped sense of humor that ranges from the silly to the very dark.
“The Eye of the Needle” runs about 60 pages and follows an up-and-coming male model who is targeted by a stalker. It’s unrelenting, creepy, and tightly paced. It also could easily be placed alongside many of the short stories adapted for the old Alfred Hitchcock television anthologies.
“Jewels of the Seaside”
by Keiko NISHI
4 Tales by Shojo Artist Keiko Nishi
Story and Art by Keiko NISHI
[Included in the single-volume collection LOVE SONG: 4 Tales by Shojo Artist Keiko Nishi from VIZ Media.]
The back of the book describes the stories included in this collection as “four tales of love and hate.”
That’s putting it mildly.
“Jewels of the Seaside” crosses into truly lurid territory as two charming sisters tell an unexpected male houseguest about the events that led them to live full-time in their beautiful — yet remote — vacation home at the beach.
The North American edition of these stories was published back in 1997/1998, so it’s presented in the old, “flipped” format. Don’t let that be an excuse. The collection is stellar, and it’s still available via libraries and some of the usual retailers.