Manga Review: Is Goth Bloody Good or Just Bloody?
When I picked it up, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from the manga version of Goth. "Gothic" is a loaded term that evokes images of black lace-clad Lolitas and Victorian-era horror ala Edgar Allen Poe and Bram Stoker. However, with Goth, author Otsuichi and manga-ka Kenda Oiwa (Welcome to the NHK) remind us that "Gothic" stories don't have to be set in the 1800's to elegantly grotesque and morbidly decadent.
Rather than setting these stories in a Victorian-era Europe, the short stories of Goth take place in contemporary Japan. In a way, these stories are almost creepier because they are set in a world very similar to our everyday reality.
So what makes these stories "Goth"? Mostly it’s the main characters' fascination with death. To the casual observer, Yoru and Itsuki look like normal, albeit serious and quiet high school students. But both share a dark secret: They're fascinated by murderers and the dark side of the human psyche. As their fates become intertwined, their flirtation with death puts them in the path of killers who just might make this twisted couple their next victims.
Check out my review of Goth by Otsuichi and Kendi Oiwa from TokyoPop, and see if this modern tale of murder is chilling and compelling, or just plain old creepy.
Image credit: © Otsuichi, Kenda Oiwa
Comments
I find it repulsive that they would title the book with such a generic term that doesn’t even pertain to what “goth” really is. I could understand “A Gothic tale” or something. But ugh thats just plain awful. “Goth” is a music scene and subculture, while “gothic” is a descriptive word. I suppose they don’t understand what it really is, *sigh*