Manga Review: The Disturbingly Horrific ‘Gyo’ By Junji Ito

Gyo by Junji Ito is a truly terrifying display into the mind of the horror manga storyteller. Seeing the horrific images of the story in front of your eyes adds an extra layer of intensity for the reader, such as myself. I have been a fan of him a long time and have started re-reading his work, and for my first read over, I picked Gyo. 

The story follows a couple that is on vacation at a family beach house in Okinawa. The girlfriend, Kaori, who we learn has a very sensitive nose, begins to smell something horrible and continues to complain about it to her boyfriend, Tadashi. As they start an argument, a ‘fsssssss’ noise is heard, followed by an awful smell and what appears to be a creature scurrying around. Kaori begins to freak out and begs her boyfriend to do something about it. 

Tadashi, after a bit of a chase, ends up squishing the creature using a dresser. He then unveils what the creature actually is – which is a fish with legs. Freaked out due to the situation, they go back to their home in Tokyo and visit Tadashi’s uncle who is a scientist and owns the vacation home that they stayed in, to tell him what had happened to them on the trip. Tadashi’s uncle turns on the television to see that Okinawa has now fallen victim to the ‘walking fish.’

As the plot thickens, we start to really see the terrifying mind that is Junji Ito. The entirety of Japan is now falling to the ‘walking’ fish that we learn are carrying a disease that is fueling the machines that they are attached to, making the fish look like they are walking. The disease has spread to humans too, making them bloat and create gas. The bodies of the fish also begin to decompose, leaving the machines without a host. But now the diseased people are beginning to fall into the walking contraptions, making them the new host. 

Ito’s storytelling paired with the horrifying drawings makes for a delicious horror combo. One of my favorite parts of his stories is how well the characters’ expressions are drawn, as well as the details of all the gore. It truly can make your skin crawl as you see exactly how the story is being played out, and how terrified the characters truly are. The details within the images are truly gruesome, from showing the stench, to the details on the diseased people. If you’re into horror and anime/manga, I strongly suggest you get into Junji Ito. This manga, while can be disturbing, is a good read for any horror fan.