Title: Gyo

Author & Artist: Junji Itou

Chapters: 1-19 (Completed)

Summary

There’s something in the water… and it reeks. It doesn’t take Tadashi and his girlfriend Kaori long to realize the smell is coming from dead fish. But these fish don’t seem to stay dead for you see they are able to walk right out of the sea. A metal contraption is fused together with the dead fish giving it the ability to walk. But that isn’t the only thing Tadashi has to worry about. These dead creatures are infected with a disease that spreads throughout the cities of Japan. Tadashi looks for answers and, surprisingly, he gets more than he can hold.

The Good

Creepy Factor

Seeing as we are nearing Halloween, people tend to loosen up since they will be going into holiday mode pretty soon. And what a perfect way to celebrate the horrid day than with “scary” stuff. This is a good read for such an occasion. It has the elements of a horror flick in the making. Dead fish in killer zombie mode, mutation disease, apocalyptic setting, and a shark! Well you’re just going to have to read it to get what I just said.

Interesting Plot

Usually when watch or reading about the zombie apocalypses, we get the back story of how it came to be. More than not it is always the government’s fault. Here, it’s a little bit different and one I enjoyed thoroughly throughout the reading. I won’t spoil it, but it does involve a little bit of history that very well makes the plot seem realistic.

The Bad

The Girlfriend

I could not stand Kaori throughout the reading. All she did in the story was whine her ass off. I don’t know why Tadashi stuck with her so long. Though I did like a certain event that involved her, I can’t spoil the rest. Let’s just say it wasn’t a good event.

The Ending

I didn’t hate the ending, but I was disappointed. All I can say is certain events lead to a conflict with Tadashi and his girlfriend… and his uncle…and his uncle’s love interest. This conflict felt like it came out of nowhere seeing as I didn’t see this conflict before. Not only that, but the overall story isn’t exactly summed up either. A sequel to the manga hinted its existence. Though I don’t see anything wrong with that, I have liked a better conclusion to this story.

Overall

For a Halloween read, it’s worth looking at. That’s also probably why I’m going easy on it. Plus it’s short, so why not? I give Gyo a 4 out of 5.

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