Mermaids and Spirals

Yet again, I have read another extremely short manga in horror variety. This one is the blatantly titled School Mermaid.

    The story deals with two love struck high school girls who have decided to sneak into their school at night in order to catch a mermaid from the pool. They discovered a book that told them if they eat the flesh of such a mermaid they will get the love of their dreams. They arm themselves with a kitchen knife and a crowbar and sneak into the school. After they chant the spell to unleash the mermaids though things change as their preconceptions don’t hold true to form.

    At first I thought, yawn; it’s just like Mermaid Forest but with puppy love instead of immortality. I figured I’d stick it out for all 3 issues worth of the story but by the end of it I was pleased with what happened. I was satisfied with the way it ended and the last chapter is the best. The art is bland, there is little to no character development, honestly what do you expect with 60 or so pages to tell the story in. It is quick and to the point and might even make a good movie…but they would have to add some filler to it. The execution was well done too. I can’t really say much more to make this post longer then the actual manga, but it was a good read.

On the same note I started a somewhat longer manga after reading the mermaid flesh of love one titled Uzumaki. No, for those Narutards out there, it has nothing to do with Naruto aside from the fact his last name, Uzumaki, references the spiral on his belly…I guess.

    Uzumaki is an interesting horror mystery story set in modern times in a small sea side Japanese town, where things aren’t quite right. A girl by the name of Kirie tells the story of how everyone around her began slipping into madness due to the subliminal attraction of spiral shapes in everything around them. Her boyfriend, Shuichi, was the first to notice any problem as he commutes to school outside of town and notices the ill affects the town has after being away from it. The horror starts when Shuichi’s father becomes so obsessed with spirals that he dies turning himself into one. From there it just escalates and soon everything in the town seems to be pressing down on them with the ominous spirals.

    Uzumaki literally means spiral. This manga was published around the turn of the century and produced a live action film in 2002. After reading 4 issues I am hooked into its trance. I will try and find the movie after I finish the manga as well. The best way to describe the feel of the story is to read something by H.P. Lovecraft and I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if the mangaka responsible for it was influenced by the semi-respectable author of creepy insidious outer-worldly horror. But aside from that I will write no more until I have finished reading it.