Ibitsu

I love urban legends and all sorts of folk lore from around the world. I personally love British and Japanese of these two things, the latter always seems dark and twisted full of unhappy souls and revenge seeking creatures. Again, something I love to read about.

I found this manga but bumbling around online as I often find things, by accident and out of sheer boredom. The manga is two volumes long with a story to break the main one up between. So it's not a long one to finish and it's not ongoing.

[2009]

A boy went to take his trash out late one night, and found a strange, creepy, lolita woman sitting amongst the garbage bags. She asked if he had a little sister, and he answered her, hurrying afterwards back to his apartment. When he looked out the window, she was gone. Who is the strange woman, and why does she give him such a bad feeling? 

The urban legend in the manga goes as follows.

You see a girl dressed in dirty gothic lolita clothing, if you walk past her she will ask you a question 'Do you have a little sister?' if you reply 'No I don't' She will become your sister. If you say 'I do' she'll try and kill your sister and take her place. The only way to avoid dying horridly is to not reply.

It was slow to start with as girl in lolita clothes gets more and more creepy and stalker like as the manga goes on, odd things happening as she breaks into his house to clean, and watch him sleep and other things all the while he's trying to figure out what is wrong with this girl.

He has a little sister who comes face to face with the creepy girl and things get worse for them both as soon the boy starts to realise more and more that this strange girl who is stalking him might be more then that as he hears of urban legends floating around and rumours of this 'Strange Lolita' cause him to look online for more answers, when he finds them they aren't good.

While trying to find the answers on how to get the girl to stop his own sister is being chased down and punished more by the strange girl. Soon he finds himself in an old mental hospital as all the secrets and abusive past the girl had come to light and he tries to make things right to get the bitter soul to leave him and his sister alone.

But as with most tales and folklore from Japan, it's a bitter twisted world.

The story that fits between one half and the other is really creepy. Again based on a legend that if you go into this old building as a couple and write your names down you will be happy forever. The building was where a famous doll marker lived and suffered losing his wife which drove him nuts.

Too many creepy fucking dolls man. Was very good read though.

Like I said it's a slow start and seems to drag it's feet as is typical with alot of J horror but when it gets going you feel a little on edge and feel yourself tense as the truth comes about and everything slots together in a twisted way.

Story: 4/5

Art: 4/5

Gore: 3/5

Scares: 1/5

Pacing: 3/5

Overall enjoyment: 4/5

READ IT HERE 

Jigsaw

xxx

The Doll Master

I know Korea seems to be the new Japan to all trend hunting weebs and nerds out there. Now Japan with it's J rock, and pop, anime and fashion is so mainstream it's not cool to like it any more and now Korean music, fashion and film have become the new great hip thing as it's all about K pop and K drama and all that.. lala.

I don't think I've seen a K horror and to be honest? THE DOLL MASTER has been in my collection for years now and I have only just gotten around to watching it. I thought it was Japanese at a glance and it was like.. 50p so that was enough reason to buy it.

I didn't buy it cus I'm all hip and cool and chasing new trends... that's not me at all.

Anywho.. Doll Master

[2004]

I've done some reading into Japanese folklore and yokai legends but never ever Korean so when I started to get a handle of the plot I thought it was very Japanese. In Japan they believe that an item will take on a soul if it becomes 100 years old and other reasons and there for you either have to pay respect when removing it from this world or love it.

This plot is basically dolls can feel a powerful love and take on a soul and those dolls who are wronged come back and seek revenge on the people who did it. I have to tell everyone now I find dolls fucking creepy and I reallllly hate BJDs [Ball Jointed Dolls] which again I have always seen as part of the Japanese culture.

So the movie starts with a story. A man and women love each other and he's a doll maker, he makes a doll that looks like his wife as a gift, but the doll loves him back and takes on a life of it's own. One day he comes back and his wife has been murdered.

Four men from the town assume it was him and murder him, burying him out in the woods. The doll he made sits by his grave forever.

Que to present day where a famous doll maker invites four people to the house to have dolls made based on them. A sculptor, a photographer, a novelist who owns a creepy ass BJD and a teenage girl. The sculptor bumps into a model along the way and they are apparently coming along for the ride.

They all get to the house and are introduced by obviously up to something host who decides to allow gate crasher model stay. Everyone has things explained and they all get their rooms. Each room has a fucking hideous and creepy looking doll related object around the house and they are not just ugly but realllllly fucking ugly.

If that was me and I had to stay in a room with one of those mother fucking things I'd just sleep in the hall way or in the garden or in the crematory.. or haunted shed next door..... or in my own shit.

So everyones very happy and at peace in the strange house thats full of creepy fucking dolls and two creepy hosts.. The doll maker and her brother. Anyway so everything is ok until the quite novelist with the doll decides to fucking freak out.

She claims her doll is alive and talks to her and right now she can't hear him but can hear so many other voices, she has a massive spazz attack and needs to be held down. She falls alseep and it taken to her room. Sculper girl meets a young girl called Mina along the way who seemes to know her but she has no remerence of her..

Mina the strange young girl still on her mind she goes back to the house and is pretty much attached by the crazy bitch, someones 'killed' her doll. And apparently the correct way of killing a doll with a spirit is to smash their eyes in and behead them as souls enter the body and leave the body via the eyes. I guess it's to go with the whole legend of eyes being the gate way to a persons soul.

So odd things happen along the way, creepy dolls, moving dolls, thinking you see things in the corner of your eye, eyes moving and following you around the room. Everything is done with purpose but also subtle.. so you'll notice every little thing but not because it has been pushed into your face but due to pacing and changes in the overall mood and feeling.

So soon the first murder has happened and things get crazy one after another end up getting killed in horrid ways by disgusting doll things. Including ones which are put behind tolilets.. whoever decided that was an awesome idea.. it wasn't.

Creeeepy.

Maybe this movie wont have the same effect on someone who isn't bothered by dolls or such things but as someone who gets massive uncanny valley feels this movie has me on edge abit and waiting for next horrible thing to happen. So Mina the young girl has become stranger and stranger and we later find she's more then we realise.

I won't give any more away but the best part of this movie was the women who plays Mina. There is a very gripping and heart wrenching bit at the end and her acting is so beautful and powerful I forgot I was watching something a little dated and a little low budget as none of that made any difference. 

This movie is well paced, the gore is good and the acting is pretty bloody good. 

The thing with alot of Asian horror I have seen is they are either trying to be too 'whacky' or they tend to always look dated and low budget despite being recent or not that old. This one still has that low paid vibe but not to the extent alot I've seen.. but to be honest that is one of the best things about Asian horror..

Where it's not big flashy or polished it looks and feels more real, a gritty unplesent feeling from it. 

Anyway this movie was enjoyable, the plot was super natural but not corny and the gore was good and nothing felt too staged.

Nice surprise.

Scares: 2/5

Plot: 4/5

Pacing: 4/5

Gore: 1/5

Acting: 4/5

Overall enjoyment: 4/5

Love

XJigsawX

Audition

(1997 and translated to English in 2009)

By  Ryu Murakami

 

 

First things first. I have never ever struggled to read a book as much as I did this one, not cus it's some badly translated item or really gory or hard to read but it's like a massive cock tease, you know from the movie shit will happen but it takes so long to get anywhere... ugh..

 

Anyway review.

 

The book is 200 pages long and I very much recall that the action did not start until page 173 so for those 27 pages that aren't dull as fuck, they are rushed. It really felt like at the start of the book he had all the time in the world and even went into detail on NBA matches the main guy was watching on TV then at the last page it's wrapped up very fast, very sloppy and causes a 'whatthefuck' when you finish it.

 

People, this is a boring book. It teases you in places, small hints of this girls horrid sordid past but then it just carries on being boring.

 

The story is highly rich and successful single parent Aoyama wants to re-marry and him and his friend decide to do it in the form of a false audition to get loads of pretty talented 'perfect' in Aoyama's eyes woman.

 

He pretty much decides from the get go that the girl for him is Yamasaki Asami who his friend keeps telling him is a bad idea, something doesn't sit right, the facts are wonky etc etc.

 

But he's got his love goggles on and ignores his friend and carries on taking her drinking to pricey meals and oh yes we have to hear every fancy meal in detail and every fucking detail about the way Yamasaki Asami  looks and moves.. I have a funny feeling the author may have been into her going by how it's written.

 

So Yamasaki Asami  is told that the thing she auditioned for crashed and burned but she's just happy to be with him blah... she's in his eyes THE PERFECT WOMAN. They go on holiday together and have sex.. I have never read a book that mentions 'HER LUST CRAZED PUSSY' in my life, I thought I was reading 50 shades of shite.

 

The sex scene is well written but not interesting, more author boners for his own character.. She soon vanish without a trace.

 

And here comes page 173 where you see her true colours and shit goes down. Now, the gore when it gets to it, is detailed and great and made me cringe and gasp in places, was horrid. I mean if you wanna read the book just simply skip to page 173 and carry on from there or watch the just as boring movie and fast forward to the last half hour.

 

It's such a shame it's so boring as the writing itself is good and the gore when it gets there is amazing. Also like I said, the last page looks like a rush it was pretty much 'so this chick I just killed.. whats that about?' 'oh nothing'  'Oh ok, cool' the fucking hell?

 

But moral of the story is, don't date a woman you know little about and is perfect or else you'll end up missing a foot and with a dead dog.

 

Plot: 2.5/5

Gore: 5/5

Pacing: 0/5

Writing: 4/5

Characters: 1/5

Overall enjoyment: 1/5

Birthday

So I love Koji Suzuki's work and have almost read all of his works and just finished BIRTHDAY which is alot like DARK WATER in the sense it is a collection of smaller stories in one book only all the small stories in this one relate to the RING story.

            (1999)

We have three stories in BIRTHDAY which go into more detail of things that happened in the other books.

COFFIN IN THE SKY

Is about what happens to Mai Takano the student of Ruji in the first book, what happens when she vanishes and can't be found. It's a grim and sad little story about the pretty young woman's fate but a gripping story, the shortest of all three I believe but very much my favourite.

LEMON HEART

Is about Sadako's adult life when she was part of the theatre group soaring which is touched lightly upon in RING and is the story line of the movie RING 0. It goes into alot of detail about the woman who know as Sadako, how she lived in her later life and more about her. Another good story and it gives us more feelings towards her then the movies give us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Goes into detail about the wife of the main man in LOOP and about her and the child in her belly. I think this was the longest story but also not the best one. It's not creepy in anyway it's just a nice soft story that yet again fills in the blanks not mentioned. It is also the final conclusion of the RING universe story.

I think you need to have read the other three to enjoy this book, it's very much not a stand alone book like you could say for SPRIAL or RING. It's good at tying up loose ends not mentioned in the other three novels it's also not clustered or dragging like some parts of the other novels it's more to the point and gets to heart of it better as sometimes I find with Koji's work it can be a little waffling on.

So out of the three COFFIN IN THE SKY was my most liked one and the least interesting was HAPPY BIRTHDAY but not one of them was bad. It's a good book and again well written and gripping enough to keep you reading but casual enough you don't feel it's a task.

Plot: 4/5

Scares: 0/5

Gore: 1.5/5

Over all enjoyment: 4/5

To buy BIRTHDAY go here

XJigsawX

The Horror Mansion

While bored and having a look around online for something else to have a read of while my partner spends all night playing Saints Row the third I came across this manga. It's a collection of short horror stories. It's kinda like 'Are you afraid of the dark?' or 'Goosebumps'

1987

By Ochazukenori

About a woman who is driven crazy by stalker like phone calls.

A brother and sister who are awkwardly close, he gets a girlfriend who happens to be his sister's best friend and there is jealousy to be had as well as human spiders and a very strange sex scene.

A couple go to the beach together and the girl is confronted by a mother who has lost her child.. Another tragic water themed horror story, I sense a theme in Japanese horror.

A good old fashion cannibal story.

This is a very short story, follows on from the last panels of the story before it. A one way love story with grim endings.

A really wtf and gory story of the evil COUNT KEVIN! [I hope that was a translation mistake..]

A three part story about two sisters cursed by a lake.

Horror Mansion Manga 2

Much longer then the last few, about a father and his girl who soon finds out the sick measures he has gone to keep her close and what happened to her mother. My fav story so far, it's sick and grim.

A bitter sweet story about two lovers who make the ultimate promise but there is betrayal. Also LESBIANS.

Oh yes there's two more parts to the adventures of COUNT KEVIN!

And now for some crazy Japan. A jealous lover catches her love sleeping with another woman and kills her. A witch then decides she will be reborn as her lover and the other woman's child...

I don't really know what to say about this one other then odd family affairs and bitches be crazy.

No girls with long hair trying to kill you in this. A short story to go out with, a tape that tells the future.

These manga's and all the short stories are pretty good reads, some are far too short like maybe 5 pages long? The art style has it's own arty style and it's nice to see manga as old as this and seeing how far it has come since 25 years ago in leaps and bounds.

Some old school style horror stories with not too much of Japan's whackyness. If you want to read something gory, short and fast paced this is good but if your someone who likes length and real plot then give this a miss as you can sometimes find yourself really getting into it and then it just comes to an end.

Art: 3/5

Gore: 5/5

Plots: 4.5/5

Scares: 1/5

Overall enjoyment 4.5/5

Wish some had been longer.

TO READ HORROR MANSION

XJigsawX

The Enigma Of Amigara Fault

This is a short story by the man who did Uzamaka/Sprial [ Junji Ito]and it's part of a horror collection called GYO. It's an odd short story but it's a creepy one.

There is an earthquake in Japan and a huge fault down the mountain is made, people rush over to it to see more about it. A really odd thing has happened, they all find human shaped holes in the side and no one not even a wired camera can see the other side.

Our main guy goes to have a look and bumps into a girl who claims one of the holes is 'her hole' and looks just like her but he refuses to believe such a thing.

He walks with the girl and stays by her side while everyone is trying to work out what this all means, how did those human holes get there? why are they there? They soon meet a man who has found 'his hole' and without a second thought takes off his clothes and decides it's a good idea to walk down the hole.

They send out a rescue team to try and save him but no one else can fit into this mans own personal hole and so they give up. Our main man starts to have nightmares about the hole, how there is something not right, something evil about the holes.

People start to freak out and get almost hypnotised by their holes when they see them and soon others join in. Including our guys new rather nutty girlfriend.

In despair of having his new girl vanish down the hole he stumbles upon his own one, and taken over by some sort of force he also enters..

And soon the research crew find the other side...

Short story so short review. I found this by accident by seeing loads of online things about Drrrrr drrrrr and 'This is my hole it was made for me' so I googled and found this story. I was already a huge fan of Junji Ito's dark and creepy work and this was good. I wish it had been longer though.

Scares: 2/5

Plot: 4/5

Art: 4/5

Overall enjoyment: 4.5/5

If you wish to read GO HERE

XJigsawX

Yokai Attack!: The Japanese Monster Survival Guide

I came across this book awhile ago due to my convention going and attending an Japanese inspired horror panel which was both fun, silly and informative. So instead of doing reviews on movies I've seen recently or Lollipop Chainsaw I decided to do one on this fun book.

It's always interesting to compare different parts of the world's cultures to one another and see how different things are. Super natural and the occult are no different, it could spout from which religion is most dominate in a country or the lifestyle and history of a county.

I mean our UK history is very different, we have so many medieval castles seeped in spooky stories, stories of being taken over by the devil, the hounds of baskervile, the legend of bodmin moore.. and then Scotland's lockness monster. Mexico has it's Chupacabra and theres so much more in every corner and crack of the globe.

So it really is cool to find out about other places folklore's and supernatural and I have to admit Japan has some awesome ones.  The way they live their lives and what they believe in is very heavily hinted in their supernatural tales such as unclean bathrooms bringing monsters.

Also the taboo subject of the repression of woman in the nation. Many movies have shown this SHUTTER, RING, JU-ON and DARK WATER along with many others. There is a reason why alot of these horror stories are based on an angry female spirit.

There are alot of female based ghouls in the Japanese folktales and this book goes into the old, the gross and the mighty fine.

So on to the book!

While informing us of the demons and nasties it has a very comical approach to things and a light hearted read about things that might otherwise be pretty creepy to the average viewer. Now YOKAI is what they call these spirits like we call things.. ghosts.

The book isn't hefty but has alot of different monsters in it and in sections. One which will focus on silly spirits such as a 'Mokumoku Ren' which is simply a paper wall with eyes on it then the more well known ones such as Onibaba and Kappa's and as I said..  a whole section on angry woman spirits such as a jealous woman who would drown those she saw in a happy relationship... woman.. pft.

The pages are set out like fact files which are interesting and gets to the basics, their Japanese name, what it means, what it basically is. I mean there is an invisible wall for a bad spirit in one section, it has some crazy things in it!

After the fact page it goes into more depth of the nasty. Each creature gets about three pages on it so it's not just a skimming read on the spirit but a pretty good story telling piece. Back stories, history and some more.

Each one has a picture, some are nicer to look at then others and some pictures look abit armature and blah but if your not a fussy art person [X-men comics have spoilt me for good art..] then you won't mind at all.

Now along with the silly ghosts and funny laid back style of the book along side some rather goofy pictures you will get a taste of Japanese culture and why some of these things come to be. Also some of these spirts sound messed up and make me feel glad to not be in Japan!

My only real moan about this book is 95% of it is in colour for me and then the last few ghosts it was like their budget for colour ran out and they just gave up on it.. or maybe that's just my copy? either way it's a very sloppy end to an other wise awesome little piece and view into another worlds supernatural realms.

It really is nice seeing how different other peoples darker worlds are. I would love to do more reading on Yokai's and see what other cultures have to offer me!

The book retails brand new for  £10 I think it was which isn't bad! and if you want another look into this book they have an official website here. YOKAI ATTACK!

Info: 4.5/5

Length: 3.5/5

Art: 2.5/5

Scares: 0/5

Overall read: 5/5

XJIGSAWX

Nerd Pride

Well I recently bought a large cut out from a mag of Battle Royale when it came out like 12 years ago, best £1 I ever spent and it's framed and looking mo-foing fly in my hall way.

XJigsawX

Battle Royale 2: Requiem

IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN BATTLE ROYALE ONE DO NOT READ THIS REVIEW. SPOILERS LIKE MAD.

(2003)

Battle Royale was such an amazing movie and novel and a squeal was no doubt what every fan was looking forward to... or dreading. When I first watched BR 1 and then found out there was a second? I leaped at the chance to watch it.

Sadly it was so.... nothing compared to it.

The books ending was so beautiful and well done that the start of BR2 makes no sense and ruins it. And also Shuya becoming a terrorist? hmm it seems abit taboo and but hurty. I didn't like the new game. In the book and first movie it was about how Japan was going into melt down and the youth of that generation was out of control and something needed to be done to stop it.

Thus the BR act.

But this time the 42 unlucky kids are not so much as 'randomly picked' as 'Hey these kids are shit and in a shit kids school.. no one will miss them if they die, they are just in the way anyway' attitude.

The set up to the game is rough and like a bull in a china shop compared to the well structured and paced opening scene of the first. Also it seems BR2 is so far clutching at the coattails of it's older brother so far. They have a 'touching class scene' where everyone signs a rugby ball, not that unseemlier from the photo of Noriko, Shuya and Nobu in the first.

Second when they are in the game intro room they have a similar 'Nobu Shuya' moment but with kids no one could care about as so far they all have the personalty of a bag of bricks.

The new teacher is also annoying as fuck, least Kitano was lonely and you felt something for him the whole way through but god, this? Also Kitano's kid has joined in the fun of BR2 cus you can sign up for it online... hm.

So this time it's not 42 students have to off each other in a three day time frame but 42 students are paired up [Boy 1 is with Girl 1 for example] and have to take on Shuya and his terrorist gang. The random factor of weapons chosen is out as they want these no good kids to do their war for them.

If your partner dies then you die via the collar system or if they are 500 meters away [I believe?] they also die.  They still have the thing with if you are in a forbidden zone when your not meant to be, you also get your head exploded.. and the three day time frame remains.

The action starts right away and they are shipped to the island where Shuya and co are and they manage to blow up a dingy full of students already... so there goes alot with no care what so ever. Least in the first one you got a small glimpse into most the students ways of dying or something but no, not this one.

So int he first 3 mins of the game we go from 40 to 28...

The 'Tag Team' element is new and must such for people as you need your partner to not be a douchebag, selfish or useless so that part is new and a .. little interesting but I feel it's too little to keep this movie ins the 'fresh' or 'good' mind set.

Like is your doing well at the game and your partner decides to be a div and run away from you... yeah your dead too. I'm not sure if this was a try at a clever and new spin on the plot or a way of knocking down alot of cast as not to pay them as much or to avoid needing to write so much in..

Don't get me wrong there are some touching bits of the movie where bonds of friendship are there bust as I said before, almost everyone personality is that of a bag of bricks. hard to feel for anyone really.

The cheerful announcements of the dead are also once again used to tell everyone who has died but it seems a pointless thing since they are pretty much all bundled together with the same mission but hey what do I know?

There is also a diabetic girl running low on insulin so sucks to be her partner.

So with 14 people left and me with hour and thirty mins left to endure. Kitano's kid leads the charge, more people die and they rush Shuya's hobo tower to try and end it while there are still some of them left.

They rush camp Shuya and get surrounded and as contemplation of peace comes up someone opens their big mouth and more shooting and pointless death. Kitano's girl is fully up for revenge on Shuya even though in the first movie it seemed like she hated her father. She is badass and often leads the charge and won't give up which puts everyone else up shit creek.

And Shuya looks like a gay jedi these days.

Alot of collars then start to make noises and Shuya who this can only bring up bad memories for gets his gang to use their EMP device and stops the collars from blowing up saving the doomed partners of people who just got fucked up and also losing the signal to everyone the government and teacher who's popping pills like mad for some reason send in the real troops to sort things out.

Annnnnd half way through it becomes more of a war story then anything else and I've already lost interest by that point but I carry on anyway. My point is it's just not the first movie and there isn't enough ties to the first to save it.

Our main hero always pulls a face and looks really bug eyed, I think the casting could maybe have been abit better but then again I know shit all about who is big in Japan and who isn't.. but the bug eyes took away any drama there could have been cus that's all you can focus on haha

So..

Gore:  3/5

Story: 1.5/5

Casting: 2/5

Over all enjoyment: 1/5

XJigsawX

Battle Royale

Well I have been on a HUGE Battle Royale kick as of late. I've read the manga and the book years ago and also watched the movie a good 100 times in the past too but I managed to tell a friend about how amazing BR novel was and she went out and bought it and since she has used me as a library all year I decided to borrow it and my god it's just as fantastic as I remember.

And trust me that it's an awesome kind of writer who makes you want to re-read his 2 inch thick book of normal sized text. His style is so easy to read and once you get past the ten odd pages of waffle and get to the actual story it's very hard to put it down.

So this review we will cover the manga, the movie and the novel.

Now as with everything there are difference in novel to movie and there are for the most part some big changes in the movie but nothing that takes away from the beauty of this awesome story. The manga follows the novel pretty well from what I remember [I can't remember great shakes about the manga] only VERY over sexualised I am sick of hearing the term 'pink' and other sexual things.

Yes someone does get raped in the novel and I do think there is a sex scene later but they are not over glorified they are mentioned and moved on, he is detailed in his setting the scene and gore details but doesn't focus on the more dirty side of things where as the manga drowns the story in it.

Despite the two being very close to each other the manga is very shit, the over sexed bits and I find the art ugly as sin I also think the way they do Shuya and Nobu is abit.. off not how I mentally see them in the novel and for some reason a boy who is only a year older then them IE Kawada looks like he's 30 and joined the marines.... what.

Everyone is far too 'bishi' for my liking too. Oh and Shinji doesn't do back flips and ninja stunts in the novel. That I think was a big change from novel to manga. Like I said re-reading the novel now and was ages since I saw the manga.

They draw girls and gore really, really well but the men? nope.

The novel as I said is about 2 inch's thick but it goes by so fast when you into it. He paints a very good picture in your head as you read it, the setting the scene, going into the raw emotions the people feel, something that isn't half as good in the manga but admirably done in the movie.

His gore is classic, it's gross, well detailed but not corny or over done. You really like characters in this book and feel for them.

Also something I love about this book is that it is easy to keep track for what is going on and after each little bit that might focus on a different person or different group there is a '_ students remaining' which is a grim reminder but also a good add on so you know how the story is progressing.

I'd say to anyone that this book is worth buying. Buy It Here

I think the movie is what started my love for Asian cinema and to this day I think it is one of the best movies I have ever seen let alone best Asian movie I have ever seen. It's not corny like alot tend to be but it's ageless. It's a classic in my eyes. The cast are fantastic I even love the changes they made from the book as it didn't take away from the story it added it's own charm to it.

People die at different times in the movie to the book like Shinji comes 15th in the book and manga but comes 5th in the movie. Some people even change looks. But this story is a masterpiece. One of the big changes other then some weapons and relationships with the people is very much the teacher Kitano doesn't appear in the manga or the novel he is 'Sakamochi' who seems to LOVE being a dick and his place of power where as ther is something very different about Kitano and he has this really odd thing for Noriko which isn't anything sinister.

He seems to be a lonely man who's hated at school and hated at home and shoes loneliness he also taught the selected class before the BR act in year 6. The emotional connection to people in this movie is just as strong as in the novel I love Shinji to death and Kawada.

It's a great movie to see gore [well done gore] and to see how these kids deal with the issues at hand. If you have seen the movie please read the novel and vice verse the normal snobbery of 'never as good as the book' should be put aside for this because the changes aren't a bad thing.

The only thing that should be avoided about Battle Royale is the manga.

As you can tell Battle Royal is a massive love of mine so please excuse the gushing. But yeah, go buy it, read it and watch it.

Battle Royale Movie

2000

9/10

Battle Royale Novel

1996

10/10

Battle Royale Manga

2000 to 2005

5/10

XJigsawX

Highschool Of The Dead

Why yes I AM alive... it's been a busy, hectic ands stressful time for me in the real world so this is a fun review on something I've watched twice now.

(2010)

This anime has 12 episodes and come in both English and Japanese with English subs but if I was you... I'd really, really not watch the English version, they make jokes and references fit for the western world like 'who is she? Sarah fucking Paling?' but they are so out of place with a very obvious IN JAPAN based show and far too many curse words are added in.

It's like western audiences can't enjoy something unless there is pointless 'FUCKING A's added or something... but the Japanese version is very good /weeabo

So yes, story is the same as any good Zombie related show or movie. Normal day everyone is just doing normal shit and suddenly ZOMBIES and all of the city and later all of Japan is up shit creek.

So yeah, based on a main guy, the girl he fancies and a bunch of other students who don't know each other very well and the school nurse band together to escape the school and find a safe haven together and to survive.

They later meet a little girl and save her and normally I'm very very against whiny kids.. but she's not annoying and is very adorable, awww. So yes the show is everything you'd want for in a zombie related show and more! The gore is awesome, it's very gory and the characters for the most part pretty awesome/

The show is emotional too, you really end up liking the people and do care what happens regardless of them missing a third dimension. The animation is swish and not too typical of anime where it's all yap yap yap and no ones mouth moves. There are really good fight scenes.. some really WTF moments.

There is a matrix boob scene.. I don't know if the person who made it has even seen real tits... but son, they do NOT work like that and they certainly don't make 'badooong' noises when they move. Every girl in the show minus the little girl are smuggling large melons around to help them survive the days ahead.

The cast is pretty cliche..

Snobby rich smart girl

Main calm cool hero but doesn't want to be type

Hot girl love interest [who does kick ass]

Hot silent, serious girl

Ditsy blond with huge tits

Fat nerdy guy who comes in use.

But other then the cliche to the max cast they are good to watch and like I said it's a very gory and emotionally charged show. But I do find all the woman wanna jump on Mr calm guys dick like no tomorrow.. I don't know if it's due to him just being a 'swell guy' or the only other cock provider is a nerdy fat dork..

Either way..

OH and if you like tits and ass? this anime is full of it. Ass and tits EVERYWHERE it's a very fan serivce fuled anime and you could tell the person making it was having a very long dry spell and needed to see someones ass and tits regardless of who or whats. But if you don't mind that then this is a great anime, if your really not a fan of over sexed things... boy you will hate it in the first ten minutes.

The show also shows the nature of people who survive, we have a teacher who is nuts and saves a handful of students but turns them into a sex crazed cult who follow his every word. It's good to have a show that's kids trying to survive in the end of the world type deal and how they are forced to grow up and cope with it.

Plot: 3/5

Gore: 5/5

Animation: 4.5/5

Over all enjoyment: 5/5

I heart it.

X6X Jigsaw X6X

Ju-On / The Grudge Manga

Please excuse all terrible pics, I took them of my own copies on camera so.. yeah.

[2006]

The two manga follow the book/movie loosely but the two stories are very different and the families that suffer and the deaths are a whole new thing. If your a fan of the franchise this manga is a very good new story to go with it. I read the book and I've seen the movies tho, ages ago and I didn't make many connections.

The art in the first one is more typical of the genre manga but it's cute and nice to look at and it stills does gore very well. You have not read a manga till you've read one where a girl gets her face broke off by cats stuffing themselves into her gob. Legend.

[2006]

Follows on from the first one with an actress who's doing well in life until she goes on one of those 'most haunted' type shows. This art work is more ..pretty and a little more enticing to a reader who isn't all about Japan.

The story is a little more mature then the first one and the gore is still present just with images that make you jump when you turn the page. Best bits about this one is a woman giving birth to hair, a man being killed by a shit load of hair.. and an odd naked child running around all over the place.

DAMN bitch must use alot of shampoo...  L'Oréal because even bitter dead woman are worth it!

From what I have seen online and the fact I needed to take my OWN pictures your best bet of reading this is to buy it. My suggestion used from AMAZON your looking at about £4 per book? cheap for manga and it's very worth a read and nice to have on your shelf if your an avid fan of Asian horror.

Art: 5/5

Gore: 4/5

Scares: 3.5/5

Overall enjoyment: 4.5/5

X6XJigsawX6X