Hilarious and gory, it's a perfect balance of lightheartedness and action. I watched the anime first a while ago, and the humor just shines here much more. A bunch of parasitic aliens arrive on earth, and one called "Migi" ends up inhabiting Shinichi Izumi's right hand. Migi's failed attempt at properly "taking over", to its dismay, slowly starts developing a symbiotic relationship with Shinichi.

Migi is such a witty and snippy character. It kind of approaches life in a matter-of-fact way. It's not necessarily self-centred, but self-preservation is its ultimate goal while being Shinichi's literal right hand. You kind of start wondering if it's possible for Migi to develop empathy despite its complete contrast to a human being - even Shinichi starts evolving and grows a little fond of it.

With all the other aliens creating havoc on the planet and killing humans, Shinichi has to grapple with possibly being the only human who knows this and would like a way to stop this, and while noble, also shows that humans have a way to cherrypick whose life values the most: they don't bat an eye at the fact that cows are slaughtered for consumption, but the death of a pet like a dog feels much more painful, and humans are considered "superior" to other animals.

This strange cognitive dissonance is something that confounds Migi, and it gives a pretty interesting philosophical lens from a "blank slate." And yet, it does seem to very slowly understand the complexity of the human moral compass. Migi is definitely the shining star of the book. The manga always remains pretty lighthearted with tons of comic relief, and none of the sci-fi gets very complex, so this is an amazing read if you love horror and don't mind gore without a solemn tone. Great artwork as well.

Thank you Kodansha USA Publishing and NetGalley for the arc, I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

[3.75 stars] A very fun story about Kyoko, who survives a volcanic eruption and has "angel hair", and develops psychic powers afterwards.

I understand the complaints about the story not being as fleshed out, but I personally really enjoyed it, especially with the reporter's investigational. It has that cosmic horror/Lovecraftian streak I love. The artwork in this case is probably a tad superior to the narrative itself, but I think it compensated for it pretty well.

It's funny to read Junji Ito being a bit hesitant and unconfident in the afterword, I think like he says himself, it feels like the narrative was "controlling him" in a way, but that makes it much more mysterious and creepy. Loved the part with the suicide bugs, and the cult leader's grotesque face and his obsession with the Akashic Records.

Solid anthology that is progressively better with each story. For some I reason the translation here feels a bit awkward at times, compared to other Junji Ito's work.

I enjoyed Blood Orb Grove, Flesh-Colored Mystery and Moan the most. Flesh-Colored Mystery was just a little weird in terms of why that aunt was throwing the mixture at different people, didn't feel like an adequate enough justification. Overall fun collection, wouldn't say it's Junji It's strongest work but it's definitely not the weakest either.

"Be assimilated, or be eaten alive. But the great thing about being a self-destructive piece of shit is that you get really, really good at creating other options. In fact, that's how you live your life."

This is a messy, wild ride about Jennifer Plummer and the Divine Flesh, an eldritch goddess, who resides in her body. They both loathe each other, and the prose is quite chaotic, which also reflects their erratic and unstable relationship. That kind of stylistic choice often makes for an intentional havoc of gore, mixed with some comic relief. But I personally find it hard to keep up with because of that.

There's a lot of grime and disturbing descriptions, and the author is really good at making you feel like you're in those sticky situations that you just gotta wash away in the shower. Unfortunately it also means that while I'm still "stuck" on a certain section, it moves on to a new jumbled scene and my confusion just compounds.

I do enjoy the humor and personality of The Divine Flesh, She acts like a whiny teen at times (who's super down bad for Jennifer's ex husband, Daryl lol), that it actually makes Jennifer look very composed and stable at times. It shows a very subversive idea of a god, that we don't actually know what they're like — and like Daryl, a lot of people elevate the idea of gods on paper (unless they no longer meet their expectations). It's also an interesting metaphor for how trauma quite literally embeds in you and can change you, and even the eldritch at some point becomes "weak", showing the connection b/n one's mind, body and soul.

I wish I enjoyed this more because the book is quite bold and unique with its themes, but I think the style is just not my cup of tea.

Thank you Dark Matter INK and NetGalley for the advance copy, I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

Usually I try to include a quote or two from a book in my reviews that I think somewhat captures the essence of it/represents it, but every string of words in this book is .. pure ass

I saw the plot twist 100kms away, and I'm not usually that good at predicting thrillers/mysteries. And I don't even think predictability is that huge of a factor in my enjoyment, I sometimes appreciate the journey more than the reveal itself. But that's the issue, the journey is the equivalent of constantly talking about a rollercoaster and how exciting it is without ever going on it. Too much telling instead of showing, the author really thinks you can only say goo goo ga ga and just learned how to read, I guess.

The author hinges on such lazy writing for suspense and anticipation e.g. "And then he shakes his head, almost imperceptibly. Almost like he's trying to warn me." There's constant overexposition on how scary, dangerous, creepy and weird everything is, but it's never substantiated by other descriptions. For a main protagonist who's supposed to be kind of a badass, she seems to be extremely naive when it comes to people; we're supposed to believe she's a cunning hero??

[Warning: Major spoilers from now on]

The characterization of Nina is also quite illogical. Not that she needs to be a perfect victim at all, but surely choosing someone desperate with no safety net, no housing actually makes them less likely to leave their abuser? Given the things she went through, I find it really odd that Enzo had to convince her at first to help Millie out, and she completely turned a 180 and was ready to turn herself in. Enzo's character is also such a laughing stock bc of how much of a caricature he is (not that the others are any more multidimensional). His whole mysterious aura is only defined by his "inability" to speak English. I loathe when people use other languages or cultures as a mere exotic/alien tool to mystify an ambience and personalities, and still, in this case it's such a misused plot armor bc he's been able to speak English well after all.

Despite the reveal that "the woman was being gaslighted all along and the perfect husband is the villain!" it doesn't make up for the poor character development & misogynistic sentiments that both Nina and Millie engage in. With how Enzo comes into the picture, he comes across as being the saving grace and white knight among these two "smart but hysterical" women.

Feels like this is a thriller for people who have maybe never read a thriller before, but I don't think it's worth recommending this to anyone.