おろち

OROCHI

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
6
RELEASE
July 26, 1970
CHAPTERS
62

DESCRIPTION

Ultracreepy horror comic from Japan's supreme master of the genre. Each volume is a short story on to its own.

Shimai (姉妹, Sisters)

Two sisters slowly go insane waiting for their birthdays because it is foretold that all daughters born into that family will grow ugly when they turn eighteen.
Hone (骨, Bones)

A woman plagued by misfortune throughout her life fights for happiness.
Shuusai (秀才, Prodigy)

A beautiful baby boy's life changes dramatically when a robber slices his neck to stop him from crying. His once promising future now seems dismal just because of a horrific scar.
Furusato (ふるさと, Hometown)

In the search for a better life in the city, a young man decides to leave his small village. After many years, he decides to return to the seemingly unchanging village. Orochi however can sense that something strange is going on.
Kagi (カギ, Key)

A misbehaving kid who always lies witnesses something horrific, and of course no one believes him!
Stage (ステージ)

A father pushes his son out of the way of a speeding car, only to be killed himself. Even though the son saw the hit-and-runner, the court of justice refuses to believe him because he is merely 3 years old. What happens when many years later a man that mysteriously looks just like the hit-and-runner becomes a famous singer?
Sentou (戦闘, Battle)

A son writes a poem about his selfless father. But what is the reason for his father's selflessness?
Me (眼, Eyes)

A blind girl witnesses a murder, but no one wants to believe her. Despite her blindness, she is determined to expose the truth.
Chi (血, Blood)

The younger daughter of a wealthy and powerful family grows up being constantly compared to her seemingly perfect older sister. Their mother demands perfection, and the free-spirited younger daughter who is unable to meet her mother's standards is emotionally abused throughout her childhood. Decades later, Orochi finds herself front and center in the conclusion of the tragic story of these two sisters.

Note: The correct chapter count is 62. Despite lacking more recognizable chapter breaks, it was originally published nearly every week for over a year in Shuukan Shounen Sunday with 62 appearances.

CAST

Orochi

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

ThelewdOtaku
60/100
It's worth a read, much like most of Kazuos manga
For those of you who are not well versed in horror manga, you should know that Kazuo Umezu is a legend in the medium, not just in horror but manga itself. He is nothing short of a pioneer and if you look at his works, you may find them familiar. At a glance you can already see the influence of his style and can think of other manga-ka with a similar flair. You may have guessed it already but even Junji Ito, the horror manga-ka that everyone associates with the genre, has to give this man respect. The influence he has insane.

This particular series is not one of his best works though, I'm not saying it's bad though. It's just that among his works, there are many I would put above this one but even so I enjoyed it a good bit. It's an anthology type story with only the female lead tying each individual tale together. It's somewhat reminiscent of the Tales From The Crypt series, the big difference being that not every story is about a terrible person getting some sweet karma, sometimes it's just a supernatural tale about very unusual things which is quite alright.

The art really helps set the tone of these stories and amplifies the spooky air of mystery and the unknown, I am very fond of the more "normal" stylization that you see in manga between the 60s to late 90s.

With each story being a stand alone thing, there is very little to complain about or take issue with concerning this manga. I will be honest though it isn't one of his most compelling works and it sometimes has some thick and lengthy chapters that can feel like a drag if a particular story didn't interest you at all. That is about the worst I can really say about this series.

Just for examples sake, the second chapter wasn't anything special and it was easily predictable. That chapter alone was a little over 200 pages I think? The chapter lengths are anywhere between 90-200 plus pages long so just hope that you don't end up disliking the longer ones.

That being said, I found the weakest chapters to be average at worst and I chose to read them regardless. This isn't really a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, I enjoy Kazuos story telling style and the way he writes regardless of how I feel about the particular story being told. He just has a very enjoyable way of writing stories.

If you enjoyed this manga, I would recommend Kyoufu, It's one of my favorite short story collections by him and I think it's a better way to get into his anthology works than this one. And if you are getting into him in general, obviously you need to read The Drifting Classroom before anything else of his to start off strong. After that, I'd check out Cat Eyed Boy
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