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So this post was planned to go up on 31st October as part of the KawaiiPaperPandas Spooktober Spooktacular but as Robert Burns said in his 1786 poem, To A Mouse, “The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men gang aft a-gley” or translated from Scots to English, “The best laid plains of mice and men often go awry”.

of mice and men

Something that truly terrifies me is the idea losing grasp of myself and the reality around me. The idea that what I percieve as truth may in fact be a lie or a construct of someone else’s imagination, and this is something that the late anime director Satoshi Kon explored in two of his films, Paprika (2006) and Perfect Blue (1997). Kon is one of my favourite anime directors, and this is because his films force me to question my own perspective on morality and reality. For example, Tokyo Godfathers (2003) questions the moral choice between returning an abandoned infant to a mentally unfit parent, or raising the child without the resources to provide a good quality of life for them. This is all veiled by a comedic and Christmassy tone in a cold and crazy Tokyo winter.

But back to the main point of this post, the terrifying reality of a chaotic lack of reality. Paprika explores the blurring lines between dreams and real life as the characters become less and less able to grasp what is real or fake around them, and if they are ever truly awake. This film has a much lighter tone, but the existential dread of this nihilistic concept really reverbirated throughout my body during my first watch of this feature. But when this is twisted into a horrifying and psychological theme, you can truly experience that raw terror that the concept presents.

paprika

I was inspired to talk about this when watching an episode of Black Mirror called ‘Playtest’ with my sister a few weeks ago. The episode follows a man who goes to test a new piece of gaming software that layers a game over reality (basically like some crazy augmented reality equipment) and throughout the episode we see him slowly lose grasp on reality, and the first thing that came to mind was Perfect Blue.

If you haven’t seen Perfect Blue (and you should do so if you haven’t, it’s a masterpiece), it follows a J-Pop idol singer called Mima as she retires from idol work in order to persue a serious acting career. This causes a backlash from her fans who begin to rebel against the change and an imposter begins posting very personal information about her online which causes her to question whether her public persona is acting on its own as she spirals into insanity, all whilst being followed by a dangerous and murderous stalker.

playtest

The truly terrifying aspect to Perfect Blue is that it’s more relevant now than its initial release with the growth of and wide usage of the Internet, with everyone having different personas on different social medias. For example, in the flesh, I don’t act or dress as a weeb. I don’t hide the fact that I watch anime but I don’t talk about it all the time, I don’t buy much anime merch (in fact I only have one figurine that I won from a machine in Japan). But on KawaiiPaperPandas, Twitter, and YouTube, I’m openly a weeb and work that into my online personality. I know that this example is not as extreme as what is presented in Perfect Blue but the point is that in this age of online conversation people develop different personalities for different online groups, and whilst I don’t lie about who I am, there are portions of myself I hide from you, and portions I hide from my friends in real life.

Another aspect I find terrifying (that is raised in the episode of Black Mirror is the truth that there are people out there that experience confusion with their reality via demmentia and alzhiemers, something I’ve experienced first hand with my own grandparents. The fear of forgetting who I am or portions of my life and living a confusing existence is something I genuinely am scared of and hope I never have to go through.

perfect blue

Out of his small library, what’s your favourite Kon work? Also does this aspect of Perfect Blue terrify you? Let me know below!

-Bodell

Happy Halloween my ghouls and gals!

Welcome to the Spooktober edition of Jon’s Creator Showcase 2019! I am here to bring you guys another round of content creators post for the month of October. This is my second year hosting and I couldn’t be more THRILLED to be here. Today is Halloween and I am excited to see what you have all been cooking up in terms of Halloween costumes. I’ll be keeping an eye out for them on Twitter 😉

A while back Jon from Jon Spencer Reviews created a little thing called Jon’s Creator Showcase. This is where Jon asked YOU as creators to submit your work to be featured in a monthly round-up that could be shared with everyone around the world. This project has taken off and grown so much from that very first initial post thanks to everyone in the blogging community. I want to take a moment to thank Jon and everyone for coming together to create such an amazing project and I hope this continues for a long time!

JCS 4

The goals of this showcase are as follows:

  • Give exposure to both the host & creators who submit content to the showcase.
  • Highlight a wide variety of content including written word, art, video, audio, etc.
  • Allow for all creators, regardless of skill or current recognition, to participate and share their creations.
  • Encourage involvement from creators across all platforms.
  • Offer a fun and interactive way for people to discover new and interesting creations.
  • Inspire growth and exploration for both the host and creators.

I will say time and time again…without all of you and your creative talent WordPress would not be where it is at today. I think it is incredible that we have a community of so many talented individuals that we can turn to and even look up to when we need to find inspiration. I hope everyone continues to make fun and exciting content for the anime community ❤

Alright ladies and gents! Let’s get to these content creators post!

Reviews:

Jon kicked off our post with his Hero Mask Part 2 Review! Jon goes into detail about how Hero Mask might possibly be the worst Netflix original anime on the platform. I haven’t watched too many Netflix anime originals but this review is definitely worth the read if you have been considering watching Hero Mask or 7 Seeds.

If you have been DYING to see Mikoto Shinkai’s newest film Weathering With You but don’t live in Japan you might want to check out Sirius Write’s review on the movie…or if you wanna keep the mystery up until it’s U.S. release in 2020 then continue scrolling through this thread XD

Watching the second course of Fire Force this fall season? Well I have the post for you! Matt Doyle dives into episode 8 of the series and gives all of his thoughts and opinions on the show thus far. If you wanna get lit then be sure to head on over to Matt’s site to check out his work!

Have you been a fan of Nintendo since the birth of it’s console in 1983? Maybe you were born a little later a remember the Nintendo 64 which was released in 1996. Whatever the reason for being a fan FBoiOpinions reviews the AVGN (Angry Video Game Nerd) who plays old school games from the Nintendo system. If you love video games or just need a change of pace from the anime community then make sure to peep this post!

Discussions:

Scott from Mech Anime Reviews discussed one of the most beloved classic anime’s Princess Tutu over on their blog in September. If you love ballerina girls and classic anime then head on over to Scott’s blog to check out his work!

Whose cutting onions in here again?! Little Anime Blog took on the heavy themes of death and acceptance in one of the saddest anime out there…Anohana. Yeah…you all know which anime I am talking about. If you want to get up all in your feels once more and relive the series bit by bit then make sure to grab a bunch of tissues before reading this post.

Having trouble with fighting anxiety and self-loathing thoughts? Well you are not along! Lethargic Ramblings resonated with a video game called Celeste and discusses his own personal life experiences with these feelings. As Leth states, “Celeste is a metaphor for overcoming your own life struggles.” Highly encourage anyone who is feeling down in the dumps to check out this post!

Are you into visual novels? Well so is Dewbond! Dewbond takes a shallow dive into the free visual novel Doki Doki Literature Club. If this is something you have been meaning to read maybe Dewbond can persuade you to do so with their post! Go take a peek my pandas!

The good, the bad and the ecchi. Ever wonder what it would be like to get stranded on a deserted island? Me neither XD Fred wrote about the survival science behind the anime Are You Lost? which premiered this summer. If you like cute girls getting deserted on an island and ecchi anime then you have come to the right place.

Do you have a special partner in crime? You do? Then you might want to head on over to Nerd Rambles OWLS September blog post dedicated to partners in crime! In their post they discuss topics such as what specifics people look for in a partner, what core values draw humans to one another, and what makes a healthy/loving relationship work.

We all know there is a long running debate in the anime community about subs versus dubs…but what about fan subs? The Animanga Spellbook writes about whether or not fan subs should be taken as gospel. I.e. should they be taken as true word or should they just be for the sake of entertainment purposes. I haven’t seen many people write about this topic so I find it rather intriguing. Highly recommend this post if you are on the fence about fan subs as a whole.

Awards, Anniversary’s and Specials:

A HUGE milestone for The Otaku Author who hit 500 post on his blog! Congrats Lynn on doing the unthinkable for many of us. I am well on my way to 500 blog post but still have a ways to go. Be sure to go show some love and congratulate Lynn on his accomplishments! Make sure to hit that follow button as well!

I remember doing the Sunshine Blogger Award not too long ago. Keikos Anime Blog also took the incentive and did this prompt over on their blog. If you don’t know what the Sunshine Blogger Award is then what are you waiting for?! Go to Keikos website and check it out for yourself!

Nothing quite like a 20th anniversary special! Matt in the Hat did a whole post dedicated to Naruto’s 20th anniversary in which he list his top 10 male characters from the series. Man! Crazy to think that Naruto has been out for 20 years now. We are gettin’ old peeps…well I am anyways lololz

Other Featured Post:

Crow’s World of Anime “Call of Fame: Re:Creator’s” post: https://www.crowsworldofanime.com/posts/call-of-fame-recreators/.

Shallow Dives in Anime’s “Shinmai Maou no Testament: One Year Later” revisit post: https://shallowdivesinanime.wordpress.com/2019/09/09/shinmai-maou-no-testament-one-year-later/.

YumDeku’s “Top 5 Anime Worlds We Wish Were Real” post: https://myanime2go.com/2019/10/top-5-anime-worlds-we-wish-were-real-has-anime-fans.html.

Nerdy Perspective’s “Caught in a Bad Romance: Given Anime” review post: https://anerdyperspective.com/2019/10/06/caught-in-a-band-romance-given-anime-review/.

Naja’s “Five Totally Out There Dating Sims You Have To See To Believe” post: https://blerdyotome.com/2019/09/13/five-totally-out-there-dating-sims-you-have-to-see-to-believe/.

Pinkie’s “Arceus: The Pokémon God” post: https://pinkiespokemon.com/2019/09/02/arceus-the-pokemon-god/.

Hikari Otaku Station’s “Underrated Anime: Cinderella” post: https://hikariotakustationhome.wordpress.com/2019/09/17/underrated-anime-cinderella/?preview=true.

Moe Gamer’s “Senran Kagura Burst RE:NEWAL: The Pairing of Sword and Shield” post: https://moegamer.net/2019/09/24/senran-kagura-burst-renewal-the-pairing-of-sword-and-shield/.

Infinite Zenith’s “Masterpiece Anime Showcase: K-On!!, Appreciating Everyday Life at After School Teatime and The Road to Graduation At the Nine Year Anniversary” post: https://infinitemirai.wordpress.com/2019/09/14/masterpiece-anime-showcase-k-on-appreciating-everyday-life-at-after-school-teatime-and-the-road-to-graduation-at-the-nine-year-anniversary/.

I think that is everyone! (I mostly certainly hope so because I’ve been working at this post for a couple of hours now and I am ready to do other things with my day). If you have made it to the very end of this post thank you so much for sticking around and reading through everything. You totally rock! Again, thank you to everyone who joined in on this project. Like I said before this community wouldn’t be anywhere without all of you! So keep on keeping on! I hope everyone has a fun and scary filled Thursday (if you are celebrating Halloween). I’ll keep an eye out on my Twitter for pics of everyone dressed up. Make sure you are following me on my Twitter @paperpandabears. Remember to always stay kawaii and cuddly my pandas! MUAH! XOXO

(Disclaimer: All imagery and photos come from searching for them on the internet. I have no claim or right to them. If I find any links I will always post them this usually entails fan art or any other work affiliated with an artist).

Hello my pandas and welcome to a very spooky collab with our one and only Alexie the great! As you all know I have been tailoring my Top Ten Tuesday post to coordinate with the month of October and spooky season, but I knew I wanted to do a collaboration with someone for Halloween as well. And here we are!  Today Alexie and I are bringing you some horror cliches that you would typically see in movies, but we thought this would be fun to do with anime characters instead. I’m sure if you are a horror fan like myself you know what type of cliches I am talking about. You know…cliches such as the girl tripping and falling as the killer is chasing her or two characters who are about to have sex but they are caught by the killer before they get a chance to bone. Yeah…those cliches XD

Speaking of horror movies…what movies have you watched so far this Halloween season? My boyfriend and I have watched Thirteen Ghost, In the Tall Grass, Blade, Constantine, Terrifier and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Trying to get in at least one more movie before Halloween is officially over. If you are dressing up for Halloween what are you gonna be? I wanna know and if you have pics I wanna see! Make sure you are following me on Twitter at paperpandabears if you aren’t already. If you guys haven’t caught on this month Halloween is my favorite holiday and I love looking at everyone’s costume choices. Tag me in those pics peeps!

Our list of horror themed cliches are as follows:

  • Most likely to die before/during sex
  • Mostly likely to fall/trip while being chased/running away
  • The first character to die
  • The character who knows how to outmaneuver the killer
  • The character who calls out for help or says hello into the darkness
  • The character who runs on the road while being followed by a car
  • The character who drops the keys at the most crucial moment
  • The character who hides in the closet from the killer
  • The character who suggest splitting up
  • Last character to survive

Let’s get to our choices!

1. Most likely to die before/during sex

Alexie’s Choice: Shinji from Neon Genesis Evangelion

^Because…fuck you Shinji.

Ayano’s Choice: Chisato from Testament of New Sister Devil

^This one is pretty self explanatory if you have seen this anime XD

2. Most likely to fall/trip while being chased/running away

Alexie’s Choice: Yui from Angel Beats

^Stop trying to be a rock star and JUST. RUN.

Ayano’s Choice: Usagi from Sailor Moon

^Sorry Usagi! But we all know how clumsy you are…you gonna die lololoz

3. First Character to Die

Alexie’s Choice: Shizuka from High School of the Dead

^She’s just an idiot with big boobs..so we all know she’s gonna die first.

Ayano’s Choice: Mumen Rider from One Punch Man

^Mumen tries so hard but we all know he would die first.

4. Character who knows how to outmaneuver the killer

Alexie’s Choice: Shiroe from Log Horizon

^He’s a literal genius from the top guild so of course he’s gonna beat the odds against a killer.

Ayano’s Choice: Sora & Shiro from No Game No Life

^These two could outmaneuver anyone if they put their minds to it.

5. The character who calls out for help or says hello into the darkness

Alexie’s Choice: Mineta from My Hero Academia

^Scared shitless and while trying to figure out what’s going on he’d be dumb and ask a questions.

Ayano’s Choice: Atsushi from Bungou Stray Dogs

^I think Atsushi would be naive enough to call out to the killer if put in the right situation.

6. The character who runs on the road while being followed by a car

Alexie’s Choice: Hinata from Haikyuu

^The kid is an idiot who will run in the most obvious spot just because it’s there.

Ayano’s Choice: Shamiko from The Demon Girl Next Door

^Shamiko loves running away from her problems so she would probably run away from a killer driving a car.

7. The character who drops the keys at the most crucial moment

Alexie’s Choice: Naruto from Naruto

 ^He freaks out and then decides to get serious…but the dude is forgetful as fuck.

Ayano’s Choice: Tohru from Fruits Basket

^Tohru is another person who seems like she would drop the ball at the most crucial moment.

8. The character who hides in the closet

Alexie’s Choice: Aqua from Konosuba

^ Clumsy and a stupid crybaby who wouldn’t think before hiding.

Ayano’s Choice: Zenitsu from Demon Slayer

^We all know how much of a scaredy cat and crybaby Zenitsu is.

9. The character who suggest splitting up

Alexie’s Choice: Jean from Attack on Titan

^Horse-face is an idiot who doesn’t know how to lead and complains about stuff. Always keep a solid formation though!

Ayano’s Choice: Hiro from Darling in the FranXX

^I mean…that’s basically what Hiro suggested towards the end of the series am I right?

10. Last Character to Survive

Alexie’s Choice: Sasuke from Naruto

^ Sharingan and also an epic ninja. Plus reincarnation so…super OP.

Ayano’s Choice: Saya from Blood C

^Of course Saya would be the last one to survive…she’s THAT BITCH.

Bonus Cliche: Character who turns out to be the surprise killer

Alexie’s Choice: Kirito from Sword Art Online

^Kirito would be brainwashed into thinking everything was VMMORPG and would make the perfect killer since he thinks everything is virtual reality anyways.

Ayano’s Choice: Naofumi from The Rising of the Shield Hero

^Can you imagine if Naofumi…who worked so hard to untarnish his reputation…was like, “sike bitches…I’m actually the killer.”

There you have it my pandas! Some fun Halloween horror cliches that we all know and love from spooky movies. What is your favorite horror cliche in movies? Which characters would you pick for the cliches we listed above? Let us know in the comments section below! Remember to get your post in for Jon’s Creator Showcase by Wednesday. I will be posting the showcase on Thursday just in time for Halloween. Thank you for joining us today! We appreciate your continued patronage on our site. I will catch you all on Tuesday for our last Top Ten Tuesday post of Spooktober. Remember to always stay kawaii and cuddly my pandas. MUAH! XOXO

(Disclaimer: All imagery, photos, and gifs come from me searching for them on the internet. I have no claim or right to them).

Don’t be going and getting any of the wrong ideas my pandas. Today’s post is all about anime women who have horns!

And yes…I did this post back in 2017 but I am revamping it and making it into a Top Ten Tuesday post instead.

I figured since I have covered cat girls in the past why not cover girls who have horns? I feel like anime women with horns, preferably demons, are pretty popular in the anime community. I know I love them! I mean who wouldn’t want to be a demon if they had the chance? Or even have horns for that matter? Demons are FREAKING BAD ASS! Demons/Devils are some of the coolest types of guys and gals in anime. Other type of horns you might see in anime are deer horns or animal horns. We aren’t just limited to demon horns anymore. If you are looking for anime with demons/devils in them then check out Shingeki no Bahamut: Genesis, Seikoku no Dragonar (Dragonar Academy), Shinmai Maou no Keiyakusha, and Highschool DXD just to name a few.

Now let’s get to these ladies shall we!

(P.S. sorry about the gif sizing again guys! I hate that gifs aren’t consistent in size XD)

1. Amira from Rage of Bahamut: Genesis

^Amira will always be THAT BITCH.

2. Aletta from Restaurant to Another World

^Alexie’s choice for today.

3. Grea from Manaria and Friends

^Blushing Grea is best Grea :3

4. Shuna from That Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime

^Tsubaki’s choice for today.

5. Rem from Re:Zero

^I always forget Rem has a horn XD

6. Shamiko from The Demon Girl Next Door

^You can do it Shamiko!

7. Zest from Testament of Sister New Devil

^Zest is the best 😉

8. Zero Two from Darling in the FranXX

^Maybe the most popular horn girl now?

9. Albedo from Overlord

^Albedo may be a little cuckoo for cocoa puffs but she’s got a good character design.

10. Navi from Dragonar Academy

^My personal favorite horny lady ;P

Which horned ladies in anime are your favorites? Do you have any leading ladies who are demons? Which shows do you like watching the most? If you could be a demon would you? Let me know in the comments section below! That is going to do it for me today! Don’t forget I am hosting this month’s Jon’s Creator Showcase! If you haven’t turned anything in for the showcase you can still do so over on my twitter at paperpandabears. You have until October 30th to get something to me. I will be posting the showcase on Halloween so everyone has something to look forward to that day! I will catch you all in my next post. Have a good morning, afternoon, or evening wherever you are in the world. Remember to stay kawaii and cuddly my pandas. MUAH! XOXO

(Disclaimer: All imagery, photos, and gifs come from me searching for them on the internet. I have no claim or right to them)

This month I’ve talked about an anime so scarily bad that it made me laugh and a manga so eerily creepy that it sent shivers down my spine, so I’d like to take a step away from anime and manga to talk about a slightly lesser discussed medium on KawaiiPaperPandas… live-action film. Yes, that’s right people, there are forms of entertainment out there with real people acting in it on screen (I know, crazy right?).

I’ve always been a bit of a film lover, but despite this there are two genres I’ve never been too bothered about: horror and comedy. I’ve mentioned that I haven’t seen a lot of horror in pretty much all my posts but I’ve not talked a lot about comedy. A lot of the comedy films we get in the UK are American Hollywood comedies, and whilst some are actually quite funny, I’ve grown out of the sense of humour they present. There are some British comedies I love, like the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End), but I was quite dissatisified with the genre as a whole.

And then I discovered Taika Waititi.

taika

Taika Waititi is a filmmaker, actor, and comedian hailing from New Zealand, his most famous film being Thor: Ragnarok (he also played Korg, everyone’s favourite rock man). However, it’s October and we’re talking spooky stuff, so as much as I’d like to talk about Thor: Ragnarok or Hunt for the Wilderpeople, I’ll be talking about his comedy mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows which was born from the concept of ancient vampires living in a flat together in 2014 New Zealand.

It’s a bit of a stretch to refer to the film as horror, but it takes stereotypical horrifying beasts and villains such as vampires, werewolves, and zombies, and shows them in a new, interesting light.

source

The film shows the vampires dealing with mundanities such as arguing over washing dishes, going to social events, and trying to fit in with current fashion, as well as facing issues liking finding thralls to do work, finding virgins to drink the blood of, and avoiding vampire hunters. This all from the point of view of a camera crew that have been given special permission to film these events without being eaten by the vampires the story follows. Does this film sound batshit crazy? Yes. Is it fucking brilliant? Absolutely.

My favourite character is definitely Stu; a regular, awkward, unassuming guy that just chills with the vampires for no real reason other than they like having him around. He doesn’t really do or say much, but this just adds to the complete absurdity that the film already presents and it’s a refreshing experience in this age of constant shitty Hollywood comedies being churned out.

WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS, 2014. ©The Orchard/Courtesy Everett Collection
That’s best boy, Stu, in the middle

If you want a new, interesting, film to watch this Halloween, I’d thoroughly recommend this film in between your spooky and scary films, especially if you’ve seen any other of Waititi’s films and enjoyed them.

yes-its-that-good

What’s your favourite horror/comedy film? What We Do in the Shadows has recently had an American TV series released and has been renewed for a 2nd season. I’ve been sceptical to watch it for the reasons stated above, but it does have Matt Berry in it which always helps.

-Bodell

 

Hello my pandas and welcome to another spooktacular Top Ten Tuesday! If you couldn’t tell from the title we are covering witches today. Yay!!! We love getting witchy on this site and what better way to celebrate then with some of my favorite witches in anime. I have covered a similar topic back in 2018 with some recommendations of witchy shows you should watch. If you wanna check that post out you can do so right here: https://kawaiipaperpandas.com/2018/10/12/flashback-friday-ive-got-99-problems-but-a-witch-aint-one/. But in today’s post we are going for the more individual prefiset…as in individual characters rather than the whole show. Who doesn’t love a good witch? I mean…am I right or am I right? 😉 Let’s not make this introduction drag on forever Ayano. Let’s just fly right on in to these witches shall we! Ayyyeee…you see what I did there 😛

(P.S. I couldn’t find a good quality gif for my last choice so I went with an artwork rendition instead)

1. Sucy from Little Witch Academia

^My favorite witch out of the bunch :3

2. Maria from Maria The Virgin Witch

^Maria is just too adorable.

3. Makoto from Flying Witch

^A wholesome anime that everyone should watch.

4. Ruby from Rosario + Vampire

^I always forget about Ruby until someone mentions her randomly.

5. Satella from Re:Zero

^If you have seen Re:Zero or read the manga then you will understand why I have to put a gif of Emilia here.

6. Hitomi from Iroduku the World in Colors

^Must protecc ❤

7. Mary from Mary and the Witches Flower

^Although Mary isn’t a TRUE witch she is in my heart and that’s all that matters.

8. Yuuko from xxxHolic

^Yuuko is waifu.

9. Kiki from Kiki’s Delivery Service

^One of the OG witches.

10. Witch from Goblin Slayer

Witch Goblin Slayer

Who is your favorite witch in anime? Did your choice make the list today? Let me know in the comments section below! We are getting closer and closer to Halloween. If you are dressing up this year what are you gonna be? Any guesses on the most popular Halloween costume? Some of my friends said the Sanderson Sisters from Hocus Pocus, the new Joker, cans of White Claw (which I thoughts was freaking hilarious) and Pennywise from IT. I can see all of these being pretty popular costumes. We all know tons of girls dress up as Harley Quinn every year and with the new Birds of Prey movie making an appearance soon that’s another one I know will be popular. I really wanted to cosplay but as you all know I’ll be working that night. I have a cute cosplay planned for my trip to Kumoricon in November and you know I’ll be posting pictures of it. That is all I have for you guys today! I will catch you all in my next post. Remember to always stay kawaii and cuddly my pandas. MUAH! XOXO

(Disclaimer: All images, gifs, and artwork come from searching on the internet. I do not have any right or claim to them)

I’m going to open this honestly and say that horror isn’t a genre I consume very often. I’ll occasionally watch a film here or there with some friends, but when it comes down to it, horror doesn’t really scare me… so what’s the point? Well I bought a single volume manga a few months ago from my local weeb shop and it was fucking creepy. And as it’s October, the spookiest of all months, I suppose I’d ought to talk about my experience with the creepy horror manga known as Ibitsu, illustrated and written by Haruto Ryou.

I’m also going to admit that I read this a while ago and was going to read it again this week, but my brother forgot to bring me the book when he visited me at university last weekend, and I’m shit at time management so never got around to finding it online (I hate reading manga on a screen anyway). Anyway, let’s get into it!

ibitsu creep

Ibitsu follows Kazuki Itou and his terrifying encounters with an otherwordly entity going by the name of Remina Kanbe. The story begins when Itou is returning to his apartment after going shopping, and on his way home he sees a tall dirty lolita sat in a pile of bin bags, holding a broken umbrella and a filthy teddy. What’s even more off-putting is the fact that it looks as if her arms have been slashed open and sewn back together. Itou tries to ignore the girl, but she simply asks “Do you have a younger sister?”. Reflexively, Itou responds that he does and then leaves the creepy girl to it. When he lookds outside from his apartment… the girl is gone. In his next interaction, the girl forces herself into his apartment so she can wash Keiichi – her stuffed rabbit.

It doesn’t take long for an urban legend to reach Itou… the legend of a strange lolita girl that asks a passerby a question, and if they answer, she will become their younger sister and eventually… they will die a “twisted” death.

The story continues as this lolita slowly forces herself further and further into Itou’s life, even trying to kill his real younger sister extremely early in the manga, terrifying her to the point that she pisses herself… and then attempts to ‘clean it up’ by ironing her special lady parts. At this point we’re only in chapter 3 of 15, so you can imagine just how fucked up this manga actually gets.

But what makes this manga creepier than any other random horror manga? Maybe it’s just my lack of exposure to horror manga in general, but there was something off about this manga from the moment I opened the book for the first time. There was a weird energy about it, and it sent a chill up my spine. The character of Remina is tall and intimidating, and sometimes the lines she’s rendered in are chaotic and unburdened by sanity.

ibistu lines

I really recommend this book if you want to experience some fucked up shit this October. I really enjoyed my read through and can’t wait to go back through it again this Halloween. Let me know what your favourite horror manga is, or even just the one that creeped you out or scared you the most.

-Bodell