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On a remote and mysterious island, one man builds a playground of hedonistic excess. His world is filled with splendor — waterfalls, palaces, and gardens — a grand back-drop for decadent bacchanalia and dark secrets. Set in 1920s Japan, The Strange Tale of Panorama Island follows the twisted path of failed novelist Hitomi, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the son and heir apparent of a rich industrialist family. Hitomi learns of the rich man's sudden passing and creates a desperate plan. He fakes his own death, digs up and hides the other man's body, and then washes himself up starving on a beach near the home of the dead man's family. After successfully impersonating the now-dead son, Hitomi takes over all aspects of the man's life, including his company, his fortune, and eventually his wife. The failed author soon redirects the family's wealth to his own perverse aims. A graphic novel based on the revered novella by Edogawa Rampo. Rampo was the godfather of Japanese pulp mysteries. Stunning artwork by master manga artist Suehiro Maruo deftly illustrates this Japanese pulp classic in fine detail. (Source: Last Gasp) *Note:* Panorama Toukitan received the 13th (2009) Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for New Artist.
Pelu, the Little Fluffy Playboy, is comic tale of a cute extraterrestrial creature that comes to Earth determined to find himself true happiness in the form of a human bride. Our hero's search takes him from the surface of his fantastic alien planet to an off-kilter modern Japan where Pelu meets aspiring singers, sassy girls, paint-sniffing bad boys, and the body-switching students of a mysterious high school. Artist Junko Mizuno unleashes her unique graphic storytelling sensibilities on a tale that's frequently adorable, sometimes grotesque, and surprisingly moving.
In the future, any mood you want is just a pump away. People flock to legal “pump bars,” where licensed medical professionals, known as bar doctors, prescribe their customers the perfect pharmaceutical blend. But when the standard dosage isn’t enough, our protagonist, Cub, turns to an unauthorized source. The results have to be seen to be believed. Rendered in a richly-detailed, clear-line style, this psychedelic sci-fi manga tears apart the basic fabric of reality. What is the truth and what is a dream? (Source: Last Gasp)
Part 1: Hiroshima, 1955. Ten years after the city was consumed by a scorching flash of light, a woman's soul is still deeply shaken by the earth-shattering explosion that devastated her home and changed her life forever... A family from Hiroshima struggles to come to terms with their survival of the atomic bombing of their city. The protagonist is Minami Hirano, about 20 years of age. Part 2: Set some decades later, the niece of Minami Hirano is bewildered by her father's mysterious disappearances. She and a friend follow him to discover what he is doing. The main theme of this is historic manga concerns the question what impact the war and the atomic bombing had on the most vulnerable. Fumiyo Kôno examines this question in her outstanding book—an award-winning, widely-discussed masterpiece!
芋虫 \[The Caterpillar\], is an adaptation of the 1929 Edogawa Rampo short story of the same name. The Caterpillar is a haunting psychosexual tale of Lt. Sunaga, a disfigured and limbless veteran of WWI who returns home to his young and beautiful wife. Sunaga initially is given a hero's welcome, but is quickly forgotten and shunned because of his injuries. Unable to speak or care for himself, he is completely at the mercy of his wife as she grows to loathe and toy with him.
A compilation of short stories by Keiichi Koike. 1. Knockin' on Heaven's Door 2. 3000 Leagues Searching For Mother 3. Lazaro Franco's Fourth Hour 4. The Ronin and the Sea 5. Looper 6. Kenbo's Diary 7. Sponge Generation 8. Airway 9. Horizon 10. Landed
In this dreamy science fiction fantasy, Junko Mizuno illustrates a story full of cat fights, alien safari adventures, evil experiments, and a girl who dreams of becoming a pop idol signer. Following the Third World War, humankind left the toxic surface of the Earth and built an underground city to survive. But a serious social problem has emerged in this new society: hyperorexia, or severe overeating; a side effect of the "Pure Trance" life-sustaining pill. The story begins in the hospital which has been ruined by a tyrannical director, Keiko Yamazaki... -TRSI
1945, Japan. Gen Nakaoka is a spirited six-year-old boy who lives with his poor yet loving family in wartime Hiroshima. As the second World War rages on, Gen's father Daikichi stands among the few outspoken who are opposed to the emperor and stand for the innocent civilians bearing the brunt of the war. However, in a society with nothing but feverous support for their nation, Gen and his family are ostracized as traitors. Unbeknownst to them, a terrible fate awaits the people of Hiroshima... One quiet morning, the US forces drop an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. In an instant, the city is completely destroyed, leaving thousands dead and many more exposed to radiation. Though Gen manages to survive the blast, he finds his life irreversibly changed. Regrouping with what's left of his family, Gen must now grapple with starvation, destitution, and an unsympathetic public who see survivors as little more than disease-ridden beggars. Based on author Keiji Nakazawa's real-life experiences, Hadashi no Gen follows Gen and his fellow survivors in their struggle to survive in post-war Hiroshima. Gen resolves to soldier on with unwavering determination, while never forgiving those who caused the atrocity, never forgetting the pain of the bomb, and never letting his spirit be broken by the tragedy.
A horror-comedy manga about two blue-collar factory workers and jiu-jitsu experts who deal with a zombie uprising in Tokyo. When the story begins, Fujio and Mitsuo dream of training in martial arts overseas and becoming famous. When they accidentally kill their overbearing boss, they bury him at a man-made garbage mountain known as Dark Fuji, where tons of rotting garbage have been contaminated with industrial waste which, naturally, transforms the bodies of the dead into ravenous, flesh-eating zombies. Fuji and Mitsuo try their best to survive in this horrific new landscape, but the hapless pair become separated after an idiotic mistake involving potato chips and a stray dog. A few years later, post-apocalyptic Tokyo has become a feudalistic society, in which the rich have enslaved the lower classes, and created gladiator death matches, pitting zombies against slaves, and Fuji and Misuo meet again. (Source: Last Gasp)
Incredible colour artwork by Japanese horror master Hideshi Hino. Includes three never-before-seen short manga stories, all in full-colour. 1) Memories of the mermaid 2) The Red Fruit 3) Snow Flower