Monday, May 14, 2012

Rasukan Siluman by Imai Yasue ~ review

What is Rasukan Siluman in English? Honestly, I don't know but you can find this manga translated in Malay in Malaysia and Brunei. This manga by Imai Yasue, originally published in Japan as Watashi No Naka Ni Akuma Ga Iru, has 7 different stories with different horror elements in it. The first story is about a young girl who were trapped in a town where everybody suddenly becomes lazy and selfish, and how the world collapses because of it. The second story tells about twin sisters who can literally feel and experience what their other half felt. To make things worst, they fall for the same guy and begin to hate each other because of it. The third story is about a female student who was selected as one of the candidates who must survive on a deserted island along with several other students. On the island, she suddenly loses control of herself and were afflicted with the 7 deadly sins.

The fourth story is a compilation of 3 short episodes that were all started at a railway station. The first and second episodes don't really have a plot, but the third episode has a quite interesting story about a girl who falls in love with the wrong man. The fifth story is about a young girl who saves a magic cat and were granted 3 wishes. Because of her frustration with her life, she begins to make strange wishes which turn out deadly.

The sixth story is about a young girl who suddenly became a target of a town when she was announced as a murder suspect in a local news. Together with a friend, she made a run from the crowd and try to clear her name. The seventh and last story in the manga, and also my favourite chapter, is about a girl who steal some sort of pills from her friend in which she believes can make her swim faster and become champion in swimming competition. But will the pills cause harm to her body?

Although the artwork in the manga doesn't look very scary and frightening, but the stories do have that eerie feeling of horror as you read them. In fact, the images doesn't have to look scary because the stories already are. But for those horror fans who are looking for gory type of stories like the one you found in Junji Ito's manga would be disappointed. I was confused with the front cover artwork as it was not related to any of the stories in the manga. Maybe it was just an indication to show that this is a horror type of manga. I also notice some error in the drawing but it was really minor and was not obvious. Besides, I enjoy the stories and that what really matters for me.

Overall, Rasukan Siluman is a good horror manga with decent artwork and good stories. If you don't like to read manga with a long story and enjoy reading short chapters of different stories, then Rasukan Siluman is a suitable choice for you.

You can find more info on this manga and other interesting manga titles at Gempak Starz website.

Image from Gempak Starz.

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