(Image from amazon.co.jp, used for review purposes only.)
Mugen Shinshi Kaikihen (Fantasy Gentleman, Mystery Stories Compilation) by Yousuke Takahashi, Grade A (1,000 yen plus tax, about 480 pages)
I've mentioned that the Maruzen Bookstore in Tenmonkan had all of the Mugen Shinshi wide edition books in one place on the horror shelves, and that I've been intrigued by Takahashi's artwork since I first encountered it over 8 years ago in Akihabara. Back then, I found the first regular volume of Mugen Shinshi, and that was my introduction to the series. Well, every time I went to Maruzen and looked over the wide books, right next to them would be the wide edition of Kaikihen, and it had a completely different cover design than the other books. So, when I finished Mugen Shinshi vol. 5, it was only natural that I'd eventually buy Kaikihen.
The earliest story in this compilation, "Ningyou Jigoku" (Doll Hell), ran in 1982 in Ryuu magazine. The remaining 19 chapters came out between 1984 and 1991, with the majority published before Dec. 1988, from Medium, Comic Again, Shonen Captain and Shonen Captain Select magazines. They all fall very clearly into the "Japanese horror" genre, and are very similar to Takahashi's other series, Gakou Kaidan (Scary School Stories, or "School Mysteries"). They're all stand-alone chapters, and Mamiya Mugen is the only common thread running through them. Here, though, with the exception of "Ningyou Jigoku," Mamiya is older, maybe in his 20's or early 30's, much more cynical, and a heavy chainsmoker. In a way, the stories have a Gegege no Kitaro vibe, where Mamiya just happens to be in the right place at the right time to encounter a monster, ghost or evil human. Other times, he acts as a detective, and then his clients visit him at his office in the family mansion to make requests for dealing with specific yokai. Overall, though, there's something of a Twilight Zone, or Night Gallery element to the tales, where no one gets out unscathed (this is Japanese horror, after all).
The character designs are a little more stylized than in the comic version of Mugen, but the background art can be incredibly detailed. The stories generally follow the same pattern - Mamiya shows up at a particular scene, the yokai is revealed, and there's some kind of conflict (either physical or intellectual) and the yokai either gets what it's after, or what's coming to it. Mamiya's primary weapon is his sense of poise, but he's also able to enter people's minds and make them experience whatever he tells them to. Again, there's little point to describing every chapter, so I'll just summarize a couple good examples.
"Numa" (Swamp). Mamiya arrives at a swamp in the middle of a forest and proceeds to fill a large glass jug with swamp water. A naked woman rises up from the middle of the pond and asks what he wants. Mamiya replies that he's just getting some water for a client, the woman answers "is that so" and sinks back into the pond. Later, Mamiya is back at his mansion, where he's visited by a young man dressed like a university student from the Showa period (1930's-40's). He takes the jar and drinks all the water. Mamiya then makes him explain himself. The guy answers that half a year earlier he'd been suffering from severe depression, and he'd gone out to the forest to commit suicide. He'd waded into the swamp, slipped over a drop off and came close to drowning. Eventually, he realized that he didn't want to die after all, and made his way back to the surface, but he'd swallowed a lot of the muddy water. He threw up most of that and went back home, where he was apparently cured of his mental misery. Some time later, he started getting painfully thirsty, but neither water nor alcohol made it stop. That's when he decided to ask Mamiya to get the swamp water for him, because he didn't want to make the trip to the forest himself. Mamiya asks if that's the entire story or if he's holding something back about killing someone. The guy laughs off the question, then drops to the ground in great pain. His chest explodes open to reveal the woman from the swamp. She smiles in victory, holding the guy's entrails in her hands, then turns to mud and just leaves a big puddle around the corpse.
"Koumori" (The Bat). Mamiya has been out of the country, and as he's returning by ocean liner, he spots a young woman with long braided black hair standing next to the railing, singing. No one else notices her. She approaches him and gets ready to kiss him, showing vampire fangs as she smiles. Mamiya blows cigarette smoke in her face and she turns into a bat and flies away. Later, he's at a tea house, relating the story to a friend. He says, "Weird story, huh?" The friend, a young man with curly black hair, just sits in his chair, silent. Mamiya asks what's wrong, and the guy tells him that a couple nights before Mamiya got back, he'd been approached by the same woman, who'd asked if he knew Mamiya. He said he did, and the woman told him that she wanted revenge on Mamiya, and that he was to bring his friend to a park at night. She then bit him in the neck, leaving two large puncture wounds. Mamiya has the guy take him to the park, where the woman is waiting. But, when the guy turns to look behind him, Mamiya has disappeared. The woman accuses him of trying to trick her, then she grabs him and lifts him into the air before threatening to drop him into the ocean to die. She turns into a small bat, and her captive falls into the water far below. A few seconds later, Mamiya is fishing his friend out of the small lake in the park (he'd been hypnotized). The guy asks where the woman has gone, and Mamiya holds up a tiny, squirming bat in his right hand, saying "Here she is." Mamiya turns to the bat and tells her, "I will forgive you this time. I won't next time." He lets go and the bat flutters off.
The last chapter is "Catch and Release," in which Mamiya encounters a giant female water spirit, seduces her, and then leaves. This is then followed by 4 pages of black and white illustrations used for past publication editions.
Summary: Yousuke does love his horror, and he's good at telling spooky stories with atmospheric twists. There is a lot more gore here than in School Mysteries, and nudity, but it's nothing compared to Hollywood movies of the same era. The art is good, and I like Mamiya's designs. I can't be sure that this volume contains all of the scary Mugen chapters, but it looks like it. Note that the Baka Updates page incorrectly calls this "Shin Kaikihen" (New Mysteries), and the 2012 publication date seems to be for a different edition reprint. If you're an adult in your country, and you like The Ring or Grudge, you'll like Mugen Shinshi Kaikihen. Recommended.
On a side note, there are maybe 10 wide volumes of Gakou Kaidan (School Mysteries), and I've only read #1. I'm probably not going to get any of the others, because they're kind of relentless in all the different ways the same students get killed off. It gets oppressive after a few chapters.
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