The Embalmer
By Mitsukazu Mihara
Drama
Rated OT, age 16+
Tokyopop, $9.99
Of all the new series Tokyopop is starting in August—11 by my count—this is the most intriguing. It’s a bit like Pet Shop of Horrors, five self-contained stories with a narrative thread running through all of them, each a tale of human nature taken to extremes. The embalmer sees those extremes because he negotiates the last encounter between the dead and those left behind. Like all borderlands, this is fertile ground for storytellers.
The embalmer is Shinjyurou Mamiya, and his profession makes him an outsider in Japan, where cremation is the norm. He’s the kind of guy who seems thoughtless on the outside but can be touched deeply by certain individuals, and embalming gets to him—so much that he craves sex after every job. This starts out being funny but ends up taking a darker tone, as Mamiya begins to fear he can’t control his urges.
Playing counterpoint to Mamiya’s moody carelessness is Azuki, the granddaughter of his landlord. She hangs around a little more than is necessary, cleaning the apartment and scolding him for his wicked ways, and they start to draw together and pull apart as good fictional characters always do.
Despite the subject matter, this is not a horror manga, and the weak of stomach need have no qualms about picking it up. These stories are about the living as much as the dead. Mamiya, who is known for her goth-Loli style, sets aside the frills here and uses a strong expressive line and areas of pure black and white to clearly define her characters and their emotions.
This being Tokyopop, the book is pretty basic; there are a few footnotes in the text but no translation notes or extras in the back. Some sound effects are translated and some aren’t. On the plus side, the paper quality is good enough to handle the large areas of black that Mihara favors. At $9.99, this is a solid value, intelligent manga for grownups and well worth picking up.
(This review is based on a complimentary copy supplied by the publisher.)
Extras: The Japanese title of this book is Shigeshoshi. Here is the original cover.
What’s with this recent wave of books about helping people to the afterlife? CMX and Dark Horse have books coming up that deal with post-death transitions too. And does it make me really morbid that I’m interested in all of them?
Maybe it’s a Buddhist thing? Although our culture has plenty of stories about helping ghosts to their final rest too.
Anyway, The Embalmer doesn’t deal with the afterlife at all. It’s just stories about people who die. What the embalmer really does is help the living to cope.
Ha! I’m also interested in all of them as well. Shall we slice our thumbs and make a pact for the Morbid Manga Society? ^^
Nice thoughts on Embalmer. I actually have a review copy arriving any day now myself. Looks to be right up my alley.
I actually went to a wake yesterday, and it was interesting to observe the dynamics, having just read this book. The first thing I thought when I saw the guest of honor, as it were, was “Wow, he lost weight! He looks great!”
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