I wanted to like this collection but being jump scared by sexual harassment and incest were not what I was expecting.

3/4 of these stories were fun and i would have given this a higher rating if it weren’t for how out of nowhere the third story was.

Id recommend avoiding family portrait

<i>***I thank NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review*** </i>

hope i recover from this brain damage.

feast your eyes on body horror—four grisly tales from a renowned mangaka.
the first two stories were remarkable, and i really liked the unique concept in the fourth one. the third story, however, unnecessarily sexualised a minor and it was disgusting, not to mention the incest. i know the author also writes adult magazines but i do not condone this. yes, it’s supposed to be disturbing but the way it was written seemed otherwise. take notes from inio asano.

the art was great—i would even say it inspired me more to create a manga of my own. it’s simple yet detailed in the gruesomeness. as for the plot, there’s some sort of a twist in the ending of each story which was nice.

labyrinth quartet—3 ★
the cursed room—3 ★
the family portrait—2 ★
blood harvest—4 ★

this is my first read from shintaro kago and would probably explore his work again.

x

Thank you Netgalley and Fantagraphic books for an ARC of this book.

I was interested in this book because I have recently become a fan of Junji Ito. For the most part I did like the book, however, there was one story that I found really disturbing and could have lived without.

This book itself was ok.

4 manga short stories
my rating depended on each individual story
labyrinth quartet: a murderous stalker kidnaps 4 girls who are almost identical to play out a twisted fantasy 3 stars
family portrait: as a perverted man loses his memory, townspeople start to go missing disgusting negative 5 stars, do not recommend, do not read
curse room: zombies unaware of their deaths are sent to a facility to be coaxed to the other side 4 stars
blood harvest: mangled bodies are found in undamaged cars, sole survivor has amnesia and tries to remember how she ended up in the car only to remember to late 3 stars

Ever wish you could unread/unsee a book?

Yeah. This.

The first two stories are unremarkable. Boring even. 3 star territory. Then the third story happened and my rating went down to 1.5 stars. Then the ending of the last one happened and my rating went down to 1 star.

Do. Not. Read. This. Save yourself while you still can. It’s it worth it.

Weird.

I was obviously expecting this manga collection and I'm very grateful of Fantagraphics Books for the arc copy and opportunity. As always, my review is of my own and nothing else.

I really can't help but always compare horror mangas to Junju Ito ones especially if it gives off this weird story just like this one. The start was really intriguing however it turns quite stale as the collection goes on.

Overall, I think this one could have been better than this one.

2.5/5

Brain Damage offers 4 bleak and gory short stories full of disturbing twists. The art style is executes the eerie atmosphere well.

I love bizarre and weird horror manga, but I think this one fell flat for me. Each story had an amazing concept but they seemed to work as short stories for me. Either they had good stopping points, but it kept going until the ending changed the tone of it. Or they felt too disjointed to flow smoothly. I would have given this a 3.5 had it not been for sexualization of a minor and incest between said minor and a vulnerable family member in the third story, "Family Portrait". It was completely unnecessary and honestly killed the vibe of this book for me.

Labyrinth Quartet - 3.5
The Cursed Room - 3
The Family Portrait - 1
Blood Harvest - 4

Thank you to Fantagraphics Books and Netgalley for the eArc!

Brain Damage is a collection of four unsettling and grotesque short stories, definitely one for fans of Junji Ito and extreme body horror. I especially enjoyed Labyrinth Quartet, Curse Room, and Blood Harvest. The last one stood out the most with its absurd yet compelling concept of vampiric cars and a girl immune to their thirst for blood. It’s wild, weird, and exactly the kind of story I enjoy, though the abrupt ending left me wanting more.

The story that didn’t work for me was Family Portrait. It follows a grandfather with dementia whose memory lapses cause family members to vanish. While the premise was intriguing, the inclusion of incest and SA made it difficult to stomach. I had to pause before finishing the rest of the collection.

Overall, Brain Damage is disturbing, surreal, and drenched in shock value. A bold read, but definitely not for everyone. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I would not recommend this to anyone new to the genre. Read through some of the pther reviews to get a sense of what I mean. Overall decent, but wouldn't go out of my way to read

2.5⭐'s

Induvial story reviews:
Story 1: was a 4 star.
Story 2: was a 2 star.
Story 3: was a 1.5 stars (it should have never been written)
Story 4: was a 2 star.

The first one was a fluke in my opinion. I would find it hard to recommend.

~Thank you, Fantagraphics Books and Net Galley, for the advanced reader copy! I review this voluntarily ~

I have been a big fan of Shintaro Kago and his art works for a while. They're bloody, surreal and delightfully disturbing. “Brain Damage” is no different. Four macabre stories full of dark humor and wonderful absurdity.

Each story has its own charm and style that in the end all make you think, “What the hell happened?”
As you read each story, the body horror and gore escalate in a way that keeps you wanting more.

“Blood Harvest,” the last of the stories, is the prime example. A story of mysterious and gruesome automotive deaths. Victims found mangled in cars as if they were in a terrible accident; however, the car itself is left intact as if nothing ever happened. Once it starts, the gore train keeps on rolling. Each death panel made me cringe, but I looked on in awe of how much detail Kago can fit in there. “Blood Harvest” was my favorite. It left me with a lot of unanswered questions, but that only adds to the surreal feeling you get when reading Kago’s work.

It's a quick read, I can see myself going back to.
I would recommend this to fans of horror manga, especially Ero-guro.

Thank you for the opportunity to have an advanced copy of your book! I really enjoy having early access to books and getting an insight into how book feedback is gained. Thanks :)

I am not a huge fan of manga art so, while engaging and artfully styled, this was not my cup of tea.

Brain Damage is the first manga I've ever read and I LOVED it!! This is basically the graphic equivalent of a collection of short stories, and they are all more macabre as the last.

This collection includes four young identical girls trapped in a labyrinth together where they are being hunted and mutilated, a zombie sanitarium where staff work to keep the patients sedate, a teenage girl tries to solve the string of disappearances in her community while fending off her perverted grandfather, and another mystery surrounding cars being found filled with mangled bodies. Each story will have you scratching your head and maybe wincing a little bit but I absolutely couldn't look away. The illustrations are immersive and at time haunting, and all characters are distinct and very human.

Labyrinth Quartet - 3.5✨
The Cursed Room - 3.0✨
The Family Portrait - 2.5✨
Blood Harvest - 4.5✨
3.37✨

One on my pending request for so long that only recently got approved that I almost forgot I ever requested it. Reminds me of Junji Ito works. The last one 'blood harvest' is obviously my fave out of the three.

4/5 ⭐️ This was a really fast read for me and I really enjoyed it! I was left wanting more of each one of the stories, and I’m left thinking about them days later. Thank you so much for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of Brain Damage!!

From the art style, I originally hoped for Junji Ito vibes. Unfortunately that was not the case in the execution. There were some good panels of artworks. Unfortunately the accompanying story was so simple and an amateur that I can't honestly recommend. It just felt very weak and not polished enough.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

A good horror that was unique and the artwork was gross in parts. Some of it will stay with me a while lol.

Really solid collection of horror stories. Not the most elaborate illustrations but the storytelling does a lot of work in this collection. Overall worth picking up to get some stories that were certainly unique and grotesque.

espite an awful translation that seemed to have been done by someone who wasn't a professional and made serious mistakes that weren't simple typos, the first two stories were amazing. The third one had a great premise until the unnecessary and disgustingly disturbing incestual pedo sexual harassment element was introduced. And the fourth one was okay (with inspiration a bit too close to some aspects present in El Eternauta for my liking.)

I can't believe material with those elements is still being approved for publication in this day and age, so... I wouldn't recommend the collection because I will never hype work done by people who have included anything related to those topics in any part of their work.