Brain Damage by Shintaro Kago delivers a unique blend of horror, reminiscent of Junji Ito yet disturbingly original.

This was my first experience reading Shintaro Kago and it will definitely not be my last. These four stories are all gut punches combining the grotesque, weird, and horrific to great effect.

In the first story, a group of identical young women wake up together in a locked room and have to figure out what's going on.

In the second story, a woman wakes up in a cell-like apartment and things feel off...I won't say anything more about this one as it would be too spoilery, but the concept behind this one was the most interesting and original to me.

In the third story, a high school-aged girl investigates disappearances in her neighbourhood while dealing with her creepy grandfather (this was the grossest and most uncomfortable story).

In the fourth and final story, people are showing up dead and mangled in their cars, but the police cannot find the cause.

Each story starts by establishing a sense of the uncanny, where some things are just a bit off (love it). The tension builds and builds, leading to grotesque endings that will stick in my mind for a while. Overall, this was a captivating, genuinely discomfiting read. Four stars because the last story was least effective to me, at least until I got to that final haunting image (I think he was going for a bit of absurdist humour here but it didn't land for me).

Thanks for the ARC!

What a fantastic book of peculiarities. There is a very 1990's vibe to it. The body horror and bizarre scenarios which are left feeling strangely familiar and comforting.
I highly recommend this one. It was a fun read and one I found myself wanting to pick up constantly.

Thank to Netgalley for providing an ARC for an unbiased review.

This title has very strong Junji Ito vibes, but it is far from a successor. The storied are generally dark, but with a streak of satire.
The quality of stoies vary, but I think they are correctly written in the short form (none of them are novels in waiting).

"Labyrinth" - the best of the lot. Would love to see a horror movie utilize the premise. "Orphan Black" meets "Cube".
"Curse Room" - Macabre and Banal. The scope shifts (there is a twist) and it ends in a very weird spot - I did not see it coming.
"Family Portrait" - Interesting concept, but the grossness of this one turned me off - almost DNFed the rest of the book with this one.
"Blood Harvest" - Pretty good story. This is the one that feels to be the most "Junji Ito" (especially the last page).

Okay, simply put, this was disgusting.

I had no issue with the gore, though it did not really enhance the stories. My beef is with the pointless nudity in the 3rd and 4th chapters, as well as the INCEST. In the 3rd story there was a literal dementia patient raping his grandchild and then his other family members offering themselves as the punchline.

Despite the decent core ideas for each chapter, this entire volume is very juvenile. The stories could have been fittingly disturbing and memorable without adding the creep factor. I hope one day the creator realizes this and reworks them. Until then, would not recommend.

[English is not my native language, sorry if there are mistakes]
Brain damage contains four horror stories, different in their subjetcs, but linked by a very disruptive and deranged vision of human kind. Though the ideas are great, I found the rythm and the twists of the stories too quick to fully embody the subjects and build a massive tension and drown the reader in the horror of the situations. Nevertheless, readers looking for some gore and provoking stories will find what they want.

Body horror and gore galore. Each story has a unique take and can be read separately from the others, although there are distinct links between at least the first two and last two stories. I was thrown by Family Portrait. So many times when a story mentions dementia or Alzheimer's there's a lot of reflection or positivity, but the take in this short story was somewhere on the line of sweet (we are those who remember us) and disgusting (think incest/gross grandpa). I would recommend this compilation for fans of Junji Ito and Hitoshi Iwaaki.

Great artwork and great concepts, but the comedic/satirical parts of the story missed the mark most of the time and the pacing was all over the place. Judging by the author's commentary on the stories at the end, he knows the weaknesses of the stories but didn't know how to fix them. -1 star just for the rapey vibes of the third story, it really cheapened what was a really cool concept.

"Brain Damage" is a unique collection of manga stories that delve into the disturbing and creepy. What initially drew me in was the cover art, which was reminiscent of Junji Ito’s style, and I was pleased to find that the content lived up to that expectation. The stories are original, creative, and distinctly out of the ordinary. I was happy that Kago steered clear of typical horror tropes, something I particularly appreciate in horror manga. Each tale is grotesque and eerie, with a strong plot-driven focus. Some stories can feel disjointed, but I think that’s an intentional choice that adds to the artistic experience. I enjoyed Kago’s unique style and how he boldly experiments with the horror genre.

I enjoyed the grotesque elements, but I found the explicit eroticism less appealing. Kago is known for blending eroticism and horror, and while I recognize this as part of his style, I was uncomfortable with how female bodies were portrayed, especially in the third story. The depiction of a high school girl as an object of desire, alongside explicit imagery of incest and sexual harassment, reflects a troubling focus on the male gaze. The sexualization of high school girls throughout the collection creates a pattern that feels exploitative and fetishized.

Despite my discomfort with these themes, I appreciated the creativity and symbolism in the stories, particularly "Curse Room" and "Blood Harvest." "Curse Room" explores coming to terms with death in a very twisted way, and the shocking twist left a lasting impression. Meanwhile, "Blood Harvest" masterfully blends body horror with the paranormal, and this mix is executed brilliantly.

Episode 2 Curse Room and Episode 4 Blood Harvest were brilliant. 3 was disgusting and I hated it. 1 was just okay. Overall, 2 + 4 were a 4.5-5 star for me, 3 was a 1 star and 1 was a 3 star. This was very Junji Ito coded and in some ways better than his work for me, however in many ways it was… not as good.

The art style is magnificent, but sometimes lacks the shock horror value, and is much less distinctive than that of Ito. However, the stories I liked? I would argue have better storytelling than a lot of Ito’s work. I just wish that all of the stories hit home for me.

I did not enjoy this at all but I’m not sure how much is disliking this specific genre of horror, so I’m giving it an average rating.

I love horror but this one was a little bit too out there for me. I wanted to like it to suggest it for our anime/manga section of the store but it is not a book that would appeal to our audience.

I did enjoy most of the stories within this collection. Family portrait was the only story that I didn't like and it felt unnecessary to include certain elements. It's explicit in nature in an uncomfortable and unnecessary way and I didn't feel the story needed that element.

The other stories in the collection were very well done. My favorite was the Labyrinth Quartet. It was a really thrilling and satisfying story. I would definitely read more stories by Kago in this style. I think it was a good story to open the collection with and kept you wanting to read more.

Curse Room was also a good story that was very haunting as well. Blood Harvest was interesting and had a mystery element to it. The drawings for all stories were really well done and the storytelling was clear. The storylines were engaging and easy to follow. I hope that Kago gets more works translated and released in English.

While often compared to the likes of Ito, Kago is for a more mature audience of horror manga. I found this shown in the third story 'Family Portrait, which due to the uncomfortable explicit nature could definitely turn some readers away. While not for everyone, it's definitely worth giving the book a chance if you're a fan of horror, due to the incredibly grotesque artwork and dark humour in the stories that will be sure to shock.

Kago is an incredible artist and his unusual ideas and unexpected endings put him in league with horror mangaka like Ito. This particular work is tamer than others I've read by him, but the explicit, taboo-violating sexual content in one of the stories will definitely turn some readers off. Despite this, however, all of the stories in this collection are thought-provoking and unique.

The obvious comparison is to junji ito. Shintaro Kago has his own style with slighly more humor in his work than I have seen in Junji Ito's.
I liked Episode 2's art the most as well as the story.
I didn't appreciate the grandpa in episode 3 molesting his own granddaughter. It felt unnecessary to say the least.

The last episode about the cars really lost me, it reminded me of Stephen King's Christine, but couldn't get into it.

If you like Shintaro Kago, you'll like this. is manga of 4 short stories, I'll review them one by one.

1. Labyrinth Quartet
I loved the setting, very successfully used the horror of the liminal space, however the overarching story fell short for me.

2. Curse Room
Not one for zombies myself, but this took a tired concept and did something interesting with it, so I respect that. Comical too.

3. Family Portrait
Hm. Now this one was interesting. Overall, I absolutely loved the concept. I loved the idea of the physical horror of dementia effecting friends and family, because dementia is a horror on all fronts. I really did not care for the sexualised nature of this storyline, though. I understand that's an undercurrent in a lot of Kago's work, but it pained me because this is definitely a story that could have been more than that. It was also played cheaply, and really predictably. Esp. if you've read plenty of manga over your lifetime, the rampant sexism gets old really fast.

4. Blood Harvest
Okay this was his funniest, I really enjoyed this. There isn't enough vehicle horror in the world, and the protagonist's final blood bank scene at the end made me feel viscerally ill.

All in all, these stories were very creative. I would easily recommend to fans of Shintaro Kago and body horror in general.

Like Junji Ito with more satire, Kago’s work is a real treat. The illustrations are haunting and the ideas are so disturbing that they’ll stick with you for a long time. An absolute must-read for fans of body horror manga.

SO happy that more of Kago's work is being officially published in the US. He is a genius mangaka who is criminally underrated. His work is disturbing in a way that sticks with you - there are some panels I will never forget because I was so disturbed, disgusted, or shocked. That is very difficult to do these days.

you'd have to have brain damage to enjoy the last 2 stories, because what? I felt all the stories had a really good stopping point, but then just continued until they were overexplained or completely changed the plot and ruined the unique story that was being told and could've had an ominous ending