As I started reading the book I found myself thinking "why Is It called Brain Damage?", since none of the stories seem to revolve around that. That might be because the brain damage in question is the one the reader might suffer after finishing each story!

I found myself going wild in my room when the plot twist of each story unfolded itself. I even found myself trying to predict them after the impact the first story left on me, to no avail.

The book is short, true, but each story is written in a thight way. They don't feel rushed, nor too short, nor like there was more that should have been said, despite leaving some questions unanswered. I agree with the sentiment of the author, horror works best when it's a little vague.

The stories have a little bit of everything, from gore to body horror, to real life horror, to supernatural. There's a little bit for everyone, and every story is filled to the brim with absurdist comedy as well as a healty dose of black comedy, without poking fun at any kind of group like it's usually done.

Before reading this I didn't knew anything about Shintaro Kago but after experiencing his style It's quite eager to read more from him!

Disturbing and addictive, a short collection of horror stories with an amazing art style and an eerie atmosphere all around. My favorite story was “curse room”, I found it very creative and enticing all the way through. I would recommend checking content warnings beforehand.

3.5 stars overall (rounded up) - There were plenty of WTF moments as I was reading this book because it was just so weird and bizarre...In general, I enjoyed each story; however, there is a content warning (see below) that readers may want to consider before reading the third story, "Family Portrait." It should be assumed that all story include elements of horror, such as body horror and gore.

In “Labyrinth Quartet,” four identical young women trapped in an eerie building must solve the mystery of why they’ve been gathered there — while being hunted by a knife-wielding stalker. This story receives a 3.5/5 stars from me.

In “Curse Room,” a plucky health aide is tasked with keeping zombies peaceful, lest they go on a brain-eating rampage. This story receives a 3/5 stars from me.

In “Family Portrait,” people throughout town are strangely disappearing without a trace, and the key to it all is a senile and perverted old man. This story receives a 4/5 stars from me. Content warnings include sexualization of a minor and incest.

Finally, in “Blood Harvest” a series of gruesomely mangled bodies are found in pristine cars — and it appears something sinister lurks within these masses of glass and steel. This story receives a 3.5/5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books | Fantagraphics for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader's Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinions/review.

Brain Damage is a manga volume collecting 4 different stories by the mangaka Shintaro Kago. This graphic work is a bit of a mixed bag. Overall I quite enjoy Kago's ideas and illustrations. He has an amazing grasp of anatomy that evokes a visceral response to the body horror depicted throughout. Kago also has a great, absurdist sense of humour that shines through and adds a bit of levity to tense situations.

However I do find myself wanting just a bit more when it comes to execution. Kago states he enjoys leaving readers in the dark and not providing all the answers, but for me that balance swings too much to the side of leaving the reader in the dark. Having some answers and clues can excite the brain into imagination which can deepen a story. I also found the fact that all stories were mostly focused on the suffering of female characters to come across as possibly misogynstic and not as diverse as these stories could be. Now onto the stories itself.

Labyrinth Quartet - 3.5 stars
The illustrations in this story perfectly capture the feel of claustrophobia. I found this story quite original and something that can feasibly only be thought up based on Japanese culture. I do we wish we could have gotten some more answers in the end though.

Curse Room - 3.75 stars
This one was my favourite of the volume. With a premise reminiscent of One Missed Call, but with an unexpected twist. I enjoyed the rare combination of hope and horror.

Family Portrait - 1.5 star
This story was by far my least favourite. While the idea of this story is certainly interesting, the execution and specifically incest related imagery were too much for me.

Blood Harvest - 2.5 stars
While there was a lot of potential in this story it didn't really go anywhere. We got too little information to draw any meaningful conclusions. While the ending felt fitting, it came about a bit sudden.

Average: 2.8/5

Brain Damage might be your next favourite read if you enjoy off beat mysterious horror stories drawn in toe curling body horror detail.

This is a manga collection of four short stories that are disturbing, gruesome, and packed with body horror, dark humor, and strange satire. If you're a fan of Junji Ito, this might be right up your alley—it's intense, bizarre, and wildly creative in the most unsettling ways.

I went into this book knowing it would be weird and grotesque, and it definitely delivered on that front. The second and fourth stories were my favorites—both managed to balance the horror and satire in a way that kept me hooked. The third story had a strong start and was working well until the ending took a very uncomfortable turn. It depicted sexual assault involving a minor, which felt extremely disturbing and hard to digest. While I understand that horror sometimes pushes boundaries, this part was too much for me and affected my overall impression of the book.

That said, I truly appreciated Kago's bold storytelling style and how different and risky this collection is. It's not for everyone—and it definitely has its triggers—but for readers who enjoy surreal, unsettling horror with shocking visuals and twisted narratives, this could be an intriguing (and haunting) read.

Just be warned: it's graphic, gory, and definitely not light horror. But for fans of extreme, experimental horror manga, Brain Damage may just hit the mark.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC of Brain Damage in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I really hated this one. Obviously not every book is for every reader, and some of the stories are just too much in the way of slasher or zombie stories for me. That’s okay. What I found particularly upsetting was the constant naked teenage girls. These elements were rendered with as much loving detail as the guts and gore, and occurred in every story in the collection. One story went so far as to have the grandfather groping his granddaughter repeatedly, eventually leading to a rape scene.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I like my horror manga weird and unsettling, and ‘Brain Damage’ delivers on this brief. There are four stories contained in this volume, all of which are unique and troubling in their own ways. I think the stand out for me was probably the second story, which dealt with the concept of an afterlife that’s not quite as pleasant as it should be.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the third story, which contains some more controversial themes than the other stories in this volume. The inclusion of the scene at the very end was unnecessary and uncomfortable (particularly involving a teenage character) and I found myself wondering why it was included.

Besides this, however, I did enjoy these stories- although they were a little short and left me with quite a few questions in some circumstances. I’m keen to see more from Kago in future- it’s nice to have a slightly more satirical and biting Junji Ito alternative.

*Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free e-manga in exchange for an honest review*

RATING : 3.25 STARS

Without getting into spoilers, I have to say the first story - Cursed room in this collection was very Junji Ito meets the Zodiac Killer vibes. It started in media res, which added a lot of tension and grabbed my attention. The second story was quite twisted and interesting as well. Personally, I felt that the manga did start to go a little downhill from the first story as each story become less unique and interesting. The artstyle is what kept me going, the panels are very twisted and gory.

There was some very blatant sexualization of women in this manga, I'm not sure why all the central protagonists had to be female, but they were. Moreover, a lot of shower scenes, the women were naked which didn't really serve the plot - the panel could have just been a showerhead and the character's hair not their entire body. There were other moments as well where there was uncessary sexualization which could have been avoided.

A room where the undead go to die, killer cars, a serial killer, and death by being forgotten make up these truly weird and horrifying tales. The first one was in all honesty pretty tame compared to the rest, actually almost a trope for horror that features serial killers but that's pretty much where the "I've read something like this before." The three afterward are just incredibly weird, which is honestly a good thing, and even a little funny (I laughed out loud at the last panel for the 2nd story), but the third story took a curve that was maybe a bit much for me. I'm not going to go into it in detail but it's sexually graphic and extremely messed up. And yet I can't bring myself to knock more than one star down for it. I think it has a lot of interesting things to say about what we allow elderly people to get away with while simultaneously pointing out that we don't pay enough attention to the elderly in our lives. Now, I could be reading way too deeply into this, but I don't think so all three stories (after the first one) have some sort of point to them and while graphically depicting sex acts is not the route I would have taken its a pointed statement on multiple levels. I just wish they had opted to go down a different road there. That being said, the moral of story four is blatant and so valid that I believe the four star rating is deserved.

This is definitely not for the faint of heart and most certainly not for children. From the beginning to end the violence is over the top and graphically depicted. In all honesty I'm not even sure some Ito fans would be interested in it. It's a lot, even for me and I have stacks of horror manga. However, it was well done with some pretty heavy commentary on society so if you can stomach miles of intestines I'd recommend it.

As always thanks to NetGalley and Fantagraphics for the eArc!

"Brain Damage" by Shintaro Kago is a dark, grotesque, surreal, and unsettling manga. I love the artwork in the manga and thought each story was fast paced and intriguing.

I loved the first two and the last story in the collection. Unfortunately I did not like the third story in the manga because the story contained incest and the sexualization of a minor.

Overall, I would recommend this horror manga. I rated it 3 out of 5 stars because of the third story. I would have rated it higher if the third story wasn't in the manga.

Thank you NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for sending me an ARC of "Brain Damage"!

Loved it! Brain Damage is a collection of 4 short manga stories by Shintaro Kago that is filled with body horror and gore. First story “Labyrinth Quartet” is about four identical girls that find themselves trapped in a building, running from a maniac trying to dismember them. The second story “Curse Room” is about an aide who’s job is to help zombies come to terms with their deaths. The third story “Family Portrait” is about people disappearing suddenly without a trace and they’re all connected to an old perverted grandfather. The fourth and last story “Blood Harvest” is about mangled bodies appearing in perfect condition used cars.

I really enjoyed these stories and loved the artwork! I found the stories eerie and disturbing (especially “Family Portrait”). My favorite story was "Curse Room". I am a big fan of body horror and this definitely was a treat to read! I'm glad this was my introduction to Kago's work!

Whilst I do enjoy a good, spooky story (and there's more than one here), there was one in here which brought the whole book down for me. The twist on zombies was excellent and a the other two stories were good, but there was one story which had an interesting concept (alzheimer's causing people to disappear) but included sexual assault as part of the storyline and really, you could have had the horror of the situation, without any of that.

I felt overall there was potential (we leave out the third story Family Portrait). I liked the first two stories enough. They felt creative and creepy. The art was pretty good as well. But then that third story I think was straight up gross and bit even like scary horror. It was essentially boarding on incest/SA involving a grandpa and a granddaughter. 😖😖 Like no thanks.

I settled in two stars just for the other Stories but tbh that third one ruined them for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this ARC for my honest review.

Published by Fantagraphics Books and available July 15, 2025, Brain Damage is an anthology of ero guro (erotic grotesque, an art movement combining horror and eroticism) stories. I've reviewed horror manga before and I keep having the same problem -- it's just hard to make a drawing scary. This book falls into that issue. The first story, "Labyrinth Quartet" starts out reminding me of the internet urban legend Saki Sanobashi but quickly becomes a slasher movie. I liked the second story, "Curse Room," which had a unique take on zombies. "Family Portrait" is mostly scary for its focus on sexual perversion/assault. The final story, "Blood Harvest," is about mangled corpses found in undamaged cars that turn out to be vampiristic -- mostly it's an excuse for Kago to show off his admittedly impressive gore skills. I'm giving the book two stars, for the unique story of zombie caretakers, but other than that I was bored.

I really hoped to like this and the first two stories I did enjoy. It went rapidly downhill at the 3rd. I’m someone who has read a lot of extreme horror and splatterpunk, I can handle trigger warnings but Family Portrait was just gross. Massive over sexualisation of a minor and incest involving them and a vulnerable adult. It added nothing to the story and it almost made me DNF. I did read the 4th story which was okay, but by that point I just didn’t care anymore, shame.

Thanks to NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, the four short stories within this collection were very unique, bizarre, and interesting. I do think that sometimes the storytelling was a tad choppy, and more length to each might have helped make each story more cohesive.

However, the reason why I rated this collection so low was for the third story, Family Portrait. I'm not sure what the point/goal was to include the extreme sexualization of the female character who was a minor. It had no impact on the plot whatsoever, so I'm seriously questioning why it was added to the story at all. Furthermore, it felt like giving the grandfather Alzheimers was a cop out to be able to include the sexual assault of the minor, which, again, was not necessary to the plot at all, and it was just overall offensive to anyone who has actually lived with family suffering from Alzheimers. While I don't agree with censorship, there have definitely been a few authors of late who wrote about these topics within the horror genre and have also had some sordid things pop up from their personal lives. I think it's important for publishers and authors alike to be cognizant of this, and to handle these types of topics more delicately and not exploit them for torture porn, especially when it involves female minors.

Sadly, I would have rated this much higher and would have enjoyed these stories so much more if I didn't get such a gross feeling from that specific story. Additionally, I cannot really recommend this despite the two-star rating.

I received this ebook from Fantagraphics Books on NetGalley - thank you!

It was the first manga by this author that I have read. I really wanted to enjoy it, but I have mixed feelings about it and I am not sure how to rate it.

I definitely loved the art, the original ideas and the overall Junji Ito vibe of the manga. However, the way certain topics were addressed didn’t sit well with me.

My favorite story was the one about cars. My least favorite was the one involving incest and a sexual assault on a minor - I don’t think it was necessary for the plot, it wasn’t executed tactfully and it was just too much for me. In my opinion it ruined an otherwise interesting premise.

I think I will need to read more of this author’s work to form my opinion about it.

It’s very good, I loved the art in it. It so different and refreshing 💗
I enjoyed reading it, and I would highly recommend reading it if you are into weird and gruesome.

I had mixed feelings about the 4 stories in this collection, with my favourite being the fourth one.

The horror elements of the four stories did vary which gave each story it's own voice but the execution of them all didn't feel quite as strong as I would have hoped.

The first two were lacking for the their endings and the third story instantly gave me the ick due to being so overly sexual about teenage aged females (especially due to the graphic art style).

However the artwork in this is absolutely stunning, especially in the final story. It really helped make the stories come to life and helped build the horror.

Overall a decent horror anthology but the third story ruined the whole thing for me due to making me, as a female reader, feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Okay.... lackluster but weird as hell? This felt a bit like a fever dream where you fell asleep watching a low budget horror movie and woke up in the middle of the night confused and wondering if anything is real or all make believe.