Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics/Vertical Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC (advanced reader copy) of this manga. The following review is my honest opinion.

This was my first time reading a horror manga and wow, I really didn’t expect it to be this dark. The cover intrigued me from the first glance and I was hooked after the first few pages.

In this manga we follow a group of students. There is Chi, an unreadable and mysterious girl, who stopped going to school. Then there is her former childhood friend Yua, who is quieter and more agreeable. The third main person of this story is Kodai. He is the praise seeking kind and exactly this trait is the reason why he decides to use Yua to get Chi to go back to school. However, it turns out that this idea is more dangerous than anticipated.

I have to say that I have mixed feelings about this manga. On the one hand the story kept me on my toes the entire time. It was also very short, so I read it in one sitting. On the other hand, I found myself often confused at the reasonings and decisions of the main characters, especially the ending. I feel like this book would have profited from being longer, so that the reader understood the characters better. (Learning that this is a prequel makes a lot more sense now.) Nevertheless, I was very impressed with the art style and especially how well the creepy aura of Chi was depicted.

I would recommend this to horror lovers and urge readers to inform themselves about the trigger warnings beforehand.

Thanks to NetGalley, Kodansha Comics and Vertical Comics for the ARC copy. This has not affected my review at all, which are my own thoughts.

It’s been years since Chi, a mysterious and dangerous outcast girl, and her childhood friend Yua spoke for the last time. Until, unprompted, Chi shows up to school with a handful of dead bugs, creating a chaos that makes Kodai, Yua's classmate, resident golden boy and the boy she likes, have a brilliant idea: he’s going to bring Chi back into the fold, and he needs Yua’s help to do it. But good intentions never lead to the best of outcomes.

So, apparently this manga goes hand in hand with a horror film called "Toxic Daughter" (by Eisuke Naito), which I haven't seen, but I still enjoyed the manga nonetheless. Is a story that stands on it's own and gives us a glimpse into Chi's and Yua's story, their relationship when they were children and the talking again now that they're teens, and how Kodai fits into all this.

Chi-chan is a disturbing horror story about the darkness that lives in an ostracized kid that may not be as possible to save as our protagonist thinks. Chi is not a regular kid, and even she might know this, but still, Kodai and Yua want to help her no matter what. Until an incident that twist it all into the terrifying story that populates this pages. Laced with Shuzo Oshimi's amazing art that blends perfectly profound detail and disturbing imagery.

Though entertaining, I felt like Chi-chan felt sort on some aspects, not nearly scaring me as much as I expected for the reviews I've looked at, but it gave me the chill with the aspects that, though never explicit in the page, were hinted at by subtle detail that Oshimi places at the perfect moment. I think this manga is more heavier on the psychological horror part than on the horror-in-the-page part (more gorey and such), Playing more with what isn't said than with what is shown in the page. That's the cleverness of Shuzo Oshimi combined with the film director's writing.

Recommended for goosebumps and for the people that have seen the film and want to delve deeper into this universe

Classic Japanese horror vibes. I am curious to see where Chi's story goes from here. The artwork was lovely and I want more bugs! Thank you for letting me review this ARC!

The blurb sounded really cool – dark. It does start pretty unhinged and like the beginning of a slowly creeping horror story, but then focuses a bit (too much for my taste) on a hetero romance and I wanted to barf. However, I had a bad feeling about the guy’s trying-too-hard-to-be-good vibe from the beginning and turned out I was right. That relationship does develop into a disgusted moment.
Worse is, it’s not a horror-fantasy type of moment, it’s incredibly realistic for a lot of women – mainly, but not only. The peak evilness of humanity which even makes the devil cry.

I hate him so much, I can’t believe I actually felt bad for him when his father physically abused him. That I actually gave him a chance. PFF, listen to your gut, people.
Well, I mean, the physical abuse probably is the reason why he turned into such an ass. BUT it makes me love Chi even more. She showed him how asses like him are dealt with! How feminists should deal with asses like him in real life. Should be sold as a guide-book, in fact. <spoiler> (Do make sure to read it in secrecy and don’t tell any republicans/misogynists, because they will ban the book.) </spoiler>

I hope there’ll be a manga continuation, cause I’m not really into watching horror/thriller movies. I prefer reading these genres, especially in graphic novel format – horror simply looks better drawn than live acted, IMO. Although it is a neat idea to have a prequel of and ad for a movie in comic form.
Though I’d be curious why it’s called “toxic daughter”. Based on this prequel alone, it should be “toxic children”.

~

4.5 stars leaning to the 4th cause that one scene did make me very uncomfortable, especially cause there are no trigger warnings regarding that whatsoever. Having blood, gore and such in a horror novel, okay, expected, but not romance-related violence. And, also, Yua was sometimes too quiet, it got a bit annoying. Understandable, but annoying.
I don’t really like anyone from the characters, except Chi, but they’re well made from a writer’s perspective – and have lots of depth for the length.

~

Thank you to Kodansha on Netgalley for an eARC.

-30.03.25

A very simple, and almost cliche, plot elevated by Shuzo Oshimi's voice and style - if you're a fan of Oshimi's work (Blood on the Tracks, The Flowers of Evil), you'll probably find some enjoyment in Chi-chan; just don't expect the depth his work usually embodies. This is a short and sweet horror premise, done well.

Creepy, eerie, and unsettling—this one-shot kept me on edge. The art was great, and the characters are twisted in their own ways. The tension builds into something dark, leading to an open ending that left me wanting more. I wish there was a sequel!

Two students try to befriend their creepy classmate—it gets dark quick

After the first few pages, I was thinking this really looks like the art of the creator of Blood on the Tracks, and then I checked and realized it IS the creator of Blood on the Tracks. He has such a distinctive art style and cinematic way of using visual metaphors and close-ups. I recommend this book even for that reason alone. His works are always an Experience and will undoubtedly leave an impact on you.

This book followed his typical pattern of slowly building creepiness escalating to violence. My heart rate was starting to speed up and I was very uncomfortable. I regretted reading it before bed, not because it was scary like a jump scare horror movie, but because of how the ordinary so quickly turns horrible. The evilness of humanity was shown quite realistically, and that made me sad and intensely disgusted, which means that the book is successfully doing exactly what it intends to do.

Apparently it’s the prequel to a horror movie coming out next month, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch that because, to me, the appeal of this story mostly comes from the art style and manga form. The character Chi doesn’t actually seem that interesting to me. She was more of a catalyst to learn about the other characters’ darkness, but maybe that’s what the movie will do too.

A quick read. I was more then halfway through before I realized it. It is unsettling and had me questioning what was going on most of the time. Left me wanting more.

Toxic daughter: Chi-Chan is a mind- boggling, fast-paced manga that follows the story of Yua who gets asked by Kouda to help their strangely absente classmate Chi. It's been years since Yua had any conversation with Chi but when circumstances calls to reconnect with her, Yua is hesitant. And it's all for the right reasons. Because there's a darkness so deep and desparate waiting to unleash it's wrath.

This story was a complete rollercoaster ride because the unpredictable twists and turns were meticulously arranged and it shocked me just how fast a seemingly ordinary gesture turn vile and downright evil. Just be warned this is dark and has themes that could be triggering to some.

This bone- chilling manga collaboration surely leaves the readers with a fatal impression and they will be craving for more. The intentions are blurred on the lines of sanity and insanity. For the readers who like dark- themed storyline and hauntingly captivating narration with striking illustrations, this one is for you.

This is a prequel that definitely left me wanting more, but not in the way I’d hoped. The first 90% is quite slow with very little, if any at all, backstory on these characters. I would’ve preferred most of the focus be on Chi herself instead of so much page time being wasted in the classroom. But the ending was quite shocking and brutal. If only we’d had a more of this horror from the very beginning.

Such an interesting read that has a few trigger warnings of sexual assault, bullying, child abuse, and blood. This book dives into the dark side of neglect and the traumatic effects it has on the child being neglected. The need to get a parents approval can lead to self destruction. The author dives into a few things and tragically addresses the challenges that youth can face. Overall a well written graphic novel.

This was definitely creepy. Yua and Kodai are in the same class and Yua has a big crush on the him. One day in class,. Chi, an old friend of Yua’s shows up out of the blue, looking very raggedly with dead bugs. Kodai, being the golden boy that he is, has the bright idea to get Chi to come back to school regularly by using Yua as the bait.

TW: rape and harm

#ThxNetGalley #ShuzoOshimi #ToxicDaughterChiChan

This is a very unsettling and disturbing one-shot manga, but in a way that you keep looking on as events escalate and the horror of it mounts.

Chi is a strange girl in her class, rarely showing up and when she does, she wears ripped-up pajamas and carries dead cockroaches in her hands. Yua used to be friends with her but has lost touch, but Kodai, the golden boy in class, asks Yua to help him convince Chi to come to school. They seemingly succeed, but as they interact with Chi more and more, their lives take a dark turn.

So apparently this is a prequel one-shot to a movie featuring Chi, but you don’t need any prior knowledge going into this. Trigger warnings for violence, blood, child neglect/abuse and SA. The artwork was good at showing details and focusing on aspects that add to the eerie atmosphere, with some pages resembling a water color painting. There were layers to the characters here and a darkness within each of them, so the story took violent turns that I wasn’t expecting and couldn’t look away from even if it was disgusting. It’s not as gorey or explicit as it could be, but it is a dark story, so read with caution. But if you enjoy a dark disturbing manga (いい意味で気持ち悪い) then I think you might like this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Shuzo Oshimi is favourite author in my store, so I was curious about this title. While Toxic Daughter is a movie tie-in prequel, I think it works well on its own, as I've never seen the movie before. You have all the elements of a typical Oshimi title, twisted teens pretending to be something they're not, and creepy characters that don't fit in with the world. Slight spoilers in a trigger warning, this does contain scenes and allusions to sexual assault.

Chi has always been a little weird, but Yua befriends her anyway when they were in kindergarten. However as they age, Yua realizes that if she continues to be friends with the weird girl who collects dead bugs she to will get picked on, so she ends their friendship and Chi stops going to school. That is until one day she randomly appears scaring the entire class except for the boy Yua has a crush on, Kodai. After class, Kodai decides that he and Yua are going to embark on a mission to bring Chi back into the fold. At first, it seems to work until the worst thing possible happens.

This was supremely messed up. I mean, given the cover, there is no way it was not going to be, but it's way more messed up than I was expecting, especially since it's relatively short. It's obvious from the first time we meet Chi that she is at best simply neglected at worse abused. The adults don't seem to want to do anything about it, and to be honest, I don't really feel like Yua actually did either. Kodai's motivation is incredibly transparent from the get-go, and he turns out to be a little monster, which, since he creeps me out from the beginning, I'm absolutely fine with that. Honestly, I think it makes this stand out, though , simply how much insanity is packed into such a short read. Not many authors, manga or otherwise, would be able to accomplish what Oshimi does here in a handful of pages.

And I don't do trigger warnings, but I think this one needs it: parental neglect, bullying, and sexual assault.

I definitely enjoyed this quick little horror manga, and it is 100% a horror you can't convince me otherwise. I'd highly recommend it for those who enjoy horror/psychology thriller reads.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the eArc!

This one-shot manga was incredibly hard to put down.

It’s about this weird girl named Chi who’s dropped out of school, one day she shows up to class with a handful of bugs which creeps out her classmates and then she leaves. Two of her classmates, Yua, a girl who used to be friends with, and Koudai, a boy Yua has a crush on, try to befriend Chi again so she’ll come back to school. Yua quickly realizes just how creepy Chi can be.

This manga actually serves as a prologue to a movie, and I absolutely need to watch it. I want to see where Chi’s story goes. I loved how well-written it was, it was very hard to look away. For a short, fast-paced story, it was nice to see the characters fleshed out really well.

The artwork is gorgeous and does a fantastic job of making you feel uneasy.

I highly recommend checking this one out, when it releases on April 22. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy!

I really liked the suspense throughout the story and how it kind of grabbed my attention and kept me wanting to read more. I think it was definitely a good like preview/intro to the movie and I'm now actually wanting to watch it! The artwork was also very well done!!

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Once again Shuzo Oshimi demonstrates their skill as a master of horror and suspense. The juxtaposition of quiet school life with the visceral depictions of violence are deeply unsettling. Of course, things are not always as they seem and more villains come to light.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vertical Comics for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I was super in love with this. This oneshot is a prequel manga for a film, Toxic Daughter, and it for sure left me wanting more. The art is really cool and it's evocative of the emotions on every page. For sure TRIGGER WARNINGS though; there's sexual assault, animal violence, and graphic violence. It is a lot but if you're okay with it, it'll leave you wanting to see the movie.

Loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first manga by Shuzo Oshimi and was a very fast read. Short but impactful read and has left me wanting to know more.

It is about two childhood friends Chi and Yua who have grown apart, and the process of trying to reintegrate Chi back into their school, prompted along by Yua's crush Kodai. The art was stunning and I enjoyed the story, and the messages about social pressures and expectations. I would recommend, however beware it did include SA which was unexpected.