Welcome back lovers of nihilistic cosmic horror. This time we’re going to have a look at the Mythos as seen through the lens of one of my favorite places: Japan.
Unsurprisingly, from the country that gave us The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife, Japanese lovers of horror have been fans of Lovecraft and the Mythos for years, and their fandom spans from cute to horrific (kawaii to kowai if you will). Mostly this shows up in anime and manga, but there is a small cult of Mythos writers and even anthologies of Japanese Mythos fiction.
So, lets see what we’ve found this week.
Find something amazing we haven’t posted? Drop a line to Simeon and put Unspeakable! in the title.
- If you haven’t heard of Mizuki Shigeru and you like horror, you should probably stop reading this now and go look him up. As one of the grandfathers of Japanese horror, he is famous for many things; anime, manga, illustrations, and literature to name a few. In fact there is a whole town that has dedicated itself to keeping alive his vision of Yōkai (Japanese monsters and spirits).
In 1962 he adapted The Dunwich Horror into a manga called Chitei no Ashioto (地底の足音; Footsteps from the Depths of the Earth). You can read more about it here. And if you ever find a copy for sale, please email us! - If anime is more your thing, then I would recommend checking out Mahou Shoujo Madoka★Magica. The less that is said the better, but it’s full of Lovecraftian and Faustian references. Don’t Google it, you’ll just spoil it for yourself.
- If all of this is too serious for you then perhaps you should pick up the latest issue of the cute monster girl manga Monster Musume. According to one of our readers, there is an actual session of The Call of Cthulhu RPG as well as readings from “The Crawling Chaos.” No word yet if this will be in the American version, But the Japanese version can be found here in Comic Ryu #105.
- If you really want to ruin yourself on anime and the Mythos, then maybe you should check out the cute comedy Haiyore! Nyaruko-san. A high school comedy about Nyarlathotep coming to earth and being targeted by the Great Old Ones. I have never watched it and I may never, but I feel it’s my duty to report the Mythos wherever I find it.
- Asamatsu Ken could be called Lovecraft’s official ambassador to Japan. He has been writing weird fiction and cosmic horror for years, and in 1998 worked to release an anthology of Japanese Mythos writers titled Hishin (The Hidden Gods). This was followed by a two volume collection called Hishinkai (Released in America as a four volume set: Lairs of the Hidden Gods).
That’s it for this edition. Until next time, stay sane.