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おろち [Orochi]
Orochi: Blood
Orochi: Blood is a tale of two sisters: Kazusa, the older, perfect sister, and Lisa, her supposed inferior. Following a car accident, Lisa is saved by a girl named Orochi, who then mysteriously falls asleep for several decades. When Orochi awakens, she's being taken to a mansion where the two women live. Lisa is now caring for the ill Kazusa. What strange secret binds the sisters to each other, and Orochi to both of them?
224 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2002
6 people are currently reading
331 people want to read
About the author
Kazuo Umezu
136 books309 followersKazuo Umezu or Kazuo Umezz was a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. Starting his career in the 1950s, he is among the most famous artists of horror manga and has been vital for its development, considered the "god of horror manga". In 1960s shōjo manga like Reptilia, he broke the industry's conventions by combining the aesthetics of the commercial manga industry with gruesome visual imagery inspired by Japanese folktales, which created a boom of horror manga and influenced manga artists of following generations. He created successful manga series such as The Drifting Classroom, Makoto-chan and My Name Is Shingo, until he retired from drawing manga in the mid 1990s. He was a public figure in Japan, known for wearing red-and-white-striped shirts and doing his signature "Gwash" hand gesture.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 5, 2022
Now I understand why Kazuo Umezu is considered a master of horror manga. This blew me away.
July 29, 2011
Honestly this is probably better than 3 stars, but I'll go with my gut this time.
Anyway, this is apparently the sixth and final volume of a series of stories that all feature the ghostly character Orochi, but as far as I know this is the only one that's been translated into English. It's also one of Kazuo Umezu's more famous works, and with pretty good reason.
Closer to the power of The Drifting Classroom than the goofy gruesomeness of Cat-Eyed Boy, Orochi: Blood is really quite its own thing and, if nothing else, reading the three of them shows why Umezu is regarded as a master of horror manga, because they're all very good showings of their very different approaches to horror.
Orochi: Blood is very much a Gothic story story, complete with family secrets and big spooky mansions and the whole nine yards. It's quiet, slow horror, but its very nicely told, especially toward the beginning, with a lot of very careful artwork, full-page panels, and interesting use of black space.
Anyway, this is apparently the sixth and final volume of a series of stories that all feature the ghostly character Orochi, but as far as I know this is the only one that's been translated into English. It's also one of Kazuo Umezu's more famous works, and with pretty good reason.
Closer to the power of The Drifting Classroom than the goofy gruesomeness of Cat-Eyed Boy, Orochi: Blood is really quite its own thing and, if nothing else, reading the three of them shows why Umezu is regarded as a master of horror manga, because they're all very good showings of their very different approaches to horror.
Orochi: Blood is very much a Gothic story story, complete with family secrets and big spooky mansions and the whole nine yards. It's quiet, slow horror, but its very nicely told, especially toward the beginning, with a lot of very careful artwork, full-page panels, and interesting use of black space.
April 15, 2024
alternative title: ✨ everyone needs therapy ✨
trigger warnings: child abuse (physical and emotional), gaslighting, self-harm, domestic violence, drunk driving, terminal illness, trapped in someone else's body, attempted murder, fire, poisoning
the art is 10/10 but the story was not good. even though it's a manga and the narrative had opportunities to progress through the art, literally everything was explained through exposition. orochi only exists to hold the reader's hand, explain every single detail, and fill plot holes. the concept of "showing vs telling" was lost on the writer and the narrative suffered because of it. i also felt like a lot of things that were supposed to be horrifying were just written in for shock value and i was disgusted by it. for example, i wish they did something more substantial with the subject of child abuse while giving it more nuance. umezu wrote a cycle of abuse with no end where different children were getting hurt by their guardians with no goal for its inclusion in the narrative. by the time i finished the manga, i was annoyed at the motivations of the sisters rather than intrigued. hugely disappointed story considering how pretty the art is.
trigger warnings: child abuse (physical and emotional), gaslighting, self-harm, domestic violence, drunk driving, terminal illness, trapped in someone else's body, attempted murder, fire, poisoning
the art is 10/10 but the story was not good. even though it's a manga and the narrative had opportunities to progress through the art, literally everything was explained through exposition. orochi only exists to hold the reader's hand, explain every single detail, and fill plot holes. the concept of "showing vs telling" was lost on the writer and the narrative suffered because of it. i also felt like a lot of things that were supposed to be horrifying were just written in for shock value and i was disgusted by it. for example, i wish they did something more substantial with the subject of child abuse while giving it more nuance. umezu wrote a cycle of abuse with no end where different children were getting hurt by their guardians with no goal for its inclusion in the narrative. by the time i finished the manga, i was annoyed at the motivations of the sisters rather than intrigued. hugely disappointed story considering how pretty the art is.
December 6, 2018
REVIEW FOR THE WHOLE SERIES!
This manga has 4 volumes on it. Before you decide to read the whole series, it only contains 9 chapters but each chapter is long. It contains around 80-100+ pages.
So here goes, I give this manga 3.5 stars. I actually like the series of events here. It's interesting and will make you reading for more. What I don't like about this is Orochi herself. Her attitude somewhat. Being too much on putting her nose on someone else's business but I guess we won't have this manga if she didn't. Lol. Anyway, all the 9 stories in this manga is actually good. My personal favorites are Hometown, Key and Blood. I think this is the 3rd manga that I read from this author. I want to try his other mangas if there are more!
This manga has 4 volumes on it. Before you decide to read the whole series, it only contains 9 chapters but each chapter is long. It contains around 80-100+ pages.
So here goes, I give this manga 3.5 stars. I actually like the series of events here. It's interesting and will make you reading for more. What I don't like about this is Orochi herself. Her attitude somewhat. Being too much on putting her nose on someone else's business but I guess we won't have this manga if she didn't. Lol. Anyway, all the 9 stories in this manga is actually good. My personal favorites are Hometown, Key and Blood. I think this is the 3rd manga that I read from this author. I want to try his other mangas if there are more!
December 19, 2018
3/5 for ‘Blood’ but 2/5 for entire Orochi series (4 volumes, 9 long ass chapters)
Read
December 10, 2022o damn i need 2 deep dive into his stuff huh
November 15, 2024
but you can’t see
the orochi who’s guarding you from behind… or the orochi who’s already left you
the orochi who’s guarding you from behind… or the orochi who’s already left you
November 24, 2024
He did really well. His book are all amazing
August 1, 2016
This is a review of the whole manga.
One of the first, and lesser known works from horror master Kazuo Umezu, Orochi consists of 9 tales linked between them by the eponymous narrator; Orochi, has the appearance of a beautiful girl and is a keen observer of humans she deems interesting. Sometimes she will even exit the shadows and intervene with the lives of those she observes, altering their fates using her array of supernatural powers.
Unlike more famous Umezu works, like Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu (The Drifting Classroom) or Kami no Hidarite Akuma no Migite (Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil ), horror; gore; and the supernatural, have to backpedal to a lesser role and allow the humans to take the spotlight; this is a series of dark secrets, revenge, and accumulated hate. With Orochi as our guide, we get to witness the corruption of our human hearts with little-to-no aid from the traditional supernatural scapegoats.
There is a variety of themes explored and some stories will better suit your tastes than others. I found some of them lacking, especially compared to Blood -the last one. All the stories are pretty long for manga ones, averaging well into 100 pages, meaning that characters and plot are well developed. The psychological focus, may alienate some readers who were maybe expecting a more mainstream horror setting. I have to admit that sometimes I, myself hoped for a more sinister turn of events.
The artwork is superb. Umezo puts to shame today's computer-aided mangaka. Each panel is masterfully drawn; the women are especially beautiful and the depth of the details of the backgrounds seems to draw the reader inside the story.
This is an important manga because it can be clearly seen how it influenced Ito Junji, arguably Umezo's successor and a horror master in his own right; we have the beautiful women, the existential dread, and the heavy panels. Although Ito always opts for the most sinister of turns, it is obvious that this manga was a big inspiration for him.
Orochi is a good manga, although the quality of the stories is uneven. If you find Blood at some bookstore's shelves do not hesitate, the great story and even greater artwork will make it a great buy. 7.5/10.
One of the first, and lesser known works from horror master Kazuo Umezu, Orochi consists of 9 tales linked between them by the eponymous narrator; Orochi, has the appearance of a beautiful girl and is a keen observer of humans she deems interesting. Sometimes she will even exit the shadows and intervene with the lives of those she observes, altering their fates using her array of supernatural powers.
Unlike more famous Umezu works, like Hyouryuu Kyoushitsu (The Drifting Classroom) or Kami no Hidarite Akuma no Migite (Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil ), horror; gore; and the supernatural, have to backpedal to a lesser role and allow the humans to take the spotlight; this is a series of dark secrets, revenge, and accumulated hate. With Orochi as our guide, we get to witness the corruption of our human hearts with little-to-no aid from the traditional supernatural scapegoats.
There is a variety of themes explored and some stories will better suit your tastes than others. I found some of them lacking, especially compared to Blood -the last one. All the stories are pretty long for manga ones, averaging well into 100 pages, meaning that characters and plot are well developed. The psychological focus, may alienate some readers who were maybe expecting a more mainstream horror setting. I have to admit that sometimes I, myself hoped for a more sinister turn of events.
The artwork is superb. Umezo puts to shame today's computer-aided mangaka. Each panel is masterfully drawn; the women are especially beautiful and the depth of the details of the backgrounds seems to draw the reader inside the story.
This is an important manga because it can be clearly seen how it influenced Ito Junji, arguably Umezo's successor and a horror master in his own right; we have the beautiful women, the existential dread, and the heavy panels. Although Ito always opts for the most sinister of turns, it is obvious that this manga was a big inspiration for him.
Orochi is a good manga, although the quality of the stories is uneven. If you find Blood at some bookstore's shelves do not hesitate, the great story and even greater artwork will make it a great buy. 7.5/10.
June 23, 2011
Masters of the Horror Manga keep coming out of the woodwork. First there was Hideshi Hino -- master of the horror manga -- with his strangely sweet gorefests. Then the genuinely creepy Uzumaki by Jinjo Ito -- master of the horror manga. And now along comes Kazuo Umezu, you guessed it, the Master of the Horror Manga.
As much as I have enjoyed the others, I might have to go with Umezu. This sets up as a typical good sister/bad sister story, set in a mansion so large there are rooms no one has ever explored. When it seems that bad sister may be planning good sister's death, out from behind a curtain steps another little girl. She too lives in the house, but no one is aware of her. She watches the family but is basically helpless to intervene. Twenty years pass, the sisters marry, still Orochi, the kid from behind the curtain, travels back and forth between them to watch their disintegrating marriages.
But Orochi gets sleepy and may sleep for a century. She doesn't, and then things get really strange.
Umezu designs better pages than Hino or Ito, and tells a pretty scary story without a lot of shock effects. This is of course part of a series, which implies that perhaps Orochi's first entrance from behind the curtain is not so unexpected to Umezu's devoted followers.
As much as I have enjoyed the others, I might have to go with Umezu. This sets up as a typical good sister/bad sister story, set in a mansion so large there are rooms no one has ever explored. When it seems that bad sister may be planning good sister's death, out from behind a curtain steps another little girl. She too lives in the house, but no one is aware of her. She watches the family but is basically helpless to intervene. Twenty years pass, the sisters marry, still Orochi, the kid from behind the curtain, travels back and forth between them to watch their disintegrating marriages.
But Orochi gets sleepy and may sleep for a century. She doesn't, and then things get really strange.
Umezu designs better pages than Hino or Ito, and tells a pretty scary story without a lot of shock effects. This is of course part of a series, which implies that perhaps Orochi's first entrance from behind the curtain is not so unexpected to Umezu's devoted followers.
August 30, 2012
Kazuo Umezu is one of my favorite manga artists in the horror genre. Despite most of the stories in here being quite easy to figure out, the Orochi series is one of my favorites. Orochi's ability to blend with ease into each new situation and to protect herself and her charges if need be gives her ample room to navigate the often sinister incidents that seem to play out wherever she goes.
Like Umezu's other work, the Cat-Eyed Boy, Orochi is a non-human being who observes the horrors of human nature. Each story is a stand-alone episode, and deal with themes including envy, spite, and revenge. A good start for anyone looking to get into Umezu's work, and also for any fan of his as well, as it deals with many of his most commonly-used themes.
Like Umezu's other work, the Cat-Eyed Boy, Orochi is a non-human being who observes the horrors of human nature. Each story is a stand-alone episode, and deal with themes including envy, spite, and revenge. A good start for anyone looking to get into Umezu's work, and also for any fan of his as well, as it deals with many of his most commonly-used themes.
February 6, 2013
This isn't a perfect comic: some of the twists are a bit hoaky, some of the dialogue is a bit awkward (probably a translation artifact). But there's so much to like about it: the story is genuinely surprising; the horror is both built up nicely and delivered frequently; the moral complexity is rich and gets you into an uncomfortable state of mind. (Always a plus with horror stories.) And best of all, Umezu's art is beautifully gothic. From the heavily inked shadows to the spookily matter-of-fact isometric rooms to the psychedelic touches, it's all a notch above similar manga, and very appropriate for the story.
January 26, 2018
I love this comic, since it reminds me so much of an old fashioned Hollywood horror, like something similar to The Haunting. The story has a very universal idea, two sisters, one is good, and the other evil. The story is written by a Japanese artist, but the characters live a very 'western' life, living in a luxurious mansion. I also was very excited when I first bought the book since I heard so much about Umezu's legacy, and how important he was to Japan's horror comics. Umezu comics may not create a completely new idea, but he executes them in a way that is fresh.
August 14, 2017
If you're into gore, strange meddling characters, and watching people go insane, this is for you. I was fascinated at first, but I only read up to Vol. 2, Ch. 5.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews