Birthday

by Kōji Suzuki

Book Overview

Basis of the Hit Movie Ring 0: Birthday ! Birthday is Ring -master Koji Suzuki's return to the Ring universe, a collection of short stories focusing on the female characters with a theme of birth. An... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1932234829
• ISBN13: 9781932234824
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Vertical
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.62 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

unputtable read through and through.............

Excellent finish to an terrific series. Must for all ring fans... This book has collection of 3 stories spaced at different time period in the ring universe. These stories fill the gaps and answers which previous books left out. Once again koji suzuki re-defines horror by taking you into depths of unkown... enjoy..........

Great way to finish off the series

It's almost pointless to even mention the Ring films at this point, as they bare almost no resemblance to the story anymore by just book 2 (unless you count Rasen, but by the end of that it doesn't count anymore at all in the film universe). Ring 0: Birthday was loosely based on the second story in this book, Lemon Heart. The rest of the book is new. This is an anthology based around three central characters in the trilogy (all female) and themes of birth relating to the storyline. 1. Floating Coffin Plot: This, the first story, takes place in the middle of book 2, Spiral. We get a glimpse of Mai Takano, and what exactly happens when she gives birth to Sadako and dies. Review: Of the three stories, this was by far my least favorite. It has no real relevance to progressing the story or showing anything. This one was a little bit of a bore. However, the next stories made me completely forget about this one's lack of interest. 2. Lemon Heart Plot: Toyama, a middle-aged man, is approached by a detective that is looking for information on Yamamura Sadako. Toyama is one of the only survivors from a theater troupe that Sadako was in shortly before she disappeared. Toyama recounts being in love with her, and in the end of the story gets a surprise visit from a familiar face. Review: My favorite of the three. Great story that sheds some more light on how Sadako was in life, and introduces some foreshadowing and dramatic irony that we know will lead to events that take place in "Ring" and "Spiral". 3. Happy Birthday Plot: Reiko, still pregnant, is brought to New Mexico and informed of what exactly happened to Kaoru. She takes a look into the Loop world to see how he manages to get rid of Sadako and save the world, leading up to the birth of his child. Review: Another great story. I sort of hoped it would be longer, as it was the conclusion to the entire series and I felt at first that it was much too short to be the ending. However, looking back, I see how the entire anthology was the ending. Although only one has a story that ends it, the others sort of bring the legend and story of Sadako to a full circle. All in all, great anthology that is a must-read for fans of the first three books. 5 stars / 5