Ju-On: Video Side

by Takashi Shimizu and Miki Rinno

Ju-On - video side - is the manga adaptation of the Japanese horror movie that spawned an enormous franchise in Japan... and inspired a blockbuster Hollywood remake! This chilling tale of murder, secrets and revenge centers on a home and the ugly events that transpired there. The place now has new owners, but there is a vile presence that permeates the building and pollutes every surface. What wickedness set off this unstoppable angry spirit?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1593074816
• ISBN13: 9781593074814
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
• Length: 142 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 14 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 9 to 12

Customer Reviews

Pleasing, But Not As Good As the Movie

"Ju-On: Video Side" tells the story of a family who moves into a cursed house. In the beginning, we learn a woman is killed by her husband (no reason why) and afterwards her son disappears. The art in this story is acceptable. It's not the best you're ever gonna see, but it has a nice clean and simple look. It seems a little out of place in such a dark and eerie story, though. The plot is not the same as the movie, so some material will be a pleasant surprise. Everything is spelled out for you, so there's no confusion, but that can be good and bad. You will understand what happens, but you'll be going "Well, that's not very surprising." I thought their wasn't enough character development; we learn literally nothing about Toshio and Kayako. I thought we didn't get to see them enough. "Ju-On: Video Side" wasn't my favorite book, but it wasn't that bad. If you're a Ju-On fan, I would pick it up.

Hauntingly Boring

Ju-On: Video Side is the graphic novel based on Takashi Shimuzu's horror film Ju-On:The Curse. The manga, conveyed to the page by Miki Rinno, maintains the shockingly bloody scenes from Shimizu's original play, but lacks the subtle suspense and gentle sympathy. The book itself focuses less on the original plot of the house and focuses more on the Grudge's unfortunate victims instead. The book's opeing starts out with the brutal murder of Kayoko Saeki as her husband stabs her to death. Toshio, the son, is seen to have witnessed the murder and is said to have vanished soon after. The death of the husband is never discussed or shown. The central character is seen as Mizuho, the daughter of the real estate agent who sold the Saeki house. Mizuho enters the house which has been sold to a friend of hers and his famiy. The movie alternatievly traces back and forth between the original converstaion that Mizuho's father had with the new owners of the house, and then back again to the grisly fates of the new victims. The book lacks the subtle flavors of horror, trajedy, and sympathetic sadness that the movie so well portrayed. Kayako in the book is Kayoko in the manga, and is seen as a vegeful ghost. In the movie, Kayako is a battered corpse whom you feel sympathy for. While the manga does a good job of terrifying and grossing out the reader with graphic artistry and gory deaths, the book is unable to convey the sheer terror and quiet sadness of the movie. While the book itself is a good read, you'll be finished in around twenty minutes or less. There is no real mystery to the manga and no real secrets or confusion or mystery to unravel or any real sort of page turner. After you're done, Ju-On:Video Side becomes another dust-gathering manga on the shelf.

MAINTAINS THE CREEPY FILM ATMOSPHERE

"Ju-On: Video Side" is the Dark Horse Comics Manga adaptation of the original Japanese film "Ju-On" which was remade for American audiences as "The Grudge". While there are some similarities in the stories such as the house haunted by the spirits of a mother and son that were murdered, the Japanese version differs with respect to most of the rest of the plot. Like the original film, this adaptation jumps around in time which can serve to disorient the reader a little bit. The general gist is that a new family has moved into this house and strange things begin to happen. They start seeing the creepy little boy at various turns...and the action is less centered on the house than it is in "The Grudge". Here the oldest son disappears while at school, prompting his girlfriend to go in looking for him. The daughter has a savage encounter with some cats and returns home missing a rather important part of her face. If you saw the Grudge then you probably know what I am referring to, and even in comic format it is still an effective, terrifying scene. As we shuttle back and forth in time we'll see the real estate agent trying to sell the house, even after his sister, a psychic, warns them about the evil in the home. When the new owner comes home from work one day he finds his wife cooking a rather grisly soup! I found Ju-On to be pretty remarkable in its ability to convey the terror from the film into comic format. The palpable feeling of evil is there, especially in the scenes at the school where the mother's ghost is encountered. This isn't easy to do, especially without the sound effects which played such a vital, unsettling role in the film. It's extremely well done although you may find yourself re-reading sections when the story jumps back and forth in time. Reviewed by Tim Janson