The Bug Boy

by Hideshi Hino

Rejection and revenge when a victimized schoolboy is transformed into a huge poisonous bug. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0974596116
• ISBN13: 9780974596112
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: DH Publishing
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.0" x 7.2"

Customer Reviews

A good introduction to the weird world of Hideshi Hino

This is the first thing I ever read by Hideshi Hino, and it's a pretty good place for anyone who wants to explore the work of Hideshi Hino. At first, I was a little bit put off by what seemed to be a crude, somewhat childish, style, but it didn't take very long before I was drawn in by the weird atmosphere of this horror comic. If I had to describe the tone of this book, I would say that it feels like a really, really warped kids' book. It's a strangely compelling horror tale, but not without a demented sense of humor. Like another reviewer, I saw some similarities here to Kafka's Metamorphosis and the David Cronenberg version of The Fly. I would also add that the style of the artwork reminded me just a little of some of Tim Burton's illustration work even though this predates the start of his career by a decade or so. As I mentioned before, I was initially a little put off a little bit by the style of the artwork in this book, but now I like Hideshi Hino's artwork quite a bit. He really manages to take the stuff of nightmares and put it on paper (I also like the way he draws junkyards a lot too). Overall, I would say that this is a good horror comic for those who are not squeamish and a pretty good starting point for those who want to explore manga beyond what you're likely to find at Barnes & Noble or any of the big chain bookstores.

The Metamorphosis, Hino Style

Although similar to Kafka's THE METAMORPHOSIS, the story differs in a very important way right at the start. This is the story of a young boy who is fascinated with bugs. This passion has earned him a bad reputation with other children, his teachers and his family. Then one day he finds a very strange bug which stings him. Having been stung, the boy's body begins to undergo a transformation until he looks like a giant version of the bug that stung him. He is then driven from his home and takes refuge in the sewers. A second transformation occurs but this time it is of his mind and not body. Slowly he forgets that he was once a boy. He also loses his sense of right and wrong and delights in killing people. But a chance encounter with his old family brings out his old memories and he understands what he has done and become. Penance is sought. This is more a tragic story than one of horror. Although one may not understand the boy's mental metamorphosis, it is easy to understand his horror when his mind clears. Although it has taken much from the Kafka story, it also share a lot with the Jeff Goldblum version of The Fly. Check it out.

BEING DIFFERENT=PERSECUTION

Hideshi Hino is considered a master of Japanese horror manga, with over 150 of his graphic novels in print. Now we in America are able to appreciate his genius of the macabre as Coroco Books is printing translations of his works like mad. They're putting them out so fast, it's hard to keep up with the expense of buying them. I think they're printing the 13th and 14th volumes as I write this. The Bug Boy is about a young elementary school boy named Sanpei Hinomoto. Sanpei has always been a sickly child and has never measured up to his brother and sister intellectually. He is hated at school by the students and faculty and his parents think he is good for nothing too, even to the point of physically abusing him. The only joy he gets out of life is spending time at the garbage dump where he has constructed a second home underneath the rubbish. He considers this place a paradise because he keeps a menagarie of pets there:dogs, cats, birds, even a couple of rats that he loves and feels accepted by. He also likes to play with anything slimy and icky such as caterpillars, which get him in trouble at school. One day, after suffering years of inhuman abuse from every "human" being around him, he gets sick and throws up. What comes out of his puke is a large centipede-looking insect. When it stings him, it starts a metamorphosis in Sanpei that will isolate him further from the world, as he finds himself transforming into the likeness of the bug that bit him. What follows is a sad tale of loneliness, madness, and murder. In the end, this book was about the cruelty of society. Everybody already knows that those who are different and strange are persecuted, especially in the early school years, when children have yet to form a moral system. Bug Boy reminded me a lot of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley in that Sanpei is driven to murder because there is not a single person or animal that cares about him in the world. The drawings which seem comical at first quickly transform your feelings to horror and sadness. Don't worry, Sanpei will find what find what he is looking for, he just won't find it here on Earth in this life. If you liked this book I would also recommend the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.