Title: MPD-PSYCHO Vol. 2
Author: Sho-u Tajima, Eiji Otsuka
Publisher: Dark Horse
Copyright: 1997
ISBN: 9781593078409
Pages: 183
Price: $10.95
Rating: 9
Synopsis:
MPD-Psycho Volume Two finds multiple personality detective Kazuhiko Amamiya on a new case-which will result in even more personalities emerging inside his confused, scattered mind! A wave of grisly, imaginative schoolgirl suicides hits Tokyo! Investigating the scenes of these gruesome deaths, Amamiya and the colorful characters of the Isono Criminal Research Lab come across a new villain who knows about a key event from Amamiya's past. What does the white-haired Zenitsu have to do with the suicides, Amamiya's "barcode puzzle" theory, and a stuttering victim from a decades-old night of murder and destruction?
Dark Horse Manga is proud to present this unabridged and uncensored masterpiece of horror in all of its controversial glory. Fans of Takashi Miike's MPD-Psycho television series are sure to be enlightened and unsettled by the manga series that preceded it!
Review:
Click here to read my review of MPD-PSYCHO Vol. 1.
I adored the first volume of this manga, so of course I jumped at the opportunity to read volume two! I'm happy to report that I was not at all disappointed. Volume two was even more gruesome and gripping than volume one - plus it finally reveals which personality is the TRUE nature of our protagonist, a killer-turned-detective while suffering from multiple personality disorder.
As I stated in my previous review of volume one, Tajima's minimalistic (yet highly expressive) style truly lends itself to the horror of the maimed corpses and the troubles of the sleuths that it depicts. The best panel in volume two has got to be the image of a small girl impaled through the stomach by an electric pole, topped by a crow whose wings are spread out, giving the dead child the appearance of a black angel.
There is one aspect of the artwork to which I failed to pay lip-service before: the cover art. All of them are wonderfully weird images that are composed of clues to what is about to unfold in each volume. The coloring is simultaneously monochromatic, vibrant, and gritty; these qualities seem to apply to the stories themselves as well.
Once again, no complaints about typos, about plot, about writing - nada. This series gets another 9/10 - hopefully volume 3 will continue the trend!
-Joamette Gil
