#koji suzuki

[spiraphobia]

Sadako at the End of the World | Koji Suzuki & Koma Natsumi

[metalichotchoco]

She’s just a girl🖤

It’s funny that one of the few horror collaborations Sanrio did, it was sadako. It makes sense from a shareholders perspective but to me it’s still fun and cute nonetheless

[brand-upon-the-brain]

Spiral (Jôji Iida, 1998)

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[gokaiju]

リング (Ring) (Hideo Nakata, 1998) New alternative poster by Gokaiju

[creepynostalgy]

Rasen aka Spiral (1998)

[anamon-book]

言語学のたのしみ　千野栄一 大修館書店 装幀・挿画＝鈴木康司（スズキコージ）

[judgeitbyitscover]

Ring (1991) by Koji Suzuki

Cover art by Chip Kidd

Vertical Inc, March 2003

A mysterious videotape warns that the viewer will die in one week unless a certain, unspecified act is performed. Exactly one week after watching the tape, four teenagers die one after another of heart failure.

Asakawa, a hardworking journalist, is intrigued by his niece's inexplicable death. His investigation leads him from a metropolitan tokyo teeming with modern society's fears to a rural Japan—a mountain resort, a volcanic island, and a countryside clinic—haunted by the past. His attempt to solve the tape's mystery before it's too late—for everyone—assumes an increasingly deadly urgency. Ring is a chillingly told horror story, a masterfully suspenseful mystery, and post-modern trip.

[goryhorroor]

I think we need to give credit to koji suzuki for creating not only ring but dark waters. he is another horror writer that is great at creating a suspenseful and frightening scene

[have-you-read-this-short-fiction]

*Originally published in Japanese under the title "Honogurai mizu no soko kara" which translates to "From the Depths of the Dark Waters"

[spiraphobia]

Sadako at the End of the World

Authors: Koji Suzuki (Story), Koma Natsumi (Art)

Genre: Horror, Comedy, Shoujo, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Synopsis:

The world has ended. Humanity isn't completely destroyed but it is a shadow of its former glory. A pair of sisters are surviving together in the ruins when they discover an ancient relic: a video. The tape is none other than Sadako's video that will curse anyone who watches it and kill them one week later. The girls are unfazed when Sadako appears since meeting another human is rare anyway. Instead, the little girls call her "Sada-chan." Sadako, meanwhile, thinks if there are more people left, she'd like to curse them. So Sadako and the two girls begin traveling together to find more people.

Spoiler below the cut.

I really thought this was gonna be a full-on light-hearted Sadako parody. Can’t believe she stuck to her curse though. Oh well, I’m just gonna pretend it ended on a cute note!

[a-bass-ist]

WE'RE BACK! BOOK REVIEW TIME BABY!

Today's book is ring by Koji Suzuki. Just as a heads up there will be discussion of rape in this post as well as minor mentions of transphobia so if those things are touchy for you I'd steer clear of this book and review

Ok so Ring. You may not be familiar with this book but the odds are you've encountered what it has spawned. The Ring (2002) and Ringu (1998) were both based on this book

As for the writing, stories and narrative: This book was actually quite captivating, the characters feel like real people and are mostly likable (one character is an exception to those rules and we'll get there). The main mystery and the drive to solve it was very very enticing and I really enjoyed watching the pieces fall in place especially towards the end with the frantic strides to save everyone.

Now, to address the elephant in the room, this book definitely shows it's age, and the social climate at time. I won't pretend to know about the cultural landscape of Japan in the 90s but it definitely contrasts with today. This book takes rape very lightly and like it's an every day thing. It puts no weight upon the fact that one of the characters apparently raped 4 women, even Sadako is assaulted before she dies. On the topic of Sadako, she's intersex in the book and this is handled pretty poorly, they kinda treat it as a freakish rarity, something to be studied. A major plot point is that she can't have children and that's why she made the tape. This to me feels like a way of further smearing her as they constantly hammers home the fact that she can't have kids.

In conclusion, It was ok, it would have been much better if it was a little more mindful of the topics it discussed and how they would affect people. But due to where and when it was written I can see why it is like how it is.

Would I recommend it? I don't really know honestly, it's very unique to the movies and merits reading but with the weight of the topics it completely drops the ball on it is a conflicting experience.

[brand-upon-the-brain]

Ringu (Hideo Nakata, 1998)

[tvvinpeaked]

sadako from the ring is intersex btw. if you even care

[leighsartworks216]

If you ever feel like you have no idea how to make the characters in your story get something extremely important for the final confrontation/climax/whatever, just do this!

From "Ring" by Koji Suzuki

[31stday]

5 - Spiral

Original Title: らせん (Rasen, "Spiral") - originally release in North America as Rasen and in Europe as The Spiral but now can be found primarily as Spiral so that's the title I'll use here

Synopsis: Forensic doctor Mitsuo Andō seeks answers to the mysterious death of a friend and soon comes into contact with the same cursed videotape that caused the death of the friend's wife and son, which is haunted by the curse of Sadako, a relentless spirit.

Year/Country: 1998 | Japan

Subgenres: supernatural, curse, ghost, j-horror

Reason for watching: I stumbled upon Koji Suzuki's book Spiral at the library on my birthday and took that as a sign to read this sequel to Ring (the source material for Ringu/The Ring - probably my favorite horror films). I read Ring years ago but had never looked for the sequels. I really liked Spiral and found it to be an interesting veering based on the story as I know it. When I found there was a movie adaptation, I added it to this list for this year.

Highlights: I do enjoy an investigative/detective mystery and watching the clues come together.

Lowlights: Some of the most interesting things in the book are left out or changed (ah, the joy of watching a movie too soon after reading the book source material). Also, for Ringu fans it's just so chaotic because of the inconsistencies - perhaps most jarringly that of Sadako who is less onryō and more seductress.

Rewatchabilty: Perhaps

Overall review: After watching I learned the production history of this - it was actually filmed the same time/immediately after Ringu and released at the same time in theatres. While it shares some of the same cast, the directors/writers were different and that shows. It has a more science fiction feel than Ringu and takes the story in a different direction that is somewhat retconned out of the franchise by the other sequels. That said, I think it can also work as a standalone movie and while not as scary as Ringu is a fun watch - though it is more emotional with a drama bend to it.

Who should watch it?: While I am classifying it as "j-horror" it doesn't have the feel that Ringu established when it really established the genre as an international phenomena. So, while I think Ringu fans might be intrigued by it, I would not recommend it more widely to j-horror fans. Instead, I think it's more for an audience that likes a supernatural investigation.