Gyo by Junji Ito is a horror manga serial published from 2001 and 2002. Gyo features decaying fish on metal appendages invading the land, bringing with them a noxious plague, making it a delight for those interested in visceral images and the horror genre.
Gyo’s initial setting is in Okinawa. A young man, Tadashi, was staying there with his girlfriend Kaori to enjoy their vacation. Tadashi, while scuba diving, barely avoided the sharks, and saw something moving at a high speed. Confused at what he had seen, he became only more concerned when Kaori complained of a terrible smell. Upon going back to their house, Kaori continued to mention that she could smell the fumes, causing Tadashi to become angry. They argue, and she says that if he continues acting that way, they might as well end the vacation early on. She shows her will by leaving, causing a concerned and remorseful Tadashi to follow. He eventually found her fixated on something in the darkness; Kaori was so unnerved at what she had seen that she went back to their rented house (which their uncle let them borrow) without resistance. Tadashi tells Kaori to make herself at home and proceeds to leave the house to get some air fresheners. While he is gone, Kaori goes to take a shower and smells the stench. She eventually sees a fish attached to a metallic machine that affords it four legs (this is known as the “walking machine”) and faints after seeing it. Tadashi, upon returning to the house, smells the fumes and finds Kaori unconscious. He hears the fish from behind a table and attempts to kill it by pushing the table against the wall with his strength (the fish is already dead, though - only the walking machine allows it movement). When he sees the fish, he is disgusted but is able to put it into a bag. He leaves it outside, but when he checks on it some time later, he finds that it has disappeared. He goes to the beach and sees many other fish attached to walking machines moving around rapidly, and when he tells the police, all of the fish have disappeared. Furthermore, Kaori acted in a petty way by refusing to back up his claims because she felt like he put her in danger the previous night. The policeman, unbelieving of their story (for good reason), tells them to leave, and Tadashi yells at Kaori for her selfishness, and she apologizes.
Not long after, massive amounts of fish leave the ocean on walking machines and cause great trouble for the people of Japan (they move so quickly they quickly travel from place to place). Not only do they smell terrible, but their numbers are so significant that they make traveling outside both difficult and dangerous: they clog up the streets and the walking machines have sharp legs, making them potentially fatal. In one very haunting incident, a Great White shark emerged from the water on a walking machine and attacked a few people. Tadashi and Kaori were fortunate in that they saw it coming, so they hid in their house. However, it eventually barged in and almost killed them, but they survived: in the process, the shark and its walking machine fell off the second floor, putting an end to its reign of terror. Tadashi, even more concerned, goes to his uncle’s house (the name is Doctor Koyanagi). It is then revealed that his uncle is a scientist, and when Tadashi and Kaori were near his house, they saw the fish Tadashi had damaged coming towards them: it had filled its bag with noxious gas, giving it the ability to “fly.” Tadashi gives it to Doctor Koyanagi and meets his uncle’s assistant, Ms. Yoshiyama, who was quite attractive. Kaori, seeing Ms. Yoshiyama, became paranoid and worried that Tadashi would leave her. Later, Koyanagi skillfully dissected the fish and the machine. He discerned that the fish was long dead, as it was putrid and rotting. He also discovered that the fish was completely normal: the walking machine was what allowed it to move. After examining the walking machine, he discovered how it worked and discovered its history: his father was also a scientist. However, unlike him, he worked for Unit 731 during WWII (a biological warfare unit of the Japanese Imperial Army which committed various atrocities such as targeting civilians for flea bombs and vivisecting people without anesthesia and are believed to be responsible for the deaths of 250,000 people). His father and the other scientists were instructed to make a powerful disease that can turn the tide of battle. One day, while they were experimenting, they created a bacterium which causes its host to become extremely bloated with gas, making them emit copious amounts of said gas from every orifice. This caught the attention of the authorities, as the scientists who smelled the fumes became physically ill and violently nauseous. After some more research, the walking machines were invented, for the infected are so bloated with gas that they are incapable of moving. The plan of the Japanese Imperial Army was to infect various animals (dogs, cats) with the bacterium and to attach them to the walking machines. That way, they would be able to spread the toxic fumes to enemy territory, even after their deaths, for the walking machines are powered by the gas produced by the recipient (tubes are inserted into the host through the mouth and other openings to efficiently collect and use the gas). It was then stated that this idea wasn’t used during WWII because it was viewed as too unrealistic and bizarre. However, when the situation worsened for the Axis powers, the operation was given sanction, but while the walking machines were being transported to the battlefield on a large ship, the ship was struck by enemy bombs and promptly sunk into the ocean. Now, after decades of staying at the bottom of the ocean, the walking machines have attached themselves to much of the marine life to invade land. Junji Ito states at the end of the comic series that so many fish had been assimilated to the walking machines that people wondered how the walking machines reached such large numbers: in fact, the walking machines, despite being non-organic, were somehow able to “reproduce” in their own way, though this process is not elaborated on.
Although Doctor Koyanagi was able to learn of the walking machines, he accidentally allowed his hand to rest on the walking machine. Upon doing so, it clamped on his arm and refused to let go. Having no choice, Koyanagi amputated his limb. After doing so, the tubes of the machine infected his arm with the bacterium and attached its tubes to it, causing his arm to move around the house, for it powered the movement of the walking machine. Tadashi and Kaori saw the hand when they returned and were informed of the origins and functions of the walking machines. Tadashi becomes scared after listening to the information and tells Doctor Koyanagi that the stench that was produced by the fish attached to the walking machines has probably and will continue to infect numerous civilians, making a bad situation even worse. Doctor Koyanagi initially dismisses his worry, saying that the story of the machine’s origin may not be true (this is meant to symbolize denial of the past, and, therefore, of the present and future). However, he is quickly proven to be wrong, for Kaori soon notices various warts and pimples appearing on her face. Her appearance quickly deteriorates, as she has been infected by the toxic gas. This causes her entire body to develop warts and to become bloated, makes her fatigued, initiates her to expel large amounts of gas from her orifices, worsens her insecurity, and leads her to become depressed. Though she barricaded herself in her room, Tadashi eventually found her and prevented her from ending her own life (she tried to hang herself from the ceiling, but her body was so full of gas that she couldn’t die - she then tries to leap to her demise, but is prevented by Tadashi). He runs with her on his back to his uncle’s house and succeeds in dropping her off to the care of his uncle and Ms. Yoshiyama. As he left in an attempt to return to his house, he found his leg ensnared by a large squid attached to a walking machine. It drags him through the street and throws him into a pit full of small fish attached to walking machines. Tadashi falls unconscious and is injured. While he is lying in a semi-conscious state, he sees that the stench produced by the bacterium appears to have the shapes of humans, illustrating that it is conscious.
Tadashi eventually awoke in a hospital some weeks after and was notified by those working there that the situation has become hellish. He finds out the specifics for himself when he leaves the hospital and goes to his uncle’s house. He was told by Koyanagi that Kaori had died from the bacterium. Upon hearing this, Tadashi laments. Later, Ms. Yoshiyama told him that his uncle had lied and that Kaori was indeed alive: she had been strapped to a custom-built walking machine. When Koyanagi found out of his assistant’s defiance, he became angry but calmed down to reveal that he had understood the contraption perfectly. To prove it, he activates the machine Kaori was strapped to. While the walking machine showed its potential speed, it also happened to impale Koyanagi in the abdomen, fatally wounding him. Tadashi doesn’t stay for his uncle: instead, he follows Kaori. Once he goes outside, he sees that the fish which had once been attached to the walking machines have largely disappeared: eventually, so much gas is produced in an organism by the bacterium that the host’s body literally explodes. Civilians have largely taken the place of the fish, as most of them are attached to walking machines. Furthermore, there are extremely large machines with many people hooked to them roaming around town. Tadashi encounters a policeman who was quickly killed by one of the gigantic machines upon being impaled, and when Tadashi tried to rescue an infected man from the fumes, he saw that the stench really was conscious and had a will of its own, for it was able to pry its victim from his hands. The infected man found himself on one of the large machines and was assimilated. Tadashi eventually arrives in Tokyo and was offered to see a bizarre show by a circus troupe. The circus’s act only reinforces the fact that the stench is alive, for its appearance is made clear as daylight. In one of the final scenes of action, Kaori was used to showcase the custom-built walking device. Tadashi, seeing her, escapes with her and was able to bring her back to his uncle’s lab. He then learns that his uncle has died, and, before his death, wanted to emulate his father’s demise by dying in his workplace (his father died of a heart attack in his lab, and wasn’t discovered until days later). Suddenly, Koyanagi comes out of his workshop, attached to a modified walking machine that gives him the power of flight. He attempts to assault Tadashi and Ms. Yoshiyama and is initially repelled when Tadashi comes to Ms. Yoshiyama’s aid. However, they came into the line of vision of Kaori. Kaori, who still retained some semblance of consciousness, and believing that Tadashi was cheating on her, acted out her jealousy by coming to life and attacking Ms. Yoshiyama. This allows Koyanagi to capture Ms. Yoshiyama, and he flies away.
Kaori left the scene and was soon encircled by large numbers of walking machines (they had hostile intentions because their walking machines were original/created by an unknown process, while her contraption was artificially formed). She fights them off and escapes, and Tadashi follows. Tadashi, while traveling to find Kaori, meets college students from Kyoto University. They inform him that they believe the vast quantities of walking machines were generated by some unknown process and that it is possible for a cure to be found, for they and Tadashi have genetic immunity to the bacterium. They ask whether he will help them fight the virus, and he agrees. While they are walking to some location, he sees what’s left of Kaori and asks for a minute to get his bearings. Upon getting closer, he is able to recognize Kaori’s corpse (she had burst from the accumulation of gas) by the custom-made machine. The book ends with his remark that even though she was dead, she was no longer suffering. Furthermore, she no longer bore the stench: she was finally free.
Personal thoughts:
Gyo by Junji Ito is a true demonstration of his artistic talent and imagination, for he was able to turn a somewhat ridiculous concept into a terrifying nightmare. The plot of Gyo is easy to understand, seen in the fact that it’s a quick read, only exacerbating the true depth of the horror. The visuals, as usual of Junji Ito’s works, are powerful and disturbing, and quite nauseating in some instances. I highly recommend Gyo to anyone interested in horror, manga, disturbing visuals, and works of imagination.
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