Brain Damage

Title: Brain Damage
Author: Shintaro Kago
First Published: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Pages: 200
Genre: Ero Guro, Horror
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Rating:


Synopsis:

In 2018, manga artist Shintaro Kago made his English debut with Dementia 21, a collection of absurdist manga short stories. Readers found themselves delighted and disgusted by his penchant for body horror, black comedy and the surreal paired with his emphatic, kinetic art style. Kago returns at the height of his powers with Brain Damage, where he dials up the gore and absurdity to new heights.Brain Damage collects four new short manga stories, a tantalizing blend of the hilarious and the macabre. In “Labyrinth Quartet,” four identical young women trapped in an eerie building must solve the mystery of why they’ve been gathered there — while being hunted by a knife-wielding stalker. In “Curse Room,” a plucky health aide is tasked with keeping zombies peaceful, lest they go on a brain-eating rampage. In “Family Portrait,” people throughout town are strangely disappearing without a trace, and the key to it all is a senile and perverted old man. Finally, in “Blood Harvest” a series of gruesomely mangled bodies are found in pristine cars — and it appears something sinister lurks within these masses of glass and steel.

Get the Book: Amazon

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Review

I’ve wanted to check out some of Shintaro Kago’s work for a while now having encountered some of his color art, they are a marvel of pure body horror. I knew that he was an ero guro artist going in and was prepared for horror that is a little more unconventional, but I ended up feeling really lukewarm after reading.

There was only one story that I ended up liking, which was Labyrinth Quartet, the rest were mediocre at best. Maybe I wasn’t fully in the right head space to appreciate some of the satirical aspects of these stories, but this collection as a whole was just not for me. Kago’s artwork is still incredible though, and I can appreciate the collection for the art alone. I’m kind of impressed to see a collection like this get an English release.

Individual Story Notes:

♥ Labyrinth Quartet: A group of girls wake up in a labyrinth, all dressed up to look nearly identical. How did they end up there, and why? I actually really liked this story, it was gruesome and there is enough mystery to keep me engaged. The ending was bizarre but fascinating.

♥ Curse Room: This story started off interesting, until the halfway point when it all became very silly. The twist on zombies was interesting but I didn’t feel any kind of narrative payoff.

♥ Family Portrait: I actually hated this story, I’m no prude but it was incredibly perverted and gross. Again, an interesting idea but the sexual abuse of a minor was just disgusting.

♥ Blood Harvest: I felt more mixed on this last story. It was strange and even a bit intriguing, but becomes a bit cheesy. The ending was outstanding though, and the final panel was terrifying.

Rating Breakdown

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Content Warnings

About the Author