Mastodawn

#MangaMonday 81 “Her Frankenstein” by Kawashima Norikazu

Tetsuo Utsugi is a haunted man. After talking to a doctor, he remembers his childhood encounter with a strange young girl who was obsessed with the movie “Frankenstein.”

First released in 1986 to no great acclaim, this #manga holds up very well. It starts with an apparent haunting and then takes an extended flashback to a formative year while turning into a character study/psychological horror.

This was one of Norikazu’s last works, and the English edition was the first release from the Smudge imprint of Living the Line Books. It’s only available in print, but it’s a handsome edition with a nice essay by Kawakatsu Tokushige that puts the work into context.

One thing not addressed is that the Frankenstein referenced is clearly the (litigious) Universal Pictures version. It probably flew under the radar in eighties Japan, but Smudge is in twenties Minnesota.

#HerFrankenstein

MDMRN Jun 18, 2025

New Read - Her Frankenstein (Single Volume)

So, I saw Her Frankenstein at the library. I knew it as a classic 1980s horror manga, so decided to pick it up. My goodness, it's a lot.

The story opens with a sexist man named Tetsuo who hates himself, his wife, and his job, seeing flashes of a young girl with a bloody face (see cover image). Flash back to his childhood where this girl was named Kimiko who he was obsessed with serving as her personal abuser, harming other kids in a Frankenstein's monster mask.

Psychological horror, abuse, bullying, long term trauma. So many content warnings.

It's a lot.

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