Aya Tsutsumi

This is a bizarre humor spin-off of the horror franchise known as "The Ring" or "Ringu." Specifically, it was inspired by the 2019 Sadako film -- which is like the 9th movie in the Japanese series and was in turn inspired by creator Koji Suzuki's sixth Ring novel, Tide.

I have not seen or read a single Ring movie or book, but I did have the vague knowledge that Sadako is a ghost who kills anyone who watches a particular videotape. But since this is a manga available at my local library, I of course picked it up, because I'm that single-minded.

And, hey, it paid off this time, because I was amused by the vengeful ghost who is confused by the telepathic "Mini-Me" doppelganger of herself that she finds padlocked in a closet and frustrated that no one watches videotapes anymore. So of course the two team up to become internet content creators. An unexpected number of laughs come from Sadako's reluctance to pass through cellphone and computer screens and just her general exhaustion from being a vengeful ghost for so many years now.

Weirdly fun.… (más)

Sadako, the ghost from the Ring series, finds herself meeting a young girl living in a closet covered in warding sigils who is also named Sadako, who claims to be the reincarnation of Sadako thanks to her ability to read minds. The ghostly Sadako, tired and depressed that no one watches TV anymore resulting in her not being able to curse many people, teams up with the younger Sadako after she proposes starting a video channel. Together the pair, Sadako-san and Sadako-chan, become known as “Double Sadako” and begin creating cursed videos. Their channel becomes popular, and with some assistance from another video channel, Kazuma, they start making money through ads! Unfortunately, Sadako-san keeps forgetting to curse people!

As a short, single volume entry this manga didn’t garner high expectations. But as a fan of horror as well as comedy I was eager to see what this had to offer. It’s exceptionally light, perhaps a little too much so. However, it was endearingly cute and a quick read with plenty of laughs to be had. It would have been nice to see it expanded upon a little more, but it was enjoyable for what it was.

Overall, I rate this 3 stars. Despite it's charms, it did feel somewhat rushed and a little disjointed at times. However, if you are a fan of the Ring and want some laughs this might be for you.… (más)

Sadako-san, the ghost from the Ring movies and books, has been summoned to a padlocked closet, the location of her newest victim. Inside the closet is a little girl who says her mother calls her Sadako's reincarnation. Her mother supposedly keeps her locked in the closet because she's "special" (the girl can read minds, which is how she can understand Sadako-san) and only lets her out for short periods when she's home.

The little girl has been called "Sadako's reincarnation" for so long that she can't remember what her real name is, so Sadako-san calls her "Sadako-chan." Sadako-san laments the fact that people don't have CRT TVs or watch videos much anymore, so Sadako-chan proposes that she upload cursed videos and become a streamer. Through these activities, Sadako-san eventually meets Kazuma, a streamer who's a little creeped out by her but also impressed with the number of views she's been getting.

I stopped by a B&N Starbucks to get some coffee and a snack. I felt bad about not buying a book as well, so I browsed the manga section until I finally found something something that interested me and that I didn't already own. One of the appeals of this was that it appeared to be a one-shot, so I didn't feel like I was potentially committing to anything by getting it.

Don't go into this expecting it to be scary. As the author states in their afterword, "I'm a manga artist that can't draw horror manga." This was more of a slice-of-life comedy with a few surprisingly sweet moments.

I've read the first couple Ring books and I've seen the US movie adaptation. From what I could tell, this Sadako-san probably had more in common with the movie versions, but a few features that I recalled from the books were present here and there in things like Sadako-chan's telepathy.

Most of the humor was derived from Sadako-san's not always successful efforts to adapt to the times. She was a creature of habit and really, really would have preferred to curse people via a VHS tape viewed using a CRT TV. Unfortunately, hardly anyone owns CRT TVs anymore, and streaming and DVDs/Blu-ray discs are more popular than VHS tapes. (So why not a cursed DVD? That was never really explained, but it still wouldn't have solved Sadako-san's "I would prefer to emerge from a CRT TV" problem.)

Sadako-san and Sadako-chan were surprisingly cute together. Sadako-chan's mother was never shown on-page, but it was clear that Sadako-chan wasn't being treated well, no matter how much she tried to claim otherwise. The manga didn't dwell on that too much, but it definitely didn't ignore that aspect. There was a really great and bittersweet moment in which Sadako-san did a nice thing for Sadako-chan but told that her mother had done it for her. In a way, Sadako-san was like Sadako-chan's surrogate mother or older sister. The hair episode was another example of that.

Kazuma had a relatively minor but still important role - he could help Sadako-san with the things she needed or wanted to do that Sadako-chan, a child who'd been confined by her own mother, couldn't.

It's probably for the best that this is just a single volume. While I can think of a few things I wish had happened in the story, like so many gimmicky comedies it'd be easy for the jokes to quickly get old. As it was, it was a little weird but nice. It didn't really make me laugh, but I appreciated its quirkiness and overall sweetness.

Extras:

A couple full-color pages, a 2-page comic style afterword by the author, and a 2-page spread black-and-white version of the cover art.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)… (más)