Shibuya Goldfish Volume 1 by Hiroumi Aoi
Shibuya Goldfish is a brand new horror manga series from Hiroumi Aoi, published by Yen Press.
Hajime takes a solo trip to the bustling Tokyo ward of Shibuya to start on his video project after failed attempts to interest any of his classmates. He takes refuge from the hustle and bustle of the busy streets in a quieter store and accidentally scared away a couple of men who are harassing a girl called Fukakusa.
A moment later one of the boy’s heads is spat back into the room, followed by a giant goldfish floating in the air. Hajime and Fukakusa run in fear as the fish eats the head.
They run for the station but out in the open they realise the fish are everywhere, leaving carnage in their wake. They head to the station but the trains aren’t running, no one can leave Shibuya as a strange glass bowl has gone up around the city. They’re trapped in a city of killer fish with only each other to turn to.
I should start this review by saying I am really new to reading manga, Attack on Titan is the only other series that I’ve delved in to, but when I saw Shibuya Goldfish promoted in a Forbidden Planet newsletter I was instantly intrigued. I’m a big fan of monster stories, give me Godzilla, Jaws or even Jurassic Park and I’m in heaven.
I loved Shibuya Goldfish, it’s brilliantly bonkers, looks incredible and is great fun to read. The only scene that jarred with me was when Fukakusa falls over nothing and there’s a really pointless upskirt moment. It’s annoying, sexist and creepy. I’m sure I’ll be told that this is common in manga and I’m not taking in the history of the genre. That’s true enough but this is a review of how I felt and that scene left me disappointed and annoyed.
Shibuya Goldfish is dark fun, it takes the premise of killer goldfish seriously and it’s all the better for it. With this only being volume 1 in the series, it’s only a brief introduction but Hajime gives us an insight into how the fish hunt, eat and even how they multiply. There are loads of unanswered questions but if the story steers clear of upskirting then I’d love to read more. I’ll be picking up Volume 2 and keeping my fingers crossed.
Buy your copy of Shibuya Goldfish from Amazon.
If you liked this check out my review of Sex Criminals.