Week 14: Thing That Drifted Ashore

I stumbled upon this Junji Ito short story. It's about a massive, tubular, sea creature that washes ashore. It is composed of rotting flesh and looks to be an ancient serpent from the deepest trenches of the sea. People from all over are compelled to see the gigantic being, even if they hate the ocean. Thing That Drifted Ashore is similar to Amigara Fault as it shows people being being compelled by an unseen force. I find it more terrifying, however, because the ocean is a very deep fear of mine, especially the dark sea and whatever comes out of it. One of the characters says of the creatures of the deep, "it felt like they were beings that had been forgotten by all the universe" and I feel it is very accurate to my feelings of the deep sea. More so, Thing That Drifted Ashore emphasizes the more Lovecraftian aspects of the sea by hypothesizing the depth and shear size of it. At the end of the story, it is revealed that the thing has been responsible for several deaths at sea and zombie-esque bodies pour out from its stomach. A character says of the people in its stomach, "what do you suppose they saw in the deep ocean through that transparent skin..."

Also check out Alfred Kubin

Also Golden Kamuy was interesting. At first it seemed like it was a normal shoujo manga until we learned more about the Ainu people through it. I really liked that aspect of it and it made me want to read it.