Comic Review: Dark Water

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Adapted by | Artist: Meimu
From the book by: Koji Suzuki
Publisher: ADV Manga

Most of us have felt the stark, icy terror of not knowing what lurks in the ocean below us as we swim, what awaits us in the darkened, unfamiliar room as in we walk.

What we’re afraid of is the possibility that something’s there. We fear not knowing. And even if, as adults, we’ve managed to rationalize our way out of that young fear, the memory of it, and our sense that unexpected and terrible things can happen to us (the film Open Water springs to mind, somehow) never really diminishes.

The characters in the new manga Dark Water are troubled by something they can’t place, all nagged at by some unseen thing swimming just below them in the ocean of the adult world.

From single mother Yoshimi in the title story to Mr. Enoyoshi in the story “Island Cruise,” each character strains to avoid seeing the terrible thing they know is lurking just beneath the surface of their lives.

And though this collection of short works based on stories by the author of The Ring doesn’t deliver on its initial promise, its title story is strong and the issues the collection raises interesting.

“Dark Water,” the manga’s lead story is also its strongest telling the story of single mother Yoshimi’s attempts to deal with her mother’s death, her husband deserting her, and leaving her alone with a young child. Into this already tense mix, Yoshimi is assigned to edit a particularly violent novel at the publishing house where she works. While doing so, she becomes interested in the story of a young girl in her building who may have been killed the year before.

These stresses dredges up memories that Yoshimi thought long buried. Whether through supernatural or psychological impetus (and pleasingly, the story allows for both possibilities), Yoshimi takes a dark turn and threatens to reenact a cycle of violence.

“Island Cruise” finds a young man’s ethics tempted by a (poorly explained) business deal. When the yacht he’s on gets caught on something, the crew investigates, finding a child’s body wrapped around the keel. Refusing to believe this or to further consider the business offer, Mr. Enoyoshi swims to shore. During the trip, he resolves not to think too much of the child. When he reaches the shore, he’s made a decision about what he thinks of the child, which quickly comes to stand in for his feelings on the business proposition.

The slim book (the manga weighs in at only about 120 pages, far less than the now nearly standard 200 pages that TokyoPop usually delivers) is filled in the middle with a slight piece and ends with a meditation on familial bonds and perseverance.

Dark Water loses a lot of steam after its first two stories. Artist Meimu, who both drew and adapted the book, provides interesting work (though some panels, annoyingly, feature too many unfinished faces. It’s not uncommon in manga to have background characters with unfinished faces, but in Dark Water a number of unfinished faces take up large sections of panels). Unfortunately, he’s dealing with some weak material.

The Japanese film version of Dark Water has a good reputation, and can grab an audience thanks to its association with international phenomenon The Ring. But I suspect that while the film may be good, the book is probably weaker and that the manga suffers as a result. This is very much true of The Ring.

The novel The Ring, while interesting, is not nearly as powerful, interesting, or scary as either the Japanese or American movie versions, with the producers of both taking significant liberties (creating new main characters, offering different backstories and more).

Something similar may have happened with Dark Water. It could also be that Meimu simply did a poor job of adapting the book, but given the quality gulf between the novel and the movies of The Ring, I’d wager that the weakness lies in the original.

Dark Water is an interesting manga. It will likely be of more interest to the public when the American remake of the film is released in 2005. (Vertical, publisher of the U.S. editions of The Ring and other Suzuki books, will be releasing the short story collection in October 2004.)

For serious fans of j-horror and manga, Dark Water worth a look, but its weaknesses will keep it from inspiring a repeat of The Ring’s cultural tidal wave.

Buy Dark Water at Amazon.

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