Face Meat

by Tarō Bonten, Ryan Holmberg (Editor And Translator), Hiroshi Kunisawa (Editor And Afterword)

A headless busty blonde, a face-stealing psychopath, a sleazy serial-killer sculptor, a horny handsome hunchback, a vengeful caterpillar cuckold, a torturous hangover in the pits of hell.



Welcome to the raunchy and gristly world of FACE MEAT, from the decadent imagination of outlaw polymath Bonten Taro―ex-kamikaze, ex-yakuza, singer, songwriter, actor, world-famous tattooist, husband of seven, and underappreciated pioneer of “pinky violence” femme fatales and adult horror manga. While Mizuki Shigeru and Umezz Kazuo were paving the way for horror in shonen and shojo magazines in the 1960s, Bonten was secretly doing the same in erotic men’s rags―and the results are as trashy as you’d expect. With an essay by Bonten booster and B-gekiga expert Kunisawa Hiroshi, FACE MEAT includes fourteen hair- and pants-raising stories that have never before been assembled under a single cover in any language!



FACE MEAT is the fourth volume of SMUDGE, a line of vintage horror, occult, and dark fantasy manga, curated and translated by award-winning historian Ryan Holmberg.

Genres: Manga, Horror, Short Stories, Comics

240 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2025

About the author

Associated Names:
ISHII Kiyomi
凡天 太郎.

Bonten Tarō was born as Ishii Kiyomi in Tokyo in 1928.
He was also a tattooist and enka ballad singer.
Wrote gekiga 'Half-breed Rika' in Shukan Myojo, which later into movie by Tōei Studios.

Reviews

[Stay Fetters · Rating 5 out of 5]

"I don’t want to die!
And I don’t want to have to eat your heart!"

Hello, Boils & Ghouls! Here we have some dark short stories that’ll make your hair stand up! Just watch what you wish for… you may lose your head! Hahahaha!

This collection of short stories was magnificent. The art was darkly disturbing and the stories followed suit. They were twisted in the most morbid of ways and my black heart is overjoyed.

[Alex Sarll]

Horror manga originally printed in Japanese men's magazines, and reproduced here with the ads for 'exotic gifts', 'Turkish baths' and clinics that filled out the pages left in place, though (perhaps mercifully) untranslated. I'm prepared to accept the publisher's assurance that these strips were influential on the subsequent development of the genre, but it's in the same sense that Action Comics #1 could birth the whole superhero field without in itself being any cop when read by modern eyes. Every story starts with an obvious and usually familiar premise (a visitor to the mountains is pressed to try the strange local fruit; an incel lurking in a park is offered something that will make his dreams come true), and then goes exactly where you'd expect, except maybe a little more lurid. The characters are thin, the dialogue basic and the anatomy wonky – I was particularly amused at the way that, presumably because of the venue, women will get naked at the least opportunity and then become the most detailed thing on the page, whereas men don't even have nipples (no homo). At best, there's an occasional splash page* that's clearly had more time spent on it, and could almost pass muster as having the ghoulish promise of a Roger Corman poster. But for the most part, the gap between this and eg Junji Ito is like the chasm between the Wright Flyer and a Spitfire.

*Possibly an unfortunate phrase in this context.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Krystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun collection of Japanese horror stories.

I loved the overall feel of this; the atmosphere is a classic kind of creepy that brings to mind dark, cloudy days and ominous music.

There's a nice mix of Japanese mythology depicted, and I enjoyed the turns some took.

The contrast of the black/red artwork was brilliant, and I loved seeing the styles brought to life with the simple addition of one single colour. The red made such a dramatic impact!

This is a short collection that I'd happily read again; brilliant artwork accompanying creepy, unique tales.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of 1960s Japanese horror stories with ghosts, demons, a little nudity, and a lot of decapitation. It's all a bit cheesy and silly, but there is also a bizarre energy to the art and storytelling that kept me entertained from start to finish.


FOR REFERENCE:

Contents:
• Head: Manga Tengoku (July 7, 1967)
• Corpses: Manga Tengoku (July 21, 1967)
• The Man-Eating Demon: Manga Tengoku (August 4, 1967)
• Poisonous Moths: Manga Tengoku (August 18, 1967)
• The Further Adventures of Dr. Frankenstein: Manga Tengoku Supplemental Issue (July 28, 1967)
• Graveyard Child: Manga Goraku Dokuhon (October 24 and November 7, 1967 combined issue)
• Face Meat: Manga Puck (October 1967)
• Snake Scales: Manga Puck (November 1967)
• The Man Who Sold His Soul: Manga Puck (February 1968)
• Army Ants: Manga Tengoku (March 15, 1968)
• Find Me a Cat!: Manga Puck (January 1969)
• Death's Embrace: Manga All Goraku (March 15, 1969)
• Chime Tree Pass: Manga Story (July 12, 1969)
• The Messenger of Death: Black Ace (September 1969)
• The Nine Lives of Outlaw Artist Bonten Taro [afterword by Kunisawa Hiroshi, expanded for English edition]

[Benjamin Bauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perverts and sleaze-hounds rejoice! Smudge has got a new volume to help you scratch your vintage horror manga itch.

This time we're treated to an anthology of works by one Bonten Taro, sometime mangaka and famous tattooist. These stories, all from between '67-69, are a delectable array of trash terror tales. The art and plotting can be wonky (especially when it comes to the angles of human anatomy), but for me, that adds to the b-movie charms of these stories.

Highlights are the hilarious and grisly the Further Adventures of Dr. Frankenstein, the body-horror yarn Poisonous Moths, the insanely creepy pair of Face Meat and Snake Scales, and the wicked and ever-so-unpleasant Army Ants. In general, though, all the stories were pretty great. The clunkiest is perhaps the opener, Head, with its awkward Western setting for a kaidan. Even then, that's what makes it unique!

As with the preceding volumes (minus Mansect, whose essay is online), this volume comes with an excellent essay on the mangaka's life and works, this time by Kunisawa Hiroshi. Bonten (born Ishii Kiyomi) led a crazy life, having been a kamikaze, a yakuza, and a driving force behind normalizing tattooing in Japan. Reading about him, you get a niche slice of recent Japanese history. Kunisawa even draws parallels between Bonten's relationships and some of the stories, adding an extra undercurrent of humour to what are some already laugh-out-loud tales of terror. Coupling this essay with Bonten's macabre tales makes this a treasure for the manga historian and horror aficionado.

This manga's also at a bizarre four-way cross-section where I feel safe recommending it to fans of Mario Bava, Kaneto Shindo, Japanese exploitation films of the 60s and early 70s, and Hammer Horror films!

[Rick Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of short horror manga stories from Bonten Tarō curated by Living the Line's Smudge imprint with translation and editing from Ryan Holmberg. Contextualizing Bonten's career is helpful for understanding the lurid and surrealist elements of the stories contained here, and the afterword by Kunisawa Hiroshi help to paint the portrait of an artist who was always active in multiple avenues. Face Meat collects 15 stories that feature horrifying scenarios loosely developed into stories of morality. Bonten's work has the surface appeal of transgressive ero guro artists, and yet the stories tend to devolved into a bit more of moralizing by punishing the characters engaged in eroticism. Other stories are simply absurd, existing primarily to heighten a sense of unease. The art is effective on that front, maintaining a simple expressiveness to capture the mystifying psychedelic haze. I can't really say that these stories are about much, but Bonten's simple yet risible scene crafting can be humorous and capture a somewhat morbid appeal. An interesting showcase of an artist who goes on to have an even more differentiated career than just making manga.

[Rlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely read the essay at the back of the volume about his life. I’m really happy that this was published and will be picking up anything Smudge releases.

[Bernie Gourley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a creative collection of fourteen dark and creepy tales. It's full of monsters, curses, killers, folkloric themes, and death. Many, but not all, of the stories are placed in Japanese settings -- e.g. the wild west and 19th century Europe are also featured. (And some of the stories seem to be of ambiguous setting -- presumably on purpose.) Most, but not all, of the stories feature supernatural elements.

It's a translation of a manga, and isn't reformatted, such that one will need to get comfortable with the "backwards" reading that such books entail. The art is mostly line drawn and lightly shaded black and white, with a few color pages (mostly story covers) in sepia-reminiscent tones.

I found the tales to be taut and disturbing and would recommend the book for readers of horror and dark speculative fiction. It is sexually as well as violently graphic --so, if you're one of those weirdos who is ok with a severed head but scandalized by an unclad breast, this book isn't for you.

[Kiana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soooo fucking sick. Every single villain literally says, “mua ha ha!” And “he he he!” And “ho ho ho!” This is from the 60’s!!! Need more by this artist IMMEDIATELY

[Anthony Curia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of Bonten Taro previous to reading this work but judging from Essay written about him in the back of this book he seemed to have lived a very interesting life.

This anthology of short stories is the perfect amount of dark, pulpy, guro, horror, goodness done in a classic style but pushed to the max. The panel work is stale and boring, but that art is so strong and bold and classic. It's imperfect, punk, and subversive.

I like that these stories go further and darker than Ito or Umezu but is a bit more reserved than Maruo. I will certainly be waiting for more English translations of Bonten Taros work. I am really looking forward to reading the rest of the Smudge catalog and look forward to their future releases.

[Danielle R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Perhaps the naked lady on the cover should have clued me in, but... these fourteen stories were waaaaay more raunchy than scary. (I'm just noticing that the summary says "hair- and pants-raising," ha!) I think this collection was published in 2025, but it feels like it was written in the 60s with lots of devilish men chasing scantily-clad females through a variety of scenery.

Head: A western thriller! I liked the corpse imagery and the bell was fun, but this was unfair for the husband. You can't cheat on your wife if she died of natural causes. 3/5

Corpses: Loved the twist of the jilted lover avenging her beau. I guess it wasn't his fault that he was beguiled by a (hideous) sexy toad monster. 4/5

Man-Eating Demon: Great opening for the brave woman going to the shrine and only bringing back part of her (delicious) infant. The monk was a welcome addition to lay this beast to rest. 3/5

Poisonous Moths: My favorite! I love the ridiculous plot of these two adulterers turning the current husband into a literal rotted worm. They got their just desserts in the end. 5/5

Further Adventures of Dr Frankenstein: A little bland in my opinion. It didn't add anything or make Frankenstein more interesting. 1/5

Graveyard Child: I guess a mother's love knows no bounds, even after death. The child growing up to continue watching over the graveyard was a nice touch. 4/5

Face Meat: The titular chapter. It was just a psycho collecting the faces of corpses to wear so he can become a famous 'Master of Disguise.' He wouldn't have killed anyone if they just left him alone. 3/5

Snake Scales: Now this is a monster that deserves to be hunted down. He started off eating his baby brother and just got worse from there. 2/5

The Man Who Sold His Soul: Well, serves him right for going after a woman who was taken and told him that she wasn't interested. Hope his final lay was worth it. 2/5

Army Ants: I feel like I've read this story somewhere else... A skeevy and un-talented artist is using real people under his plaster casts. Fittingly, there's great artwork in this one. 4/5

Find Me A Cat!: Um... I feel like there are a lot of ways to get fresh organ meat without going to these lengths. I mainly want to know what she was eating while she was in the hospital. 2/5

Death's Embrace: Don't do drugs, y'all. (I think the baby could have been more horrifying.) 1/5

The Black Rock That Isn't: I feel like something was lost in translation. The 'black rock that isn't' is a big killer lizard? The caves and the fruit were interesting though. 4/5

Messenger of Death: Super bizarre. Are they in a loop of hell, reliving the night they screwed up over and over again? Where did the girl go? I did like the image of Death coming to collect with his chariot though. 2/5

Your personal spook mileage will always vary in scary story collections. Personally, I wasn't even lightly spooked, but each tale was decently intriguing. The more Western-style artwork was an enjoyable switch from typical manga art. Decent collection. 3/5 overall.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing collection of short Japanese mangas – they range from the traditional, where shrines have demons and need to be cleansed, and foxes in disguise may be thought to be some culprit of evil, to the downright bonkers – a woman makes love to her husband's brother in front of the husband, a leprous old codger, who is slowly being turned into a caterpillar. A sequel to the Frankenstein myth has a few more F-bombs than Hammer ever managed with theirs, although in fact with a late-60s publishing date these stories all derive from those days.

You expect a bit of a mixed bag, quality-wise, in a compilation such as this, and that's what you get – the title story is really naff and undeserving of having one of the few flashes of colour we get here. And an anti-sex-n-drugs effort is full-on dodgy. But these probably do all deserve reproduction – and here they even come with some of the interrupting adverts of the day. They're definitely Japanese, but they have an eye for the mahoosive Western boob, nobody really looks that oriental, and an incubus-like monster looks like he could be a cousin to Fuseli's.

The finished book will have an essay that was not ready at the time of me claiming my e-arc, and I am sure it will discuss how Westernised the author of all this looked in real life, and how much the contents fitted into part of a culture fascinated with Western teenaged fads and slowly learning how to make them their own. This really is teen-oriented, with misogyny galore and lots of nubile beauties rolling around the bed before being vividly beheaded. Some of it is as mad as a box of frogs, but it's entertaining with it, and I for one appreciated the introduction to this creator – even if I'd probably never take it further.

[D.K. Hundt · Rating 3 out of 5]

FACE MEAT – Vintage Horror Manga

Written by - Bonten Taro
Translated by – Ryan Holmberg

‘Welcome to the raunchy and gristly world of FACE MEAT, from the decadent imagination of outlaw polymath Bonten Taro―ex-kamikaze, ex-yakuza, singer, songwriter, actor, world-famous tattooist, husband of seven, and under-appreciated pioneer of “pinky violence” femme fatales and adult horror manga. While Mizuki Shigeru and Umezz Kazuo were paving the way for horror in shonen and shojo magazines in the 1960s, Bonten was secretly doing the same in erotic men’s rags―and the results are as trashy as you’d expect.’

I Love the artwork throughout, though some stories are a hit, a few are—Nope!

The Following Are The Hits:

‘The Head’ – (Manga Tengoku, July 7, 1967) – Creepy Good!

‘Corpse’ - (Manga Tengoku, July 21,, 1967) – That Was Good

‘Man-Eating Demon’ – (Manga Tengoku, August 4, 1967) – That Was Good

‘Poisonous Moth’ - (Manga Tengoku, August 18, 1967) – Creepy Good!

‘The Further Adventures Of Dr. Frankenstein’ – (Manga Tengoku Supplemental Issue, July 28, 1967)
Creepy Good!

‘Graveyard Kid’ – (Manga Goraku Dokuhan, Oct. 24 + Nov. 7, 1967) – It Was Okay

‘Face Meat’ – (Manga Puck No. 1, October 1967) – Creepy Good!

‘Snake Scales’ – (Manga Puck, Nov. 1967) – Creepy Good!

‘The Man Who Sold His Soul’ – (Manga Puck, Feb. 1968) – That Was Good

‘Chime Tree Pass’ – (Manga Story, July 12, 1969) – That Was Good

‘The Messenger Of Death’ – (Black Ace, September 1969) – That Was Good

Thank you, Diamond Books Distribution, Living The Line and Smudge Books, for providing me with an eBook ARC of FACE MEAT at the request of an honest review.

[Sucre · Rating 3 out of 5]

very interesting from a manga + horror history standpoint but as a work on its own it's just kind of okay! I think part of me was expecting this to be more depraved than it was (based off marketing I had seen) so I was a bit surprised when I read this and it's pretty basic 70s horror comic fare. none of the stories, outside of one that felt very heavily inspired by Edogawa Ranpo's "The Caterpillar", really stood out to me. the art also left something to be desired (there is exactly one type of main woman character that will be drawn in this and you will see her ridiculous balloon boobs with itty bitty nipples almost every time). there's an oddly placed anti-drug PSA in the middle of this collection that felt even sillier once you learn more about the creator.

the most interesting part of this work is definitely the essay at the end that sheds light on the creator as well as the history of horror manga in general. Bonten Taro was certainly a character and his life is much more interesting (and disturbing) than the works shown in this collection. I really enjoyed seeing the covers for his various works, including his quite creepy looking shoujo (unintentionally so - he just took the large shoujo eyes to such an extreme they look somewhat like bugs). I think unless you're someone who is interested in manga + horror history, or somebody who loves basic 70s exploitation-style horror, this is a fine one to skip.

[Alex Fyffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Face Meat is by far the weakest of the Smudge releases to date. The most interesting part is the biographical essay in the back. Bonten Taro was a fascinating figure, but I'm not convinced that he was a great comics writer/artist. There are a few awesome images within this collection of short stories, but most of them come early, and the stories start to wear thin pretty quickly. By the time I got to the last few tales, I just wanted it to be over. The book also has quite a number of technical errors, including on the table of contents, of all things ("The Futher Adventures of Dr. Frankenstein"), which adds to a general feeling of laziness surrounding this volume. This is unfortunate since the company's previous releases have all been fascinating rediscoveries of truly bizarre and intriguing books that deserve some time in the light. But the majority of these stories could have stayed buried. I kind of wish they had chosen to release one of the series he was more known for instead, like "Rika, the Halfbreed."

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horror is at its best when it's touching on timeless fears, and this collection really spans a lot of them. Drawn in the 1960s, each of these self-contained tales touches on either a timeless fear or one very, very rooted in when they were written ("teen mom and boyfriend did drugs, so illegitimate baby is ugly" is very much of its time), and it makes for a book that never feels dull. Bonten touches on elements of folk horror as well, as well as exploitative elements (so many balloon-boobed women), making this feel racier than most of the horror manga we get in English. All in all it's interesting, with art that occasionally feels like it could be in an old EC comic. It's worth reading both for horror fans and manga historians.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

What. Was. That. This is a collection of bizarre and lurid short horror manga, most with sexual overtones. Most date from mid-20th century adult magazines, and the attitudes displayed, particularly toward women, are firmly from the past. (Women are usually bubbleheads who are very frequently losing their shirts, even after they are dead!)

I'm not sure the English translation was the best--at times, the panels seemed disjointed and the text seemed somewhat mixed up with the flow of the story. In other cases, the campiness was just genuinely funny--villains actually say "Mwa ha ha!"

Don't miss the short biography of the artist at the book's conclusion--the guy lived such a wild life it seems more like a movie than an actual experience.

[Zephorah Dove · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was such a strange read that left me wanting more. Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for the DRC. Solid 3.5.

I truly love horror manga, especially when it's in short story format. The stories are from the 60's and it was interesting to see the common fears extrapolated at that time. Most of my horror manga experience is from Junji Ito so while some of these were more grotesque, I felt like Ito's work prepared me so i wasn't shocked or scandalized by any of the drawings. People who could see over my shoulder on the bus though... (oops)

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardly a classic, but Bonten Taro's life, described in an excellent introductory essay, is interesting (to say the least!) and his slipshod, dashed-off work at times reaches the height of EC Comics (albeit with Japanese monsters/themes/etc.) or anticipates Jojo's (some of the poses/stylings that we see in Phantom Blood, at least). Recommended for fans of this sort of low-yet-high trash art primarily for its historical value, though certainly not the best that little subcultural niche has to offer.

[Ellen Scheid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of short manga pieces was a real treasure. Not because of the stories they told, but because of the significance of Bonten Taro on this genera of adult manga. He was a trailblazer in this field, and the biographical essay at the end of the manga was fascinating.

[estherbookster · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW: Nudity, misogyny, violence, death, blood, gore, SA
It's a collection of Bonten Taro’s horror manga short stories. There are some interesting tales illustrated that feel like urban legends. Some stories are very unsettling while others leave you with a twilight zone type of ending.

[S. Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay so the description of this book is absolutely awful, and intentionally edgy.

BUT THE BOOK ITSELF IS SPECTACULAR. DO NOT LET THE DESCRIPTION TURN YOU AWAY FROM THIS BOOK, IT IS AN AWFUL DEPICTION OF WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heady mix of folklore, hand-me-down ghost stories and grotesqueries.

[Al Capwned · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, it is trashy (as the back cover says). But. It's also fun.

[Goatllama · Rating 3 out of 5]

A link in the chain that lead to Junji Ito, so... my gratitude, oh venerable Bonten. Recommended review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[WritingWithCrayons · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're going to read sleazy trash that's idiosyncratically good, you can't do better than this.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some vintage horror from 1960s Japan. These stories were originally printed in men's magazines and come complete with the ads, thankfully untranslated. It's basically Tales from the Crypt with boobs.