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Bizenghast #1
Bizenghast, Volume 1
Not every lost soul is a lost cause.
When a young girl moves to the forgotten town of Bizenghast, she uncovers a terrifying collection of lost souls that leads her to the brink of insanity. One thing becomes painfully clear: The residents of Bizenghast are just dying to come home.
A finalist in TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga competition, Marty Legrow has crafted an unforgettable Gothic drama that will leave readers haunted long after the last page is turned.
Description from back cover
When a young girl moves to the forgotten town of Bizenghast, she uncovers a terrifying collection of lost souls that leads her to the brink of insanity. One thing becomes painfully clear: The residents of Bizenghast are just dying to come home.
A finalist in TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga competition, Marty Legrow has crafted an unforgettable Gothic drama that will leave readers haunted long after the last page is turned.
Description from back cover
184 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
M. Alice LeGrow
34 books146 followersM. Alice LeGrow is a female manga-influenced alternate comic book artist best known for her original English-language manga series Bizenghast. From the Savannah College of Art and Design, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Sequential Art.
As a young girl, Mary Alice LeGrow was not interested in comics since she grew up in Weisbaden, Germany where comics were not readily available. In her freshman year of high school, she discovered comics and anime. She enjoyed manga because it was not "the regular colorful spandex superhero fare". She heard about Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga competition from a friend at the 2003 Otakon, an anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland. On the drive from the convention and with eleven days before the deadline, she chose a short story she had written named "Nikolai", because of its "simple but engaging plot that had a definite start and finish." She renamed the main character, Sally Notch, after a road sign called "Notch Road" and based her character design on a model in a Gothic & Lolita Bible. Because the story was ten pages longer than the twenty-page limit, she rewrote it and also altered Sally's hair and clothes "to make her more interesting". "Nikolai" won a runner-up place in the competition and was published in the 2003 Rising Stars of Manga anthology. Along with a monetary prize, LeGrow won a chance to potientally have a manga series published by Tokyopop. The editors liked the series she proposed, Bizenghast, and she became the second Rising Stars of Manga winner to have a manga series published by Tokyopop.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As a young girl, Mary Alice LeGrow was not interested in comics since she grew up in Weisbaden, Germany where comics were not readily available. In her freshman year of high school, she discovered comics and anime. She enjoyed manga because it was not "the regular colorful spandex superhero fare". She heard about Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga competition from a friend at the 2003 Otakon, an anime convention in Baltimore, Maryland. On the drive from the convention and with eleven days before the deadline, she chose a short story she had written named "Nikolai", because of its "simple but engaging plot that had a definite start and finish." She renamed the main character, Sally Notch, after a road sign called "Notch Road" and based her character design on a model in a Gothic & Lolita Bible. Because the story was ten pages longer than the twenty-page limit, she rewrote it and also altered Sally's hair and clothes "to make her more interesting". "Nikolai" won a runner-up place in the competition and was published in the 2003 Rising Stars of Manga anthology. Along with a monetary prize, LeGrow won a chance to potientally have a manga series published by Tokyopop. The editors liked the series she proposed, Bizenghast, and she became the second Rising Stars of Manga winner to have a manga series published by Tokyopop.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 263 reviews
December 10, 2020
If you like Gothic manga with big eyes, you'll probably enjoy this. It's got a bit of Tim Burton vibe to it. The main character doesn't have much agency to her though. She's a wilting wallflower that lets her boyfriend do all the work of solving the puzzles that comprise each volume within. I want my characters to grow and evolve. This was a sameness to it. It's formulaic. I probably won't continue with it.
July 30, 2024
When my friend recommended me to read this I was pretty excited. I mean, the cover looks kind of good. But once I started reading I was horrified...
The story is simple - a beautiful but sad girl in unnecessarily cool outfits is "chosen" to set some stuck souls free. Her good looking friend does all the work for her (cause if he didn't they both would die) while she walks around looking sad. There. The whole plot. Seriously. I get that Dinah's supposed to be depressed (she sees a therapist yet is never diagnosed with depression in particular, at least so far), but she comes across as a whiny twat and as a main character she simply doesn't work since she doesn't really do anything.
It was obvious that to the artist the plot was the least important thing in this case because it was impossible to ignore the fact that all of the effort summoned from the gods of mediocre manga came to scenes were nothing was happening. Dinah has no other personality traits other than being sad,she literally has one expression i nevery single drawing throughout the entire volume, but not because author wants to give her a journey where she overcomes mental illness, no, it seems to just be an excuse for the author to only focus on her looking sad and mysterious loli-goth girl, because that's the sole and only purpose of this manga. To look cool while romanticizing depression by putting it in adorable dresses. Seriously - the "shot" where Dinah slowly picks up the phone in her room takes a whole page and is a set of wannabe-gorgeous drawings that you see artsy teenage girls putting on their deviantart pages. But I'm not even kidding, there's a non-human character in the end, which is supposed to be important (or at least it was gonna be later in the series) but is drawn breathtakingly lazy as in, it's literally just a line with a pair of eyes and a smile. I guess the whole reason this book was made in the first place was so that gothic teenage girls could stare at Dinah's outfits and daydream of living her life (which was presented as unsatisfying because her parents are dead - fair enough - but for some reason I'm also supposed to feel sorry for her because she, the horror, has to live in this massive house overlooked by her rich family, and do nothing all day??).
And even though Dinah's supposed to be the main protagonist, she (as I stated before) basically does nothing almost the entire time. Unless you count crying, walking around sad and whining as doing something (she reminded me a gothic Bella... but worse). Well, I don't, and I was so annoyed by this character therefore I'm not even going to bother reading the series further.
The story is simple - a beautiful but sad girl in unnecessarily cool outfits is "chosen" to set some stuck souls free. Her good looking friend does all the work for her (cause if he didn't they both would die) while she walks around looking sad. There. The whole plot. Seriously. I get that Dinah's supposed to be depressed (she sees a therapist yet is never diagnosed with depression in particular, at least so far), but she comes across as a whiny twat and as a main character she simply doesn't work since she doesn't really do anything.
It was obvious that to the artist the plot was the least important thing in this case because it was impossible to ignore the fact that all of the effort summoned from the gods of mediocre manga came to scenes were nothing was happening. Dinah has no other personality traits other than being sad,she literally has one expression i nevery single drawing throughout the entire volume, but not because author wants to give her a journey where she overcomes mental illness, no, it seems to just be an excuse for the author to only focus on her looking sad and mysterious loli-goth girl, because that's the sole and only purpose of this manga. To look cool while romanticizing depression by putting it in adorable dresses. Seriously - the "shot" where Dinah slowly picks up the phone in her room takes a whole page and is a set of wannabe-gorgeous drawings that you see artsy teenage girls putting on their deviantart pages. But I'm not even kidding, there's a non-human character in the end, which is supposed to be important (or at least it was gonna be later in the series) but is drawn breathtakingly lazy as in, it's literally just a line with a pair of eyes and a smile. I guess the whole reason this book was made in the first place was so that gothic teenage girls could stare at Dinah's outfits and daydream of living her life (which was presented as unsatisfying because her parents are dead - fair enough - but for some reason I'm also supposed to feel sorry for her because she, the horror, has to live in this massive house overlooked by her rich family, and do nothing all day??).
And even though Dinah's supposed to be the main protagonist, she (as I stated before) basically does nothing almost the entire time. Unless you count crying, walking around sad and whining as doing something (she reminded me a gothic Bella... but worse). Well, I don't, and I was so annoyed by this character therefore I'm not even going to bother reading the series further.
August 9, 2015
This was very strange. I'm not sure if I'll read another one. The art was cool but the story was just odd and the main character was irritating. Definitely not a favourite.
March 21, 2010
Okay this book sounded amazing when I read about it, and not to say it was terrible, but I was pretty disappointed.
First off, the drawings in my opinion didn't impress me at all. Sure, the author's a good artist, but I have some 14-year-old friends that draw manga better than her. Just saying. The way I am, the drawings kind of distracted me.
Also, the plot wasn't even that great. It went along way too fast and seemed to skip for some reason. Things happened too quickly. That was distracting, too.
The characters were okay, but they didn't seem to even have a personality. They just acted monotonously the whole time, really. It's always "let's do this" or "we have to save them" or "what the heck was that behind that tree?!" and there just wasn't any actual personalities in the characters from my view.
Again, I'm not saying that the book was terrible. If it was, I'd only give it 1 star. But I still gave it 2 stars because I still think it wasn't THAT bad...bBut it did disappoint me.
This is probably the start of a series, right? Of course, it's a manga. Well, I probably won't buy the rest of the books. I may skim through them just to see if anything really good happens, but I definitely wouldn't buy it.
First off, the drawings in my opinion didn't impress me at all. Sure, the author's a good artist, but I have some 14-year-old friends that draw manga better than her. Just saying. The way I am, the drawings kind of distracted me.
Also, the plot wasn't even that great. It went along way too fast and seemed to skip for some reason. Things happened too quickly. That was distracting, too.
The characters were okay, but they didn't seem to even have a personality. They just acted monotonously the whole time, really. It's always "let's do this" or "we have to save them" or "what the heck was that behind that tree?!" and there just wasn't any actual personalities in the characters from my view.
Again, I'm not saying that the book was terrible. If it was, I'd only give it 1 star. But I still gave it 2 stars because I still think it wasn't THAT bad...bBut it did disappoint me.
This is probably the start of a series, right? Of course, it's a manga. Well, I probably won't buy the rest of the books. I may skim through them just to see if anything really good happens, but I definitely wouldn't buy it.
November 6, 2021
Gothic manga with stunning illustrations. The stories are pretty eerie too.
October 19, 2012
Dinah is a troubled young girl who has lost her parents in a tragic accident and lives with her aunt in a former-school-renovated-into-a-house. She claims to see ghosts and insists that her cuts and bruises from them. The only time she doesn't seem to see them, or manage to ignore them, is when she's with Vincent, a boy she is close to and deeply cares for. But even he could not stop her from getting into incontrollable fits that suggests she is suffering from a serious mental or psychological problem, which is obviously not helped by the fact that she refuses to drink medicine.
One day, after sneaking out, they come across a place they've never been to before because the path they usually use to pass the woods was mysteriously blocked. Dinah is scared and says she feels that there are ghosts there but Vincent assured her he'd protect her from them and they explore. Upon finding a gaping entrance, they enter and unknowingly come into a contract that forces them to do what the sunken mausoleum bids them to do: free the captive spirits in the vaults or die. As they free more captive spirits, they learn more about the sunken mausoleum. Can they get out of this alive?
The art, although it looks sketchy and a bit blurred, is quite detailed and nice to look out. The setting looks deliciously creepy complete with old houses, a dead fountain, and a decrepit church (love the church!). The plot is intriguing, the poems good, and the stories of the spirits even better. Other than a few hiccups, like being too fast that you can't delve into the scariness or the sadness, it's brilliant. I actually don't hate any of the characters! This is new for me since lately I've been having the most of the main characters of the books I'm reading. I recommend it for those looking for manga that will make them want to read more!!! :)
4.5 stars!
One day, after sneaking out, they come across a place they've never been to before because the path they usually use to pass the woods was mysteriously blocked. Dinah is scared and says she feels that there are ghosts there but Vincent assured her he'd protect her from them and they explore. Upon finding a gaping entrance, they enter and unknowingly come into a contract that forces them to do what the sunken mausoleum bids them to do: free the captive spirits in the vaults or die. As they free more captive spirits, they learn more about the sunken mausoleum. Can they get out of this alive?
The art, although it looks sketchy and a bit blurred, is quite detailed and nice to look out. The setting looks deliciously creepy complete with old houses, a dead fountain, and a decrepit church (love the church!). The plot is intriguing, the poems good, and the stories of the spirits even better. Other than a few hiccups, like being too fast that you can't delve into the scariness or the sadness, it's brilliant. I actually don't hate any of the characters! This is new for me since lately I've been having the most of the main characters of the books I'm reading. I recommend it for those looking for manga that will make them want to read more!!! :)
4.5 stars!
January 15, 2017
First, I happen to read manga, so that isn't the problem. The problem is this is a series of puzzles, the whole story is a gothic series of puzzles. Diane, and her boyfriend Vincent must free souls trapped in a cemetery that only they can see. Each story in this volume, is how they free each soul, and solve the puzzle of how to solve them. How many souls to they have to free? Heck, there are 7 volumes, and this is only volume one.
Do you like Gothic? Do you like big eyes on your women? Do you like stories that go on an on. Great, then this will appeal to you. But doing a new puzzle again and again, is boring to me. It is like journey books, I just want to move on, and get it over with.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
Do you like Gothic? Do you like big eyes on your women? Do you like stories that go on an on. Great, then this will appeal to you. But doing a new puzzle again and again, is boring to me. It is like journey books, I just want to move on, and get it over with.
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.
March 22, 2008
I didn't like Dinah as a character -- for most of the book she's disgustingly pathetic, so it was hard to buy her completely unmotivated change of heart in the last 6 pages. And the guy, whats-his-name... totally generic will-do-anything-for-the-girl type. But my major complaint is that the volume felt too episodic -- each little chapter is a mini-quest of "let's free this ghost!" with no real associated character growth and no big-picture story arc. It's just eye candy. Pretty eye candy, but frustratingly pointless nonetheless.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 30, 2024
This is for me who read this when she was about 5 or 6 and had very vivid and scary nightmares about this manga and never found out what happens next bc she only ever had a volume one and forgot this existed until she met the ultimate comic book hell of a woman who has the remaining volumes (I love you P., thank u <3)
February 7, 2017
Full review to come!
December 16, 2025
some of the art in this is so incredibly beautiful, some is...not. it definitely itches a scratch of that particular gothy early 00s vibe though
March 26, 2010
When sickly orphan Dinah and her best friend trespass in a mysterious mausoleum, the supernatural guardians tell her she must help the troubled souls stored there to pass on peacefully, or suffer a horrible punishment.
Much of the story consists of episodes with different souls in their individual dream realms. Given the centrality of this action I was disappointed that the sub-stories weren't longer and more developed. I would have liked to see more intellectual and emotional challenges for the characters. However, the atmosphere was quite well-done and the book as a whole was an interesting read.
Much of the story consists of episodes with different souls in their individual dream realms. Given the centrality of this action I was disappointed that the sub-stories weren't longer and more developed. I would have liked to see more intellectual and emotional challenges for the characters. However, the atmosphere was quite well-done and the book as a whole was an interesting read.
December 30, 2019
I think the plot is kind of interesting. I love me a spooky house with mysterious ongoings, and there's definitely some of that here. However, the main characters are bland, with the main girl contributing almost nothing in terms of action. The art is mixed, with some of it gorgeous, but some of it being unintentionally soulless.
So do I recommend this? Eh, kinda. It does have some cool art and decent ideas. It really could have used some more rewrites in terms of story and character, but it wasn't bad. If the book sounds at all interesting, or you want to look at the pictures, I'd say it's worth picking up, just don't expect too much.
So do I recommend this? Eh, kinda. It does have some cool art and decent ideas. It really could have used some more rewrites in terms of story and character, but it wasn't bad. If the book sounds at all interesting, or you want to look at the pictures, I'd say it's worth picking up, just don't expect too much.
July 20, 2020
I've been meaning to read this for a while! Really liked the art and strange Gothic designs (especially the costumes). Might make a nice anime (or live-action series)!
July 14, 2022
First of, the art of the characters is good but not great it looks somewhat amateur and unpolished, but the background art is vary pretty.
Second of all, the story feels rushed even for manga. I keep having to look back and see if I missed anything because things happened so suddenly.
The main character can get annoying because she barely does anything on her own, but she is at least kinda interesting.
Besides these problems I do like it and think it’s fun. It kinda feels like Emilie Autumn with out the feminism. (If you know you know)
Second of all, the story feels rushed even for manga. I keep having to look back and see if I missed anything because things happened so suddenly.
The main character can get annoying because she barely does anything on her own, but she is at least kinda interesting.
Besides these problems I do like it and think it’s fun. It kinda feels like Emilie Autumn with out the feminism. (If you know you know)
December 25, 2022
This was a bit meh. It should have felt more interesting, but the main character whining so much ruined it a bit.
March 19, 2017
Bizenghast Volume 1 by M. Alice LeGrow
2 stars
Art Scale: 2.25
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2
Character Scale: 2
Plotastic Scale: 2.5
Cover Thoughts: I LOVE the covers for this series. So morbid and weird.
Thank you, Netgalley and TokyoPop for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.
2 stars
I remember seeing this manga series on TokyoPop’s page years ago, when I was obsessed with manga and looking for new ones to read. If I had read this when I first came across this years ago, this would have been a favorite. It’s weird enough that I would’ve lapped it up even if it made absolutely zero sense to me. This manga make zero sense to me now and I just don’t get it.
First, the art isn’t my style. The covers are so beautiful and gothic, but the actual art in context with the story is bland and I just didn’t find myself captivated are drawn to any images. The story itself is… whimsical? It reminds me of an Alice in Wonderland level of weird and that’s all fine and dandy if we are talking about the original animated classic, but the novel itself doesn’t gel with me. I wish I could say I love whimsical things, but I don’t think I do when it comes to hit and misses, I’m missing constantly with finding whimsical stories I love. I have an understanding of the story, that’s not the problem, the problem is that it makes no sense to me as to why this is important or being told. I know it’s the first volume of a fantasy manga and this is bound to happen, but I don’t want that to happen. I want to be hooked. I want to be entranced. I want to be ensnared in the roots of Bizenghast and binge read the whole manga series, but that didn’t happen.
Art Scale: 2.25
Whimsical Writing Scale: 2
Character Scale: 2
I’ve read spoilers for the series on Wikipedia and while this series is incredibly dark and gruesome, I personally don’t feel a strong attachment to continuing. Also, my edition was cut off or it just ended abruptly. Not sure. Either way I know what happens in the series so I don’t feel cheated. I recommend this manga to people who like paranormal, gothic settings, weird storylines, and death.
Plotastic Scale: 2.5
Cover Thoughts: I LOVE the covers for this series. So morbid and weird.
Thank you, Netgalley and TokyoPop for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.
September 14, 2022
March 20, 2013: NOOO! It ends right in the middle of things?!?! I must get the next volume!!!
OMYGOSHOMYGOSHOMYGOSH!!!! I just loved this. I'm not usually a manga fan but this is awesome!
September 13, 2022: It's really something to return to this 9 years later, after I've had a lot of experience with authentic manga and anime. The illustrations still range from cute to beautiful, but the simple storytelling definitely feels like a first stab at crafting a plot; the art also has a few weak spots here and there, to be honest. I can feel the manga influence beyond the art: absent parents, cute shojo clothes, and the "funny" sidekick.
Ultimately, I'm leaving my original rating alone, but the simplicity makes this is more of a 3* read, all these years later. I'll give it credit for inducing my love of pretty characters in authentic manga and anime, if nothing else (Black Butler, late-stage D.Gray-man, Psycho-pass, Toukan Ranbu). ❤️
OMYGOSHOMYGOSHOMYGOSH!!!! I just loved this. I'm not usually a manga fan but this is awesome!
September 13, 2022: It's really something to return to this 9 years later, after I've had a lot of experience with authentic manga and anime. The illustrations still range from cute to beautiful, but the simple storytelling definitely feels like a first stab at crafting a plot; the art also has a few weak spots here and there, to be honest. I can feel the manga influence beyond the art: absent parents, cute shojo clothes, and the "funny" sidekick.
Ultimately, I'm leaving my original rating alone, but the simplicity makes this is more of a 3* read, all these years later. I'll give it credit for inducing my love of pretty characters in authentic manga and anime, if nothing else (Black Butler, late-stage D.Gray-man, Psycho-pass, Toukan Ranbu). ❤️
May 14, 2016
I don't know, this story is okay and confusing at the same time. It's like, you're in the middle of solving some supernatural task and poof, it's done. Maybe I'm too slow to catch up, haha.
By the way, I love the gothic-ness potrayed in this manga. I love their dress, everything is okay for me. I'd like to have a best friend, or partner, like Vincent. He's so sweet. Hope the next volume shows some character development for Dinah. She's okay, but I wish she could be bolder.
What's the cat name? Endaniel? Haha sorry if I mispell, I forgot already. He's so funny. Like a cat version of troll.
By the way, I love the gothic-ness potrayed in this manga. I love their dress, everything is okay for me. I'd like to have a best friend, or partner, like Vincent. He's so sweet. Hope the next volume shows some character development for Dinah. She's okay, but I wish she could be bolder.
What's the cat name? Endaniel? Haha sorry if I mispell, I forgot already. He's so funny. Like a cat version of troll.
March 10, 2017
I absolutely loved two things about this graphic novel, and absolutely hated one thing.
Loved: 1. The artwork is stunning. The whole story could be told through visuals alone. No words necessary. 2. The riddles the characters have to solve are brilliantly constructed.
Hated: The boy does all of the real work while the girl sits around and freaks out.
Other than the girl being incapable of functioning without the boy, the story is fantastic. I highly recommend it.
Loved: 1. The artwork is stunning. The whole story could be told through visuals alone. No words necessary. 2. The riddles the characters have to solve are brilliantly constructed.
Hated: The boy does all of the real work while the girl sits around and freaks out.
Other than the girl being incapable of functioning without the boy, the story is fantastic. I highly recommend it.
Read
March 20, 2018Oh man, I need to reread this series!
I never finished it, due to reasons out of my control. But I must reread and finish!! This was the only "horror" I read as a teenager, and I remember loving the art and concept so much.
I never finished it, due to reasons out of my control. But I must reread and finish!! This was the only "horror" I read as a teenager, and I remember loving the art and concept so much.
March 18, 2021
I wish the pacing was a bit slower but otherwise, the artwork is rather beautiful and very detailed
June 16, 2021
This was deliciously dark and creepy with a melancholy tone to it. The artwork was absolutely stunning and I am fully invested into this story.
August 29, 2021
The art style was interesting and the plot was very intriguing! It left a lot to be desired, but I enjoyed it very much. I’ll definitely be continuing!
November 3, 2025
interesting seeing how the artstyle/story content has changed from bizenghast to. well. now
February 22, 2026
So apparently the plot is that they have to go into the dreams of ghosts and help them solve whatever problem their dream has. The dreams are simultaneously the most goth and most surreal things I think I've ever seen. This feels like the exact sort of thing a goth kid from the 2000s or 2010s would be making fan art of. I'm pretty sure I saw fanart of this when I was little and I just didn't know what it was. So obviously I'm going to binge the entire series. Wish me luck!
Bizenghast Review
4/5 stars
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Somebody dropped a couple random volumes of this manga series off at the library, so I decided to hunt down the entire series online and read them. Note: volumes 1-7 are generally usually available on Hoopla. Volume 8 is only available on Comics Plus, and not many libraries have it. Also, because this is an English manga series, it's not on any of the scanlation sites. So unless you want to order them directly from the publisher or have access to Comics Plus, good luck trying to read this. Until I found a library near me that had comics plus, I spent a few months thinking I would never be able to finish this series.
This series is about a girl and her friend who find this random gothic palace in the woods. They end up going inside and doing dangerous tasks in order to be able to leave. I can't say too much about the plot without spoiling it, but what I can say is this really exceeded my expectations in the funniest way possible. Based on just the first volume, I was expecting some early 2000s goth kid art, but then I turned out to be, well, sort of that, but not exactly,
This really does look like some kid from the early 2000s who drew eyeball doodles in their math notebook grew up to be a real artist and got a manga published. No, I'm serious. The story is cheesy as heck, and the art is goth to the maximum. There’s a hidden code that reveals that the author of this series loves Care Bears and thinks the headless horseman is hot. There are very emotionally heavy scenes handled with the same kind of blunt honesty you’d get from a cleaning robot trying to tell you that your cat threw up on the new carpet and it isn’t equipped to handle biohazards, so you have to do it yourself after a long day of work.
I spent most of this series either staring in awe at the insane surreal goth art that has no business being that good, or laughing at the demon cat who spends the series doing one of two things: flirting with literally anything that breathes (regardless of gender, species, or alive/ghost status) or making stupidly funny references to stuff I haven't thought about in YEARS.
This truly is a gem of a series. And I don't mean it's a hidden gem. I mean it's the sort of thing where clearly the author was insanely passionate about the art but insanely bad at writing to the point that it kind of felt like I was watching The Princess Bride. You know, the whole “it's so bad it's good” thing.
Due to this series bringing me so much joy at work, I’m giving it four stars and no one can stop me. I was constantly updating my coworker who found this in the book drop at the library on the insane nonsense in here, and he didn't know what to think of it, and honestly neither did I.
There is a creature made of all leg, mp3 players are dead fish, the author includes at one point a complaint page for you to fill out and send back to the publisher (see below), and that's just scratching the surface of the weirdness in here. Seriously. It's much weirder than that. I cannot even remember it all without having to go back and reread it. This is on the weirdness levels of stuff like Abarat and Sorce: Belly of the Beast. If you know anything about me, you know that is HIGH praise about its weirdness.
COMPLAINT FORM HERE
I will recommend this series with one caveat. In volume four, a random unimportant character unalives themself on page. It's literally in there. We see it happen with all the gory details. It's not like it happens off screen. No, we literally see them do it. It's very bloody and uhhhhh yeah…so that happened. It’s not done in a super offensive way as best as I can tell, but it is directly on the page, so please beware if that’s something you can’t look at or read. If I knew the exact page, I could warn you to skip it, but I forget exactly where it is and I forget if I have volume 4 on my desk at work to check. If I have it, I will do a double check and list the page in the comments so you could skip if necessary. If not, be careful.
Other than that, have fun with the bi demon cat and please tell me what you think of Bizenghast if you decide to read it. I need to confirm that me reading this wasn't some insane fever dream, cause I swear that's what it felt like.
Have a nice day/night everyone!
Bizenghast Review
4/5 stars
This will be a spoiler free review. Onto the review!
Somebody dropped a couple random volumes of this manga series off at the library, so I decided to hunt down the entire series online and read them. Note: volumes 1-7 are generally usually available on Hoopla. Volume 8 is only available on Comics Plus, and not many libraries have it. Also, because this is an English manga series, it's not on any of the scanlation sites. So unless you want to order them directly from the publisher or have access to Comics Plus, good luck trying to read this. Until I found a library near me that had comics plus, I spent a few months thinking I would never be able to finish this series.
This series is about a girl and her friend who find this random gothic palace in the woods. They end up going inside and doing dangerous tasks in order to be able to leave. I can't say too much about the plot without spoiling it, but what I can say is this really exceeded my expectations in the funniest way possible. Based on just the first volume, I was expecting some early 2000s goth kid art, but then I turned out to be, well, sort of that, but not exactly,
This really does look like some kid from the early 2000s who drew eyeball doodles in their math notebook grew up to be a real artist and got a manga published. No, I'm serious. The story is cheesy as heck, and the art is goth to the maximum. There’s a hidden code that reveals that the author of this series loves Care Bears and thinks the headless horseman is hot. There are very emotionally heavy scenes handled with the same kind of blunt honesty you’d get from a cleaning robot trying to tell you that your cat threw up on the new carpet and it isn’t equipped to handle biohazards, so you have to do it yourself after a long day of work.
I spent most of this series either staring in awe at the insane surreal goth art that has no business being that good, or laughing at the demon cat who spends the series doing one of two things: flirting with literally anything that breathes (regardless of gender, species, or alive/ghost status) or making stupidly funny references to stuff I haven't thought about in YEARS.
This truly is a gem of a series. And I don't mean it's a hidden gem. I mean it's the sort of thing where clearly the author was insanely passionate about the art but insanely bad at writing to the point that it kind of felt like I was watching The Princess Bride. You know, the whole “it's so bad it's good” thing.
Due to this series bringing me so much joy at work, I’m giving it four stars and no one can stop me. I was constantly updating my coworker who found this in the book drop at the library on the insane nonsense in here, and he didn't know what to think of it, and honestly neither did I.
There is a creature made of all leg, mp3 players are dead fish, the author includes at one point a complaint page for you to fill out and send back to the publisher (see below), and that's just scratching the surface of the weirdness in here. Seriously. It's much weirder than that. I cannot even remember it all without having to go back and reread it. This is on the weirdness levels of stuff like Abarat and Sorce: Belly of the Beast. If you know anything about me, you know that is HIGH praise about its weirdness.
COMPLAINT FORM HERE
I will recommend this series with one caveat. In volume four, a random unimportant character unalives themself on page. It's literally in there. We see it happen with all the gory details. It's not like it happens off screen. No, we literally see them do it. It's very bloody and uhhhhh yeah…so that happened. It’s not done in a super offensive way as best as I can tell, but it is directly on the page, so please beware if that’s something you can’t look at or read. If I knew the exact page, I could warn you to skip it, but I forget exactly where it is and I forget if I have volume 4 on my desk at work to check. If I have it, I will do a double check and list the page in the comments so you could skip if necessary. If not, be careful.
Other than that, have fun with the bi demon cat and please tell me what you think of Bizenghast if you decide to read it. I need to confirm that me reading this wasn't some insane fever dream, cause I swear that's what it felt like.
Have a nice day/night everyone!
Read
May 11, 2025I really enjoyed Bizenghast. The the art is really beautiful, the premise works well, and all of the ghosts' designs, narrative relevancy, and puzzles are very unique and memorable. My favorite was probably the swamp-witch who makes swirls the water to hypnotize children, but the "Mosaic girl" was pretty interesting too, especially when they realize it's someone they thought was still alive. Also, I loved how the story stopped just to have them go see Coraline at the mall. That part was silly.
June 18, 2009
This was a pretty pleasant surprise. Dinah loses her parents, and as a result has to move with relatives in the New England town of Bizenghast. The doctors think the young girl may not be well, maybe due to the trauma of loss, but things are not as simple as that. And the town itself is not what it seems to be. Apparently, there is this cemetery that appears and disappears, and it has trapped souls in it. And Dinah is given the task of freeing them. With the help of her friend Vincent, she sets out reluctantly to do the task. There are various types of souls and spirits, not all happy or peaceful, and each requires the solving of some kind of riddle or puzzle as part of the task. Thus begins this series.
This is a light gothic ghost story. It has some horror elements, but they are certainly light so far. The riddles provide a poetic element, and the ghosts vary in their natures and fates. This looks like the start of an entertaining series with good art to go along with the story. And it is a very easy read.
This is a light gothic ghost story. It has some horror elements, but they are certainly light so far. The riddles provide a poetic element, and the ghosts vary in their natures and fates. This looks like the start of an entertaining series with good art to go along with the story. And it is a very easy read.
May 12, 2009
VOYA Book Review Code: S, A/YA; 2P; 5Q
Bizenghast by M. Alice LeGrow is a brilliantly written and beautifully illustrate graphic novel serial about a young girl named Dinah and her friend Vincent that live in a Massachusetts town called Bizenghast. The two protagonists’ after sneaking out of Dinah’s maternal aunt’s house have an un-serendipitous encounter with an half-human, half-arachnid being named Bali-Lali. Dinah inadvertently signs a contract when she and Vincent enters a mausoleum in the mysterious “Second Graveyard of Bizenghast” that starts a haunting journey into the netherworld where she has to wake up "some unhappy, some angry" spirits trapped in their unique vault or die herself.
Bizenghast by M. Alice LeGrow is a brilliantly written and beautifully illustrate graphic novel serial about a young girl named Dinah and her friend Vincent that live in a Massachusetts town called Bizenghast. The two protagonists’ after sneaking out of Dinah’s maternal aunt’s house have an un-serendipitous encounter with an half-human, half-arachnid being named Bali-Lali. Dinah inadvertently signs a contract when she and Vincent enters a mausoleum in the mysterious “Second Graveyard of Bizenghast” that starts a haunting journey into the netherworld where she has to wake up "some unhappy, some angry" spirits trapped in their unique vault or die herself.
May 12, 2021
2.5 stars
I have (apparently) read this book sometime before I started using Goodreads (pre-2013), but I don't remember it at all.
It's... fine? The art is pretty and certainly not run-off-the-mill for a comic or manga; but it's also quite busy and it's hard to distinguish between a character and the background. I like the mood and themes, but I don't exactly understand what's going on. Mostly I am having trouble with locations, especially the ones we regularly visit - I don't have a clear idea in my head of what they look like.
They try to combat this vagueness towards the end of the book with an explanation, but I don't like the cat who provides this exposition. I also don't particularly like the two main characters. I won't be picking up the next book.
I have (apparently) read this book sometime before I started using Goodreads (pre-2013), but I don't remember it at all.
It's... fine? The art is pretty and certainly not run-off-the-mill for a comic or manga; but it's also quite busy and it's hard to distinguish between a character and the background. I like the mood and themes, but I don't exactly understand what's going on. Mostly I am having trouble with locations, especially the ones we regularly visit - I don't have a clear idea in my head of what they look like.
They try to combat this vagueness towards the end of the book with an explanation, but I don't like the cat who provides this exposition. I also don't particularly like the two main characters. I won't be picking up the next book.
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