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Bizenghast #4
Bizenghast, Volume 4
In the hidden corners of the Sunken Mausoleum, Dinah begins to understand the true nature of Vincent's sacrifice for her. As time slips away in the sleepy town of Bizenghast, Dinah must find reason amidst her madness to solve the increasingly intricate riddles. But before she can free the imprisoned spirits, Dinah is forced to take a shocking journey along the fine line that separates imagination from reality...
154 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
9 people are currently reading
370 people want to read
About the author
M. Alice LeGrow
34 books145 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 38 reviews
September 23, 2024
Not much new to say, here. From the beginning, I've appreciated that we haven't gotten into a "soul collection a la Pokémon" or Sailor Moon storytelling style where each soul is given an episode or certain number of pages, then we move on to the next one.
In this volume and the previous one, individual stories have benefited from being longer, giving us more time to appreciate the milieu each soul is in. The sloppiness in the art that I've noted a number of times now isn't as egregious, and some of the scene setting is nicely immersive. Flow between panels continues to be hard to follow at times.
Unfortunately, on the whole, this story remains more style than substance. The style's great, don't get me wrong! But beyond that, things get clunky fast. I was spoiled about , but even knowing that, the first part of the spoiler should have affected me more than it did.
I've tried to remember the name of the recurring character from the past, but it keeps slipping through my fingers. Mary Clark, maybe? Vincent finds some clues about her in this volume, and I'm sure more will come to light later on.
The preview of Fool's Gold, Vol. 1 in the back of this volume, amounting to less than 20 pages, impressed me more than the four volumes of this series I've read so far. Great style, and excellent storytelling! I'll see if I can find a way to borrow it, since I have no desire to keep Tokyopop solvent. The grudge continues.
In this volume and the previous one, individual stories have benefited from being longer, giving us more time to appreciate the milieu each soul is in. The sloppiness in the art that I've noted a number of times now isn't as egregious, and some of the scene setting is nicely immersive. Flow between panels continues to be hard to follow at times.
Unfortunately, on the whole, this story remains more style than substance. The style's great, don't get me wrong! But beyond that, things get clunky fast. I was spoiled about , but even knowing that, the first part of the spoiler should have affected me more than it did.
I've tried to remember the name of the recurring character from the past, but it keeps slipping through my fingers. Mary Clark, maybe? Vincent finds some clues about her in this volume, and I'm sure more will come to light later on.
The preview of Fool's Gold, Vol. 1 in the back of this volume, amounting to less than 20 pages, impressed me more than the four volumes of this series I've read so far. Great style, and excellent storytelling! I'll see if I can find a way to borrow it, since I have no desire to keep Tokyopop solvent. The grudge continues.
July 21, 2021
(4.5)
What the heck was that ending??? VINCENT
What the heck was that ending??? VINCENT
December 31, 2014
Wait...what? That wasn't the actually ending? Really? REALLY!!!!!
Okay, while I try to get over that.... this volume was a lot more serious than the previous one! I was a bit surprised. I really don't have much else to say because... WAS THAT REALLY THE ENDING!!!??
Haha, but, I do, of course, have an Edaniel quote!
(after Vincent comes down from the ceiling through the vent)
Edaniel: Hey, look -- it's raining men. Hallelujah.
And to make it even funnier, here is the panel (cuz the look on his face makes it even better)
Okay, while I try to get over that.... this volume was a lot more serious than the previous one! I was a bit surprised. I really don't have much else to say because... WAS THAT REALLY THE ENDING!!!??
Haha, but, I do, of course, have an Edaniel quote!
(after Vincent comes down from the ceiling through the vent)
Edaniel: Hey, look -- it's raining men. Hallelujah.
And to make it even funnier, here is the panel (cuz the look on his face makes it even better)
February 14, 2025
Is it horrible that I am not that sad by the turn of events? The next volumes will have so much growth. I am looking forward to seeing how Dinah handles it. I also have many many questions after all the nuggets dropped in this one.
August 15, 2025
TW on page suicide, it's literally shown on page, please be careful everybody - note: the coded message says "violence is not the answer kids" which honestly should have been in plain English.
That aside, HOW DARE SHE [angry rant about spoilers which I shall not list because idk how to do spoiler text and even if I did, I know you'd all click on it anyways, or at least, I always click on spoiler text, idk how everyone else does it, I just really like the little animation of the grey bar fading away, but then I get spoiled and I'm upset about it, so I won't put you all through that]. I shall never recover from this. I'm not even attached to the characters or anything. I'm just surprised at the mangaka's willingness to [REDACTED]. No, I'm not talking about the tw above. This is a separate matter.
That aside, HOW DARE SHE [angry rant about spoilers which I shall not list because idk how to do spoiler text and even if I did, I know you'd all click on it anyways, or at least, I always click on spoiler text, idk how everyone else does it, I just really like the little animation of the grey bar fading away, but then I get spoiled and I'm upset about it, so I won't put you all through that]. I shall never recover from this. I'm not even attached to the characters or anything. I'm just surprised at the mangaka's willingness to [REDACTED]. No, I'm not talking about the tw above. This is a separate matter.
September 7, 2016
Well, this volume certainly shook things up... And it didn't give any answers, and only raised a bunch of questions. Beware, the cover photo is basically foreshadowing to something dreadful in this volume. Well, it's dreadful unless you're rooting for something terrible to happen to all of the characters, especially Vincent. Even Edrear shed tears over Vincent's death, and we know Dinah most certainly did. Now she really is all alone, she's lost her mother and father, and now her childhood friend and only friend, Vincent. The boy who had been there with her through everything, voluntarily, and took care of her when she couldn't take care of herself. Will she blame herself for his death? Who knows. But his parting words were the best in regards to easing her self blame for what happened. But what nobody knows is that Vincent was actually murdered. Some pale feminine hand let loose something sharp on the boat in the vault they were in and it stabbed him in the chest, probably in the one of the main arteries to the heart, given how quickly he perished. This is the second time Vincent could have died, and this time, it happened too quickly for anyone from the mausoleum to help. Nobody could do a thing, except let him die. Edrear comforted the sobbing Dinah as he too shed tears, whether it be for the boy he had come to truly love in an endearing way, or if he couldn't stand to see Dinah in so much pain, or if it was because he had failed his duty, or if it was all of that, we do not truly know, but I think it was all of those things, or at least the first two. But Vincent said that they would meet again, it was only a matter of time. Would that hold true? And what was that centipede doing and crawling into at the end of the volume? Hmm... Perhaps Dinah really will see Vincent again, perhaps as a ghost, or perhaps all of that volunteer work he had given to the mausoleum will end up working in his favor and his good deeds will be repaid. Maybe he'll become someone like Edaniel and Edrear. Maybe.
Anyway, earlier in this volume, it was pretty entertaining and mysterious too. One of Dinah's friends from school murdered a classmate and then murdered herself, and became a violent ghost and was locked up in a vault. In her dreams, she became obsessed with being the most beautiful and most loved person, and in the process, she lost herself, mind and body. Eventually, Dinah was able to bring her back to her senses (only a second or so away from losing her eyeball too!), and Dinah's friend was remorseful for all of her actions, ripped all of her stolen flesh off, and died as own skinless self. It was touching, and Dinah really felt something for her, even holding her body. I think that was one of the longest stories too in Bizenghast, and it really was a puzzle to solve that didn't have all the answers handed to the reader right away. I enjoyed it. It really felt like a story.
And unrelated to that, Vincent had been digging into the history of the town of Bizenghast, trying to figure out some things that may be related to the mausoleum. He found something out related to Addie Clark and perhaps even something that resides in the mausoleum that could potentially be related to that one girl whose hair burnt up to free Dinah (she had marks on her neck too), but Vincent only caught that it was somehow related to Addie Clark. Later, strange things began happening and did not let up, not even after Vincent was dead and buried (probably in the mausoleum's cemetery or in Vincent's personal sanctuary). They were told to go collect the spirit of some woman whom had just died in a car crash, but Edrear was unable to find her spirit anywhere near her body, even though she had just died. Then, suddenly, the car started driving on its own and sought out Dinah and Vincent and attempted to run them over. Vincent pulled her out of the way, however, and Edrear transformed into his animal form (which is really cool and scary-looking) and stopped the car and made sure it wouldn't do that again. Assuming that perhaps the spirit was trapped inside of the car (though it was doubtful), they had the car taken to the mausoleum. Although, there were marks on that dead woman's neck which were the same as the marks on the girl's neck whose hair burnt up to save Dinah. But for some odd reason, Dinah was the one who recognized it, even though she should have never seen them before. But she couldn't quite place where she had seen those marks, but she knew that something was wrong.
I believe that someone murdered Vincent because he was coming too close to uncovering some deeply bedded secrets in the town of Bizenghast, and he was seen as a threat. I believe that it was the girl whose hair burnt up that murdered him. But why? What is so horrible that nobody can know? Might it unravel the entire town and their system? Or foil some dastardly plans which had been taking place since the birth of the town? I always thought that town was awfully strange, no internet, nothing. That just doesn't happen in our time period. It was almost totally disconnected from the rest of the world, and behind in the times for its fashion too. Something is wrong with that town, and somebody, or some group, wants to make sure that those secrets stay hidden. And it seems like if it IS related to the mausoleum, it isn't related to our friends, or they're ex-members or something or rogues or snuck in or even ghosts that were unable to be contained. Whatever it is, the more I read of the series, the more I am so upset that this series had to take a different turn than what was planned. It's building up so amazingly, and I just know I'll be let down in volume eight.
Anyway, earlier in this volume, it was pretty entertaining and mysterious too. One of Dinah's friends from school murdered a classmate and then murdered herself, and became a violent ghost and was locked up in a vault. In her dreams, she became obsessed with being the most beautiful and most loved person, and in the process, she lost herself, mind and body. Eventually, Dinah was able to bring her back to her senses (only a second or so away from losing her eyeball too!), and Dinah's friend was remorseful for all of her actions, ripped all of her stolen flesh off, and died as own skinless self. It was touching, and Dinah really felt something for her, even holding her body. I think that was one of the longest stories too in Bizenghast, and it really was a puzzle to solve that didn't have all the answers handed to the reader right away. I enjoyed it. It really felt like a story.
And unrelated to that, Vincent had been digging into the history of the town of Bizenghast, trying to figure out some things that may be related to the mausoleum. He found something out related to Addie Clark and perhaps even something that resides in the mausoleum that could potentially be related to that one girl whose hair burnt up to free Dinah (she had marks on her neck too), but Vincent only caught that it was somehow related to Addie Clark. Later, strange things began happening and did not let up, not even after Vincent was dead and buried (probably in the mausoleum's cemetery or in Vincent's personal sanctuary). They were told to go collect the spirit of some woman whom had just died in a car crash, but Edrear was unable to find her spirit anywhere near her body, even though she had just died. Then, suddenly, the car started driving on its own and sought out Dinah and Vincent and attempted to run them over. Vincent pulled her out of the way, however, and Edrear transformed into his animal form (which is really cool and scary-looking) and stopped the car and made sure it wouldn't do that again. Assuming that perhaps the spirit was trapped inside of the car (though it was doubtful), they had the car taken to the mausoleum. Although, there were marks on that dead woman's neck which were the same as the marks on the girl's neck whose hair burnt up to save Dinah. But for some odd reason, Dinah was the one who recognized it, even though she should have never seen them before. But she couldn't quite place where she had seen those marks, but she knew that something was wrong.
I believe that someone murdered Vincent because he was coming too close to uncovering some deeply bedded secrets in the town of Bizenghast, and he was seen as a threat. I believe that it was the girl whose hair burnt up that murdered him. But why? What is so horrible that nobody can know? Might it unravel the entire town and their system? Or foil some dastardly plans which had been taking place since the birth of the town? I always thought that town was awfully strange, no internet, nothing. That just doesn't happen in our time period. It was almost totally disconnected from the rest of the world, and behind in the times for its fashion too. Something is wrong with that town, and somebody, or some group, wants to make sure that those secrets stay hidden. And it seems like if it IS related to the mausoleum, it isn't related to our friends, or they're ex-members or something or rogues or snuck in or even ghosts that were unable to be contained. Whatever it is, the more I read of the series, the more I am so upset that this series had to take a different turn than what was planned. It's building up so amazingly, and I just know I'll be let down in volume eight.
January 26, 2021
Brenda almost takes Dinah's eyes, but Vincent and Edrear stop her. She tells Dinah she created a world where she was a princess due to the girls bullying her at school. Edrear stops a car from crashing into Vincent and Dinah. Vincent dies leaving Dinah heartbroken again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 13, 2019
Olyan érzésem volt, mintha összecsapta volna a szerző. Mind a rajz, mind a történet tekintetében.
February 20, 2020
What the absolute fuck just happened?! Was Vincent seriously killed off at the end of the book? I can't process anything else besides whatever the hell that ending was.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2020
Mystery Deepens
Blind princess seemed prophetic, yet women seemed to have disappeared. A car accident kept repeating itself. And Vincent? The mystery of Bizenghast continues.
Blind princess seemed prophetic, yet women seemed to have disappeared. A car accident kept repeating itself. And Vincent? The mystery of Bizenghast continues.
January 24, 2022
M. Alice LeGrow was really out here thinking we didn’t need anymore Vincent and I’m still bitter about it
May 26, 2016
This is one of my favorite volumes, despite its ending and having my least favorite cover art.
Every time I open the next Bizenghast book, I appreciate how much the art has improved from the last volume, and this one was no different. The details are more intense and the characters are cleaner, less cartoony (though they still retain LeGrow's signature style.)
My favorite chapters in this volume were "The Perfect Woman"/"The Pariah" (which might be my favorite ghost story in the whole series), and "The Road Beyond," despite . . . reasons. After the story are several pages dedicated to the development of the series, which I found really enjoyable.
Recommended for horror fans and manga enthusiasts alike.
**SPOILERS AHEAD, STOP READING NOW!**
I still find it a shock about Vincent. I know it's not revolutionary for a series to have one of its main characters die partway through, but this death is so powerful and sad. We've seen Dinah progress slowly, but I don't think anything prepared her for this, and watching her character react to this will shape the rest of the series moving forward. I was confused the first time I read this about who was causing the trouble and all the clues Vincent was finding. I thought Dinah's stealing of the Lazarus Apple caused something? But it's obvious an Unbearable escaped the dungeon at some point after they visited. Anyway, more mysteries ahead!
Every time I open the next Bizenghast book, I appreciate how much the art has improved from the last volume, and this one was no different. The details are more intense and the characters are cleaner, less cartoony (though they still retain LeGrow's signature style.)
My favorite chapters in this volume were "The Perfect Woman"/"The Pariah" (which might be my favorite ghost story in the whole series), and "The Road Beyond," despite . . . reasons. After the story are several pages dedicated to the development of the series, which I found really enjoyable.
Recommended for horror fans and manga enthusiasts alike.
**SPOILERS AHEAD, STOP READING NOW!**
I still find it a shock about Vincent. I know it's not revolutionary for a series to have one of its main characters die partway through, but this death is so powerful and sad. We've seen Dinah progress slowly, but I don't think anything prepared her for this, and watching her character react to this will shape the rest of the series moving forward. I was confused the first time I read this about who was causing the trouble and all the clues Vincent was finding. I thought Dinah's stealing of the Lazarus Apple caused something? But it's obvious an Unbearable escaped the dungeon at some point after they visited. Anyway, more mysteries ahead!
August 4, 2008
little dissappointed with the way this one ended...i love all the characters and she had put so much work into building up the partnership and now it's suddenly gone and i'm not really sure how she's going to pull the series back. other than my initial dissappointment and sadness though at the end of book 4, this is a great series, like a darker version of alice in wonderland, and the characters in wonderland have such amazing personalities. the frames of this book are so amazing...i'd love to see it done as an anime.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2010
Same comments as for volume 1:
I love the artwork and the fashion in it, and find the storyline oddly compelling. I have to keep reading and I don't know why, but I like it.
This is the first volume where there has been bloody violence, which I found a little disappointing because the others had gotten on so well without it, but that's just me. :)
Interesting tidbits about the series on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizenghast
The author has a cool blog if you'd like to visit: http://www.bizenghast.com/
I love the artwork and the fashion in it, and find the storyline oddly compelling. I have to keep reading and I don't know why, but I like it.
This is the first volume where there has been bloody violence, which I found a little disappointing because the others had gotten on so well without it, but that's just me. :)
Interesting tidbits about the series on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bizenghast
The author has a cool blog if you'd like to visit: http://www.bizenghast.com/
August 6, 2010
Alice LeGrow, Bizenghast, vol. 4 (Tokyopop, 2007)
The personal touches in vol. 3, it turns out, are the development of story arc rather than just being personal touches, and we find out for certain this whole thing is keyed to Di and Vi, with Edaniel and Edrear as supporting characters (plus, one assumes, the other two gate guardians eventually). This one is more character-based than action-based, which is never a bad thing, and LeGrow pushes the series to new heights here; this is getting really good, like early-issues-of-Bleach-level good. ****
The personal touches in vol. 3, it turns out, are the development of story arc rather than just being personal touches, and we find out for certain this whole thing is keyed to Di and Vi, with Edaniel and Edrear as supporting characters (plus, one assumes, the other two gate guardians eventually). This one is more character-based than action-based, which is never a bad thing, and LeGrow pushes the series to new heights here; this is getting really good, like early-issues-of-Bleach-level good. ****
October 11, 2013
2010 bookcrossing journal:
I bought this in the Books and Beans Coffee shop in Aberdeen which is so nice! Anyway, I enjoyed this although I didn't always get it. I think I need to start at the beginning with this series to follow the plot rather than dipping in half way through. Not as pervy as some manga I have read, but this was written by an American. Kind of fantasy/gothic world into which American teenagers have fallen, although I don't get why or how. Great artwork.
I bought this in the Books and Beans Coffee shop in Aberdeen which is so nice! Anyway, I enjoyed this although I didn't always get it. I think I need to start at the beginning with this series to follow the plot rather than dipping in half way through. Not as pervy as some manga I have read, but this was written by an American. Kind of fantasy/gothic world into which American teenagers have fallen, although I don't get why or how. Great artwork.
March 29, 2017
The cover art leaves something to be desired, and the end chapter felt a little too quick for the weight that it carried, aside from Dinah's monologue at the end....
As many have said the book takes a darker path at this point in the story. I can't really thing of what more to type now.... it start Dinah on a path of depression due to the events at the end of this volume.
As many have said the book takes a darker path at this point in the story. I can't really thing of what more to type now.... it start Dinah on a path of depression due to the events at the end of this volume.
June 20, 2008
Great begining, yet terrible ending and the artistry is even more detailed. The plot line is more of a fantasy/mystery for those who have an infatuation with the nightmares of the dead! But the the dead is starting to get stronger........
July 24, 2014
I've been really enjoying this series. In the previous books I've seen the bond between Dinah and Vincent get stronger with each spirit captured; their partnership was working fantastically. Then.....this. I don't know what to expect from the next volume.
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November 21, 2009
Shell-frickin-shocked. If you've read it, you know what I mean. It was still amazing. Plus, some EdrearxDinah action - now, we can't miss any opportunity for that, even if it came from something tragic.
May 22, 2015
So I liked how this one started but I hated the end! I won't give it away but this ruined the series for me. I like Dinah but not that much. Sometimes our characters are only as good as their companions.
BOTTOM LINE: Dinah isn't worth it.
BOTTOM LINE: Dinah isn't worth it.
June 11, 2020
Quick Thoughts:
The weight of the opening story hits every time
The mystery of the town and Addie Clark continues
The weight of the opening story hits every time
The mystery of the town and Addie Clark continues
May 2, 2008
Snarl. Not my favourite of the series, but still shiny.
March 9, 2009
I continue to enjoy this series!
Want to read
March 21, 2009Fauve--1/3 way through, seems her style has gotten a bit sloppy, but will reserve judgment on the first read-through...
January 26, 2012
Very interesting series.
April 18, 2017
This installment got back to the creepiness of the first two books. Probably my second favorite book in the series, behind only Volume One.
February 5, 2014
Cool story. This volume of Bizenghast was a little darker than the others. Very sad ending, but it makes you want to read volume five to find out what happens next.
November 21, 2014
Poor Vincent! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! :'(
July 30, 2015
I think this will be it for me with this series; the ghosts are starting to get confusing, among other issues I see.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews