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Voyeur
Ko Higaonna is a happy college student, a trusting young man with an alluring girlfriend, Satomi. But her busy schedule leaves little time for their relationship, and thus few opportunities for Ko to explore his sensual desires. When Ko discovers that a voyeur is spying on them, he embarks on a quest to uncover what exactly Satomi is doing in her spare time -- and finds that he must also confront his own repressed longings.
232 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 1999
78 people want to read
About the author
Hideo Yamamoto
177 books260 followers 山本英夫 Yamamoto Hideo , is a Japanese manga artist best known for the manga series "Ichi the Killer" (which was adapted into a live-action film in 2001) and the series, Homunculus (manga).
Recurring themes in his manga are crime, sexual deviations, and psychology.
Recurring themes in his manga are crime, sexual deviations, and psychology.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 24, 2024
Dark story about voyeurism - very adult with sexual content. Really a very creepy read. Questions of frustrated sexuality are examined in a very original way. Could see this as a movie; a teenage Crispin Glover would really be my choice to play Ko Higaonna (the main character) - a very unusual read that may be too intense for some readers.
April 4, 2023
A prequel to Voyeurs, Inc.
This is a two-part manga series; pre-Voyeurs, Inc. and the rise of it. Loved the dynamics of the Voyeur duo. It was an unpredictable read, as what you have always expected in a Yamamoto manga.
This was such a treat! Loved the Okinawa seashore metaphor. I was looking forward to it being dark, real nasty, and sensitive, and I'm kinda up for that today. But I forgot I was reading a Hideo Yamamoto! Of course, it's going to be dark, but with a twist, always with a sick twist. Overall, phew! It's lighter than what I anticipated it to be.
This is a two-part manga series; pre-Voyeurs, Inc. and the rise of it. Loved the dynamics of the Voyeur duo. It was an unpredictable read, as what you have always expected in a Yamamoto manga.
This was such a treat! Loved the Okinawa seashore metaphor. I was looking forward to it being dark, real nasty, and sensitive, and I'm kinda up for that today. But I forgot I was reading a Hideo Yamamoto! Of course, it's going to be dark, but with a twist, always with a sick twist. Overall, phew! It's lighter than what I anticipated it to be.
November 18, 2021
#ThrowbackThursday - Back in the '90s, I used to write comic book reviews for the website of a now-defunct comic book retailer called Rockem Sockem Comics. (Collect them all!)
From the July 1998 edition with a theme of "Manga Month!":
INTRODUCTION
It's manga month!
Viz Communications has been America's major importer/translator of Japanese comics for about a decade now. Eight months ago, Viz launched one of its boldest titles, PULP: MANGA FOR GROWNUPS. As the title suggests, PULP is an anthology which features adult-oriented stories: more complex and more sexual than your standard manga imports. (Alert: You're going to see a plethora of nudity and sexual content warnings in this month's column. Obvious white-outs and obscuring speed lines lightly censor most stories, but this is pretty racy stuff, folks.)
I like the idea behind PULP, though the execution has been a little sloppy. In my reviews below, I'll try not to punish the Japanese creators by remarking upon the barely adequate lettering and extremely stiff dialogue imposed upon their work by Viz's production staff and team of translators, but I want my audience to be aware that PULP does not contain the top-of-the-line Japanese to American adaptation seen in the likes of LONE WOLF AND CUB or even MAI, THE PSYCHIC GIRL which is reviewed below. I hope the quality of PULP's adaptations improve, but I am happy to have access to the material regardless.
This month, Viz is collecting several of the more popular serials from PULP into trade paperback format. If you have a little money left in your budget after buying all of DC Comics #1,000,000 issues, here a few collections you might want to consider.
A MIXED BAG
PULP: MANGA FOR GROWNUPS (Viz Communications)
Reviewing anthologies is difficult since the contents, the creators, and, therefore, the quality change constantly. PULP's line-up, however, has been fairly consistent since its debut. Since I've reviewed the major serials of PULP above, I thought I'd take a minute to comment on the few remaining ones that Viz has not yet begun collecting.
HEARTBROKEN ANGELS, by writer/artist Masahiko Kikuni and translator Ben Joe Wadoko, is a series of four-panel gag strips with a few recurring characters. "Gag" applies literally here, as HEARTBROKEN ANGELS can't tear itself away from bathroom humor. The grungy, crude art perfectly fits the tone of the strip, but it's not a tone I care for.
HEARTBROKEN ANGELS Grade: D
BLACK & WHITE, by writer/artist Taiyo Matsumoto and translator Lillian Olsen, is dreadful. It's the story of two street urchins who possess supernatural fighting abilities and luck. Some criminals want to kill them. The punks fight back. I haven't been able to understand much else. It's practically unreadable. The editors might have left the script in Japanese for this serial, as the art is a fascinating blend of European and Japanese drawing styles. If I wanted only pictures, though, I'd go to a museum. This serial and BANANA FISH are the only strips in PULP without sexual content.
BLACK & WHITE Grade: F
VOYEUR, by writer/artist Hideo Yamamoto and translator Yuji Oniki, is PULP's newest and most intriguing serial. Beginning in Volume 2 #6, VOYEUR is the story of a young man who becomes paranoid about his girlfriend's faithfulness and obsessed with eavesdropping after a hi-tech voyeur shows him (and us) the huge amount of sex occurring discreetly but constantly in the world around them. The unknown motives of the voyeur bear watching.
VOYEUR Grade: B+
As a matter of policy, if forced to grade an anthology, I'd have to give any and all anthologies a "C." The good strips and the bad strips usually cancel each other out, leaving the reader generally satisfied but wishing for more pages of the strips she liked. I must give PULP credit, though, for its huge 128 page format and the generous 20-30 pages allotted to the major serials each issue. As I mentioned in the introduction though, I'm disappointed in the overall poor quality of the translation and production.
From the July 1998 edition with a theme of "Manga Month!":
INTRODUCTION
It's manga month!
Viz Communications has been America's major importer/translator of Japanese comics for about a decade now. Eight months ago, Viz launched one of its boldest titles, PULP: MANGA FOR GROWNUPS. As the title suggests, PULP is an anthology which features adult-oriented stories: more complex and more sexual than your standard manga imports. (Alert: You're going to see a plethora of nudity and sexual content warnings in this month's column. Obvious white-outs and obscuring speed lines lightly censor most stories, but this is pretty racy stuff, folks.)
I like the idea behind PULP, though the execution has been a little sloppy. In my reviews below, I'll try not to punish the Japanese creators by remarking upon the barely adequate lettering and extremely stiff dialogue imposed upon their work by Viz's production staff and team of translators, but I want my audience to be aware that PULP does not contain the top-of-the-line Japanese to American adaptation seen in the likes of LONE WOLF AND CUB or even MAI, THE PSYCHIC GIRL which is reviewed below. I hope the quality of PULP's adaptations improve, but I am happy to have access to the material regardless.
This month, Viz is collecting several of the more popular serials from PULP into trade paperback format. If you have a little money left in your budget after buying all of DC Comics #1,000,000 issues, here a few collections you might want to consider.
A MIXED BAG
PULP: MANGA FOR GROWNUPS (Viz Communications)
Reviewing anthologies is difficult since the contents, the creators, and, therefore, the quality change constantly. PULP's line-up, however, has been fairly consistent since its debut. Since I've reviewed the major serials of PULP above, I thought I'd take a minute to comment on the few remaining ones that Viz has not yet begun collecting.
HEARTBROKEN ANGELS, by writer/artist Masahiko Kikuni and translator Ben Joe Wadoko, is a series of four-panel gag strips with a few recurring characters. "Gag" applies literally here, as HEARTBROKEN ANGELS can't tear itself away from bathroom humor. The grungy, crude art perfectly fits the tone of the strip, but it's not a tone I care for.
HEARTBROKEN ANGELS Grade: D
BLACK & WHITE, by writer/artist Taiyo Matsumoto and translator Lillian Olsen, is dreadful. It's the story of two street urchins who possess supernatural fighting abilities and luck. Some criminals want to kill them. The punks fight back. I haven't been able to understand much else. It's practically unreadable. The editors might have left the script in Japanese for this serial, as the art is a fascinating blend of European and Japanese drawing styles. If I wanted only pictures, though, I'd go to a museum. This serial and BANANA FISH are the only strips in PULP without sexual content.
BLACK & WHITE Grade: F
VOYEUR, by writer/artist Hideo Yamamoto and translator Yuji Oniki, is PULP's newest and most intriguing serial. Beginning in Volume 2 #6, VOYEUR is the story of a young man who becomes paranoid about his girlfriend's faithfulness and obsessed with eavesdropping after a hi-tech voyeur shows him (and us) the huge amount of sex occurring discreetly but constantly in the world around them. The unknown motives of the voyeur bear watching.
VOYEUR Grade: B+
As a matter of policy, if forced to grade an anthology, I'd have to give any and all anthologies a "C." The good strips and the bad strips usually cancel each other out, leaving the reader generally satisfied but wishing for more pages of the strips she liked. I must give PULP credit, though, for its huge 128 page format and the generous 20-30 pages allotted to the major serials each issue. As I mentioned in the introduction though, I'm disappointed in the overall poor quality of the translation and production.
June 22, 2024
Goofy early Hideo Yamamoto that’s more “Scooby Doo” than anything else. Once a voyeur convinces a student his translator girlfriend is cheating on him, they create a business meant to expose fellow voyeurs. Hijinks and stupidity ensue in a series of misadventures. Yamamoto is better off with the existential angst he captures in “Homonculus” and “Ichi The Killer”.
July 17, 2019
3.5 stars.
I’d read the Voyeurs, Inc. spinoff, so I decided to read this as it’s the original.
It was okay. I prefer the spinoff more so.
I’d read the Voyeurs, Inc. spinoff, so I decided to read this as it’s the original.
It was okay. I prefer the spinoff more so.
August 20, 2022
I expected it would be hella weird and perverted but at the end it was funny 😂 I liked it
January 21, 2009
Not a good first effort for this series, but I have read the other volumes, and it DOES get much better. In this first volume, Yamamoto flails around far too often, trying to establish the boundaries of what he's trying to say, both in terms of what he's trying to say, and in what manner (serious, wacky, preachy) he wants to say it. As a result, the characters come across as rather unbelievable prototypes for much better characters to come.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews