Drip Drip

by Paru Itagaki

A one-shot graphic novel starring a very human character from the unique imagination of Paru Itagaki, creator of Beastars!

Whenever Mako Higari sees something dirty, whether real or symbolic, she gets a massive nosebleed. How can she find a loving partner and commit to a meaningful intimate relationship if just touching another person makes her bleed out? Her first challenge might be learning to love herself…

Genres: Manga, Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Comedy, Comics Manga, Romance

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 8, 2021

About the author

Paru Itagaki ( 板垣巴留, Itagaki Paru) is a multi-award-winning Japanese manga artist, known mainly for her work Beastars. She is the daughter of Keisuke Itagaki.

Reviews

[daph pink ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Asdhklkgdshlll it was weird and i loved it.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the creator who brought you Japanese Sexual Stereotypes: The Manga comes Socially Conditioned As a Woman: The Manga. That's perhaps not entirely fair to say, but Paru Itagaki does have a deft hand with turning preconceived notions about sex and sexuality into interesting titles. Where Beastars took on the carnivore/herbivore stereotype (as in sexually enthusiastic and not), Drip Drip gives us a heroine whose mother hammered into her head that men, money, and sex are all filthy and not to be touched. As a result of her conditioning, Mako's nose geysers blood whenever she touches or attempts to have sex. It's an extreme version of the way so many of us socialized female have been taught and a statement on purity culture in general, especially because the man who gets past her defenses does so by simply saying the right things.

If you're squeamish about blood, you may want to give this a pass, but if you can stand it, it's an interesting piece. Plus there's a short story about Santa and a sex worker, fulfilling the promise implicit in Itagaki's works that you never quite know what you're getting when you pick one up.

[elif sinem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a good examination of being a woman in her twenties, her desires, her childhood trauma, but also the way relationships feel so terrifying and are held up to a horrifying pedestal. I kind of wish there had been... more time with her? But that said I really liked the POV switchup and I love how batshit it was at the final chapter with the ravens (WHEWWWW). Yeah I just really enjoyed this one exactly like I thought I would.

[Mangrii · Rating 4 out of 5]

'Bota-Bota' es una mezcla entre ‘Crudo’ y ‘Carrie’, donde Paru Itagaki reflexiona, de forma divertida y siniestra, sobre ser una mujer que lucha contra el deseo vedado con una premisa tan bizarra como que Higari, su protagonista, sangra cuando entra en contacto con la suciedad.

Con un dibujo animalesco, deudor de sus ‘Beastars’, Itagaki compone unas páginas dobles tan alucinantes como terroríficas, donde la sangre mana por doquier y el tapujo sexual esta quitado sin tiritas. Bota-Bota es una historia mucho más cruda y realista, pese a que su premisa sea mucho más demencial.

La historia de Higari y sus traumas infantiles, combinado con su más acérrimos deseos y obsesiones, se vuelve una reflexión interesante sobre las relaciones tanto personales como sexuales. Un manga diferente, que sitúa a Paru Itagaki en otra orbita, muy lejos de sus furros.

[Estibaliz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one-shot manga was a pretty fun read. Lots of blood and sex, but not the way one would imagine... though the blurb on the cover is kind of self-explanatory.

The first two chapters were slightly misleading, as I though this might be kind of a Tommie collection, with repeated adventures of the main character trying to accomplish her goals, but once she met with the old high school mate, things got much more interesting. And, again, pretty funny.

[Daniela Montella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super fun read and wonderful drawings, plus the concept is really cool... but everything is WAAAAAAY too rushed and self explanatory in the end. I wish the author explored this more because it had a lot of potential. It felt a bit like a wasted opportunity.

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a weird but fascinating concept for this one shot manga. Seeing human drawings by Itagaki with the weird imagery and themes made me question what I was reading. I really did enjoy the overall story to Drip Drip though! It made me think more about the meaning behind it then I thought it would.

[Tere Lightwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

ME SÚPER ENCANTÓ!
La manera en que Higari vive con sus traumas de la infancia y cómo va conociéndolos de formas bien random en la historia me enloqueció. De verdad DI GRITOS CON ESTA HISTORIA! Léanlo si quieren ver con una historia bien cute y medio rara cómo una mujer lucha con sus traumas y aprende a tropezones cómo vivir con ellos/ vencerlos.
De verdad lo recomiendo mucho. ❤️

[Ness (Vynexa) · Rating 4 out of 5]

thank you Viz and Goodreads for this copy of Drip, Drip

I’m not sure what propelled me to enter the giveaway for this manga as someone who has a fear of blood, but I did and I have now read it.

This was good and enjoyable, though I wish it were a bit longer and went through how Mako worked through her bleeding after realizing what truly caused it. even if it were ten pages more.

[MarinaLawliett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta la idea, PERO creo que el problema se resuelve demasiado rápido??? No da tiempo a nada, es como si te tirasen la solución a la cara y ya

[Taylor Garcia-Flores · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very interesting read, but nonetheless I did enjoy it. Especially the character growth.

[Bettina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ This was so strange, bizarre, cute and creepy, but I kind of loved it. Mako was so beautiful and kinda crazy, and I felt so bad for her. I really like the style of this manga, and I love Peru Itagaki’s artstyle.

[Grace Arango · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything I expected it to be and I LOVED IT

[Betzim Gdolot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mako has a mental condition which causes her to nose bleed whenever she touches something dirty. Since her father was cheating on her mom when she was a kid she felt disgust whenever she touched something dirty. This story is of her struggle to overcome her condition and the disgust she feels about sexual intimacy and find a man who is willing to accept her with her condition.

An interesting idea, it's not really a comedy but more of a (short) journey of Mako to overcome her deeply conditioned fears and anxieties. Not sure why other reviewers talked about it as a book of dismissive towards women. The author is a female and what I got from this read is a message of self acceptance and self love (ok even if you try to have lots of sex on the way).

Overall an interesting premise with ok execution, but something that I think could have benefited from being more focused on the emotional part and less on the comedy which was not funny at all to my taste. The ending was also kind of mushy and feels unresolved, leaving Mako's condition more of a comedy tool than an actual integral part of the story

[Iqra M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only for mature audiences!!

TW/CW: mature themes, blood & gore, sex, nudity, cheating

Brought to you by the author of Beastars!! Despite being an exaggerated one-shot, I can really feel the protagonist's suffering in Bota Bota (Drip Drip). It’s about a woman named Mako Higari who bleeds every time she touches anything dirty. She is seen as an "easy" girl, but she does all that because she desperately yearns for connection. All she wants is someone who could see past her nosebleeds/ condition.

It’s sad when we finally get to learn why she gets triggered by "impure" things. Psychological trauma is both frightening and fascinating. I wish that the mangaka would dive deeper into this trauma and her relationship with her mother. Just when I thought that things would get better, it goes downhill again. It's an unsettling manga, but I like how it combines gore and slice-of-life. But I wish it had been longer though. I'd like to see more character growth. She deserves the world. I truly feel sorry for her.. Solid 3.5 stars.

[Pretty Book Guardian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went into this really excited and got more or
less of what I expected out of it. This is from the creator of
Beastars. Based on that I was a bit familiar with the authors
storytelling. I loved the overall premise of this story. The
author does a great job explaining the purpose behind the
things the main character goes though. As the reader we see
the consequences that unfold due to these experiences and
at the end it makes sense the way our main character
decides to react to the final situation we see her in. Honestly
I was left speechless in reading the last scene. There's a
moment where you think you know what's gonna happen and
then it's completely turned on its head. I still have mixed
feelings about the ending. After we get the ending to our
main story we get a very short story about Santa Claus that
feels so random. I didn't enjoy it and don't feel like giving it
anymore of my time lol

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biased because I love anything Itagaki does but I enjoyed my time here. I love that everything she does, whether in her art or writing, feels incredibly first draft and full of passion. Very much an ‘I said what I said’ kind of author.

[⍣y≛ko⍣ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 // proves theory that manicpixiedreamgirls will 4ever b fetishized x dumb men until shit gets TRULY weird,,, anyways long live the girlies w ocd and intimacy issues, i felt v represented… rlly got me thinking now… do i needa watch beastars(i refuse 2 read) ?!??!? o.O

[Sinistre · Rating 3 out of 5]

El dibuix de Paru Itagaki és increïble, de les meves favs. Els personatges, directes i a vegades impactants, sempre es fan respectar. Però la història principal d'aquest volum m'ha paregut una mica fluixa tot i que hi ha un gir de guió increïble.

[insert-a-snoopy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pretty depressed starting this book, (not by the book but personal life,) so when things was starting to look up for Maki I was grateful to be cheered up… and then reality settled in and now I’m back to depressed.
3.5 ⭐️
Did not care for the short story.

[Han · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 - so fun to read

[LilyGreentea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7/5✨

[Casey Halvorsen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wtf did I just read?! 🤣 this was one of the most uncomfortable manga I've ever read. I thought the main character was really pretty. That was the only thing I liked about this lol.

[caoimhin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ayo this was weird

[Mien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bloody mess 🩸🩸 and also, Santa, what the fuck man

[Bailey Renalds · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ I’m obsessed with Paru’s mind

[Joshua Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the actual f***

[Carlee London · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baby’s first manga!

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whaaaaaaat? Unlike almost anything else I've read this year.

[Ever · Rating 5 out of 5]

love!!!! made for me!!!!