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As indicated by the title, Bødy is a collection of horror stories, all thematically linked to people's perception of their bodies, and the consequences of vanity and low self-esteem. In the vein of the psychological suspense of the Twilight Zone, each story ends with a shock, leaving the reader unsettled with the old adage, "Be careful what you wish for," echoing in their bones.Appropriately, each of the five stories in Bødy gets its title from the body parts featured, buttocks, blood, face, hair and chin.
Tankobon Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
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February 19, 2024
Bødy is a collection of dark short stories focusing on body parts and showcasing societal issues in Japan, including the plastic surgery craze, diet culture, the competitive (and Tokyo-obsessed) education system, and Japanese weird kinks that sprout from asphyxiated intimacy. The book was originally published in 1999 but if I had not checked, I would have assumed it had been written in the last five years, and I’m not show how I feel about that.
The translator, Takami Nieda, does an amazing job with this book. I’m looking forward to reading more of him because the dialogue felt natural and the narration flowed without sounding dry like I often encounter in Japanese translations.
Now, onto the stories. I’ll also add a little content warning for: prostitution (or ‘compensated dating’), bulimia, sexual harassment, murder, and extreme sadistic(?) kinks. In addition, the synopsis for this book says the short stories are horror, but other than Blood, I’d categorize the other four as just dark.
- Navel: The youngest daughter of a family wants to get bellybutton surgery and soon enough she gets the whole family (minus the dad) obsessed with plastic surgery. Will the father find out? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This one was cool, the ending is very anticlimactic. The whole story had me angry at one character and at the end of the story took me by surprise, it made me feel bad and all.
- Blood: Yo, this one was so fucked up. A man’s wife has left ‘to think’ after he’s been caught groping a woman on the train. Well, turns out he’s into chubby knees and his wife’s knees aren’t chubby. But, oh, wait no. He’s not only into chubby knees. Oh, shit. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I have no words. The ending had me horrified. Well done, Nonami.
I loved the writing here and some of the things he thought. It was, as weird and disgusting as it is, easy to see where he was coming from when his internal dialogue went on like: “Will I ever feel that surge of blood in my body again?”
Also, gotta love the explanation about groping: “Perhaps it was groping. But in Fumiya’s mind, what he’d intended was the world’s shortest romance—one which achieved full bloom in an instant. A bittersweet romance that was heartbreaking and pure, and could never be realized. As inarticulate and inconspicuous as Fumiya was, it was also a rare moment to connect with his own primal nature, to remember his manliness..”
- Whorl: A dude’s going bald. He has something with a woman who is looking forward to getting married but he’s too obsessed with his balding situation to make the step. He gets into a clinical trial ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Where is Beyoncé when you need her? That’s my review.
- Buttocks: A bully and pretty girl from a small town is forced by her parents to go to a prestigious Tokyo high school (without even taking the exams, lucky her). Everyone is jealous of her back home, but in Tokyo she’s just a country bumpkin without fashion style. And she has a huge butt, but the girls teach her to throw up after meals so it’s all FINE. ⭐⭐⭐⭐(and a half). Ugh, this one was why I picked this book up, and the last paragraph made me almost give it 2 stars. But otherwise, loved it. Lots of commentary about what the high school education system and this ‘saving face’ can do to a kid when the parents are pricks.
Say whatever you want, little piggies. Calling people skeletons? How rude. If you’re going to call me anything, call me “slender.”
- Jaw: A weakling wants to get into boxing hoping people will stop beating him up. His jaw is big. ⭐⭐ I didn’t care.
The translator, Takami Nieda, does an amazing job with this book. I’m looking forward to reading more of him because the dialogue felt natural and the narration flowed without sounding dry like I often encounter in Japanese translations.
Now, onto the stories. I’ll also add a little content warning for: prostitution (or ‘compensated dating’), bulimia, sexual harassment, murder, and extreme sadistic(?) kinks. In addition, the synopsis for this book says the short stories are horror, but other than Blood, I’d categorize the other four as just dark.
- Navel: The youngest daughter of a family wants to get bellybutton surgery and soon enough she gets the whole family (minus the dad) obsessed with plastic surgery. Will the father find out? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This one was cool, the ending is very anticlimactic. The whole story had me angry at one character and at the end of the story took me by surprise, it made me feel bad and all.
- Blood: Yo, this one was so fucked up. A man’s wife has left ‘to think’ after he’s been caught groping a woman on the train. Well, turns out he’s into chubby knees and his wife’s knees aren’t chubby. But, oh, wait no. He’s not only into chubby knees. Oh, shit. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. I have no words. The ending had me horrified. Well done, Nonami.
I loved the writing here and some of the things he thought. It was, as weird and disgusting as it is, easy to see where he was coming from when his internal dialogue went on like: “Will I ever feel that surge of blood in my body again?”
Also, gotta love the explanation about groping: “Perhaps it was groping. But in Fumiya’s mind, what he’d intended was the world’s shortest romance—one which achieved full bloom in an instant. A bittersweet romance that was heartbreaking and pure, and could never be realized. As inarticulate and inconspicuous as Fumiya was, it was also a rare moment to connect with his own primal nature, to remember his manliness..”
- Whorl: A dude’s going bald. He has something with a woman who is looking forward to getting married but he’s too obsessed with his balding situation to make the step. He gets into a clinical trial ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Where is Beyoncé when you need her? That’s my review.
- Buttocks: A bully and pretty girl from a small town is forced by her parents to go to a prestigious Tokyo high school (without even taking the exams, lucky her). Everyone is jealous of her back home, but in Tokyo she’s just a country bumpkin without fashion style. And she has a huge butt, but the girls teach her to throw up after meals so it’s all FINE. ⭐⭐⭐⭐(and a half). Ugh, this one was why I picked this book up, and the last paragraph made me almost give it 2 stars. But otherwise, loved it. Lots of commentary about what the high school education system and this ‘saving face’ can do to a kid when the parents are pricks.
Say whatever you want, little piggies. Calling people skeletons? How rude. If you’re going to call me anything, call me “slender.”
- Jaw: A weakling wants to get into boxing hoping people will stop beating him up. His jaw is big. ⭐⭐ I didn’t care.
July 15, 2013
The glass was stuck deep in the palm of his hand. Crimson blood spurted out of the gash and dripped down the sparkling, jagged glass. The beer glass had broken and gouged into Fumiya’s palm. Coming to his senses, Kazuya pulled away breathlessly, in shock.
My blood. My red… red blood. My Blood.
So intoxicated was Fumiya by its brilliance and beauty, he slowly got to his feet and turned his back on the others. The glass seemed to be stuck rather deeply. It glittered as the blood continued to drip from the fleshy part of the palm near his pinkie.
“Fumiya… I’m sorry—”
As soon as Kazuya spoke, Fumiya let out an animal cry that he hardly recognized as his own. He folded his fingers over the glass into a fist and swung with all his might. Blood spattered in every direction. A sharp, throbbing pain shot straight up to his head as he buried his hand in Kazuya’s cheek.
***
The path to high self-esteem runs filthy with blood, bodies made unrecognizable by surgery and self-manipulation, and family hurt and forcibly pushed aside. Such is the message throughout Asa Nonami’s Bødy, a collection of five thematically linked short narratives.
Named for five aspects of the body—“Navel,” “Blood,” “Whorl,” “Buttocks,” and “Jaw”—the stories contained within are case studies in self-destruction via the fetishization of the human body. This fetishization takes on a number of different forms: self-obsession, anorexia, sexual addiction, the quest for power, and embodying a perceived ideal.
“Navel” tells the story of Aiko and her daughters Minako and Chihara. To better fit a westernized ideal of beauty, Minako pressures her mother into allowing her to have plastic surgery on her navel. While gathering information on the procedure, Aiko herself is encouraged to do a little lifting, tucking, and sweeping away of the years, beginning with the crow’s feet beneath her eyes. At first the women are afraid of what Aiko’s husband will say about all this, and more importantly, about where Aiko got the money to embark on this surgical journey—money she squirreled away for herself without his knowing. Fear quickly changes into a desire for recognition, for the women to be acknowledged for their transforming beauty (or notion thereof). As Aiko’s husband remains seemingly indifferent and/or oblivious to the changes his wife and daughter’s are experiencing, they push even harder, travelling down the surgical rabbit hole until sweeping physical changes have been made. In the end, however, not only does he remain unaware of how they have changed, but Aiko and her daughters’ pursuit of ever-increasing youth has seemingly sapped him of what remained of his life.
“Blood,” the second story in the collection, follows Fumiya and Reiko and their strained marriage. Fumiya has a fetish for fat, knobbly women’s knees—something his wife Reiko unfortunately does not have. To satiate this increasingly demanding sexual urge, Fumiya takes risks, groping women’s knees in public places and on transit. When he is caught, his wife takes their infant son Mitsuya to her parents. They reconcile, and for a while Fumiya is able to restrain himself. But when Reiko steps on a sewing needle, the tiniest blossom of blood ignites in Fumiya a new, more overwhelming fetish. He becomes a serial pricker—using a sewing needle to poke and prick women in public places (the story never once acknowledging the alarming viral possibilities of sharing a needle amongst so many different women). Blood—all blood—becomes intoxicating for Fumiya, a theme mirrored in the troubled relationship he maintains with his mother and brother; the more enveloped he is by his new fetish, and the closer he becomes to Reiko through it, the greater the distance established between him and his actual blood relatives.
The third story, “Whorl,” focuses on Masao and Kikuka. Masao, still a young man, is balding, his hair now four identifiable, thinning, whorls. He and Kikuka have been dating for some time, and while he thinks he wants to marry her, he struggles to commit to her due to the situation on top of his scalp. Masao isn’t sure: does he marry her and accept his inevitable clear-cut soil, or does he take drastic action in the faint hope of maintaining what little hair remains so that he might again “play the field?” The Viagra parallels are undeniable.
“Buttocks” introduces us to Hiroe—an elite, popular, schoolyard bully, and the daughter of a very wealthy and prominent OB/GYN. Hiroe is a big fish in a small pond: in her school she is recognized for her looks and her power and influence, be it earned or appropriated. Upon being accepted to an all girls high school in Tokyo, she is quickly cut off from those she thought were her friends, but were more orbiting planets in need of a star. Adding to this, the culture shock of Tokyo city life takes a toll on Hiroe’s self-perception: where before she was “beautiful enough” and not particularly misshapen or known especially well for any one physical trait, in Tokyo she is wrong—the wrong shape, the wrong size. She begins starving herself, working herself into the mindset of eating so little she’ll never have to defecate again.
In the collection’s final story, “Jaw,” we meet the down-on-his-luck Atsushi—a young man with a troubled past as the victim of violence and aggression. After suffering a lifetime of being a punching bag, Atsushi is saved from a beating one night by a mysterious man he assumes is a boxer. Lusting after the strength exhibited by the boxer, Atsushi joins a local gym and begins training to be a fighter. It isn’t long before the strength he gains overwhelms his sensibilities and original desire to protect his self. He begins lusting after power—after dominion over weaker beings, turning his back on where he came from in the first place. His lack of humility as a fighter is his inevitable downfall.
While all of the stories are warped to varying degrees, it’s only “Navel” that exhibits some inkling of magical realism via the apparent premature aging and death of the husband, whose life, it seems, has been mysteriously sapped away by the rest of his family’s actions. The remaining stories are more or less rooted in the real world, and it’s the minds of each individual character that are twisted into perceiving the world around them differently.
Additionally, the stories included are predominantly from a man’s perspective—only “Navel” and “Buttocks” focus on women. Interestingly, though, in each story it is the men who are the weaker, more intrinsically and negatively flawed—negatively in the sense that their actions for “improvement” affect others outside of themselves, while the women’s stories turn inward, targeting their own bodies for dissection and piecemeal transformation. To boil it down: the men’s stories are about virility, sexuality, and power, while the women’s stories are about appearance, fitting a perceived “ideal” and being desired by others. As such, the stories illustrate the consequences of low self-control and self-esteem, and play very strongly into established cultural expectations, norms, and stereotypes.
Bødy is mostly enjoyable, although only “Blood” that stands apart as something special (and quite disgusting in parts). The collection feels more experimental than sure-footed, and I’m left wishing the overarching theme had a more profound impact on the whole. Instead, Bødy feels a little like a marketer’s collection—a grouping together of several narratives because they sort of, maybe, fit together, and not because they must be together to form, for lack of better phrasing, a unique body of work unto themselves.
And goddamn what a gorgeous cover…
My blood. My red… red blood. My Blood.
So intoxicated was Fumiya by its brilliance and beauty, he slowly got to his feet and turned his back on the others. The glass seemed to be stuck rather deeply. It glittered as the blood continued to drip from the fleshy part of the palm near his pinkie.
“Fumiya… I’m sorry—”
As soon as Kazuya spoke, Fumiya let out an animal cry that he hardly recognized as his own. He folded his fingers over the glass into a fist and swung with all his might. Blood spattered in every direction. A sharp, throbbing pain shot straight up to his head as he buried his hand in Kazuya’s cheek.
***
The path to high self-esteem runs filthy with blood, bodies made unrecognizable by surgery and self-manipulation, and family hurt and forcibly pushed aside. Such is the message throughout Asa Nonami’s Bødy, a collection of five thematically linked short narratives.
Named for five aspects of the body—“Navel,” “Blood,” “Whorl,” “Buttocks,” and “Jaw”—the stories contained within are case studies in self-destruction via the fetishization of the human body. This fetishization takes on a number of different forms: self-obsession, anorexia, sexual addiction, the quest for power, and embodying a perceived ideal.
“Navel” tells the story of Aiko and her daughters Minako and Chihara. To better fit a westernized ideal of beauty, Minako pressures her mother into allowing her to have plastic surgery on her navel. While gathering information on the procedure, Aiko herself is encouraged to do a little lifting, tucking, and sweeping away of the years, beginning with the crow’s feet beneath her eyes. At first the women are afraid of what Aiko’s husband will say about all this, and more importantly, about where Aiko got the money to embark on this surgical journey—money she squirreled away for herself without his knowing. Fear quickly changes into a desire for recognition, for the women to be acknowledged for their transforming beauty (or notion thereof). As Aiko’s husband remains seemingly indifferent and/or oblivious to the changes his wife and daughter’s are experiencing, they push even harder, travelling down the surgical rabbit hole until sweeping physical changes have been made. In the end, however, not only does he remain unaware of how they have changed, but Aiko and her daughters’ pursuit of ever-increasing youth has seemingly sapped him of what remained of his life.
“Blood,” the second story in the collection, follows Fumiya and Reiko and their strained marriage. Fumiya has a fetish for fat, knobbly women’s knees—something his wife Reiko unfortunately does not have. To satiate this increasingly demanding sexual urge, Fumiya takes risks, groping women’s knees in public places and on transit. When he is caught, his wife takes their infant son Mitsuya to her parents. They reconcile, and for a while Fumiya is able to restrain himself. But when Reiko steps on a sewing needle, the tiniest blossom of blood ignites in Fumiya a new, more overwhelming fetish. He becomes a serial pricker—using a sewing needle to poke and prick women in public places (the story never once acknowledging the alarming viral possibilities of sharing a needle amongst so many different women). Blood—all blood—becomes intoxicating for Fumiya, a theme mirrored in the troubled relationship he maintains with his mother and brother; the more enveloped he is by his new fetish, and the closer he becomes to Reiko through it, the greater the distance established between him and his actual blood relatives.
The third story, “Whorl,” focuses on Masao and Kikuka. Masao, still a young man, is balding, his hair now four identifiable, thinning, whorls. He and Kikuka have been dating for some time, and while he thinks he wants to marry her, he struggles to commit to her due to the situation on top of his scalp. Masao isn’t sure: does he marry her and accept his inevitable clear-cut soil, or does he take drastic action in the faint hope of maintaining what little hair remains so that he might again “play the field?” The Viagra parallels are undeniable.
“Buttocks” introduces us to Hiroe—an elite, popular, schoolyard bully, and the daughter of a very wealthy and prominent OB/GYN. Hiroe is a big fish in a small pond: in her school she is recognized for her looks and her power and influence, be it earned or appropriated. Upon being accepted to an all girls high school in Tokyo, she is quickly cut off from those she thought were her friends, but were more orbiting planets in need of a star. Adding to this, the culture shock of Tokyo city life takes a toll on Hiroe’s self-perception: where before she was “beautiful enough” and not particularly misshapen or known especially well for any one physical trait, in Tokyo she is wrong—the wrong shape, the wrong size. She begins starving herself, working herself into the mindset of eating so little she’ll never have to defecate again.
In the collection’s final story, “Jaw,” we meet the down-on-his-luck Atsushi—a young man with a troubled past as the victim of violence and aggression. After suffering a lifetime of being a punching bag, Atsushi is saved from a beating one night by a mysterious man he assumes is a boxer. Lusting after the strength exhibited by the boxer, Atsushi joins a local gym and begins training to be a fighter. It isn’t long before the strength he gains overwhelms his sensibilities and original desire to protect his self. He begins lusting after power—after dominion over weaker beings, turning his back on where he came from in the first place. His lack of humility as a fighter is his inevitable downfall.
While all of the stories are warped to varying degrees, it’s only “Navel” that exhibits some inkling of magical realism via the apparent premature aging and death of the husband, whose life, it seems, has been mysteriously sapped away by the rest of his family’s actions. The remaining stories are more or less rooted in the real world, and it’s the minds of each individual character that are twisted into perceiving the world around them differently.
Additionally, the stories included are predominantly from a man’s perspective—only “Navel” and “Buttocks” focus on women. Interestingly, though, in each story it is the men who are the weaker, more intrinsically and negatively flawed—negatively in the sense that their actions for “improvement” affect others outside of themselves, while the women’s stories turn inward, targeting their own bodies for dissection and piecemeal transformation. To boil it down: the men’s stories are about virility, sexuality, and power, while the women’s stories are about appearance, fitting a perceived “ideal” and being desired by others. As such, the stories illustrate the consequences of low self-control and self-esteem, and play very strongly into established cultural expectations, norms, and stereotypes.
Bødy is mostly enjoyable, although only “Blood” that stands apart as something special (and quite disgusting in parts). The collection feels more experimental than sure-footed, and I’m left wishing the overarching theme had a more profound impact on the whole. Instead, Bødy feels a little like a marketer’s collection—a grouping together of several narratives because they sort of, maybe, fit together, and not because they must be together to form, for lack of better phrasing, a unique body of work unto themselves.
And goddamn what a gorgeous cover…
February 13, 2024
ห้าเรื่องราวเกี่ยวกับผู้คนที่หมกมุ่นในอวัยวะต่างๆ กัน จนนำไปสู่เหตุการณ์ที่คาดไม่ถึง
เรื่องแรก มันเริ่มมาจากลูกสาวอยากใส่เสื้อโชว์สะดือ เลยของคุณแม่พาไปผ่าตัดสะดือให้สวย (?) แต่ไปๆ มาๆ คุณแม่ดันโดนหมอตกให้ทำศัลยกรรมเสียเอง ยิ่งทำยิ่งติด ทำโน่นทำนี่เพิ่มทั้งตัว
เรื่องที่สอง เกี่ยวกับชายผู้หลงไหลในเข่าแบบยั้งใจไม่อยู่ ไปลวนลามสาวๆ บนรถไฟจนถูกจับได้ และตำรวจเรียกภรรยามารับทราบข้อหา จนเกิดปัญหาครอบครัว
เรื่องที่สาม ชายหนุ่มที่เริ่มมีปัญหาผมบาง เลยไปอาสาเป็นกลุ่มทดลองยารักษาผมร่วง แต่มันมีผลข้างเคียงคือหมดสมรรถภาพ ทำให้เขามีเรื่องไม่ลงรอยกับแฟนสาว
เรื่องที่สี่ เด็กสาววัยม.ปลาย ถูกรุ่นพี่ในหอปากไม่ดีทักตอนอาบน้ำว่าตูดใหญ่ เลยสติแตก ลดความอ้วนเป็นบ้าเป็นหลัง จนถึงขั้นกินแล้วก็ไปล้วงคออ้วกทุกครั้ง
เรื่องที่ห้า อันนี้ไม่อินสุด เพราะเกี่ยวกับเด็กที่หนีออกจากบ้าน ไปทำงานที่ไหนก็โดนทำร้ายอยู่เสมอ จนวันหนึ่งได้พบกับชายลึกลับสอนให้ต่อยตรงคาง จนเขาได้ความคิดว่าจะไปเรียนชกมวย
มีเรื่องที่อินบ้าง ไม่อินบ้างอยู่ คิดว่าผู้หญิงหลายๆ คนน่าจะอินกับเรื่องแรกและเรื่องที่สี่ เพราะมันเกี่ยวข้องกับรูปลักษณ์และความสวยความงาม สังเกตุได้จากคลีนิคศัลยกรรมและลดความอ้วนผุดขึ้นเป็นดอกเห็ด (ซึ่งเราก็เป็นหนึ่งในลูกค้า 😅)
เราว่าเล่มนี้สนุก อ่านลื่นดี แต่งงว่���ทำไม goodreads ให้คะแนนน้อยจัง
Goodreads ให้ 3.3 เราให้ 5
เรื่องแรก มันเริ่มมาจากลูกสาวอยากใส่เสื้อโชว์สะดือ เลยของคุณแม่พาไปผ่าตัดสะดือให้สวย (?) แต่ไปๆ มาๆ คุณแม่ดันโดนหมอตกให้ทำศัลยกรรมเสียเอง ยิ่งทำยิ่งติด ทำโน่นทำนี่เพิ่มทั้งตัว
เรื่องที่สอง เกี่ยวกับชายผู้หลงไหลในเข่าแบบยั้งใจไม่อยู่ ไปลวนลามสาวๆ บนรถไฟจนถูกจับได้ และตำรวจเรียกภรรยามารับทราบข้อหา จนเกิดปัญหาครอบครัว
เรื่องที่สาม ชายหนุ่มที่เริ่มมีปัญหาผมบาง เลยไปอาสาเป็นกลุ่มทดลองยารักษาผมร่วง แต่มันมีผลข้างเคียงคือหมดสมรรถภาพ ทำให้เขามีเรื่องไม่ลงรอยกับแฟนสาว
เรื่องที่สี่ เด็กสาววัยม.ปลาย ถูกรุ่นพี่ในหอปากไม่ดีทักตอนอาบน้ำว่าตูดใหญ่ เลยสติแตก ลดความอ้วนเป็นบ้าเป็นหลัง จนถึงขั้นกินแล้วก็ไปล้วงคออ้วกทุกครั้ง
เรื่องที่ห้า อันนี้ไม่อินสุด เพราะเกี่ยวกับเด็กที่หนีออกจากบ้าน ไปทำงานที่ไหนก็โดนทำร้ายอยู่เสมอ จนวันหนึ่งได้พบกับชายลึกลับสอนให้ต่อยตรงคาง จนเขาได้ความคิดว่าจะไปเรียนชกมวย
มีเรื่องที่อินบ้าง ไม่อินบ้างอยู่ คิดว่าผู้หญิงหลายๆ คนน่าจะอินกับเรื่องแรกและเรื่องที่สี่ เพราะมันเกี่ยวข้องกับรูปลักษณ์และความสวยความงาม สังเกตุได้จากคลีนิคศัลยกรรมและลดความอ้วนผุดขึ้นเป็นดอกเห็ด (ซึ่งเราก็เป็นหนึ่งในลูกค้า 😅)
เราว่าเล่มนี้สนุก อ่านลื่นดี แต่งงว่���ทำไม goodreads ให้คะแนนน้อยจัง
Goodreads ให้ 3.3 เราให้ 5
January 14, 2013
someone forgot to proof "body" a second time prior to publication! wow. while there are some glaring typos that would normally seem annoying, here they're somehow charming and complete this odd translation which enjoys the sprinkling of strange archaic word choices not common to the rest of the tone or range of the book. i suppose that lends to my sense of the japanese coming through, a further reinforcement of my belief that all translations are beautiful mistakes. regardless, the narrative is slightly flat, the stories seem more like outlines for longer novels and scenes aren't 'full' but summarized. while the stories fail to be entirely convincing, the narrative arc and psychological complexities of the characters are well worth the glancing read. five stars for the core of the content, one and a half stars for execution.
December 26, 2018
3.5
Some of the stories had anti-climactic endings, but overall the book gave me a lot to think about. The stories revolve around different characters becoming obsessed with a different body part (which are also the story titles.) I liked how Nonami played with the different kinds of obsessions and where they would lead, from baldness to aneroxia to plastic surgery. The stories had a little bit of a "Twilight Zone"/ "Be Careful What You Wish For" feel to them, that became a bit trite at times. I came into this thinking it would be "body horror", it's definitely not that, but still thought-provoking when it comes to our relationship with our bodies.
Navel- 3
Blood- 5
Whorl-2.5
Buttocks- 4
Jaw-4
Some of the stories had anti-climactic endings, but overall the book gave me a lot to think about. The stories revolve around different characters becoming obsessed with a different body part (which are also the story titles.) I liked how Nonami played with the different kinds of obsessions and where they would lead, from baldness to aneroxia to plastic surgery. The stories had a little bit of a "Twilight Zone"/ "Be Careful What You Wish For" feel to them, that became a bit trite at times. I came into this thinking it would be "body horror", it's definitely not that, but still thought-provoking when it comes to our relationship with our bodies.
Navel- 3
Blood- 5
Whorl-2.5
Buttocks- 4
Jaw-4
April 12, 2022
To be honest, for me, this book definitely doesn't belong to the horror category. I honestly do not really know why it was put there in the first place. As a horror fan, this book sadly disappoints. Yes sure, the first story is about an obsession with plastic surgery and the second one is connected to blood, so these two stories are mildly connected to body horror. But the third is about a balding guy and the fourth about a girl that leaves her hometown to study and starts to develop an eating disorder. This is no horror to me, it is more about issues that beauty standards cause nowadays. More like a socially critical collection of short stories. The stories are not bad, if seen as slice of life or suspense, but I expected a lot more from a Japanese author in regards to body horror
September 5, 2024
ให้ 1 ดาว สำหรับไอเดียของผู้เขียน ที่หยิบยกอวัยวะในร่างกายมาเขียนเป็นเรื่องสั้น
- ไม่เข้าใจว่าผู้เขียนต้องการสื่อถึงอะไร
- อ่านจบในแต่ละเรื่อง ก็ไม่รู้ว่าจะเป็นแนวไหน สยองขวัญก็ไม่เชิง หักมุมก็ไม่ใช่
- ไม่ชอบ จบ
- ไม่เข้าใจว่าผู้เขียนต้องการสื่อถึงอะไร
- อ่านจบในแต่ละเรื่อง ก็ไม่รู้ว่าจะเป็นแนวไหน สยองขวัญก็ไม่เชิง หักมุมก็ไม่ใช่
- ไม่ชอบ จบ
February 10, 2024
2.5/5
จริงๆ ชอบ Concept ของเล่มนี้นะ
แต่พออ่านจบ รวมถึงไปส่องรีวิวจากท่านอื่น
เลยได้ความเห็นค่อนข้างไปทางเดียวกันว่า
Horror แบบใดห์ จะ Horror กี่โมงงงงง 😂
ด้วยความที่เขียนตั้งแต่ปี 1999 ด้วยแหละ
เลยเป็นการบอกเล่าค่านิยม
เทคโนโลยีใดใดสมัยนั้น
แต่ค่านิยมบางอย่างก็ยังมีมาถึงปัจจุบัน
เนื้อเรื่องส่วนใหญ่พอจะคาดเดาได้
ไม่ได้หักมุมแบบ ว้าวววว อะไร
ไม่หลอน ไม่น่ากลัวด้วย
3 เรื่องแรกนี่ มาแนวปัญหาครอบครัว ชีวิตคู่
ถ้ามีอะไร ไม่เปิดใจคุยปัญหากันตรงๆ
ปัญหาที่ใหญ่กว่าเดิมจะตามมานะเออ
แต่ส่วนตัวเราชอบเรื่อง "กระแสเลือด" มากที่สุด
คือเคยเห็น Content เกี่ยวกับ Fetish แนวนี้
อยู่ในเพจ SPECTRUM เมื่อหลายปีก่อน
(ดูได้ที่ Link นี้ แต่ระวังสปอยล์เนื้อเรื่องนะ
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/iD1q...)
ตอนอ่านเลยพอจะเก็ตตัวละครอยู่
เรื่องนี้เลยดูจะใกล้กับ Concept เล่มนี้สุดละ
จริงๆ ชอบ Concept ของเล่มนี้นะ
แต่พออ่านจบ รวมถึงไปส่องรีวิวจากท่านอื่น
เลยได้ความเห็นค่อนข้างไปทางเดียวกันว่า
Horror แบบใดห์ จะ Horror กี่โมงงงงง 😂
ด้วยความที่เขียนตั้งแต่ปี 1999 ด้วยแหละ
เลยเป็นการบอกเล่าค่านิยม
เทคโนโลยีใดใดสมัยนั้น
แต่ค่านิยมบางอย่างก็ยังมีมาถึงปัจจุบัน
เนื้อเรื่องส่วนใหญ่พอจะคาดเดาได้
ไม่ได้หักมุมแบบ ว้าวววว อะไร
ไม่หลอน ไม่น่ากลัวด้วย
3 เรื่องแรกนี่ มาแนวปัญหาครอบครัว ชีวิตคู่
ถ้ามีอะไร ไม่เปิดใจคุยปัญหากันตรงๆ
ปัญหาที่ใหญ่กว่าเดิมจะตามมานะเออ
แต่ส่วนตัวเราชอบเรื่อง "กระแสเลือด" มากที่สุด
คือเคยเห็น Content เกี่ยวกับ Fetish แนวนี้
อยู่ในเพจ SPECTRUM เมื่อหลายปีก่อน
(ดูได้ที่ Link นี้ แต่ระวังสปอยล์เนื้อเรื่องนะ
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/iD1q...)
ตอนอ่านเลยพอจะเก็ตตัวละครอยู่
เรื่องนี้เลยดูจะใกล้กับ Concept เล่มนี้สุดละ
March 6, 2024
หนังสือรวมเรื่องสั้นที่อ่านแล้วอาจไม่รู้สึกสนุก แต่สะท้อนค่านิยมคนยุคปัจจุบัน รวมไปถึงจิตใจที่ผิดเพี้ยน แต่ละเรื่องอาจจบแบบรู้สึกค้างคาแบบปลายเปิด แต่ก็ชวนให้จินตนาการต่อ
February 6, 2024
คือเป็นเล่มที่บอกว่าไม่สนุกก็ไม่ได้ คือเราว่าเขาเขียนบรรยากาศได้น่าขนลุกชวนให้เราคิดว่าเรื่องมันจะไปสุด หรือไม่ก็เพราะหน้าปกที่ชวนให้เราเข้าใจผิดว่ามันจะหลอนกี่โมง แต่จริงๆ คือมันไม่ใช่เรื่องผีอะ ถามว่าหลอนมั้ย เออถ้าในชีวิตจริงเจอแบบนี้ก็คงเหวอๆ แหละ
กายหยาบคือเรื่องราวว่าด้วยความแปลกประหลาดของยุคสมัย ในปี 1999 ที่ศัลยกรรมเพิ่งเป็นประเด็น หรือความชอบแปลกๆ อย่างเลือดแต่ไม่มีทางออกที่เหมาะสม (จนตอนนี้ก็ไม่มี) หรือไปจนถึงสิ่งที่ยุคนี้อาจจะเป็นมากขึ้นอย่างคลั่งผอม (แต่ก็คิดว่าดีขึ้นที่อย่างน้อยก็มีแคมเปญ my body my choice อะไรงี้มาแล้ว) หรือความกลัวหัวล้าน (ก็เข้าใจได้ อ่านแล้วเข้าใจเลยว่าทำไมถึงกลัว 5555) คือ เราว่าเขา rise ประเด็นได้ดี หยิบยกโครงเรื่องน่าสนใจ แต่มันไปไม่สุด คือไม่แน่ใจว่ามันไม่สุดเพราะเราเคยอ่านเรื่องที่สุดกว่านี้มาแล้ว หรือว่าเขาตั้งใจให้มันไปไม่สุด หรือ มันสุดแล้วสำหรับยุคสมัยนั้น แต่บรรยายกาศในเรื่องมันส่งเสริมให้หลอนและประสาทแดกกว่านี้ คือมันไม่น่าไว้ใจอะไรเลยสักอย่าง แต่ปรากฏว่ามันไม่มีอะไร
เอ้ะ หรือเขาอยากจะเขียนสื่อแนวนี้ว่า มนุษย์เราตีตนไปก่อนไข้ไรงี้ปะ คือ มันไปไม่สุดจนไม่แน่ใจว่าสิ่งที่เขาเขียนคืออยากวิพากษ์สังคม หรือเขียนแซะสังคมเฉยๆ เออ อาจจะแค่อยากเขียนแซะเฉยๆ ก็ได้มั้ง
ใดๆ คือ ปกสวยมาก แบบมากๆ เห็นปกปุ้บอยากได้ปั้บเลย (แต่เล่มนี้สำนักพิมพ์ส่งให้ ไม่ได้ซื้อเอง ขอบคุณมากเลยค่ะ)
กายหยาบคือเรื่องราวว่าด้วยความแปลกประหลาดของยุคสมัย ในปี 1999 ที่ศัลยกรรมเพิ่งเป็นประเด็น หรือความชอบแปลกๆ อย่างเลือดแต่ไม่มีทางออกที่เหมาะสม (จนตอนนี้ก็ไม่มี) หรือไปจนถึงสิ่งที่ยุคนี้อาจจะเป็นมากขึ้นอย่างคลั่งผอม (แต่ก็คิดว่าดีขึ้นที่อย่างน้อยก็มีแคมเปญ my body my choice อะไรงี้มาแล้ว) หรือความกลัวหัวล้าน (ก็เข้าใจได้ อ่านแล้วเข้าใจเลยว่าทำไมถึงกลัว 5555) คือ เราว่าเขา rise ประเด็นได้ดี หยิบยกโครงเรื่องน่าสนใจ แต่มันไปไม่สุด คือไม่แน่ใจว่ามันไม่สุดเพราะเราเคยอ่านเรื่องที่สุดกว่านี้มาแล้ว หรือว่าเขาตั้งใจให้มันไปไม่สุด หรือ มันสุดแล้วสำหรับยุคสมัยนั้น แต่บรรยายกาศในเรื่องมันส่งเสริมให้หลอนและประสาทแดกกว่านี้ คือมันไม่น่าไว้ใจอะไรเลยสักอย่าง แต่ปรากฏว่ามันไม่มีอะไร
เอ้ะ หรือเขาอยากจะเขียนสื่อแนวนี้ว่า มนุษย์เราตีตนไปก่อนไข้ไรงี้ปะ คือ มันไปไม่สุดจนไม่แน่ใจว่าสิ่งที่เขาเขียนคืออยากวิพากษ์สังคม หรือเขียนแซะสังคมเฉยๆ เออ อาจจะแค่อยากเขียนแซะเฉยๆ ก็ได้มั้ง
ใดๆ คือ ปกสวยมาก แบบมากๆ เห็นปกปุ้บอยากได้ปั้บเลย (แต่เล่มนี้สำนักพิมพ์ส่งให้ ไม่ได้ซื้อเอง ขอบคุณมากเลยค่ะ)
March 6, 2024
These stories aren't exactly body horror, but each odd little tale involves a character's fixation with an aspect of his or her own body, or that of someone else. A housewife finds herself pulled into her young daughter's plastic surgery fantasy. A repressed salary-man finds release via strangers on public transport. A man tries an experimental cure for hair loss and experiences an unfortunate side effect. A high school girl becomes obsessed with losing weight after a dorm-mate makes a casual comment about the size of her ass. And a victimized and rage-filled boy learns to fight after an encounter with a shadowy man on the street. Slice-of-life stories with a touch of the uncanny.
October 29, 2019
Trigger Warning: If you are deeply affected by eating disorders, surgical addictions, and sexual predatation (more specifically molestation) do not read this book.
I originally saw B0dy on a “Top 10 Japanese Horror Novel” list and then on several Ladies of Horror Fiction recommended reading lists. The beautiful cover intrigued me. I only had an inkling of the subject matter of these short stories and I refused to read spoiler filled reviews. When I think of JHorror, my mind goes to the Yurei (ghost) or onryo (vengeful spirits) movies like the Ringu and Ju-on. Spirits of people wronged in life that stain the fabric of reality of the living that carelessly cross their path.
The horror of B0dy is more firmly rooted in reality. Ordinary people living their lives in the shadow of an ideal that they aren’t good enough. Women wanting to look younger and thinner to maintain the Japanese ideal of blossoming beauty. A man wanting desperately to keep his hair linking his own attractiveness to his ability to do well in his work and virility. A husband sexually dissatisfied by his marriage and desperately seeking fulfillment. An abused, orphaned pre-teen that doesn’t want to be a victim anymore.
Without spoiling too much here are the synopsis of the stories:
Navel Bored housewife, Aiko gets talked into getting a facial lift to remove wrinkles after taking her youngest daughter, Minako in for a plastic surgery consultation to modify the shape of her belly button. The surgeries are done out of defiance and spite for the father/husband who ignores his family for work and restricts them from using family funds for most purchases though the wife is the one that manages the household’s affairs. When the husband comments after the first surgery that his wife has put on weight, she goes out of her way to continue to change herself.
Blood
Dissatisfied husband, Fumiya resorts to brushing himself against young women with attractive knees on the train. He gets caught and desperately seeks release somewhere else. After an accident, he finds satisfaction in inflicting small amounts of pain on people… This man’s search for sexual release gets increasingly bizarre as different venues are shut off to him.
Whorl Self-absorbed office worker, Masao is distant from his girlfriend. He doesn’t really care about her but he is starting to see his hairline thinning, reminding him that if he waits much longer to get married, he’ll be bald and alone. He toys with whether or not he just wants to settle for his girlfriend and marry her before he goes completely bald. One day, a friend offers him the opportunity to be a part of experimental test group for a hair loss prevention drug.
Buttocks
Mean girl, Hiroe, ends up getting accepted to highly respected high school through no effort of her own. Left without friends, the once popular girl is isolated and insecure with her, well, everything. She’s not considered fashionable or intelligent or desirable by the Tokyo crowd and one popular girl makes fun of her weight. This leads her in a desperate attempt to an eating disorder to shape her body into something thin enough to let her fit in.
Jaw
Atsushi is a middle school drop out living on his own. Working odd jobs to keep himself afloat. He is smaller than other boys his age and is a constant target of abuse until one rainy day, a mysterious man saves from a savage beating. Full of rage, Atsushi stalks the streets for his next prey but the mysterious man intervenes. “Aim for someone stronger than yourself.” is the advice that drives him to join a boxing gym.
These stories resonate with how real these problems and issues are.
In an age of Body Positivity, plastic surgery and even Snapchat filters, people fixate on their appearance. Cameras are everywhere and you could become an influencer if enough people like your pictures or posts.
It gets under your skin to see these horribly flawed, weak characters struggled with their self-image or sense of self-worth. They want to be beautiful, young, desired and strong but they need to kill the people that they were to get there. At what point would you be willing to stop in your quest for fulfillment? Are we all just a knife slice or pound away from physical perfection? Do we need pills to make us more desirable to others? Do we need to destroy and reforge our bodies through pain and struggle to kill the fear and weakness of our past?
These are modern concerns that transcend cultural boundaries. Nonami challenges us to reflect on our limits and how we treat other people. Would the characters of B0dy drowned in their dysmorphia if someone had given them a sense that they were enough, that they were loved? Would they have listened?
And the worst part is that Nonami doesn’t give us closure for these stories when they finally crash to a close. Should they? What ending are we truly hoping for them? Do we want them to learn, to be punished or to get the help they desperately need? It’s left open for us to fill in the void.
Nonami warns us that as we strive for an illusion of perfection, we are our worst enemies. The damage we inflict upon ourselves bodies not only scars our bodies but our souls. This psychological horror collection is for someone that wants to touch that inner darkness without getting blood on their hands.
This review was originally posted on Studio HnH.com
I originally saw B0dy on a “Top 10 Japanese Horror Novel” list and then on several Ladies of Horror Fiction recommended reading lists. The beautiful cover intrigued me. I only had an inkling of the subject matter of these short stories and I refused to read spoiler filled reviews. When I think of JHorror, my mind goes to the Yurei (ghost) or onryo (vengeful spirits) movies like the Ringu and Ju-on. Spirits of people wronged in life that stain the fabric of reality of the living that carelessly cross their path.
The horror of B0dy is more firmly rooted in reality. Ordinary people living their lives in the shadow of an ideal that they aren’t good enough. Women wanting to look younger and thinner to maintain the Japanese ideal of blossoming beauty. A man wanting desperately to keep his hair linking his own attractiveness to his ability to do well in his work and virility. A husband sexually dissatisfied by his marriage and desperately seeking fulfillment. An abused, orphaned pre-teen that doesn’t want to be a victim anymore.
Without spoiling too much here are the synopsis of the stories:
Navel Bored housewife, Aiko gets talked into getting a facial lift to remove wrinkles after taking her youngest daughter, Minako in for a plastic surgery consultation to modify the shape of her belly button. The surgeries are done out of defiance and spite for the father/husband who ignores his family for work and restricts them from using family funds for most purchases though the wife is the one that manages the household’s affairs. When the husband comments after the first surgery that his wife has put on weight, she goes out of her way to continue to change herself.
Blood
Dissatisfied husband, Fumiya resorts to brushing himself against young women with attractive knees on the train. He gets caught and desperately seeks release somewhere else. After an accident, he finds satisfaction in inflicting small amounts of pain on people… This man’s search for sexual release gets increasingly bizarre as different venues are shut off to him.
Whorl Self-absorbed office worker, Masao is distant from his girlfriend. He doesn’t really care about her but he is starting to see his hairline thinning, reminding him that if he waits much longer to get married, he’ll be bald and alone. He toys with whether or not he just wants to settle for his girlfriend and marry her before he goes completely bald. One day, a friend offers him the opportunity to be a part of experimental test group for a hair loss prevention drug.
Buttocks
Mean girl, Hiroe, ends up getting accepted to highly respected high school through no effort of her own. Left without friends, the once popular girl is isolated and insecure with her, well, everything. She’s not considered fashionable or intelligent or desirable by the Tokyo crowd and one popular girl makes fun of her weight. This leads her in a desperate attempt to an eating disorder to shape her body into something thin enough to let her fit in.
Jaw
Atsushi is a middle school drop out living on his own. Working odd jobs to keep himself afloat. He is smaller than other boys his age and is a constant target of abuse until one rainy day, a mysterious man saves from a savage beating. Full of rage, Atsushi stalks the streets for his next prey but the mysterious man intervenes. “Aim for someone stronger than yourself.” is the advice that drives him to join a boxing gym.
These stories resonate with how real these problems and issues are.
In an age of Body Positivity, plastic surgery and even Snapchat filters, people fixate on their appearance. Cameras are everywhere and you could become an influencer if enough people like your pictures or posts.
It gets under your skin to see these horribly flawed, weak characters struggled with their self-image or sense of self-worth. They want to be beautiful, young, desired and strong but they need to kill the people that they were to get there. At what point would you be willing to stop in your quest for fulfillment? Are we all just a knife slice or pound away from physical perfection? Do we need pills to make us more desirable to others? Do we need to destroy and reforge our bodies through pain and struggle to kill the fear and weakness of our past?
These are modern concerns that transcend cultural boundaries. Nonami challenges us to reflect on our limits and how we treat other people. Would the characters of B0dy drowned in their dysmorphia if someone had given them a sense that they were enough, that they were loved? Would they have listened?
And the worst part is that Nonami doesn’t give us closure for these stories when they finally crash to a close. Should they? What ending are we truly hoping for them? Do we want them to learn, to be punished or to get the help they desperately need? It’s left open for us to fill in the void.
Nonami warns us that as we strive for an illusion of perfection, we are our worst enemies. The damage we inflict upon ourselves bodies not only scars our bodies but our souls. This psychological horror collection is for someone that wants to touch that inner darkness without getting blood on their hands.
This review was originally posted on Studio HnH.com
March 29, 2024
เล่มนี้แบ่งออกสั้นๆ เป็น 5 เรื่อง
1. สะดือ - ความรู้สึกอ่านแล้วไม่สนุกเลย ถึงขั้นไม่สนุกมากๆ เรื่องนี้คงน่าตื่นเต้นมากๆในยุคก่อน แต่ตอนนี้เห็นเป็นเรื่องปกติจนชินตาแล้วด้วยซ้ำ 0 คะแนน
2. กระแสเลือด - เรื่องนี้ออกจิต ถึงขั้นสยองขวัญ ไม่เปิดว่าใครผิด แต่ใครอ่านก็ต้องคิดแบบนั้นปะ เอาไปเลย 5 คะแนน
3. ขวัญ - เรื่องนี้แบบ เออ แปลกดี ก็คิดได้ แต่เราว่ามันก็ออกแนวเป็นเรื่องปกติในปัจจุบันนะ แต่ก็อ่านได้เรื่อยๆ 3 คะแนน
4. ก้น - โอ้ว สงสาร เพราะก้นแท้ๆ ยันจบก็เพราะก้นเนี่ยแหละ เลยให้ 3 คะแนนละกัน
5. คาง - อ่านแล้ว วนๆดี เรื่อยๆดี อ่านได้ ให้ 3 คะแนน
จริงๆ เล่มนี้ เราคาดหวังว่าจะสนุกมากๆ เพราะ โฆษณาออกใหม่ ดูน่าสนใจ น่าตื่นเต้น แต่พออ่านจริงๆ เราไม่รู้สึกขนาดนั้น เลยขอให้คะแนนรวมแค่ 3 พอนะ
1. สะดือ - ความรู้สึกอ่านแล้วไม่สนุกเลย ถึงขั้นไม่สนุกมากๆ เรื่องนี้คงน่าตื่นเต้นมากๆในยุคก่อน แต่ตอนนี้เห็นเป็นเรื่องปกติจนชินตาแล้วด้วยซ้ำ 0 คะแนน
2. กระแสเลือด - เรื่องนี้ออกจิต ถึงขั้นสยองขวัญ ไม่เปิดว่าใครผิด แต่ใครอ่านก็ต้องคิดแบบนั้นปะ เอาไปเลย 5 คะแนน
3. ขวัญ - เรื่องนี้แบบ เออ แปลกดี ก็คิดได้ แต่เราว่ามันก็ออกแนวเป็นเรื่องปกติในปัจจุบันนะ แต่ก็อ่านได้เรื่อยๆ 3 คะแนน
4. ก้น - โอ้ว สงสาร เพราะก้นแท้ๆ ยันจบก็เพราะก้นเนี่ยแหละ เลยให้ 3 คะแนนละกัน
5. คาง - อ่านแล้ว วนๆดี เรื่อยๆดี อ่านได้ ให้ 3 คะแนน
จริงๆ เล่มนี้ เราคาดหวังว่าจะสนุกมากๆ เพราะ โฆษณาออกใหม่ ดูน่าสนใจ น่าตื่นเต้น แต่พออ่านจริงๆ เราไม่รู้สึกขนาดนั้น เลยขอให้คะแนนรวมแค่ 3 พอนะ
February 1, 2024
คอนเซปต์ดีมากๆเลย ชอบที่หยิบยกส่วนของร่างกายมาเป็นแกนหลักของเรื่อง แต่ละตอนอ่านแล้วนึกถึงเรื่อง แดนสนธยาที่เคยดูตอนเด็กๆเลย แบบตัวเอกอยากให้เป็นตามที่หวัง แล้วก็มาลุ้นตอนจบมากๆว่าจะจบเลวร้ายแบบไหน
สำหรับเราอาจจะไม่ค่อยหักมุมมากนักออกแนวสะท้อนสังคมมากกว่า แต่โดยรวมก็อ่านได้เพลินๆ แป๊บๆก็จบแล้ว
ชอบตอนกระแสเลือดมากสุด เพราะเดาไม่ออกเลยว่าจะจบยังไง
สำหรับเราอาจจะไม่ค่อยหักมุมมากนักออกแนวสะท้อนสังคมมากกว่า แต่โดยรวมก็อ่านได้เพลินๆ แป๊บๆก็จบแล้ว
ชอบตอนกระแสเลือดมากสุด เพราะเดาไม่ออกเลยว่าจะจบยังไง
December 23, 2024
This is an INSANE book, the twists that happen based on seemingly normal decisions about our bodies (plastic surgery, etc), were WILD. I really did enjoy this book, and will be referring to it a lot for a while.
April 29, 2018
review to come
April 30, 2021
Navel - 3/5 | Blood - 4/5 | Whorl - 3/5 | Buttocks - 2.5/5 | Jaw - 1.75-2/5
(Averages to around 2.9 rounding up to 3)
A lot of these were really interesting (aside from Jaw which really brings the collection down) but fail to deliver on the true horror of the obsession with the aspects of the body they’re about. Blood, Whorl and Buttocks ALMOST make it but then the story either ends or veers off. There’s also a very striking similarity in structure between each of the stories in that they all follow the formula of:
1. Something happens not really related to the story
2. The odd fixation is introduced which has nothing to do with the events of point 1.
3. The character begins the fixation but the depth is never explored.
4. The story abruptly ends with the main character falling deeper into obsession.
Not really a complaint but because of the nature of their similar structures physically reading the stories gets dull.
Where the stories could’ve been better is if in each we really drew out the obsession each character has. This is done best in Blood and Buttocks, I think, where each character truly begins to lose themselves to their fixation but as we begin to see it, the story ends.
I think Jaw isn’t bad per se but it’s very pointless. Nothing happens, there’s really no fixation in the way the other stories feature one and the progression of the story is very flat. It’s also just genuinely boring. A 15 year old obsessed with boxing and attacking his opponents who are physically bigger than him jaws for dominance could be so interesting to read about yet here it’s so dull.
Aside from that I think Navel and Whorl are also good, but again the same complaint. The first 10 or so pages (each story is 33-35 pages) relatively do nothing and mean nothing to the overall story, which is fairly necessary when you’re limited to such a small amount of pages.
Overall I think if you want to read this just pick out Blood and Whorl. Buttocks is good for the ending (like I’m talking the last 2 pages of the 35 page long story) and if you’re not someone who is willing to sit through something just for a good ending it’ll probably be a miss.
(Averages to around 2.9 rounding up to 3)
A lot of these were really interesting (aside from Jaw which really brings the collection down) but fail to deliver on the true horror of the obsession with the aspects of the body they’re about. Blood, Whorl and Buttocks ALMOST make it but then the story either ends or veers off. There’s also a very striking similarity in structure between each of the stories in that they all follow the formula of:
1. Something happens not really related to the story
2. The odd fixation is introduced which has nothing to do with the events of point 1.
3. The character begins the fixation but the depth is never explored.
4. The story abruptly ends with the main character falling deeper into obsession.
Not really a complaint but because of the nature of their similar structures physically reading the stories gets dull.
Where the stories could’ve been better is if in each we really drew out the obsession each character has. This is done best in Blood and Buttocks, I think, where each character truly begins to lose themselves to their fixation but as we begin to see it, the story ends.
I think Jaw isn’t bad per se but it’s very pointless. Nothing happens, there’s really no fixation in the way the other stories feature one and the progression of the story is very flat. It’s also just genuinely boring. A 15 year old obsessed with boxing and attacking his opponents who are physically bigger than him jaws for dominance could be so interesting to read about yet here it’s so dull.
Aside from that I think Navel and Whorl are also good, but again the same complaint. The first 10 or so pages (each story is 33-35 pages) relatively do nothing and mean nothing to the overall story, which is fairly necessary when you’re limited to such a small amount of pages.
Overall I think if you want to read this just pick out Blood and Whorl. Buttocks is good for the ending (like I’m talking the last 2 pages of the 35 page long story) and if you’re not someone who is willing to sit through something just for a good ending it’ll probably be a miss.
February 17, 2019
“The faint whiff of rust titillated his nasal cavity, sending his heart into palpitations.”
Bødy by Asa Nonami is a collection of horror stories. The common thread with these are that they focus on people’s fixation with an aspect of the human body which leads down a destructive path into to a warped image of self-perception. They cleverly look at how people allow superficial things take over their lives.
What I really enjoyed about these stories was that with each one the ending left you wondering what just happened. They each bring a suspenseful atmosphere to the daily lives of these people. The horror is of a psychological scale and these stories do hit home with the topics that are explored as they are relevant in our present society.
NAVEL is about a teenage girl and her mother who become obsessed with plastic surgery and it all begins with the daughter wanting her navel changed.
BLOOD features a family coming to terms with their son’s fixation with pricking people with a needle to taste blood to increase his experience of pleasure.
WHORL is about a man who takes part in a trial to increase hair growth so that his girlfriend will remain with him and who he intends to marry in the distant future.
BUTTOCKS story centres around bullying in high school and the effects of peer pressure.
JAW is about a young man who wishes to learn the art of boxing in order to live a stable life.
Now these all may sound bizarre and they are just that but also very interesting to read. A great collection of a different kind of horror featuring the most well known monster, humans. A definite recommendation for those wanting to try something different.
Bødy by Asa Nonami is a collection of horror stories. The common thread with these are that they focus on people’s fixation with an aspect of the human body which leads down a destructive path into to a warped image of self-perception. They cleverly look at how people allow superficial things take over their lives.
What I really enjoyed about these stories was that with each one the ending left you wondering what just happened. They each bring a suspenseful atmosphere to the daily lives of these people. The horror is of a psychological scale and these stories do hit home with the topics that are explored as they are relevant in our present society.
NAVEL is about a teenage girl and her mother who become obsessed with plastic surgery and it all begins with the daughter wanting her navel changed.
BLOOD features a family coming to terms with their son’s fixation with pricking people with a needle to taste blood to increase his experience of pleasure.
WHORL is about a man who takes part in a trial to increase hair growth so that his girlfriend will remain with him and who he intends to marry in the distant future.
BUTTOCKS story centres around bullying in high school and the effects of peer pressure.
JAW is about a young man who wishes to learn the art of boxing in order to live a stable life.
Now these all may sound bizarre and they are just that but also very interesting to read. A great collection of a different kind of horror featuring the most well known monster, humans. A definite recommendation for those wanting to try something different.
October 27, 2025
ตอนแรกก็คิดอยู่ว่าจะรีวิวเล่มนี้/จะให้คะแนนเล่มนี้ดีมั้ย เพราะมันอาจจะไม่ยุติธรรมเท่าไหร่เพราะอ่านไม่จบ 5555555
แต่ไหนๆ ก็ไหนๆ แล้วคิดว่าอยากบันทึกเป็นการอ่านของเราด้วย เลยขอรีวิวสักหน่อยละกัน สำหรับเล่มนี้พยายามอยู่หลายรอบมากๆๆๆ น่าจะเริ่มอ่านครั้งแรกประมาณช่วงต้นปี 2023 ตอนนั้นจำได้ว่าพกเล่มนี้ไปอ่านตอนไปหาหมอ กะจะอ่านเล่นๆๆ ตอนรอหมอตรวจร่างกายใดๆๆ สรุป ไม่สนุกเลอ 555555 หาหมอยังตื่นเต้นกว่าเยอะ! พอหยุดอ่านไปละสักพัก เปลี่ยนเล่มอ่านก็ลืมๆๆๆ เล่มนี้ไป พอมาวันนี้-ตอนนี้แหละที่ฉันกำลังจะเก็บหนังสือเข้ากรุก็มาเจอเล่มนี้ เลยเปิดอ่านสักนิดสักหน่อย (ประมาณ 50หน้าแรกและ100หน้าหลัง) ความรู้สึกตอนนั้นที่ไม่ชอบเล่มนี้ก็ถาโถมเข้ามา แล้วก็ยืนยันละว่า DNF เถอะจู้ อะไรที่ไม่ใช่ทางเรา ก็อย่าพยายามเลย 5555555555555
อาจจะเพราะบรรยากาศของเนื้อเรื่อง การบรรยาย โทนเรื่อง เราว่ามันน่าเบื่อมากๆๆๆๆ อะ และมันคริ้นจ์อย่างบอกไม่ถูก กับเล่มนี้สำหรับเราคือไม่ไหวอย่าฝืนจริงๆๆๆ ฉันให้เล่มนี้ 2 ดาวเพราะหัก1ดาวคือไม่สนุก แต่ไม่สนุกของเราตอนนั้น กลับมาอ่านมันอาจจะสนุกไง แต่พอกลับมาอ่านละไม่สนุกจริงๆ เราเลยหักเพิ่มอีก1ดาว อีกสิ่งหนึ่งที่เสียดายคือธีมเรื่องที่เล่าความประหลาดของร่างกาย มันน่าสนใจมากๆๆๆๆๆ แต่เพราะอะไรต่างๆ ที่กล่าวมาตามด้านบนนั่นแหละเลยทำให้ไม่สนุกและหมดสนุกไปเลย เลยหักอีก1ดาว
ไม่แ���่ใจว่าจะได้กลับมาอ่านเมื่อไหร่ ถ้าได้มีโอกาสกลับมาอ่านตอนเราโตขึ้นแล้วมันสนุกมากๆๆ เดี๋ยวกลับมาแก้รีวิวให้จ้า
แต่ไหนๆ ก็ไหนๆ แล้วคิดว่าอยากบันทึกเป็นการอ่านของเราด้วย เลยขอรีวิวสักหน่อยละกัน สำหรับเล่มนี้พยายามอยู่หลายรอบมากๆๆๆ น่าจะเริ่มอ่านครั้งแรกประมาณช่วงต้นปี 2023 ตอนนั้นจำได้ว่าพกเล่มนี้ไปอ่านตอนไปหาหมอ กะจะอ่านเล่นๆๆ ตอนรอหมอตรวจร่างกายใดๆๆ สรุป ไม่สนุกเลอ 555555 หาหมอยังตื่นเต้นกว่าเยอะ! พอหยุดอ่านไปละสักพัก เปลี่ยนเล่มอ่านก็ลืมๆๆๆ เล่มนี้ไป พอมาวันนี้-ตอนนี้แหละที่ฉันกำลังจะเก็บหนังสือเข้ากรุก็มาเจอเล่มนี้ เลยเปิดอ่านสักนิดสักหน่อย (ประมาณ 50หน้าแรกและ100หน้าหลัง) ความรู้สึกตอนนั้นที่ไม่ชอบเล่มนี้ก็ถาโถมเข้ามา แล้วก็ยืนยันละว่า DNF เถอะจู้ อะไรที่ไม่ใช่ทางเรา ก็อย่าพยายามเลย 5555555555555
อาจจะเพราะบรรยากาศของเนื้อเรื่อง การบรรยาย โทนเรื่อง เราว่ามันน่าเบื่อมากๆๆๆๆ อะ และมันคริ้นจ์อย่างบอกไม่ถูก กับเล่มนี้สำหรับเราคือไม่ไหวอย่าฝืนจริงๆๆๆ ฉันให้เล่มนี้ 2 ดาวเพราะหัก1ดาวคือไม่สนุก แต่ไม่สนุกของเราตอนนั้น กลับมาอ่านมันอาจจะสนุกไง แต่พอกลับมาอ่านละไม่สนุกจริงๆ เราเลยหักเพิ่มอีก1ดาว อีกสิ่งหนึ่งที่เสียดายคือธีมเรื่องที่เล่าความประหลาดของร่างกาย มันน่าสนใจมากๆๆๆๆๆ แต่เพราะอะไรต่างๆ ที่กล่าวมาตามด้านบนนั่นแหละเลยทำให้ไม่สนุกและหมดสนุกไปเลย เลยหักอีก1ดาว
ไม่แ���่ใจว่าจะได้กลับมาอ่านเมื่อไหร่ ถ้าได้มีโอกาสกลับมาอ่านตอนเราโตขึ้นแล้วมันสนุกมากๆๆ เดี๋ยวกลับมาแก้รีวิวให้จ้า
March 16, 2024
Might be a 3.5 rounded up. As I read this collection, I thought oh, the poor rating might partly be because these characters aren’t very likable. I often enjoy unlikable characters, so that didn’t bother me, but be forewarned if that’s a deal breaker for you.
Each of the stories involve characters getting obsessive about something body related, though the connection to that theme is weaker in the last couple stories. I love stories of obsession, so that worked well for me. It gave most of the stories a good focus.
The stories are also dark. They aren’t horror, but the obsession is never a good thing. The main characters are often atrocious people doing icky or mean things.
Some of the stories are stronger at the start and middle than the end. Some of them feel like they just … stop. Without feeling some kind of thematic payoff.
But still overall pretty close to the kind of short story I’m looking for!
Each of the stories involve characters getting obsessive about something body related, though the connection to that theme is weaker in the last couple stories. I love stories of obsession, so that worked well for me. It gave most of the stories a good focus.
The stories are also dark. They aren’t horror, but the obsession is never a good thing. The main characters are often atrocious people doing icky or mean things.
Some of the stories are stronger at the start and middle than the end. Some of them feel like they just … stop. Without feeling some kind of thematic payoff.
But still overall pretty close to the kind of short story I’m looking for!
January 26, 2020
I loved this strange and dark little collection. Each of these five short stories focuses on a different body part and how our obsession with the way we look (or our perception of how we think others see us) can be detrimental in a deadly way.
I think all of the stories are allegorical, dipping into body horror as a way to shine a light on the dysfunction of society. The loss of hair seen as unmanly, stigmas about plastic surgery, sexual kinks, body dysmorphia—how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us can be difficult to overcome.
Nonami is truly one of the best modern horror authors, and we are so lucky some of her works are translated into English. They offer insight into Japanese culture and what modern fears the Japanese deal with, but her stories also feel universal. She taps into something that goes deeper than cultural differences, recognizing our bodies as an innate part of who we are as humans and then ripping away the security we feel in our own skin.
I think all of the stories are allegorical, dipping into body horror as a way to shine a light on the dysfunction of society. The loss of hair seen as unmanly, stigmas about plastic surgery, sexual kinks, body dysmorphia—how we perceive ourselves and how others perceive us can be difficult to overcome.
Nonami is truly one of the best modern horror authors, and we are so lucky some of her works are translated into English. They offer insight into Japanese culture and what modern fears the Japanese deal with, but her stories also feel universal. She taps into something that goes deeper than cultural differences, recognizing our bodies as an innate part of who we are as humans and then ripping away the security we feel in our own skin.
May 28, 2023
This was a fantastic collection of social horror stories. Each story focuses on a specific body part, and it does an amazing job of showing us how horrible things can get when we become obsessive on trying to achieve perfection. I loved each story but my favourite one was Blood, which is about a man who has a very creepy thing for knees.
Highly recommend checking this one out!
Highly recommend checking this one out!
February 21, 2024
3.5⭐️ The story about the painful ass was truly something special. If you like Bora Chung’s Cursed Bunny you might like this collection. Body is a collection of five stories following five people, each with an obsession with a different body part—sometimes their own, sometimes on other people.
Painful ass, sexy knees, stylish navel, punchable jaws and too many cow-licks.
Painful ass, sexy knees, stylish navel, punchable jaws and too many cow-licks.
September 22, 2020
2.5/3
Even forgot to rate this one:
Disappointing overall... Too short to the point that you were left feeling that it was rushed. The stories needed more development in order to be really disturbing. Interesting ideas, yes. However I felt that I was reading the initial manuscript or the beginning of each tale. Meh
whatever
Even forgot to rate this one:
Disappointing overall... Too short to the point that you were left feeling that it was rushed. The stories needed more development in order to be really disturbing. Interesting ideas, yes. However I felt that I was reading the initial manuscript or the beginning of each tale. Meh
whatever
February 25, 2024
อิหยังวะ
คือจะไม่สนุกมันก็ไม่ใช่ แต่ก็ไม่ได้สนุกจนถึงขั้นต้องแนะนำให้ใครมาอ่านต่อ
พอเริ่มอ่านแล้วก็อยากรู้ว่าคนเขียนจะพาไปจบที่จุดไหน แต่จะเป็นจบแบบความรู้สึกเกือบสุดกราฟแต่พี่หักหลบก่อนทุกเรื่อง ToT
คือจะไม่สนุกมันก็ไม่ใช่ แต่ก็ไม่ได้สนุกจนถึงขั้นต้องแนะนำให้ใครมาอ่านต่อ
พอเริ่มอ่านแล้วก็อยากรู้ว่าคนเขียนจะพาไปจบที่จุดไหน แต่จะเป็นจบแบบความรู้สึกเกือบสุดกราฟแต่พี่หักหลบก่อนทุกเรื่อง ToT
May 4, 2024
I’m not sure that I would classify this as horror. The stories are more unfortunate than horrific. It’s well written, but having expected something more intense, it was a bit disappointing. This would rate far better if it was listed as regular fiction.
April 16, 2024
The first two stories were a lot more disturbing than the other three but once I adjusted my expectations this was still a good collection
September 17, 2025
สะท้อนค่านิยม ความหมกมุ่น การปิดบังที่อยู่ในความคิดของตัวละครได้หลายมุมดี อธิบายอารมและะการนึกคิดของตัวละครได้ละเอียด ตัวละครทุกตัวก็ดูเทาๆ มีทั้งด้านดีและไม่ดี สมจริง แต่หนังสือไม่ได้ตอบโจทย์เรื่องอรรถรสการอ่าน อ่านจบแต่ละตอนแล้วเคว้งๆ ไม่ได้มีจุดพีคหรือเป้าหมายที่ชัดเจน ทั้งนี้แล้วแต่คนชอบ
January 26, 2025
So much to say but this book was litrllt poopoo butt like omfg Do not pick this up this book is not horror and is not about body horror in the slightest and the writing is sub par and the plots r rlly corny and kinda dumb and theres also so many like grammar mistakes and misspellings????? I need financial compensation for this omfggggg the only Slightly interestinf chapter was the blood chapter and even then its not nearly interesting enough to save this book Pls 🤦♀️
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