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Paper short abstract

This study explores the use of fukidashi in the early horror manga. Recurring variations of fukidashi and related elements will be traced in a corpus of works from the 1970s. Besides contributing to the history of the genre, the findings might be used in intergeneric and intercultural comparisons.

Paper long abstract

This inquiry into the treatment of fukidashi in the horror manga of the 1970s pursues two goals.

The first one is to trace the development of fukidashi as an expressive device. Horror lends itself especially well to this aim, considering that exaggeration and excess are the defining traits of the genre. One can reasonably expect artists of the 1970s to utilise the whole range of fukidashi variations created in the previous three decades. Documenting this palette should therefore contribute to the theory of manga expression, or hyōgenron (表現論).

At the same time, this study is meant to advance the yet underdeveloped research on horror manga. Anglophone and Japanese academic inquiries into the genre have gravitated towards representative readings, staying within the framework of cultural studies. Existing formal analyses prioritize cinematic techniques rather than comics-specific devices such as fukidashi. Lastly, most case studies so far have been limited to four authors: Mizuki Shigeru, Umezu Kazuo, Hino Hideshi, and Itō Junji. This inquiry, focusing on the corpus of horror manga available at the Yonezawa Yoshihiro Memorial Library, thus answers the call from researchers such as Paolo La Marca (2024) for the more formally oriented analysis of comparatively obscure works and authors.

Methodologically, this study will utilise both the aforementioned hyōgenron and ‘ballonics,’ a set of analytical tools developed by Charles Forceville, Tony Veale, and Kurt Feyaerts (2010). Those tools will be employed to trace particularly popular patterns and expressive means used to convey distortions in speech and thought, as well as physical and mental states of characters and narrators. In addition to contributing to the history of the genre, these findings might be used as a basis for intergeneric and intercultural comparisons.