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The Ring Vol. 1 (Review)

Creative Team: Hiroshi Inagaki/Misao Takahashi

Reviewed by Rob Manuel

It all starts with that one guy.  You know the guy.  Did you hear about the babysitter in Ohio?  Did you hear about the cannibal in Germany?  Did you hear what happened to that couple last week?  Urban legends spread like a disease, and we are merely carriers.  I think we like these stories because in a way, it’s about us, our society.  The stories can take ordinary situations - driving a car, walking down the street, talking on the phone - and somehow make them extraordinary.  Go ahead and try to create your own urban legend.  Creating one isn’t easy.  Urban legends are a delicate mix of fantasy and reality. The Ring is one such a story that adds just enough reality to the mix of fantasy and horror to keep you telling this story again and again.

Reiko is a journalist with a new story.  Her niece just died of mysterious causes.  "Fright," her parents whisper in the background.  The girl died of fright.  It wasn’t just her.  All of her friends died mysterious deaths within only a day of each other. Reiko’s investigation leads her to a run-down camp site and an unlabeled tape.  On the tape, she sees things that only raise more questions.  Who would make such a tape?  Why is the tape there? Worse yet, the tape ends with a warning.  It tells her that she only has seven days to live. Calling on the help of her ex-husband, Ryuji, a professor, both of them use what knowledge they have to unravel the clues on the tape.  With every image, they draw closer to the truth about a thirty year-old murder and a girl with the ability to kill people with her mind.  With time running out, Reiko must solve the mystery or become another victim.

The Ring started off as a book before becoming a Japanese movie, Ringu. America caught whiff of this horror hit and made their own movie, The Ring.  Several months later, the manga hit bookshelves.  If you’re wondering where this fits in the whole ring scheme of things, the manga actually takes after the original book.  Like most rings, however, this one loops back on itself as well.  After flipping through the first few pages, things may seem familiar if you’ve seen any of the movies.  The manga is nearly an exact recreation of the movie with poorly drawn characters.  Of course, those who have only seen the American version should pick up the manga to see what got lost in the translation.  Not to ruin the surprise, but the book has nothing to do with horses.  The book also fills in some of the holes that the movie left open.

Like I mentioned before, this manga is nothing to go running to the shelves for. If you’ve seen Ringu, then you won’t find anything new here.  The graphics are a bit sub-par, leaning towards an artist with way too much caffeine.  One thing that actually surprised me about this book is that it contains the whole story.  From beginning to end, you’ll find the whole story here.  The best part about this series, and probably one of the few reasons to keep an eye on it, is the small “Volume 1” printed on the front. Obviously, volume two has to follow, and perhaps several volumes there after.  Even though I felt that a lot of The Ring got lost in the translation between mediums, I’m still curious to see where this story goes.  Pick up The Ring if you have the time.

Oh... did you hear the one about the... on second thought, you’re better off not knowing about that.

Rating: (2 out of 4 stars)