Review by Frank Plowright

‘Eyes’ and ‘Blood’ complete the nine stories Kazuo Umezz produced about Orochi, both dating from 1970. The contents for all four Orochi volumes were completed for serialisation in fifteen months, an astounding work rate even allowing for Umezz employing assistants.

In the opening tale Orochi’s eye is caught by the confident manner in which Keiko Taguchi navigates her way home despite being blind. She’s given a far greater challenge when someone is murdered in her house. Her father is arrested for the crime, but readers are shown she’s correct in saying he’s innocent. Like the stories in Orochi 3, this is very much a psychological thriller, and another plot that might have been an Alfred Hitchcock film. Keiko discovers the killer’s wallet, but can’t read any details. Neither can her even younger friend Satoru, but he can recognise the man from the picture. Umezz characterises Satoru extremely well, and there’s a stunning sequence of him being tricked into giving information to the wrong person.

The role Orochi plays has been diminished as the series continues and for the opening story her only roles are to narrate the finale, but before then to observe Keiko’s journey home. Once there, the thriller narrative takes over. It’s astonishingly tense as Umezz thinks of so many situations where a blind person is at a disadvantage and exploits them all.

‘Blood’ continues the theme of young children being central. Risa is constantly and unfavourably compared by her mother to her older sister, and relentlessly bullied in attempting to have her meet those standards. Although occupying almost double the page count of the previous story, ‘Blood’ is actually read more quickly as over the first half it’s a rare page with more than three panels. We see Risa’s awful life as a young child, then switch to a few years later, when Umezz reverts to his usual storytelling style with more panels to the page.

The big surprise, though, is Umezz again taking an interest in Orochi herself who takes control of the narrative as more than an observer. He explains aspects of her character and takes a dizzying turn away from the plot so far. It’s best experienced without revelation, but Umezz eventually guides Orochi back toward Risa. There are no supernatural aspects, but the tone is very similar to the gothic melodrama of the first volume in what becomes a totally bonkers series of events. It’s an intense and grim experience, overwritten in exploring family madness, but even-handed when apportioning the blame.

A leap too far over the top in the second story means this final volume isn’t as strong as it’s predecessor, but ‘Eyes’ maintains the quality of Umezz at his best, and at a third of the page count still renders this a worthwhile purchase.