Dragon Head is one of my favourite horror series, so I’m doing a re-read this October! This is a horror series, with a good mix of themes. I would say that the standout theme of it is “people can do horrible things when pushed to their limits”, as it really shows how dark things can get when people think they have no other choice.
Before we start the review…
Who wrote this manga?
This manga was written by Minetaro Mochizuki.
Info about the series
- There are 10 total volumes published in Japanese
- This series was fully published in English by TOKYOPOP, but it is getting an updated version by Kodansha this December.
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What happens?
On their way back to Tokyo from a school trip, the Shinkansen (bullet train) that our class finds themselves on suddenly topples over while going through a tunnel. As we quickly see the aftermath of the scene, seemingly caused by an earthquake, we know that things are not looking good for anyone aboard the train.
Our main character, Teru, is able to pull himself out of his seat and inspect his surroundings, and he quickly realizes that there probably won’t be many survivors. He gets off the train to try to find help, but he also discovers that the tunnel has caved in, leaving seemingly no exit. Trapped in a dark tunnel right next to a train full of his dead classmates, things are looking rather hopeless for poor Teru.
Thankfully, he wasn’t the only survivor, as there was one other boy, Nobuo, and one girl, Ako able to leave the train. They don’t provide much support at all, as the Ako, having suffered wounds from the crash, spends most of the volume unconscious. As for Nobuo, he isn’t exactly easy to get along with. It seems like he’s rather susceptible to panic, and he soon begins trying to convince Teru that the two of them need to “embrace the darkness”, whatever that means.
Teru quickly becomes even more stressed; as if being in this situation wasn’t terrifying enough, Nobuo begins showing signs of violence. He emerges from the Shinkansen covered head to toe in someone’s blood, evading any question that Teru throws at him.
My thoughts about this volume
I really enjoyed this volume! We’re slowly learning more and more about our three survivors, and to me, all three feel like very believable characters.
We have Teru, who seems to have taken a leadership role. He is the one who saves Ako and brings her to a place to lie down outside of the Shinkansen. He’s also the one who does most of the scouting for items, and seems to be the voice of reason in everything. Although he has clearly begun getting more and more stressed, he still treats those around him kindly.
We also have Ako, who, although she spends the majority of the volume passed out, does have her moments! She has a rather bad time right from the moment she wakes up alone on the concrete, as she realizes that she has started her period. She is able to recenter herself and tries to learn more about her two surviving classmates… but the stress gets to her rather quickly. She is rather quick to panic whenever there is an extra bump in the road, reminding the two boys that they are men and that they should do something. While a bit sexist, it shows that she’s lived a rather sheltered life up until now, and doesn’t really possess the skills to deal with a situation like this.
We then have Nobuo, who goes off the deep end almost right away. While I don’t understand him in the slightest, I do get that such a situation could throw you into uncontrollable panic. With barely any food or water, no light, no communication with the outside world, and a train full of people he most likely grew up with now dead… it makes sense that he’s inconsolable. It’s when he begins talking to the shadows while alone in the Shinkansen, and comes back covered in blood that I really began to not understand him. He is probably the character that I’m most interested in at this point, though!
What I liked most about this volume
❤️ The calm before the storm – the intro to this volume gives you absolutely no preparation for what’s about to happen.
🧡 Teru’s flashbacks – while he’s already very humanized from the get-go, I liked that we’re given flashes back to the family in Tokyo that Teru thinks is waiting for him.
💛 Teru finding and carrying Ako off the Shinkansen – this is also where we meet Nobuo, and it’s a rather interesting meeting for our main cast in this volume. While Teru is just excited to meet fellow survivors, Ako is knocked out, and Nobuo is instantly aggressive.
💚 Nobuo starting off a little crazy, and slowly growing more and more crazy as the reality of the situation dawns on him. It has me wondering what kind of person he was before this event happened. He looks like someone who doesn’t really like himself and is trying to change. In his introduction, he stopped himself from using the “Boku” that he seemed to be used to using, with a slightly more masculine “Ore”.
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