Shibuya Kingyo
Shibuya Goldfish

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TLDR:
Shibuya Goldfish is a manga that should not be overlooked. DO not underestimate the terror of creatures when expanded to larger then human form. I've learned that now, especially when fish and other sea creatures already look natural at their normal size. If you like horror that should not make sense you'll love this series. Defanitly going to read this creators other works.

I recently had the pleasure of revisiting Shibuya Goldfish, and I must say, it still managed to impress me. Its worth a read, but not in the traditional sense. No, in the batshit balls-to-the-walls garbage dumpster gigguk fantasy sense. Honestly, the story ... is alright, the intercharacter conflict is crap, the main conflict is pretty good and the art HAS NO RIGHT LOOKING SO GOOD. HOLY SHIT THIS ART IS WAY TOO GOOD FOR SUCH AN INSANE PREMISE. I should not feel that I'm reading Cuthulu's Call of the Deep (or whatever its name is).

Okay back to sounding normal. The first thing that struck me upon picking up the manga was the art. The illustrations are gothic, horror and tension inducing, with a great attention to detail and a unique style that complements the story perfectly. Its such a shame that the story can't keep up with the art, because then this would really be a crown jewel of western style horrer in manga form.

This is a tangent, so read it if you want. I wish that more mangaka would try their hand at traditional horror. Of course I love psychological horror, but some of that logic and intrigue is always lost in translation. Other than Berzerk I can't remember any truly hair-raising horror manga. So when I saw this mangaka's art I was equally impressed and insenced that he's using his potential on a shitpoast of a manga.

Okay back to the review:
The characters are decently fleshed out, but the inter-character conflict leaves something to be desired. However, the central conflict more than makes up for this, as it is surprisingly nuanced and thought-provoking. I found myself invested in the outcome of the conflict and rooting for the characters to succeed in spite of insurmountable odds.


Overall, Shibuya Goldfish is not a waste of time.As I said in the TLDR, do not underestimate the terror of creatures when expanded to larger then human form. You do not understand how terrifying finding a long row of goldfish poop with the circumference of your torso, with blood surrounding it and hear the nonsensical ramblings of these monsters.

SHIBUYA GOLDFISH IN A NUTSHELL: This series is High School of the Dead but with flying goldfish instead of zombies (and a little less fanservice).

I'm three volumes in, and this is a great "turn your brain off and let the bizarre story wash over you" kind of read. Easy to follow, not a lot of plot, just "survive the giant goldfish who now fly through the air and hunger for human flesh." That's it; that's the manga! Nothing more, nothing less.

Does this series have depth? Nah!
Is it funny? Sometimes!
Is it fanservicey? Also sometimes!
Is that art all right? Yeah, mostly!
Will zombie-story fans like this? Yeah, probably!
Is ... there action? Yeah, and some of it is even good!
Does it make sense? Nah, not really, but I don't really want it to, so that's OK!

If you wanna read a story about goldfish eating people (complete with a body horror and gore), read this! If you don't, then don't! The story is exactly what it says on the tin. You can and should judge this book by its cover. And in this case, that's perfectly all right.

Honestly I felt the story was just full of pee more than it being scary because it shows a group of goldfish are destroying the world and eating any humans they can get. It just sounds to me like the author is copying Ito who took on the “evil fish eating people” level but I could be wrong. I also hate the protagonist, he just had no personality. I far rather if Idol girl was the protagonist facing the evil fish, now that would’ve been a heck of a manga to sink your teeth into. Unfortunately it had to go to the generic route of ... a dull teenage protagonist who tries to save the day and nothing more.

Waste your time looking at the nice art but plot wise, you would be definitely wasting your valuable time…..