Boku Mushi

Alternative Titles

Synonyms: Nishioka Kyoudai Shoki Sakuhinshuu, Me-Bug, Jump, Aru Kinzoku Bat Jisatsu, Mono no Okibasho, Torikago, Kaze no Fuiteiru Hi, Ame no Futteiru Hi, Nichiyoubi, Tanjoubi, Satsujinkino Noroi, Yoru, Harigane, Boku ga Koroshita Mono

Japanese: ぼく虫―西岡兄妹初期作品集

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 1

Chapters: 16

Status: Finished

Published: Oct 19, 1989 to Apr 24, 1996

Genres: Avant Garde, Comedy

Theme: Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Garo

Authors: Nishioka Kyoudai (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 6.35¹ (scored by 538 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #18023²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #12492

Members: 1,430

Favorites: 11

6.35

Ranked #18023Popularity #12492Members 1,430

MangaGaroNishioka Kyoudai (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /1

Chapters: /16

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Synopsis

A collection of sixteen early works by Nishioka Kyodai, including their three-part debut series. As always the stories range from the whimsical to the surreal, with tales of serial killers, bird women, and a man who one day wakes to find himself with a pouch like a kangaroo.

(Source: MU)

1. Jump
2. Boku Mushi
3. Aru Kinzoku Bat Jisatsu
4. Mono no Okibasho
5. Torikago
6. Kaze no Fuiteiru Hi
7. Ame no Futteiru Hi
8. Nichiyoubi
9. Tanjoubi
10. Satsujinki-P no Noroi
11-12. Yoru
13. Harigane
14. Boku ga Koroshita Mono: Tobirabito
15. Boku ga Koroshita Mono: Kangaroo no Matsuei
16. Boku ga Koroshita Mono: Shinkei

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Reviews

Nov 29, 2022

Gsarthotegga

Recommended

Nishioka Kyoudai are a manga duo, probably most know for Kami no kodomo, and this is a selection of their earliest work. It looks and feels the same as any of their future work: simple child-like artwork, but with an outsider charm and an eye for composition and interesting patterns. These works are dark, surreal, and gruesome, but the chosen art style might make the disturbing content a bit more palatable.

It's a mixture of poetic, quasi-poetic, nihilistic, sad-sack, existential fragments. Sometimes with more or less of those descriptors. You'll see many of the same motifs repeating. Searching for something to make the narrator "complete," ... but usually looking in all of the wrong places. For example, umm... the womb. Yeah... it's one of those kinds of compilations of stories with obvious symbolism about wombs, and crawling into them, and pulling stuff out of them that shouldn't be there—and butterflies on the walls, and creepy ball-jointed dolls.

Probably half of the characters are borderline or actual sociopaths/psychopaths or serial killers—or are isolated, disconnected, live a meaningless existence, etc. I'm highly curious as to whether it is a common IRL "trope" for serial killers to actually dig through their victim in hopes of finding something special—it's definitely a thing in the work of Nishioka Kyoudai, though. There are plenty of dismembered corpses in explicit detail, but the art is too childlike for it to be especially disturbing, and it even somehow takes on a more poetic quality—however laughable it may feel to write that. The characters so often look like corpses with their soulless eyes, so who can be shocked at seeing a corpse in this upside-down world?

There is some meaning to be found, though I wouldn't say all of the stories are terribly deep or compelling, but it's worth it for the art alone, if you're keen on the style. The art direction is excellent, with striking patterns and textures, an array of cute and disturbing knickknacks that provide oodles of contrast.

Sometimes it's amazing how they can go from being terribly cryptic to as blunt as possible: a man with a woman who chirps like a bird, who is only good for the ol' "in-and-out," and not knowing what to do with her, he finds a birdcage to stuff her away in to hopefully abate her squawking, then she flies away. Bahahaha.

These are probably best taken as eerie dream excerpts—on occasion, nightmarish, and other times merely dreamy—spun with a little bit of poetic gloss and self-loathing. Or if a surrealist painter were making picture books for children that no sane parent would want their children reading. The two Night shorts are probably my favorites for how undiluted they are in dreaminess.

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Feb 15, 2025

LacingMaster

Mixed Feelings

Madness & Genius...

A great brother and sister duo under the authorship of Nishioka Kyoudai have created an interesting collection of "Boku Mushi" stories in a unique surreal genre that is uniquely their own. The manga was published in the magazine "Garo", which specialized in underground and avant-garde works. For many, this magazine became a platform that did not restrict and gave freedom to create. One should not bury one's talent and specific genius against the background of templates, should one?

First of all, it's worth putting up a sign that says "Beware! Surrealism!" Although the genre of comedy, which implies humor, is behind it, in this ...

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	Poll: Boku Mushi Chapter 13 Discussion St0rmblade - Feb 12, 2021	0 replies	by St0rmblade »» Feb 12, 2021 7:32 AM
	Poll: Boku Mushi Chapter 4 Discussion Leofricoz - Aug 4, 2020	0 replies	by Leofricoz »» Aug 4, 2020 2:29 PM

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