PART 8 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
阿部洋一の『斬殺！ポニーテール』 “Zansatsu! Ponytail” by ABE Youichi
Abe Youichi is a master of the unusual. Penning manga which are brilliantly bizarre, he produces the sort of stories that enrapture readers through sheer creativity. His most recent series, Sheeply Horned Witch Romi, is the first of his to receive an official English publication, but if you are at all interested in supernatural manga or reading anything off the beaten path, there are many hidden gems among the body of his work, which is invariably impressive both in concept and art.
With stories which are dense in quirky ideas and often take multiple strides in ever-unpredictable directions, his longer series are maybe too outlandish or haphazard for some, but then the oneshot is a format most suited to his quick-fire tales and distinct whimsy, funneling his imagination into focused-narratives of unbridled ingenuity.
Published in Ultra Jump magazine in 2016, Zansatsu! Ponytail is just one of several oneshots written and illustrated by the author since his debut in 2006. It’s a supernatural horror story about a ponytail devouring mutant, who lays parasitic eggs in girls’ ponytails which slowly eat into the brain. If an infected ponytail isn’t severed quickly enough, the wearer becomes mutated and continues the cycle.
Out to save infected girls is an unnamed student with shoulder-length hair, armed with a machete. When a girl with a particularly beautiful ponytail is infected, she refuses to have it severed, exclaiming “my ponytail is worth dying for!” ‘Zansatsu’ in the title of the oneshot roughly means ‘to behead’ or to kill with a single blow.
It’s a quick read at only 24 pages long, but the oneshot encompasses all the classic trademarks of an Abe Youichi manga: supernatural horror combated through absurd and wildly entertaining means, a young cast and high school setting, slightly fetishistic fixations, dark comedy, and surreal imagery brought to life by adept artwork, often comprising thick lines, with dexterous cross-hatching and inky detail.
Despite the short length, the style and content linger in their ingenuity. It’s the sort of bite-sized story that’ll handily send you down the rabbit hole of similarly fascinating short works of which oneshots host so well. It also serves as a brilliant launch pad to thrust readers into the wonderful world of Abe Youichi.
Worth reading if you enjoy Zansatsu! Ponytail is Abe Youichi’s anthology Daidai wa, Hantoumei ni Nidonesuru, known otherwise as The Bitter Orange, Translucent it Goes Back to Sleep. It’s two volumes of oneshots set in a coastal port town. Some of my favourites include a story of a girl on the run with her best friends severed head, and another where a student wages war with the local squid population.
Click here to explore the rest of 52 Oneshots in 52 Weeks and find my numerical ratings on MyAnimeList!
Morning, Roo 