Pupa, Vol. 1

Pupa #1

by Motegi Sayaka (Writer & Artist)

Genres: Manga, Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Seinen, Fiction

235 pages, Paperback

First published November 11, 2011

Reviews

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series!

Pupa is about a pair of severely abused twins named Utsutsu and Yume who are now struggling to live on their own after escaping from their terrible living situation. After seeing red butterflies, these two siblings become infected with a virus known as Pupa. This virus mutates organisms into insatiable monsters, only seeking to feed on any sort of life. After the return of their abusive father and the arrival of a group of underground agents who seem to have a connection to the virus, the life of the twins spirals into hell once more.

So much wasted potential. The first 2 chapters of this series were extremely promising. It did a good job setting up a tragic backstory and introducing the sci-fi body horror elements, but then it quickly spirals into complete nonsense. The characters are terrible, the villains are one-dimensional, cringy fanservice, the horror elements become mindless shock value, random plot points are introduced with no purpose, everything feels extremely forced and rushed, the main character Utsusu quickly becomes an unlikable creep with no redeeming qualities at all. I've never seen a potentially great series fly off the deep end so quickly. I don't know what went wrong.

It seemed to be channeling elements of Elfen Lied, Parasyte and Tokyo Ghoul which are all series I like a lot, but it failed horribly in its execution. The only thing I liked were the monster designs.

[Celeste · Rating 4 out of 5]

My heart goes out to Utsutsu :'(

What makes me mad is the abuse Utsutsu has to go through, he is constantly the one that gets beaten up by others he is covered by scars yet he still keeps a warm and happy attitude towards his sister Yume and his friends I can't stand child abuse!!! The manga is sad as you read about what Utsutsu and Yume have had to go through but there are parts that are bloody, gory and terrifying that will make you feel sick.

Definitely keen to keep on reading find out how the siblings battle the Pupa virus, especially with all the weird and creepy characters that keep popping up through out the story I want to find out how they are all connected.

[Sleepy Ash · Rating 3 out of 5]

I watched this anime and it was god awful and nothing was explained. So I decided to read the manga to see of this was any better. It's decent enough and the plot is explained a whole lot more. It's actually understandable and Utsutsu is adorable.

[Laura 🦦 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s heart breaking to follow Utsutsu’s and Yume’s story and finding out all the abuse in their past and the horrid present.

Some scenes are truly heartbreaking while others are gore and terrifying. Yet I can’t wait to see how they both are going to manage life with the Pupa virus and all the creepy characters that seem to pop out of nowhere.

[Vik · Rating 2 out of 5]

The two stars are for the artwork, in my opinion its quite good, especially some illustrations of bugs and nature and the monster designs are cool. Its mostly body horror which isn't my favourite genre of horror manga but it was drawn quite well. The plot however sucks absolute ass, its not explained well, its convoluted, confusing and full of incest?? Great :|

[Romane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find this manga really disturbing and gory, but then I just couldn't stop reading it.

[cynne★ · Rating 3 out of 5]

i think everything is a bit too fast otherwise i liked it especially the artwork

[Maiko-chan [|] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I watched the first episode of the awful anime a few years ago, picked it back up only because I don't want to drop anime anymore, and decided that while there's not much to the short anime there was enough to pique my interest in trying out the manga. I'm actually glad I decided to give the manga a chance.

It's not the best horror manga from the first volume, and there are parts that are a little...*side-eye*

but even vol1 is faaaaaaaar better than the anime - which...apparently mostly shows contents from volume 1 and some past that but probably not all that much? Reading this it feels like the anime just took scenes from the manga and spent an entire (4 minute) episode on just one scene. The choices that went into the anime production are very questionable. Which is a shame since at least so far I already feel this manga deserved a better anime adaptation.

The characters have a bit more depth to them here and the progression of events feels more chronological, more understandable and less 'who is that, how did we get here, why are we suddenly here' than the anime.

Overall it's intriguing enough for me to continue the manga and I'm glad I picked it up.

[cagla tastemur · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this manga from their fan page. It's going to be a anime,I suppose... I was really curious after reading the fan page. But first I hooked up with this line ''Your meat so delicious onii-chan'' OMG! So I couldn't wait came to life so I read the manga from mangahere.com
And I AM REALLY AFRAID Butterflys!!

[Doremili · Rating 4 out of 5]

sangre, viseras, mounstros, canibalismo, siscom, experimentación con humanos, tortura, gore, asesinato, violencia y puede que hasta incesto. Ya me hacia falta algo fuerte. Como si despues de tomar tanta leche con chocolate diera un trago de whisky

[Pauline (Kiriiti's Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Des personnages charismatiques, un début sombre et sanglant, Sayaka Mogi pose les bases de son univers et c'est intriguant ! Reste plus qu'à voir si elle sera le développer et nous l'expliquer dans les deux prochains tomes car pour l'instant nous avons plus de questions que de réponses.

[Yukimaru Hatake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitivamente un manga a seguir.


Bizarro, enfermizo y cálido . :)

[Salsabilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

the manga was good
the manga was made me understand the anime
the anime were just like...5 minutes
and does'nt give any explanation about the character and anything

[HM]

I'm on a manga kick thanks to my cousin's bad influence. This is one of the better ones that I've come across and blessedly short.

[Bijay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this part let's see what next installment provide me...😘😘😘

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 2 out of 5]

This manga was quite awful, the art and drawings were pretty good but the plot was crap/unexplained and I didn’t get was going on😴😂😁❤️❤️

[Fernanda Mella · Rating 4 out of 5]

La historia comienza bien.

[tayna · Rating 5 out of 5]

loging for the entire series


It's actually sad that it didn't find its public because this is such a GOOD queer and visceral manga in the "the human experience is looking for inhumanness in the collective consciousness through any possible mean" trope. it is gothic, gorey and, as a transexual, it is also transexual yes. the ending is such a good subversive happy ending like omfg yeah love be like it will end in heartbreak or death my partner in life you made the pain of existence worthwhile + we can only possibly exist completely in others.

oh yeah i'm forever changed.

[CesarSadAsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mi primera lectura abandonada del todo este año, recuerdo que hace mucho tiempo el anime me pareció sumamente curioso debido a su corta extensión que no permitía explicar nada, pues no había mucho que explicar... El manga resulta una mezcla entre la idea enfermiza del incesto y la premisa del canibalismo con criaturas al estilo Parasyte pero peor justificadas, la historia se vuelve aburrida al tanto que avanza y solo te deja ese mal sabor de amor excesivamente enfermizo entre hermanos. En fin que no se puede ir más allá del volumen 1.
Mi clasificación 1/5

[__tete]

... O potencial era tanto... E algures a meio da série o incesto tornou tudo estranho. Was so on board Para ver a girlie a comer pessoas e o irmão just a bit too much into violence, e a obsessão... opah podia ser ótimo, mas ent pq faze los irmãos?? Opah tinha potencial to hit all the right spots, mas falhou demasiado (provavelmente vou ler tudo though)

[Manolache · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read it a couple months ago and tbh i don t even remember much about it so,forgetful...

[vvillovv · Rating 1 out of 5]

God why.

[Áfri · Rating 2 out of 5]

No sé porque he leído está M.

[Julia]

The parasitical concept is so cool but unfortunately, that is totally ruined by the author's lack of dialogue skills as well as him being a total perv.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

Welly, well. Welly well. Lots of blood and a weird relationship between relatives. It's dark. Depressing. Brutal. Revolting and that's it. My problem is with the mains cuz they don't know shit.

[Nada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting..

[Manikmaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kasih 5 bintang murni karena adegan 'seru' di chapter akhir.

[Jinx:The:Poet {the LiteraryWanderer & WordRoamer} · Rating 4 out of 5]

[REVIEW FOR THE SERIES...]

Pupa (Vol. 1-5)

Pupa (Japanese: ピューパ Hepburn: Pyūpa) is a 2011–2013 Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Sayaka Mogi (Motegi?). At first, I wasn’t sure about what I was getting myself into. I thought "The cover looks pretty rad and it’s called Pupa, sounds creepy and weird and right up my alley..." Pupa is a psychological horror manga, filled to the brim with grim, graphic, gory, weirdness. While the plot is indeed painfully dark, I found myself enjoying this one. Here is the synopsis...

"The story of Pupa is about two teenagers, Utsutsu and his little sister Yume. Their father was an extremely abusive man, beating their mother and then his children after he was fired. After a divorce, their mother began dating another man, and the father left the two kids alone. Now abandoned, Utsutsu promised himself that he would always protect Yume. After seeing red butterflies, these two siblings become infected with a virus known as Pupa. This virus mutates organisms into insatiable monsters, only seeking to feed on any sort of life. Yume succumbs to the full effects of the Pupa virus, but reverts into a human. Utsutsu, instead of turning into a monster, gains regenerative powers. In order for the virus to be suppressed in Yume, Utsutsu must take a drug and have Yume feed on his flesh." -Synopsis



I found Pupa to be dark, heart-wrenching, creepy, and all around disturbing manga. The characters were likable and unique, the story completely bizarre and creepy, the art was sketchy and original. There is quite a bit of angst in this series, as both main characters have a shared tragic past. I would recommend this series to fans of Horror manga, complete with original story and tons of gory. Not for the faint of heart.

[OFFICIAL RATING: 4 STARS]