365 Days of Manga, Day 149: Portus

PORTUS (Portus) • Jun Abe • VIZ (2007) • Shogakukan (2006) • 1 volume • 18+ (graphic violence, brief nudity, brief sex)
When her friend Chiharu dies in an apparent suicide, teenage Asami investigates urban legends of a mysterious 8-bit video game, “Portus,” which, according to rumor, has a hidden stage that kills people who play it. The trail of clues eventually leads Asami and her twentysomething teachers to a remote village, where a terrible massacre took place 50 years ago, and the ghost of a young abused boy still holds onto his grudge. Clearly based on The Ring (dead child takes revenge on the world through possessed technology), Portus has creepy, realistic artwork but the plot is derivative and illogical, a mishmash of random supernatural manifestations (butterflies, grotesque faces and dolls, blood dripping down computer screens) that never rings true emotionally or comes together into a story. Completely forgettable.

Now *this* was a bad manga. Amanda S. of Michigan, today’s winner, rest assured that I will not send you a copy of “Portus”!