Mermaid's Gaze, Vol. 3 (Mermaid Series) [Paperback]

Rumiko Takahashi (Author, Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (March 8, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569311951
• ISBN-13: 978-1569311950
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #900,918 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The spotlight on Rumiko Takahashi's career began in 1978 when she won an honorable mention in Shogakukan's annual New Comic Artist Contest for Those Selfish Aliens. Later that same year, her boy-meets-alien comedy series, Urusei Yatsura, was serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday. This phenomenally successful manga series was adapted into anime format and spawned a TV series and half a dozen theatrical-release movies, all incredibly popular in their own right. Takahashi followed up the success of her debut series with one blockbuster hit after another--Maison Ikkoku ran from 1980 to 1987, Ranma 1/2 from 1987 to 1996, and Inuyasha from 1996 to 2008. Other notable works include Mermaid Saga, Rumic Theater, and One-Pound Gospel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Rumiko Takahashi's wonderful Mermaid Saga, June 18, 2001

By 

Nancy L. Mowers "Aariel Aston" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mermaid's Gaze, Vol. 3 (Mermaid Series) (Paperback)

This manga is not for children under 13, if you ask me. It is violent and macabre. The stories would probably be traumatizing to a little kid. I thought they were strangely enchanting, though. (Not in a pretty fariy tale way!) This manga contains two stories; Mermaids's Gaze and Mermaid's Mask. Mermaid's Gaze was my favourite of the two. It had more plot and more purpose in action. The second, Mermaid's Mask, was good too. It was just a little more gruesome and weird, with a woman who has eatenthe flesh of a mermaid and gains a painful scar from its poison, forcing her to cut of her face and switch for others. That's kinda icky, ya know? The first story has to deal with an homicidal manic who ate the mermaid's flesh and has become immortal. But there is something he wants more than immortality; a mysteriously life-like doll! And he'll kill to get it. Both stories are, of course, staring our two favourite immortal lovers: Mana and Yuta, who risk themselves in their travels to help those affected by the poison of the mermaid's flesh. Very good artwork by Takahashi-sama and thrilling, hard-to-put down plots! Great for any manga lover or anyone willing to read something new!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Piercing "Gaze", July 21, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mermaid's Gaze, Vol. 3 (Mermaid Series) (Paperback)

The third of Rumiko Takahashi's mermaid volumes is "Mermaid's Gaze." Her undying not-quite-couple Yuta and Mana return, encountering more twisted immortals and macabre problems, in the darkest and bloodiest of Takahashi's fantasy stories.

In "Mermaid's Gaze," an old woman is forced to kill a young man over and over, only to have him turn up alive every time. Yuta recognizes the man -- Shingo, a rich young psycho who died with his sister Akiko long ago. But actually, they ate mermaid's flesh with differing effects. Now Shingo is immortal, and Akiko is still alive, trapped in a living doll's body. Now Shingo is trying to find and kill his sister -- because so long as she is alive, he is pursued by a horrifying vision...

In "Mermaid's Mask," Yuta and Mana come across a little boy called Nanao who escaped from a moving car. When Nanao takes some "medicine," his scrapes instantly heal, and the immortal pair suspect that he's like them. But the real truth comes to mind when they learn that the boy's mother has kidnapped him from her own son -- and that because of the mermaid's flesh, she can tear off her own scarred face and replace it with another...

Don't expect humor and lightness in Takahashi's Mermaid Saga. There's the occasional moment of dry humor, like Mana constantly referring to Nanao as "squirt." But overall it's even more violent and gruesome than the other Mermaid stories, such as when Nanao's "mother" skins her own face, though Takahashi keeps it tastefully shadowed.

Mana and Yuta have changed a little over the course of the series -- Yuta is a little happier and less haunted, and Mana has become less clueless. They mesh well together, although they are not explored quite as much in this volume as in the previous two. And supporting characters -- like the insanely possessive mother, or the evil Shingo -- are chillingly well-drawn.

Things get nasty and bloody in the third excellent volume of Takahashi's Mermaid Saga. "Mermaid's Gaze" is a good horror-fantasy read -- just don't read it after dark.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, don't read this one before you go to bed..., October 17, 2001

By 

"[e-mail]" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mermaid's Gaze, Vol. 3 (Mermaid Series) (Paperback)

I read this and my first thought was: Whoa, Takahashi wrote this?! This is a departure from her normal, light romantic comidy into something rather spooky...I enjoy all of her works and this one was no exception. Delightful and surprisingly wicked, this book kept me awake, and wanting more.