For those who are not familiar with Junko Mizuno, she is a manga artist with certainly a unique artistic approach. She uses bold lines and a great deal of black and white without many lighter shading between (unless the manga is in color as it sometimes is–then the whole spectrum is available). It also has a slightly more Western comic strip look to it, with a cutesy element to it. At least until you throw in the grotesque parts. In sum, her style is cute-grotesque and while reading one of her non-colored volumes, I personally have to fight the urge to pull out a box of crayons and start coloring.
Pure Trance is one of Mizuno’s slightly earlier works, coming out before her twisted fairy tale series (Cinderalla, Princess Mermaid, etc). It exudes a freshness and coolness that I haven rarely found in a manga that doesn’t actually take itself seriously. Everything about this volume feels tongue in cheek, and that’s where Mizuno shines.
The story of Pure Trance is that after another World War, everyone is forced to live underground and consume pills for sustenance. Some people have become addicted to these Pure Trance pills and must seek treatment for their addiction. The nurses at Center 102 treat said patients, or at least attempt to. It’s hard to accomplish much when their psychotic director will decide to kill a patient or torture the nurses randomly. Pretty out there, right? Throw in all of the little trivia (just about every life form or neat toy or piece of furniture gets an explanation box) and you get a manga that’s disturbingly witty. It goes well beyond over-the-top and revels in its permissiveness. It at once exudes femininity and putridity–cute and horrific all at the same time. The director has big shining eyes that sparkle…while at the same time wielding a whip and having hypodermic needles sticking out of her. It’s this contrast that works so well.
Pure Trance is really best enjoyed for the crazy art and random ideas rather than the story. Honestly, it is quite disjointed as if Ms. Mizuno wanted to be sure to cram in every random idea that popped into her head even if it had no relevance to what was going on. So if you’re looking for cohesiveness, it’s best to look elsewhere. There is no denying, however, that Pure Trance is visually stunning in its uniqueness and that its dark humor shines throughout the course of the work.
If you’re a fan of independent comics, I definitely recommend giving this a try. It’s well out of print and a bit hard to find, but there are at least a few libraries around that will lend it via interlibrary loan (that’s how I got it), so check with your local librarian for assistance.
