This is a very unsettling and disturbing one-shot manga, but in a way that you keep looking on as events escalate and the horror of it mounts.

Chi is a strange girl in her class, rarely showing up and when she does, she wears ripped-up pajamas and carries dead cockroaches in her hands. Yua used to be friends with her but has lost touch, but Kodai, the golden boy in class, asks Yua to help him convince Chi to come to school. They seemingly succeed, but as they interact with Chi more and more, their lives take a dark turn.

So apparently this is a prequel one-shot to a movie featuring Chi, but you don’t need any prior knowledge going into this. Trigger warnings for violence, blood, child neglect/abuse and SA. The artwork was good at showing details and focusing on aspects that add to the eerie atmosphere, with some pages resembling a water color painting. There were layers to the characters here and a darkness within each of them, so the story took violent turns that I wasn’t expecting and couldn’t look away from even if it was disgusting. It’s not as gorey or explicit as it could be, but it is a dark story, so read with caution. But if you enjoy a dark disturbing manga (いい意味で気持ち悪い) then I think you might like this.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Shuzo Oshimi is favourite author in my store, so I was curious about this title. While Toxic Daughter is a movie tie-in prequel, I think it works well on its own, as I've never seen the movie before. You have all the elements of a typical Oshimi title, twisted teens pretending to be something they're not, and creepy characters that don't fit in with the world. Slight spoilers in a trigger warning, this does contain scenes and allusions to sexual assault.

Chi has always been a little weird, but Yua befriends her anyway when they were in kindergarten. However as they age, Yua realizes that if she continues to be friends with the weird girl who collects dead bugs she to will get picked on, so she ends their friendship and Chi stops going to school. That is until one day she randomly appears scaring the entire class except for the boy Yua has a crush on, Kodai. After class, Kodai decides that he and Yua are going to embark on a mission to bring Chi back into the fold. At first, it seems to work until the worst thing possible happens.

This was supremely messed up. I mean, given the cover, there is no way it was not going to be, but it's way more messed up than I was expecting, especially since it's relatively short. It's obvious from the first time we meet Chi that she is at best simply neglected at worse abused. The adults don't seem to want to do anything about it, and to be honest, I don't really feel like Yua actually did either. Kodai's motivation is incredibly transparent from the get-go, and he turns out to be a little monster, which, since he creeps me out from the beginning, I'm absolutely fine with that. Honestly, I think it makes this stand out, though , simply how much insanity is packed into such a short read. Not many authors, manga or otherwise, would be able to accomplish what Oshimi does here in a handful of pages.

And I don't do trigger warnings, but I think this one needs it: parental neglect, bullying, and sexual assault.

I definitely enjoyed this quick little horror manga, and it is 100% a horror you can't convince me otherwise. I'd highly recommend it for those who enjoy horror/psychology thriller reads.

As always, thanks to NetGalley and Kodansha Comics for the eArc!

This one-shot manga was incredibly hard to put down.

It’s about this weird girl named Chi who’s dropped out of school, one day she shows up to class with a handful of bugs which creeps out her classmates and then she leaves. Two of her classmates, Yua, a girl who used to be friends with, and Koudai, a boy Yua has a crush on, try to befriend Chi again so she’ll come back to school. Yua quickly realizes just how creepy Chi can be.

This manga actually serves as a prologue to a movie, and I absolutely need to watch it. I want to see where Chi’s story goes. I loved how well-written it was, it was very hard to look away. For a short, fast-paced story, it was nice to see the characters fleshed out really well.

The artwork is gorgeous and does a fantastic job of making you feel uneasy.

I highly recommend checking this one out, when it releases on April 22. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy!

I really liked the suspense throughout the story and how it kind of grabbed my attention and kept me wanting to read more. I think it was definitely a good like preview/intro to the movie and I'm now actually wanting to watch it! The artwork was also very well done!!

Thank you to Kodansha and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Once again Shuzo Oshimi demonstrates their skill as a master of horror and suspense. The juxtaposition of quiet school life with the visceral depictions of violence are deeply unsettling. Of course, things are not always as they seem and more villains come to light.

Thank you to NetGalley and Vertical Comics for my copy in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

I was super in love with this. This oneshot is a prequel manga for a film, Toxic Daughter, and it for sure left me wanting more. The art is really cool and it's evocative of the emotions on every page. For sure TRIGGER WARNINGS though; there's sexual assault, animal violence, and graphic violence. It is a lot but if you're okay with it, it'll leave you wanting to see the movie.

Loved it!

Thanks to NetGalley for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first manga by Shuzo Oshimi and was a very fast read. Short but impactful read and has left me wanting to know more.

It is about two childhood friends Chi and Yua who have grown apart, and the process of trying to reintegrate Chi back into their school, prompted along by Yua's crush Kodai. The art was stunning and I enjoyed the story, and the messages about social pressures and expectations. I would recommend, however beware it did include SA which was unexpected.

Thanks to Kodansha Comics, Vertical Comics and Net Galley for an ARC.

With stunning art and a story that immediately hooks you Toxic Daughter:Chi-Chan has a lot to offer fans of slasher flics.

I understand this is a tie in novel and I’m looking forward to watching the movie.

The first few pages are a beautiful painted spread that lets you know off the bat that all though the manga might be in black and white, things will not be all that they seem

Kodai seems like a good kid, for a single second maybe. But it’s not long befor alarm bells start ringing

Yua is a complicated protagonist. This isn’t a long book but you feel like you really know and sympathize with her.

Finally we have Chi. A tragic figure who has a capacity for love and violence in perhaps equal measure who makes the reader question right and wrong.

Complex theme for such a short work and one that will leave you wanting more.

I devoured this manga in less than an hour and now I want more. After finishing it I obseved it was only an one-shot piece created for a Japanese film I have to watch.
I loved its message. This manga describes very well how easy it is to not recognize the real psycho and the real innocents.

I found this manga to be quite enjoyable, particularly the art style, which was impressive. This was my first experience with this artist's work, and I appreciated the way the horror elements maintained a sense of suspense throughout the story. It gave me a bit of soichi vibes

I loved the art style of this graphic novel. It really helped push the story over the edge. This was such a great lead in to the film.

Toxic Daughter: Chi-chan is a one-shot manga, prologue of & in collab with the film with the same title. I’ve never heard of a comic & film collaboration, so I was immediately intrigued.

This was a pretty horrific and twisty short, and it definitely got me curious about the film. Very creepy and worked for what it was designed for.

I absolutely loved this manga. I had a feeling about certain characters and felt like it was a little predictable on that part but other than that I really enjoyed this. I loved the art style especially the black and white almost watercolor we get with the first three pages. I also actually loved Chi. All she wanted was to be loved by her only friend. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this. The fact that it’s a sort of prequel to a film about Chi makes me want to watch it.

I never read anything like it before! It is my first manga by this author and horror manga and I am pleasantly surprise! I was enthralled by the story and sucked in from the first page. I could feel the atmosphere; creepy, strange and unexpected. I also love the many emotions I got from such a short story (since I wasn't expecting it) and by the end I wanted more. I will read more of the genre and from this author.
I recommend for lover of horror, but definitely check TWs.

Review of Toxic Daughter: Chi-chan by Shuzo Oshimi

This was my first manga by Shuzo Oshimi, and I went into it with zero expectations. Toxic Daughter: Chi-chan turned out to be an incredibly fast read—I finished it in just 30 minutes. At first, it felt too short, and I wished the story had been more fleshed out. Only after finishing it did I realize it was a one-shot piece created for a Japanese film. Despite its brevity, the story was quite interesting. While it’s not my usual cup of tea when it comes to Japanese horror, I thoroughly enjoyed it and saw great potential in its premise and character arcs.

One of the strongest aspects of the manga is its social commentary. I interpreted it as a critique of rigid societal norms and the harsh consequences of imposing unrealistic expectations, especially on the young. Chi-chan starts off as a cute, innocent girl with an unusual but harmless hobby: collecting bugs. She never kills them, yet she is severely bullied and punished for simply being different. Over time, society’s rejection and the loss of her only friend push her into isolation. Eventually, she is labeled as a violent psycho, but through flashbacks, we see how she was shaped by the cruelty of others.

Interestingly, the real "psycho" in the story turns out to be the boy who initially appears to have good intentions. He is praised by adults for trying to "fix" Chi-chan and reintegrate her into society, but in reality, he harbors disturbing and sinister traits. However, even he is a product of his father’s domineering ideology and expectations. While this doesn’t excuse his actions, it reinforces the manga’s central theme: the true evil isn’t Chi-chan, but the toxic social standards and narrow-minded perceptions that break individuals before they even have a chance to grow.

Visually, the manga is stunning. Oshimi’s artwork adds an eerie yet melancholic atmosphere that enhances the story’s emotional weight. If anything, I wish this had been a full-length manga, as there was so much more to explore.

Overall, Toxic Daughter: Chi-chan is a short but impactful read. It might not be the most terrifying horror manga, but it offers a compelling reflection on the damage caused by societal pressures.

Before the 2024 thriller Toxic Daughter premiered, there was Toxic Daughter: Chi-chan. Now, Kodansha Manga is releasing this single volume, penned by Shuzo Ozumi. Across the chapters, we learn the harrowing backstory of the film’s scissor-wielding star. The manga follows a pair of schoolkids: shy artist Yua and her crush Koudai. When Koudai decides they should team up to encourage prodigal classmate Chi to return to school, things come unspooled. Chi is bug-obsessed and weirdly violent, and takes a pair of scissors to any she deems her foe. But when her actions begin to harm others, it becomes apparent that the real villain may be hidden in plain sight.

You don’t need to have seen Toxic Daughter to appreciate the prequel manga. It’s chilling, gory, and unsettling. But it’s also a stunning piece of work, all about the horrors that lie under the surface of everyday life. Thriller lovers will want this on their shelves.

Rating: 3/5 stars

The story about Chi is dark and sinister. Chi likes bugs but only when they’re dead. She’s an outcast and a borderline drop out.

I really liked this story and the subtle plot twist towards the end. Unfortunately there is some SA involved in this manga that is shown without any trigger warnings so beware. Other than that I found it very interesting and enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for the arc!

Dare I say, one of my favorite Shuzo Oshimi mangas

I am a very big fan of Shuzo Oshimi and got so excited to see this available early.

☆ thank you to kodansha comics & netgalley for the preview arc! review is my own ☆

shuzo oshimi has such a beautiful way to tell a story that leaves you on the edge of your seat with every turn of the page. thrilling and suspenseful to the very core with twists in plots that grab your attention. this story is purely a highlight of the wonderful storytelling that shuzo brings to the table with every release of his. this story will solidify itself alongside shuzo’s other releases well, carrying the same haunting tales of the dark sides to humanity.