Kirishima Seiichi’s life has so far been full of ups and downs— recurring letdowns in his career as a writer, the tragic death of his son and to top it all, the cold and distant attitude of his wife. With the alleged intention of overcoming the loss of their son and starting over a new life, Kirishima takes his wife on a peaceful island vacation. However, behind the façade of the doting husband, his idea of ‘starting over’ is different and when his plans go wrong, things take an unexpected turn. And then begins the nightmare… somewhere deep inside a cave there is a savage beast with a craving to feed on the flesh of those who stray into the cave, having no clue of what awaits them there.
Hideout is one of those manga that knows how to pull its readers into it from the first page itself. It begins on an interesting and slightly disturbing note that quickly managed to pique my curiosity and kept me glued to it until the very last page. The entire story is narrated from the point of view of our protagonist, accompanied with brief flashbacks now and then. The series is pretty short, consisting of nine chapters. This length is apt taking into consideration the storyline for if it was any longer, it would have only felt draggy. That said, while I personally liked the twisted and unpredictable ending, I’d have preferred if it was elucidated a bit more but then again on another thought, if it did, it would have probably lacked the same impact.
Even in a manga as short as this, the characters have been depicted quite well. Kirishima Seiichi, the protagonist, comes across as an ordinary writer who only wished to make a decent living out of his writing and live happily with his family but then things start to topple over. His wife Miki adds to his despair by repeatedly reminding him of his failures and that he is at fault for everything. And then there is the ‘beast’ whose sole purpose of existence is to create terror.
Actually, where Hideout shines is the brilliant artwork. The sharp, dark tones complement the horror and uneasiness evoked by this manga. Every page and panels are so finely detailed that sometimes I paused reading just to take a closer look at the art. Kakizaki Masasumi is mostly notable for his artwork in Rainbow but since I haven’t read it, I’m not going to make any comparisons between this and that. I might as well go as far as to say that Kakizaki is one of the best manga artists I have come across solely judging his work in Hideout.
To conclude, I’ll gladly recommend Hideout to anyone who is looking for a short, intriguing horror tale. The story is concise, the art is outstanding. It is undoubtedly worth giving a shot.
