Fear: Reiwa Ghost Story - Vol. 3 Ch. 26 - Bridal

[MangaDex]

 

[gomichandesu]

Hmm not sure I really get this one lol. She drools all over herself?

 

[Skullkrusher]

Hmm not sure I really get this one lol. She drools all over herself?

I think it's based on Ghost Weddings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_ghost_marriage
The only reason I think this is because something similar happened in Ura Baito.

 

[OrichalonHades]

bro got a ghost wife. good for him

 

[undeed]

play song: Helena

 

[Vainfire]

yooooo okay. This one's showing more skill. The competence of the mangaka is on display with things like the abrupt ending, the slowly building sense of dread, the insistence that something is wrong but the refusal to put a finger on exactly what that something is. All we're left with is questions to answer: why is Hashimoto so scared? Why does the groom invite nobody? Why does the bride never talk, yet she and her family are always wet? Why do we never see the priest? These confounding questions trouble the mind, and create the feeling of "horror".

I should also compliment the usage of the bridal hall setting, and its reframing in the "Reiwa" era as a symbol of something that is itself dead and decaying, empty and lonely due to the declining rate of marriage... a site of fear! A truly modern Kaidan.

Here are some ideas to throw out there:

• Camellias are a flower symbolizing romantic love, and are the central "theme" of the wedding. Seems appropriate for a wedding, even "perfect"--does this point us to the idea that the man wants an ideal wedding for himself?
• The "father-daughter dance" is not a Japanese tradition, but an American one. Look at what the wedding note says: "the guests are from overseas". This could be overseas meaning death, but could it also mean overseas meaning American? I don't believe that he would've asked for a "bilingual" service if she and her family were simply dead...
• The calendar at the start says the month is April, the fourth month. Likewise, the bride invites forty guests. Four symbolizes death in several East Asian cultures, Japan included.
• The man heard about the establishment from his parents, and his older sister was married at the same place. Yet he can't find a single guest to invite, or perhaps he doesn't want them around?
• The bride and her guests are, of course, incredibly soggy, and the bride leaves her drink untouched during the first visit.
• The residue left by the bride is dirty in some way... unclean, whether physically or spiritually.
• Hashimoto is deeply scared by something that happens on the wedding day. But we see other attendants, such as the lady who helps the bride with her dress.
• We never see the face of the priest who weds them. Furthermore, the wedding happens under a Christian cross.
• The bride, as she opens her mouth, almost seems to contain a sea within her...

I can see the "ghost wedding" angle for sure. There are elements of death (the repetition of the number four, the near-funeral dress of the guests) scattered throughout. But just to throw another idea into the mix, what if this is a reference to the works of HP Lovecraft, specifically the Shadow over Innsmouth? That would make the American cultural references stick, unifying them with the bride's connection to the sea (similarly, Lovecraft's story was about a horrific marriage between a human man and a Deep One wife).

Either way, the point is made: the institution of marriage is no longer sanctified in this new Reiwa era.

 

[musicfreak12]

Hmmm, yeah I don't get this one chief

 

[3141592653589]

Oof, the groom told them they expected 40 people, but in the final panel I count around 44 guests. Pretty sure the modern horror here is how hard the wedding company is gonna fuck them over with extra fees for that underestimate. This is why you have to enforce a strict policy of no +1s, people.

 

[77BLc9JwJGpLVARkamJx]

Sweaty ghost sex orgy wedding

 

[EchoGirl]

Hmm not sure I really get this one lol. She drools all over herself?

I expected her to be some drowning victim

 

[Arexty]

Welp, here's one avenue of modern horror I'll probably never have to worry about encountering.

I think it's based on Ghost Weddings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_ghost_marriage
The only reason I think this is because something similar happened in Ura Baito.

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. The practice is still on-going within China as well as other parts of Asia and unfortunately has led to a lucrative marketplace for young and "single" corpses of girls as well as grave robbing to facilitate it.

 

[strawberrywarrior]

Gods, I love the panels focusing on the puddles, the dirty shoes, the water dripping from skin, the toothy speech. The pervading sense of uncleanliness, grossness, and invasion of private space building up - helped by the fact that this is post-covid, when instructions to disinfect surfaces in public spaces like the bridal meeting room were important. It's all these little odd things, plus the husband's behavior, that created such a great atmosphere.

Lots of subtle twists too - first it's as if the husband is very controlling, the woman worn down into quiet submission. Did they argue before this? Is she nervous? Was the husband so negligent that he didn't care that she was dripping wet, from a mishap, or because of the weather?? Does she just have a medical issue that causes unnatural levels of perspiration? The husband not inviting anyone says something, but we never learn exactly what. It's not like he's estranged from them, they're his references! Is he hiding something from his family? Are they gone? Was this an elopement? But the wetness doesn't stop, hinting that there's something weirder going on. Then the wedding day arrives, and with it the revelation that all of the bride's guests are also wet...

There's no pay off, no resolution. Just a return to the invasive, dreadful uncleanliness with the close-up of the bride's mouth, water inside overflowing like spit from a rabid animal.

And honestly, it works very well. Damn.

Water is usually a bridge to spirits and the underworld. Pretty common for vengeful spirits in Japanese horror to also somehow manifest dripping water and puddles. I have no idea what camellias symbolize, but I've read before that withered camellia flowers tend to fall whole, as if it was beheaded, so it's also another metaphor for death or suicide.

 

[fight2live]

bro got married to the lady of the lake

 

[Parade]

I think it's based on Ghost Weddings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_ghost_marriage
The only reason I think this is because something similar happened in Ura Baito.

Speaking of Ghost Weddings, Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service had an arc about that. Highly recommend reading it, provided you don't mind the ick and general grossness

 

[Skullkrusher]

• The bride, as she opens her mouth, almost seems to contain a sea within her...

A bottomless curse, a bottomless sea, source of all greatness, all things that be.
A bottomless curse, a bottomless sea, accepting of all that there is and can be...

 

[Pilarious]

• Furthermore, the wedding happens under a Christian cross.

This one is not that simple. Japanese people love cool things, especially from the west. They managed to celebrate Christmas, even if they are not Christian themselves, just because they just liked atmosphere and such. Having a wedding in Christian church is such a thing and it's not uncommon. I've seen some churches in Japan and when I asked a friend about them he explained to me "Japanese have Christian wedding, live as shintoists and have Buddhist funeral".

 

[gomichandesu]

I think it's based on Ghost Weddings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_ghost_marriage
The only reason I think this is because something similar happened in Ura Baito.

Ah that makes sense. This one wasn't for the western audiences haha

 

[RaidingClone]

Reminded me of a wedding scene in GTO