Bizenghast

Infobox Asian comic series
name = Bizenghast


imagesize = 202
caption = Cover, "Bizenghast" volume 1
ko_hangul =
zh_hanzi =
romanized =
genre = Drama, Horror, Psychological
Horror = y
author = M. Alice LeGrow
illustrator =
publisher = flagicon|United States Tokyopop
publisher_en =
publisher_other = flagicon|Finland Tokyopop flagicon|Australia flagicon|New Zealand Madman Entertainment flagicon|Hungary Athenaeum 2000/Mangattack flagicon|Russia Comix-ART
demographic =
magazine =
first = August 9 2005
last = ongoing
volumes = 5
chapter_list =
related =
content =
subcat = Tokyopop
sort = PAGENAME
OEL=y

"Bizenghast" is a manga-influenced comic written by M. Alice LeGrow. The story follows Dinah, an orphaned teenage girl who lives in the haunted town of Bizenghast.

The first volume was published by Tokyopop in 2005. The second volume was published in June 2006. There is also a "Bizenghast Sticker Book and Paper Doll Extravaganza" released with volume two [http://sadwonderland.deviantart.com/journal/8319100/] . The third volume was released in August 2007 and the fourth volume was released in December 2007. Volume five was released in July 2008. The first book in a novel adaption of the series was also released in August 2008. It is written by Shawn Thorgersen and includes illustrations drawn by M. Alice LeGrow.

Plot Summary

The story opens when Dinah’s psychologist arrives at her aunt’s house, and begins to inquire about Dinah’s mental health. Dinah’s aunt Jane is unsure about her condition and when Dinah’s best friend Vincent arrives, both adults question him. Vincent lies, telling them that there have been no recent fits, and proceeds to visit Dinah in her room. Soon after, the two escape from the house out the window and ride on Vincent’s bike into the woods. As they ride on, searching for materials for Vincent’s garden, they come across Bizenghast’s ancient Mausoleum.

Dinah would rather turn back, but Vincent enters the Mausoleum, and she follows. Upon reading aloud from a plaque, Dinah’s name is written on a contract. Suddenly, a menacing, human/spider-like creature comes down from the ceiling. The creature, who calls herself Bali-Lali, threatens to kill Dinah unless she fulfills the contract and appeases all of the ghosts trapped in the Mausoleum. Dinah and Vincent must journey to the Mausoleum every night to free all of the ghosts and unlock the four tower guards in order to win Dinah’s freedom and a large reward.

Characters

Main characters

*Dinah's parents were killed in a car crash when she was eight years old. She now lives with her aunt, Jane Addison, in the remaining building of what used to be an asylum and then a boys' school. She suffers from fits caused by the ghosts that haunt her and is currently seeing a psychiatrist. Her relationship with her aunt appears somewhat estranged, and she does not seem to have any friends excluding Vincent.
In the first book, Dinah appears to be easily frightened and even selfish, wishing to rely mainly upon Vincent. However, later on, her personality becomes more headstrong and independent, even to the point of denying Vincent's help.
She has long, wavy dark brown or black hair (which is frequently re-styled) and blue eyes and tends to wear forms of Gothic Lolita.

*Vincent Monroe was Dinah's champion/admirer. His parents had been on a trip outside the country for a long period of time. His family was incredibly wealthy, but Vincent preferred living in a small house he has formed of discarded parts of the city, and apparently collected antique bikes. Judging by a telegram his father sent him, Vincent was Vincent Monroe Jr., his father being Vincent Monroe Sr. He constantly tried to protect Dinah, helping her in her fits and attempting to complete her Mausoleum tasks. In one chapter of the first book, he was seen both with a riding crop and also two pistols (which he was seen reaching for), which suggests he had some skill in both areas. A particular scene at the beginning of the third volume shows him reacting violently to two girls who talk about Dinah being moved to the 'crazy house'. Vincent yelled at them and stormed off, and was seen sitting against a brick wall on the side of the school, crying, while his friend angrily asked what could possibly cause problems for him when his parents are rich, are not around to pester him, and the fact he got good grades. He had light blond hair and blue eyes and most often wears male forms of the Gothic Lolita and Aristocrat, occasionally integrated with more modern items of clothing. In book 4, Vincent was killed while on a mission in the mausoleum, by a chain of events that are put in place by a suspicious unseen character's hand.

Other Living Humans

*Jane is Dinah's aunt. She is the sister of Dinah's mother, Catherine. She is concerned about Dinah's mental health. In volume one her last name is given as both Addision and Audrey on separate pages. According to an interview with the author, she went through a divorce and reverted to her maiden name. She promises Dinah that they will move to a less depressing home when they have enough money. It has not yet been confirmed if Jane has officially adopted Dinah.

*Dr. R. Morstan was Dinah's psychiatrist.

Mausoleum Staff

Manager

The Manager of the mausoleum is personified as a hooded angel statue. The statue is found above the entrance to the mausoleum. To enter the mausoleum Dinah and Vincent have to give it gold.In book five the hooded angel appeared as two stones that spoke to Dinah to help her overcome Vincent's death.

Tower Guards

There are four tower guards, two of which have been introduced. A new guard is introduced every ten ghosts. The last two guards are Edaniel's sisters: Elala and Eniri (who have yet to be revealed). As revealed in volume two, the guards have an animal and a human form.

*Edaniel is the first of the mausoleum's staff. He usually appears as a grinning cat- like creature (but he claims he has no connection to the Cheshire cat.) He is not shaded, but pictures online have revealed him to be green. Throughout volumes one and two his face is only viewed from the front. According to LeGrow, he "thinks he looks fat in three dimensions. I say he's being picky." [http://sadwonderland.deviantart.com/journal/9200104/#journal]
Edaniel is a joker who frequently uses witty sayings to get on the main character's nerves. He never calls Vincent by his correct name. Edaniel's power includes casting spells. In animal form he often conjures bizarre accessories as a means of expression. Edaniel's human form is that of a handsome, shirtless youth with a tail. He also has a mark (possibly a tattoo) on his chest in the form of a gothic style cross. Although Nareesha is his love interest, he seems to be an open bisexual, since he is seen as asking both Dinah and Vincent to "make out", and, in volume 4, admits that he, "hasn't been in the closet since 1978".

*Edrear is the second guardian of the tower, and Edaniel's little brother. His first appearance in full is on the final page of the second book. Portrayed as a knight-like figure, he is hailed by Edaniel for being a master of nearly every type of weapon, and also for having an interest in chess. Edaniel describes him as "martial-artsy". He seems to only be capable of physical help, but perhaps he too has Edaniel's gift for magic. He has a very low regard for humans, which slowly changes at time progresses. Edrear is shown as dark-skinned and dark-haired. He wears armor (though an author's note in book 4 reveals that his armor is actually an exoskeleton of sorts, and instead of taking it off, he disguises it with magic when necessary), a cape, and carries a sword. In the third volume, he is shown to address Dinah with exaggerated chivalry, and his romantic interest in her is clearly portrayed, to the point of making Vincent quite jealous.

Other Mausoleum Staff

*Bali-Lali resembles an anthropomorphic spider in a jester's costume. She is in charge of the "cleaners" . She apparently has "friends;" smaller spiders with human heads.
*The Cleaners, obviously, clean the mausoleum. They are grotesque spider-like creatures who were vandals or trespassers to the mausoleum. If Dinah does not clean out the vaults, she may become a cleaner.
*Erzebet is a red-haired girl who apparently lives under the mausoleum and cares for a huge cavern of flowers that disguise the smell of the rotting corpses which are stored there. Vincent is the only one so far to meet Erzebet and it is not actually known whether she is a real person or a trick of the mausoleum. There is a blindfolded sculpture of a woman pointing up, and to the side where a stone is missing. In the third volume, Vincent finds this stone, giving further evidence that the garden is real. Upon it there is a carving of a girl being burned at the stake.
*Nareesha is "the most beautiful woman in the world" according to Edaniel. She is the keeper of Lazarus Island and dresses in an Indian sari. LeGrow meant to make a point when she designed Nareesha with a full-figure [http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/25746201/] .

Trivia

*In one chapter "20X6" can be seen on Dinah's Aunt's newspaper. This is a reference to Homestar Runner.

*A silhouette of the Marvel comics character Nightcrawler is perched on the roof of the cathedral in the first chapter. Nightcrawler is one of LeGrow's favorite comic book characters.

*The numbers four and nine often appear on clocks in the first volume and on clothes in the second. D is the fourth letter of the alphabet and I the ninth, spelling "Di," Vincent's nickname for Dinah. [http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/8305984/?offset=25] In a related note, nearly every clock in the series is always set to 4:45, apparently because 4:4+5=9, or 4:9, again spelling out DI.

*On different pages of the book there are snippets of strange text in a made-up alphabet called Babbleghast. The letters look a little like Greek, but they are an original invention of the author. When decoded they spell out hidden, often humorous, messages. In chapter 3, on the statue holding the key ring, there is text that says: "This ones for you, Paul Hudson." Another reads, "Please do not feed the zombies." At the end of the first volume there is a picture of Dinah surrounded by text that resembles the Voynich manuscript. [http://www.bizenghast.com/gallery/Voynich.jpg]

*In the summer of 2007, Tokyopop released a series of their top selling manga into animated format, one among them was Bizenghast which was done in a "moving picture" type format. Each series has a new episode shown every week on Tokyopop T.V. Bizenghast being shown on Thursday. You can go to this link to watch the episodes http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoptv. The song on the opening title is "Feel the disease" by Kissing Violet

*As a guest panalist at the 2008 Sakuracon convention in Seattle, LeGrow stated that Bizenghast is a graphic novel, rather than a manga, & that the art was not influenced by manga, though she planned to make another series latter that was.

*As evidenced by her DeviantArt page, LeGrow is a huge fan of Alice in Wonderland & American McGee's Alice. Edaniel has the same markings on his head as McGee's Cheshire, Dinah was named after Alice's cat, & other homages can be found throughout.

External links

* [http://www.bizenghast.com/ Official Bizenghast website by M. Alice LeGrow]
* [http://www.tokyopop.com/S-1398/ TOKYOPOP's Bizenghast mini-site]
* [http://www.newsarama.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=35349 TOKYOPOP's Rising Stars of Manga III: M. Alice LeGrow on Bizenghast]
* [http://sadwonderland.deviantart.com/ M. Alice LeGrow's deviantART Account]
* [http://www.bizenghast.com/series/littleknownfacts.html/ Little Known Facts]
* [http://bizenghast-fan.deviantart.com/ Bizenghast Fan Club on deviantART]