‘Drip Drip’ by Paru Itagaki is weird, wacky, and full of blood dripping through the pages. So it does live up to its title, and certainly does not miss the chance to shock readers a little in the very first page.
Protagonist Mako Higari is 29, beautiful, extremely single, and has never had a romantic relationship, even though she is desperate for connection. The problem? She starts to profusely bleed whenever she comes in contact with something ‘dirty’ or ‘contaminated’… including men.
Paru Itagaki delivers a blood-soaked, graphic, and darkly funny look at just how nightmarish dating can be for those carrying unresolved childhood trauma, filtering Mako’s anxieties through a wildly exaggerated lens. Of course, “Drip Drip” is open to interpretation, and different readers may walk away with different conclusions.
Mako’s willingness to sleep with almost any man in the hope of finding the intimacy she longs for, only to horrify them with her uncontrollable bleeding, can also be read as a grotesque metaphor for the way women who openly express their sexual desires are often viewed as dangerous, impure, or even monstrous. Yet from Mako’s perspective, the condition is simply a heartbreaking curse, one that seems to suggest the world she inhabits is incapable of offering her anything as pure as love.
‘Drip Drip’ has excellent artwork and Mako is an entertainingly likable protagonist, even if her condition is gorily bizarre. You want to know more of her life, childhood, and what really happens to her. Unfortunately though, this manga is too fast and furious. While the creator introduces a potential long-term relationship for the protagonist, the sub-plot moves at lighting speed.
This book needed to be longer. I wasn’t interested in the additional one shot at the end, and felt forced into bidding farewell to Mako Higari. She deserved a few more chapters!
I’d rate ‘Drip Drip’ a 3.5 on 5 stars.
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