Boredom Combat: Junko Mizuno's Fairy Tales

All those little stories we heard as children have a darker background. The original Nutcracker involved gory rat slaughter, Ring Around the Rosie was written about the Bubonic Plague, all that stuff. But all the grime was removed so these stories were more easily digestable. Whatevz to that. This results in children who are not as intrigued hearing the censored story as they are when they hear of its dirtier backgrounds!

Badass Japanese manga artist Junko Mizuno respects this theory. This is why she started making a series of darker fairy tales for a trilogy in 2002 that I just picked up. Based upon fairy tales everyone knows, Mizuno has taken it to the next level with Cinderalla, Hansel and Gretel, and Princess Mermaid.

Cinderalla, the most psychedelic of the three, is the story we all know, except this time, the whole family is made up of zombies and Cinderalla is in love with a zombie pop star. There is totally zombie sex.

Hansel & Gretel is the classic turned ninja style. Gretel is a loud, sexy schoolgirl who beats up bitches, and she and her brother have to go save their town when all the food has disappeared! This one is a real cliffhanger and the funnest and fastest read.

Princess Mermaid is by far the darkest of the series. A tragically-centered Little Mermaid, this book involves a family of mermaid prostitutes killing customers to gain vengeance from their dead mother. Our main character Julie has fallen in love with a human related to the men who killed the mermaids' mother...

Such worthwhile reads. Beautifully done, so inspired. Each story is intriguing within itself. I recommend starting from the beginning (organized alphabetically for convenience, I know). Though these tales are not always reminiscent of ones we've acquainted ourselves with, inspiration flows within these crazy pages.

What's great is that you read them so fast.

What sucks is that you read them so fast...