Goth (manga)

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This page needs to be split into Goth (novel), Goth (manga), and Goth (film).

"She first caught my eye when I saw her white wrist peeking out from the edge of darkness. It was pale as porcelain… and the mark loomed out from it."

Itsuki Kamiyama is not an Ordinary High School Student. While he often appears cheerful, engaging, and interested in his fellow students, it is simply a facade to hide his true self. When he notices a beautiful, pale skinned girl with scars on her wrist named Yoru Morino, he quickly becomes obsessed... he wants her, but not in the way that a normal teenaged boy wants a girl. No, he wants to take her delicate hand... and keep it all for himself.

When Morino nonchalantly asks him to teach her how he so can so easily fake a smile, Kamiyama realizes that she can see right through him. Instantly the two become drawn to each other, sharing their obsession with the darkness that lurks just beneath the surface of society. Together they uncover some of the most cruel and gruesome acts committed by mankind, all the while facing ever present danger... not just from the killers they investigate, but also from that part of Kamiyama that still hungers for Morino's death.

Goth is a 2003 horror / mystery novel by Japanese writer Otsuichi that successfully blends Psychological Horror, Detective Literature, Slasher Movie, and Gorn. A Shounen (yes, really) Manga adapted from the novel by illustrator Kendi Oiwa was published in 2004 by Kadokawa Comics. In 2008 a live-action film adaptation was released, taking its direction from both the manga and the novel. The manga and novel are available in English from Tokyo Pop, and the movie has been released on DVD with English subtitles by Jolly Roger/Well Go USA.


The following tropes are common to many or all entries in the Goth (manga) franchise.
For tropes specific to individual installments, visit their respective work pages.

"When you want to die...I'll kill you."

  • Pet the Dog: Kamiyama routinely coming to Morino's rescue may be seen as this, if it's not the above trope. He's creepy as fuck either way though.
  • Playing to The Fetishes: If the Nightmare Fetishism doesn't get you, the manga cover page of Morino in a ball gag will.
  • Posthumous Character: Morino's sister.
  • Scars Are Forever: Morino's wrists.
  • Serial Killer: During their investigations, the male and female leads bump into several serial killers throughout the series, their encounters often being far too close for Morino's comfort.
  • Serial Killer Stalker: Kamiyama feels professional curiosity about the murders he investigates.
  • The Sociopath: Itsuki Kamiyama
  • Tall, Dark and Snarky: Kamiyama.
  • Together in Death: A young man whose girlfriend is Buried Alive by Kamiyama's latest target follows him to the scene. The girl is found dead of a self-inflicted neck wound. It is only after the killer confesses that he notices the "other boy" is missing. The coffin containing the victim has been quietly reburied - and a soft whisper is audible through the air tube under the surface.

"I love you... forever... because we'll be together forever..."

  • Unreliable Narrator: Kamiyama as a first-person narrator is pretty honest about being a liar. Furthermore, he doesn't appear to always understand his own motivations, especially where Morino is concerned. In the novel, the Unreliable Narrator is a major plot point the story about the dog; a Twist Ending results.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Subversion with Morino. And then a Double Subversion.
  • Weirdness Magnet: Kamiyama and Morino. In the novel, Kamiyama's little sister has a history of stumbling upon corpses.
  • You Bastard: Morino muses about how she and Kamiyama share a "ceaseless craving for darkness". Makes you think about why you're reading this manga in the first place. May overlap with Fridge Horror for some.
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