Danica Davidson
October 31, 2023 
In Panorama of Hell, an artist with different-sized pupils tells the reader that he is “a painter of hell, possessed by the beautiful color of blood.” He cuts himself to use his own blood for paint. With that he makes his “Panoramas of Hell,” and he wants to tell us, the reader, about them.
He shows us the guillotine outside his house, which is still in regular use. He shows us the crematorium nearby, where the headless corpses are sent. After showing the truly grotesque world around him, he moves along to tell us about his twisted family, from his yakuza grandfather to his abusive parents to his morbid kids to his wife who feeds dead people at an inn.
Most of the book concentrates on “horror book level horror.” In other words, it’s completely over-the-top and unrealistic, and even when it goes past what we might consider good taste, it’s safe because it’s in a book and no one gets hurt. (And even as far as “horror book level horror” goes, this is on the strong end.) Almost every page is dripping with blood, gore, or something else intense. Needless to say, this book is not for the easily scared.
But it also gets into some real horrors: war — specifically World War II, the atomic bomb, extreme child abuse, and horrific animal abuse. This stuff is a little harder to take.
Still, it’s important to point out that while it does touch on a few real things, it mostly stays in the realm of total make-believe. And it is unsettling, mostly in the “good” way that horror books can accomplish. It’s raw, dedicated, and open to interpretation. While people who are easily scared wouldn’t like this book, horror aficionados can find a unique, extreme, bloodthirsty and totally off-the-rails read.
Panorama of Hell was previously published by Blast Books in the 90s, but has since gone out of print there. Now Star Fruit Books is bringing it back out in English. Star Fruit Books also publishes Hino’s intense horror manga Town of Pigs.
Story & Art: Hideshi Hino
Publisher: Star Fruit Books
Translator: Dan Luffey
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
