The Ring 2

    (Dark Horse, 2004)
™ and © 1999 The Ring 2 Production Group & Meimu

This graphic novel follows the Japanese novel The Ring, the Japanese movie Ringu, and the first Ring manga. Any of those is scarier than the acclaimed American film, The Ring, and that film is scarier still than this manga.

The Ring 2 starts with a lengthy (43-page) recap. Those who only read the first manga (or saw the American film) may be confused, in that it refers to events from Ringu.

From there, The Ring 2 is a straight adaptation of the Japanese film Ring 2 (which, in turn, has absolutely nothing to do with Spiral, Koji Suzuki’s sequel to his original novel).

The film Ring 2 suffers compared to Ringu, as sequels usually do. The manga suffers compared to the film, as adaptations usually do. The film is much more cohesive; the manga is choppy and hard to follow. (And neither is as scary as Ringu.)

Ring, Ringu, The Ring, The Ring 2, Spiral—for that matter, the third book, Loop (not yet available in English): It’s a big litter, of which this manga is the runt.

— Jack Abramowitz
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