With a title like Hallucination from the Womb, you know you are in for a strange experience. Like a siren from ancient myths, it will grab your attention, and then probably drown your brain-cells if you get too close to it. Similar to modern art, some stories appeal to readers by asking them to insert their own interpretation. If you love to immerse yourself and analyze the details of a story, then this manga might just be for you.

The reader will be treated to several fascinating short stories involving the citizens of Shell City, a futuristic yet decaying setting. Undead will rise, children will be kidnapped, people will be cloned, and that is just a minor taste of what this anthology contains. After finishing all the short stories, it may be hard to pin-point what the manga is truly about. Twisted love, death, pedophilia, regrets, obsession, one can find many themes on full display. Jumping up and down like a spastic kid that just made his first puzzle in art-class, the stories are just vague enough to make you curious of what it all means, if there is a solution at all.

Even the title would lead one to believe that there are many double-meanings at play. On the one hand it is called Hallucination from the Womb, but the more literal translation would be Dreams from Shell City. While it is only speculation, the short stories seem to be labelled as dreams and hallucinations, and the city which they all take place in is meant to symbolize a womb.

The manga's most notable downside is the artwork. While it lends itself well to the style of the crumbling city, and its downtrodden characters, the author tends to recycle the exact same character-designs over and over again. Whether it was intentional or not, making it hard to distinguish characters from each other did not help the overall story.

Ultimately, being so open for interpretation makes Hallucination from the Womb difficult to judge, and it is certainly not for everybody. Being strange is however the nature of this beast, and it’s a trait that will make it inexplicably enjoyable for some.