Junji Ito | Geekscape

[This review is based on a sample provided by the publisher.]

Master of horror, manga-ka Junji Ito, known for the manga series Uzumaki and Gyo, plies his trade once again with the haunting Tomie. This book is rated “T+” for Older Teens and with good reason. The stories contained within stick with you long after the book is closed.

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The chapters might be considered a series of separate incidents if not for Tomie’s appearance in all of them. And just who is Tomie? She is a young lady with the supernatural ability to charm men into a murderous rampage and, even though she is usually one of the victims, Tomie always comes back (and often in bizarre, almost nauseating, ways). Her ability to regenerate tends to lead to a sort of anxiety for the reader because even though a character may feel relief that Tomie is “dead,” we know better.

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Ito’s art style lends itself to the well to the story. The images can be quite grotesque, as well they should be. Even the relatively “normal” scenes are a bit unsettling. I chalk it up to the expert use of light and shadow.

The English translation is superb. The dialogue is genuinely disconcerting. Just about every line feels weighted with a sense of foreboding. I appreciate the ability to carry over that emotion from language to language.

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I will be honest, Tomie isn’t the sort of book I would choose to read. Horror is not a genre I particularly care for. I do, however, acknowledge that this title does an excellent job of what it sets out to do: spook the reader. I am still legitimately freaked out from reading this. Between the art style, the well-done translation, and the overall creepiness of the stories themselves, Tomie is a horror fan’s dream (nightmare?) come true, earning it a 5 out of 5.

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Junji Ito’s Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition releases December 20 in hardcover print for $34.99 as well as digitally on the Viz Manga app and Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores.

Junji Ito’s horror manga, Uzumaki, will be released in an omnibus edition tomorrow October 15th and will retail for $27.99 US. This edition will be a hardcover format including all 19 chapters plus a bonus “lost chapter” (and 12 color pages).

The story follows young Kirie Goshima and her boyfriend Shuichi Saito who live in a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan. Shuichi believes the town is cursed by spirals. It sounds a little silly at first but this manga is definitively dark and disturbing. In the beginning, the stories are in the format of a “monster of the week” but towards the last third of the book a plot evolves that explores what is behind the spiral curse.

The characters/environment/situations are drawn in a realistic way and sometimes you could say there is too much detail. This makes you become more attached to the characters because they seem like they could be real people. However, there is not a lot of character development besides the two main characters but that is partly because most of the side characters do not survive to the next chapter. The characters are drawn in such a way that all of their emotions are easy to read and when they are exaggerated, they are that much more intense. The art style utilizes shadows and an overall darkness that contributes to the horror feel of the story.

Many of the stories have some of the creepiest and gut wrenching visuals that stay with you. I do not want to give too much away but I included some pages/visuals to give you an idea of the art style and convey some of the gruesome imagery. I would not say it is “scary” but it creeps up on you and grosses you out. Ito did an excellent job of showing movement in stationary 2D images. There is a part (spoiler) where a woman holds a pair of scissors up and is about to smash them into her ear. You do not see it happen but your brain fills in the movement. Numerous parts in this manga are like that. They lead you into a horrendous situation and suddenly another horrible thing is happening.

I enjoyed Ito’s previous collection, Museum of Terror – Tomie, and he did not disappoint with Uzumaki. This is a must for horror readers! You get tons of gore and horror in this big package! Side note, if you feel as wigged out as I did after, make sure to read the humorous afterward to make yourself feel a little better.

Tag: Junji Ito

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