IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – SPLATTER FILM

Hey!! What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time.

Hello my friends. It has been one year since I wrote my last entry of It’s Junji Ito Time, and, personally, I want to thank all of you who have read my entries, because they have proved to be extremely popular. And, to be honest, I absolutely enjoyed writing about Junji Ito. And since it is Halloween month, it is a good opportunity to go back to this wonderful feeling.

Now, let’s go with Splatter Film

STORY

Splatter Film is the seventh and final story of the one-shot series of Junji Ito, New Voice in the Dark, a sequel of the 2002 series of stories, Voices in the Dark.

Splatter film starts with two stoners, Ogi and Sugio. Turns out that Ogi has returned from a trip from South America, and he has recollected some «special» honey and place it in a jar. Ogi revealed that the Natives worshipped the tree that produced that honey, to the point that they will risk their lives to get it.

Shortly afterwards, Ogi offers Sugio a lick, but warns him «not to get caught eating it.», some kind of warning from the place he got the honey. Sugio has his lick, and he finds the honey the most delicious thing he has ever tasted, much to Ogi’s surprise and horror, because Sugio asks for another bite in a pretty obsessed way, however Ogi denies it.

Some time after, Sugio does not enjoy the food as much as the honey. Then he brings his friends into Ogi’s house to get a bit of the honey. However, despite not finding Ogi, Sugio and his friends taste the honey; they also find some stench, and after inspecting the house, they find some «weird decoration» inside the house.

The decoration is a twisted mixture between fluids, fabric and bones. And after a close inspection, Sugio and his friends recognise that it may be Ogi; so after some debate, they leave his house along with the jar.

Sugio and his friends divide the honey in equal parts, but suddenly, one of them, a boy called Yasmin, literally splatters after eating the honey. Only that this time, everyone is witness of what happened.

Despite these tow horrific events, Sugio and group continue to eat the honey, until another of them, a girl called Riruko, «splatters», leaving the others in evident horror; after the third splat, Sugio deduces that it is, without a doubt, the honey. Sugio suggests that this could be some kind of «wrath of God», so he suggests stop eating th honey, or «the God with splattter them», but Kameda, one of the boys, discard that as a superstition.

Some days after, only three of the kids survived, Yue, Sugio And Kameda, but they are unable to eat other food, and quickly develop withdrawn symptoms due to stopping eating the honey; because of this, all of them start losing weight. Sugio reveals that the bodies of Riruko, Yasmin and Ogi were in the news, labelling them as the «pancake murders». Immediately Yue and Sugio meet Kameda, who lost weight too and had two friends «splattered» after they found his stash. Three friends can’t take it anymore, in both not eating the honey and not knowing what «not getting caught» means, so they start eating the honey again, which causes Sugio to splatter in front of them.

After that, Yue loses her sanity, and throws into the river, believing that «the thing» will not get her there. Unfortunately she is wrong, because something comes from the sky and crashes her.

Shortly afterwards, Kameda travels to South America, to get more of the honey, and after following the map left by Ogi in his wallet, he discovers that it comes from a monstrous tree with branches long enough to reach anywhere in the world, like something of World Tree. Despite this, Kameda makes the huge mistake of eating honey from the tree, which resulted in his death, and ending the story.

SYMBOLISM

Ok. Here comes the hard part, because many of Junji Ito fans, myself included, theorised that the author was making a reference to the work of H.P. Lovecraft, and that the infamous tree is actually Shub-Niggurath, or a reference of her, as well as her terrible, destructive influence on humans. Nonetheless I want to add something up. I personally believe that Junji Ito was using body horror to making a social commentary about the dangers of drugs, as well as the dangers of «looking for new thrills» without reflecting on the consequences that they have on us, especially on the youth people, who are the most vulnerable toward this kind of toxic activities.

Furthermore, this reminds me more of the Hounds of Tindalos, from Frank Belknap Long, who, after summoning them, they will always haunt you, appearing on the corners of your home, and butchering you in the worst ways possible.

Tell me what you think on the comments.

CONCLUSION

Splatter Film is another great story from the genius that is Junji ito. Highly recommended if you love his stories.

And let me pass you the links of this story.

https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/Splatter_Film

https://imgur.com/gallery/fFrO0

Have a good one, and enjoy the rest of the day.

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – ARMY OF ONE

Hey. What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time

ARMY OF ONE

Army of One is the bonus story that concludes one of the most popular words of Junji Ito – Hellstar Remina, published in 2005, which also consists in seven chapters. Army Of One is similar to The Enigma of the Amigara Fault, in which both are one-shot that concludes more well-known and complex storylines (Gyo in the case of Amigara Fault).

Many Junji Ito Fans consider Army of One one of his best stories, including myself.

Yes. I just recently ended reading Army of One, and concluded that indeed it deserves an entry on my blog.

STORY

The story starts on an unnamed city from Japan. A young couple went missing, but recently a civilian who was taking his dog for a walk in the park suddenly finds both of them dead. Nonetheless, that is not the awful truth. The worst part is that they were sewn together with what is like a fishing wire. The discovery becomes known nationwide.

Meanwhile, we jump to the protagonist of our story, Michio, who has been a hikikimori for the last seven years. (For those who do not know, a hikikimori refers to a person in Japan who has voluntarily shut himself or herself from the outside world), and has recently turn twenty. Michio gets invited to a high school reunion by his classmate and former crush, Natsuko Horie. At first Michio refuses to attend, but Natsuko successfully persuades him to go.

During his shut-in time, Michio has been listening to a really weird song, that goes like this:

«NOBODY LIKES A LONELY ONLY, EVERYONE’S YOUR FRIEND, EVERYONE’S YOUR FRIEND WHEN YOU JOIN YOUR HEARTS AND SING… ARMY OF ONE, WE ARE THE ARMY OF ONE.»

During the meeting, Michio meets his former classmates – Noriyuki Sakai and Keisuke Sakagi, but turns that all of them, including Natsuko, have standard jobs with standard bosses, something does not seem to impress Michio at all. But soon the great news are revealed – Natsuko and Noriyuki will marry the next year. Upon hearing this, Michio leaves straight away. Keisuke invites him to a singles party, but Michio refuses to attend.

On his way home, Michio discovers six bodies of some people who recently got missing.

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Shortly, a plane passes by, spreading fliers of the so-called «Army of One», with the same song that appeared on the radio.

Michio investigates on the Internet, hearing rumours that blamed this called Army of One for the multiple «stitch-murders». Shortly afterwards, Natsuko calls Michio, and informs him that Keisuke was murdered and has his body sewn together… with the rest of the guests of the singles party he organised.

The news labels the Army of One as a criminal organisation, and firmly advise to avoid huge crowds. Upon hearing this, Michio calls Natsuko and suggests to postpone the class reunion, something that she immediately refuses, called what people sees in the news as a bluff, and encourages Michio to attend one more time. He tells her that he will think about.

Christmas Day arrives, and Michio wonders how is Natsuko doing. But then, the news reveal that hundreds of bodies were found in a plaza full of Christmas trees in the most horrific way possible. All sewn together and almost naked.

Krampus and Billy Chapman would be proud

The news began speculating about the Army of One, even claiming that they are some kind of alien force, especially because none of the bodies have shown signs of struggles or previous injury. The city councils, all over the city, cancel meetings and coming-of-age ceremonies everywhere. However, the one planned by Natsuko and Noriyuki continue as planned.

Michio sneaks in despite the huge security, just to check on Natsuko. A quarrel between Michio and police takes place, until Natsuko comes and reveals that they are friends. Police releases Michio and both go to the coming-of-age ceremony, just to find out that all the five hundred guests, including Noriyuki have disappeared without leaving a trace.

Natsuko goes hysterical, and days later, all the guests are found dead, sewn together, including Noriyuki.

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After that incident, people officially avoid crowds, shutting themselves at home. Meanwhile, Michio calls Natsuko to check on her. Natsuko is obviously depressed, she practically has lost any desire of living. Michio decides to check on her, and her mental stability. On his way to see Natsuko, Michio sees again the same planes dropping fliers of the Army of One, and then, there are some Japanese Self-Defense Forces airplanes, willing to take them down.

That image alone is enough to motivate Michio.

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Immediately Michio rushes off to Natsuko’s house to confess his feelings for her. And when he gets there, he finds a very disturbing image. Turns out that Natsuko murdered her parents and her dog and is sewing their bodies together, while singing the jingle of Army of One, much to his horror.

Finally, even JSDF planes are dropping fliers of the Army of One.

SYMBOLISM

First, I will discuss some of the themes that Junji Ito analyses on Army of One, and then I will give my own interpretation of what happened throughout the story, and who caused the «murders».

According to Junji Ito Fandom, Army of One makes a resemblance of the planes dropping fliers with the Allied airplanes, who threw propaganda to the bombed towns in Japan during World War II. Now, this is my interpretation, but Army of One might be some allegory to how impotent we, as humans, can feel toward the power of our own government, especially in a country where the mass media is state-controlled, such as North Korea, where people is constantly manipulated by the propaganda.

Too much manipulation would lead to fanaticism and ultimately to chaos.

And since Junji Ito is also known for this constant criticism toward modern Japanese society, that might be the case, especially since Hellstar Remina, he volume Army of One belongs to, was published in 2005, sixty years after Japanese surrender. I admit that I am going too far, but I wanted to mention this.

Furthermore, Junji Ito might be warning us about having an unbalance between We as individuals and We as a community. We need to keep in mind that most of the individuals that died in Army of One were in crowns, or in couples, even Natsuko, Noriyuki and Keisuke were always insisting about gathering together despite national warnings. We, as human beings, are social creatures, we need to be in contact with others, but too much dependence on that can be dangerous, because there are dangers that we cannot always foresee, so we need to look after ourselves as individuals too. But on the other hand, too much isolation is dangerous, leading us to decisions that will destroy our lives, or do things we will regret.

In this case, if Michio didn’t become a shut-in, we might spend more years, and create beautiful memories with Natsuko, and protect her. Now… he can only regret losing her forever. Everything is a big irony, because his isolation saved him… and filled his life with more regret and loneliness. Not solitude, loneliness.

A very appropriate allegory to what we as humans are suffering nowadays with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Again. Junji Ito criticises these two sides of the unbalance of Japanese society.

Now… Who has behind the stitch-murders?

From one perspective, Army of One is also a social commentary of how modern society can be vulnerable and impotent toward massive hysteria, along the elements that I previously mentioned. However, I have a theory of my own, and is that all the citizens were manipulated by a malevolent force with a strong influence on them, and making them kill each other, being sewn together as some kind of twist ritual of adoration.

Something similar to H.P. Lovecraft’s Nyarlathotep.

In the Cthulhu Mythos, Nyarlathotep, unlike many Outer Gods, lives on Earth, assumes multiples appearances, can talk to humans, has thousands of followers and a very powerful madness induction, being very manipulative and incurring to propaganda to achieve his goals,, similar to the fliers of Army of One.

Or perhaps something like Stephen King’s Randall Flagg, who is very also powerful, very manipulative and very diabolical.

CONCLUSION

Army of One is absolutely one of the best stories of Junji Ito, being as entertaining as anything related to Tomie, Souchi and Uzumaki. Also one of my personal favourites, along with The Enigma of the Amigara Fault, The Woman Next Door, and Slug Girl.

These three are very scary. And have the best stories and narratives, along with Army of One.

Many will be disappointed that there is no present monster, but I don’t think it needs one. A great story is scary enough if it is well-written, and that is the case with Army of One.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/Army_of_One&gt;

<https://imgur.com/gallery/MWDjT#&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – HELL’O DOLLIES – or a doll’s hellish burial

Hey. What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time.

HELL’O DOLLIES

Hell’o Dollies, a.k.a. A Doll’s Hellish Burial, is one of the stories of the sixteenth volume of The Horror World of Junji Ito, called Frankenstein, published, according to the Fandom page, from 1994 to 1997. And just like Slug Girl, this series of stories was never published in the United States, so mostly, you will find fan translations of theses stories, but very good.

Hell’o Dollies is one of the best, but remember, just like Slug Girl, this story is pretty graphic.

Finally, Hell’o Dollies is part of the Junji Ito Collection. More precisely, episode 1B.

STORY

The story begins with a middle-aged man, looking horrified at the window of his house, claiming that his worst fear came true. That is that his daughter, Maria, became victim… of the illness.

Turns out that, according to an organisation (possibly the WHO) revealed to the world that 30% of the children world population became victim of what is called Early Onset Doll’s Disease, in which the arms, legs, hands, and face of the kids deformed to look identical to a doll, and the skin eventually becomes wooden, their joints become hairline cracks, their eyes have a blank staring position, and their face have absolutely no expression at all.

What caused this disease is unknown, but what it is less known is what kind of children can be infected.

The point is that his wife, Maria’s mother, finds out too, and… well… let’s just said that feeling devastated for the outcome is an understatement.

Furthermore, it is also revealed that the parents all over the world were unable to bear such a pain, and decided to burn their kids. The father does not understand the reason of that. However, both of Maria’s parents have some solace over the fact that Maria will always be together with them, and that she will always smile.

However, as time passes by…

…Maria is suffering a more grotesque transformation. Her skin begins to crack, her mouth deforms, she has now sharp teeth, her limbs become thinner and larger, as well as her fingers, and some tentacles start appearing all over her neck, like a gigantic centipede.

Both of the parents finally understood why children are being thrown away. And now, it is their turn.

Their poor, lovely Maria.

SYMBOLISM

Indeed, this is one of the shortest stories I have ever read from Junji Ito. In fact, I am almost leaving the story for you guys to read it. However, Hell’o Dollies just left me with a lot to think about.

Firstly, it is very clear what in this story Junji Ito uses one of his best themes, Body Horror, to illustrate the pain, suffering and tragedy of one element modern society can relate to – Deteriorating diseases, either cancer, Alzheimer, diabetes, Dementia or any other. It is all about taking and sharing the pain, from both perspectives.

On one hand, we got the patient, who, in the case of the Alzheimer, is really calm, aloof, reserved, totally unaware that he/she is suffering the disease, but trapped on a body that has become a prison, and on the other hand, the relatives of the person, who shares with the patient all what they can, fully accepting that he/she will never be same.

It reminds me that 2014 movie starring Julianne Moore, Still Alice.

Where Alice, a linguistics professor played by Moore, is diagnosed with Alzheimer, and she shares their last moments with her family.

However, from the way Junji Ito narrates the story, I truly do not know who is suffering the most, Maria or her parents. I believe that both have the same pain, with two big differences – The first one is Maria’s pain is physical, and her parents is psychological. The second one is that Maria, most likely, has a terrible barrier that isolates herself to her parents, and what these are forced to hurt her daughter, either by leaving her alive, or throwing her away.

Also, the ending is similar to Slug Girl, Maria’s parents are forced to let Maria go.

Overall, the thematics are very similar to Slug Girl; a girl that is infected with a very severe disease and they must let her go. But while Yuuko’s parents are basically on denial, Maria’s parents are with acceptance. It is like Junji Ito wanted to expose two of the five stages of grief.

At the end, it is the same on the stories of Junji Ito. A constant loss of the humanity for an unknown force.

Personally, I am still debating what is exactly what cause the disease, either a virus or a malevolent force. I prefer to think that it is both.

CONCLUSION

Hell’o Dollies is a really good story, a very short one, but as grotesque, unnerving and chilling as Slug Girl or The Thing that Drifted Ashore. I honestly recommend it, especially if you liked to think a lot about what is going on with the COVID-19 pandemic, or have a good scare.

See it by yourself.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/Frankenstein&gt;

<https://imgur.com/gallery/bL7qQ&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – SLUG GIRL

Hey! What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time.

SLUG GIRL

As I previously mentioned on my entry of The Thing that Drifted Ashore, Slug Girl was published in 1997 as well, and it is the introductory short story of Slug Girl, volume seven of the Horror World of Junji Ito. It was also adapted in the Junji Ito Collection, episode Three, part 2, released on January 19, 2018. According to Junji Ito Fandom, it was never released in English. But I am not sure about that. If anyone can clarify that, I will deeply appreciate it.

However, I must warn you… That picture from above is a perfect foresight for what is about to come.

STORY

Our story begins with Rie and her best friend and cousin, Yuuko. Yuuko was once a very talkative girl, but recently she has become unusually quiet. Not just that, Yuuko has also become pretty bad at pronunciations. Rie talks to Yuuko but she clarifies that she is not feeling well. Sometime later, Yuuko’s condition becomes so bad that she is unable to attend school.

And here, I must say that…

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…The Junji Ito Collection really caught the depressing tone on that simple still.

The point is that Rie decides to visit Yuuko at her house, but when she reaches the doorbell, no one answers the door. so Rie goes and tries to enter on the backyard; once she arrives there, she finds Yuuko’s parents squishing many slugs, and throwing them salt.

Immediately, Yuuko’s mother escorts Rie to her room, where both find Yuuko resting in her bed with a facemask on. Rie wonders whether Yuuko caught a cold, while her mother only mentions that the doctor found Yuuko’s mental health weak. Rie tries to see beneath the mask, but Yuuko refuses to let her, only to furiously tell both to leave her alone.

Once more…

…looks to me that the Junji Ito Collection is making a fantastic job in catching the dark atmosphere with the animation.

After leaving the house, Rie remembers, through the terrified eyes of Yuuko, some other time in which the latter was that scared, and that was on elementary school; one day, her backyard was completely full of slugs, the very thing that Yuuko hates the most, and some of their classmates tried to scare her with those slugs. Since that day, Yuuko never returned to the backyard.

The next day, Rie goes for another visit to Yuuko, when suddenly her mother hysterically leaves the house and asks for a doctor. Rie catches her and asks what happened. Yuuko’s mother answers that something is wrong with Yuuko’s tongue. Immediately, Yuuko appears before both of them, with something slowly appearing from her mouth.

Then, it is revealed that Yuuko’s tongue transformed into a big, disgusting, slimy slug with a sort of conscience.

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And I specifically mention «with a conscience», because, as the story points out, the slug is not listening to any instruction of Yuuko.

Let me, once more, share with you some GIFS from the Junji Ito Collection.

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Rie was so terrified that she never returns to Yuuko’s house. The rest she hears it from her aunt and uncle.

They revealed that Yuuko tried to cut the slug with a pair of scissors, but it grew back, again and again; afterwards, her parents tried to force salt into Yuuko’s mouth, only for her to spit it out. Soon, because the slug is devouring everything that Yuuko eats and drinks, she becomes sicker and skinnier. So, desperate, her parents come up with a drastic plastic.

And that is filling up the bathtub with salt to kill to slug.

They do that and force Yuuko to get it. Sinking slowly, slowly into the bottom. The problem is that Yuuko never actually comes out from the bathtub, staying there for quite long.

They immediately attempt to drag her out of the bathtub, but all what they find is her pijamas and her underwear. Nonetheless, they are able to reach Yuuko’s head, with her body reduced almost to nothing due to the salt. However, the slug is still alive, and it begins crawling outside the house.

The slug reaches the backyard, where it still remains there until the end, with Yuuko’s head at its shell, always sharing a sad gaze toward those who look after her.

And there the story concludes.

This last image apparently became a meme, because so many authors recreate Yuuko’s head on the slime in the best way. Here is a small gallery of what I found.

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Credit to the respective authors.

SYMBOLISM

I didn’t mention this before, with Slug Girl introduces us to a recurring theme from Junji Ito, one that is also deeply present in The Enigma of the Amigara Fault – Body Horror. However, unlike what happens in the latter, the transformation of Yuuko is more subtle, because along with her tongue becoming that disgusting slug, we are witness of how Yuuko’s mental health changes for the worse, first from talkative to quiet, then from quiet to aggressive, and finally, from aggressive to acquiescent; because for me, Yuuko is practically begging us to kill her through that «sad gaze».

And that is very common with many people with mental health issues.

But before I discuss that, I want to mention that this story reminds me to another great, influential short story with a similar theme – The Metamorphosis, from Franz Kafka. In the story, Gregor Samsa transforms into a disgusting insect, at the beginning he is optimistic that his condition is only temporary, but it is clear that this is not the case. And little by little, his father and mother decide to ignore and neglect Gregor. And despite Grete looks after him, at least at the beginning, she gets tired of him, and all the Samsa family decides to «dispose» Gregor and throw the corpse.

Only… because is different.

With Slug Girl something similar happens. Yuuko becomes «different», and then Rie just turns her back on Yuuko, without even bothering on understanding how is Yuuko actually feeling. And later, Yuuko’s parents try to help her, but both cause more damage than help, to the point of being irreversible (Since we are talking about Junji Ito, it won’t surprise me that this is the case). In the end, everyone in Yuuko’s family lets her down, but through different actions, Rie because of mere repulsion, and Yuuko’s parents because of reckless ignorance. It is different that with Gregor Samsa and his family, but both stories go around the same theme – Incomprehension.

I repeat, while Samsa’s family willingly chooses to neglects Gregor, Yuuko’s family are forced to hurt her.

Now, I need to go back to mental illnesses, another element from Slug Girl. Because those who suffer them never actually understand what is going on, and since they are unable to share their thoughts to their relatives and friends, they feel isolated, depressed and paranoid. There is no one to fully trust, and somehow they know that those around them will judge and attack them, which is why these individuals are aggressive and defensive. And even in our times, these problems are more common than we can think.

Due to my anxiety issues, I got my arguments with family and friends. But not to the point of violence, luckily.

To sum up, Slug Girl deals with a more subtle fear to the unknown, in this case, deformities in our minds and bodies, some elements so disgusting that make people walk away, instead of trying to investigate about what is really going on.

And to finish now, I want to point out another element that caught my attention and that is… How nature, far from beautiful, it can be also really terrifying. And in the case of Slug Girl, it is more about our fears.

In my case… I DESPISE TICKS.

Sorry for the unnevering image

I fear ticks more than I fear spiders. And I get paranoid of what they can do.

And when I read Slug Girl, I constantly remember how nature can surprise us in the worst ways possible. Hopefully you won’t suffer with that… or with them.

CONCLUSION

Of all the stories from Junji Ito that I have read so far, Slug Girl is the most disgusting and gruesome, even more than The Thing that Drifted Ashore (but surpassing by Glyceride), but it is also one of the most tragic, because Yuuko looked like a genuinely nice girl, and I don’t think she did something to deserve that hideous destiny. I want to think that she eventually passed away.

But that is up to everyone’s interpretation.

Check the analysis of the YouTube RagnarRox about Slug Girl. It is really good. Here I leave the link.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/Slug_Girl_(story)&gt;

<https://imgur.com/gallery/HLC93ZP&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – THE THING THAT DRIFTED ASHORE

Hey!!! What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time.

THE THING THAT DRIFTED ASHORE

The Thing that Drifted Ashore, just like The Window Next Door, belongs to the The Horror World of Junji Ito, more precisely, Volume 7, Slug Girl. So yes, it belong to other of my favourite stories of Junji Ito, the eponymous Slug Girl.

Both published in 1997.

STORY

Our story begins somewhere on the Pacific Ocean. A gigantic, grotesque, serpent-like creature has drifted and died. The corpse looks to be very unnatural, the heads looks to be full of tumors, furthermore, the creature is over 30 meters long, and, due to its body, it appears to belong to the prehistorical period. It does not happen too long before the corpse attracts the attention of both scientists and bystanders.

Our protagonist and narrator is a young boy who always hated the fishes and the ocean. The story reveals that the boy’s fear of ocean life comes from a quick visit to a local aquarium. The boy gets extremely terrified by the creepy appearances of the fish, calling them «creatures forgotten by the entire universe.»

Because of this, our protagonist is constantly suffering from nightmares, around being surrounded by these creatures.

The creature is beginning to rot, but the scientists do not want that, for they called this «the discovery of the century», and start working in a way to study the creature as much as they can. Meanwhile, it begins to get very hot, almost a heatwave. And just like the boy and the scientists continue looking at the creature, the former meets a young woman, called Mie, who gets dizzy due to the heat and the stench of the corpse.

The boy takes Mie to the shadow.

While Mie slowly recovers, she reveals that she also hates the ocean, just like the boy, but she felt curious about the creature. Immediately, the boy asks her the reason of the hatred of the ocean. Then, Mie reveals that she lost a very beloved person, seven years before the events of the story. A ferry shipwrecked in the coast of Izu and many people disappeared. Her friend was one of them.

The boy asked Mie who he was, then she reveals that it was her fiance, Tadashi.

She already gave up hope of him being alive. Nonetheless, she dreams of becoming him, at the middle of the ocean, in an embryo-like position, surrounded by grotesque fishes that will might eat her, but that there is an invisible wall protecting her, so there is nothing to worry about.

More and more people gets closer to the creature. The scientists are starting to get desperate and request the assistance of the police to keep the distance. However, one of the bystanders takes a look into what appears to be the stomach of the creature, just to make a very terrifying discovery.

Inside the stomach, there are lots of people. Worse still, they are not digested despite being there for years.

Everybody deduces that the sea monster devours people. Shortly, after the discovery, they proceed to cut the stomach and release the people trapped.

But the awful truth does not stop there. Turns out that all of them are alive, and that one of the many survivors… is Tadashi. Mie has no doubt, because she recognises him. In other words, all of the rescued people are the same that disappeared on that ferry accident seven years ago.

The bystanders asked for ambulances, and when the survivors react, they start to scream in an ear-piercing, terrifying way. Even Tadashi acts like crazy in front of Mie.

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The boy deduces that they acted like parasites inside the monster. In other words, they survived by absorbing the nutrients of the creature. Scientists wonder if that is possible for a human being, but all are declared mentally ill afterwards.

The story finishes with the boy wondering what kinds of horrors they witness inside the stomach of the creature.

SYMBOLISM

As a whole, The Thing That Drifted Ashore doesn’t seem to have any social commentary toward Japanese society, and it is more like a conventional horror story, influenced by two different elements from my viewpoint.

The first is the fact that the oceans, our planet’s oceans, still have a lot of mysteries, especially in the abyssal areas, where the light cannot penetrate. Remember that scene from Finding Nemo where Marlin and Dory fight against the angler fish?

Or these from the deeps of the sea?

BTW. This photo is real

The angler fish and the macropinna microstoma are just two simple examples. But overall, the deeps of the ocean have many secrets, some of them fascinating, but for the most part, very terrifying. The ocean comprises between 70% and 75% of our planet, and scientists mentioned that we barely know 5% of what lies beneath the water.

So there you go… Nightmare fuel.

The second element is the presence of Lovecraftian horror. It is no secret that Junji Ito was influenced by American writer H.P. Lovecraft, and that the latter was a lot of terrifying monstrosities, including Cthulhu, who resides in R’lyeh.

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Most likely, the survivors of that sea monster witness something belonging to the Old Ones… or the Great Old Ones.

CONCLUSION

Another great horror story from Junji Ito, similar to The Window Next Door, but with a more imposing ending, because despite not having a social commentary about our society, The Thing That Drifted Ashore definitely includes not just a really strong Lovecraftian feeling, but also a reminder that our planet, as beautiful as it is, is as terrifying as Universe itself… Perhaps worse.

Anyway, I hope to enjoy it.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Thing_That_Drifted_Ashore&gt;

<https://imgur.com/gallery/bPe6HVv&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO – THE WINDOW’S NEXT DOOR (THE NEIGHBOUR’S WINDOW)

Hey. What time is it?

It’s Junji Ito Time!!!

THE WINDOW NEXT DOOR

The Window Next Door, a.k.a. The Neighbour’s Window, is the third chapter of volume 13 of The Horror World of Junji Ito, that has the name – The Circus is Here, published in 1997. The other stories are amazing, but, from my perspective, The Window Next Door is the most famous, both in Japan and overseas.

STORY

Hiroshi Sakaguchi and his parents have just recently moved to a new house, it was a bit old, but nice and comfortable. Shortly after moving, Hiroshi notices another house in particular which has one window on the second floor.

Anyway, Hiroshi and his mother go and greet their neighbours. One of them tells them about the house next door. They claim that a middle-aged woman lives there, but she barely shows her face in public and apparently has an odd behaviour, living in that place for over ten years.

Hiroshi’s mother keeps ringing the bell, but no one is answering the door.

That night, Hiroshi goes to bed, when he starts hearing an unsettling voice calling for him. When he sees the window, he finds a very disgusting, deformed creature, with a monstrous face, filled with warts and sharp claws. The woman asks Hiroshi to visit her.

At first, Hiroshi thinks that all was a dream, but the next night, he hears the same voice from the woman and goes check it out. He not only finds the woman, he notices she is trying to reach his window with a pole. Frightened, Hiroshi throws the pole, closes the window and rushes toward his parents’ room, calling for help.

To no one’s surprise, Hiroshi’s mom and dad didn’t find anything at the window next door. However, after so much consideration, they agree to switch rooms on the night. However, the woman never appears and Hiroshi is convinced that everything was a dream, so he goes back to his room.

Unfortunately, the woman calls his again that night, and this time, she is trying to reach Hiroshi’s room with her bare hands.

• 

• 

This time, Hiroshi is determined to confront the woman, ready to push her toward the window to her death, not sleeping that night. However, the woman never appears.

The next morning, Hiroshi reveals that he has now proof that the woman is still trying to reach him. And then it is revealed that the window has magically stretched into some bridge hallway-like monstrosity.

Hiroshi’s parents are planning to move, but he is already prepared to be reached by the entity… tonight.

Whether the woman got him or not is up to our interpretation.

SYMBOLISM

Honestly, I am surprised of how short this story is. In fact, of all the stories I have read from master Junji Ito so far, this is the shortest. But luckily, that doesn’t make it less entertaining, a little bit less scary, but not short in quality.

And the ending, as well of whether it was all a dream or not adds to the value and the horror factor.

In other words, this is an excellent stories for those who are new to the work of Junji Ito. Then, after some «ice-breaking» with the Window Next Door, I will recommend try and continue with either The Enigma of the Amigara Fault or The Woman Next Door.

Furthermore, I agree with many YouTubers, who state that the only purpose of Junji Ito was to tell a normal horror story, with no particular social commentary. Thanks to Luis DeWitt, whose video was useful for me to do this blog.

Here is the link (Warning – the video is in Spanish.)

One element that concerns me is that this story destroys my hopes about the Junji Ito Collection. You know, the anime. Why? Because by looking to the grotesque woman, and comparing her with the original manga…

• 

• 

• 

• 

…It makes me think The Junji Ito Collection is of an inferior quality.

Now! I repeat myself! I am not saying the anime is bad, I am saying that the its animation is inferior. Nothing more and nothing less, despite being done by Studio Deen.

Well. When the time comes, I will find out.

CONCLUSION

The Window Next Door is another fantastic horror story from Junji Ito. Basic, but impressive as the previously reviewed on Junji Ito Time. No wonder why is consider one of his best.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Neighbor%27s_Window&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR

«Hey! What time is it?»

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME

The Woman Next Door.

This story is the first one of the Mimi’s Ghost Stories (Mimi no Kaidan, ミミの怪談), published in 2003, a series of short manga volume that centers about Mimi, a young, beautiful college student who is always attacked by some kind of natural force, no matter how much she runs, every nightmarish monster is after her.

Other stories from Mimi no Kaidan include Sound of Grass, Graveman, and The Seashore, which I hope I can red anytime soon.

What is interesting is that Jun ji Ito did NOT write these stories, he simply collect them from Japanese urban legends and modified them to be inside his lore.

STORY

Mimi is living in the first floor of a really old apartment building, from 1966. The walls of the building are very thin, so Mimi is able to hear everything their neighbours do, including listening very… really loud music. Mimi is trying to study, but she can’t due to the loud music played by her neighbour, and despite expressing her complains toward the landlady, here is no traces of lower the volume.

Finally Mimi snapped and gets up to the second floor to confront her neighbour. The person who opens is a young man, who, after being confronted by Mimi, denies that his music is pretty loud, but he will turn it off if his neighbour complains too. Mimi always thought that the next door apartment is empty, but the young man believes that someone is living there, due to listening door opening and closing all the time. Mimi knocks the door, with no avail. At least from the start, because after some time, the door opens and the owner appears. A tall, young man completely dressed in black, with sunglasses, gloves and a big hat, who simply walks away, ignoring Mimi and her neighbour.

Interestingly enough, another neighbour appears, disrupting by the argument, and claims that there are actually three women living on that neighbour.

Some time after, the noise upstairs stops and Mimi is satisfied, because she can finally study. However, one day, Mimi finds the young man outside; he tells her that he is completely terrified of that woman, and then…

…the mysterious woman appears in front of them, going upstairs.

Things become stranger when, at night, Mimi listens a loud scream from the neighbour, who moves from that house next day. Despite Mimi feels very uncomfortable due to the abrupt moving of the young man, she moves to his apartment, because she finds it very quiet and peaceful, perfect for her study.

On her way home, Mimi accidentally trips with one of the women, dropping her groceries. Mimi apologises, and when she tries to help her…

…Mimi discovers that her arm is a large metallic rod. The large woman ignores Mimi and gets back to her apartment.

Some time later, Mimi talks to her friends about what what she saw, and one of them tries to convince her that the arm was a mere prosthetic. Obviously Mimi doesn’t believe that, however she decides to forget the event and celebrate her new house.

And just like the young man before her, Mimi does not her absolutely anything at the other side of her wall. While studying, Mimi finds a hole on the wall and assumes the young man did it. Out of the curiosity, she comes closer and peeks at the hole. What she sees surprises her… but not in a good way. The woman from before is here, and she is removing some screws from her arm, which allows her to extend in a very unnatural fashion.

• 

• 

Immediately, the woman finds out Mimi is spying on her and stretches her arms so it will go through the wall. Mimi deduces that the three women is actually one, and proceeds to block the hole. She begins to calm down and feel safer, due to the door being locked as well. Then suddenly, she begins to listen to some noises outside, first on the hallway, and then outside the building.

• 

• 

The woman attacks Mimi, who passes out from the stress.

Shortly afterwards, the woman keeps acting as if nothing happened, while Mimi decides to move somewhere else.

SYMBOLISM

The purpose of The Woman Next Door, according to Junji Ito, was to point out the fact that we never find out who our neighbours actually are, because we never know them properly, expect that we salute them, or crosses path in a rushed manner, but we never take our time to find out of them, and that we are always in our own world.

Therefore, we… might be living next to a really bad person, like a criminal, or a serial killer. This element is more common nowadays, due to globalisation, because we are connected from a place to another, due to the Internet and social media, but we are more isolated than before, unlike fifty, or forty years ago, time in which a true sense of community was always present.

CONCLUSION

Personally, as a story, The Enigma of the Amigara Fault is better constructed, but if we have to mention the commentary that impacted me the most, that is the one from The Woman Next Door, naturally because it is something more deep and relatable to us. Yes, the element of compulsion is keen to humanity, but the isolation and lack of true communication is dealt every day, unintentionally or not, and that is why I see it more as a precaution, because if we are not careful, we find an unpleasant, if not dangerous surprise from our neighbours… or roommates.

And I finish by sharing with you a small game based on this fantastic story.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Woman_Next_Door&gt;

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME – THE AMIGARA FAULT’S ENIGMA

THE ENIGMA OF AMIGARA FAULT.

The Enigma of Amigara’s Fault was published by Junji Ito as one of the two bonus stories for his horror manga Gyo, the latter published between 2001 and 2002 in Japan, and between 2003 and 2004 in the United States (the first one being The Sad of the Principal Post).

SYNOPSIS

In the story, Japan suffered a massive earthquake in an unnamed prefecture, that revealed a fault on the Amigara mountain, close to the epicenter. Immediately, the fault attracts people all over Japan, from scientists to casual people.

One young man, called Owaki, is one of the hundreds of hitchhikers that got the attention of the fault, so he travels to the Amigara mountain to know the fault; on his way, he meets another hitchhiker, a girl called Yoshida. From her presence, he assumes that she indeed is looking for the fault. Shortly after arriving to the fault, and noticing all the press and bystanders, both Owaki and Yoshida discover something odd about the fault – it has countless human-shaped holes all over.

Scientists attempt to identity how deep the holes are, with no success, but they also confirm that the holes are unnatural and that this were made thousands of years ago, adding to the mystery of their own nature. Nonetheless, at this point, any logical reason of why the holes are there is impossible to discover.

Meanwhile, Owaki notices that Yoshida is looking for something. When he asks her, Yoshida responds that she found a hole identical to her on TV, and that the hole was made so she can enter it. Owaki doesn’t believe her, but then, another man, called Nakagari meets them.

Nakagaki explains to them that he felt the same as Yoshida, and that he is looking for his hole. Revealing that he found it, Nakagaki proceeds to strip to his underwear and get into the hole, despite the warnings from Owaki not to. Rescue teams are immediately sent to find Nakagaki, again, with no success, being called off after searching five meters into the hole.

The night comes, and Owaki has a very disturbing nightmare, he dreams that he is Nakagaki, completely trapped on the dark, cold, uncharted hole, being deformed by the earthquake.

Owaki wakes up, but still there is no sight of Nakagaki. Furthermore, Yoshida tells him that she found her own hole, and that was made thousands of years ago, but Owaki does not believe that.

Not far from the place where Nakagaki disappeared, the news are reporting that people are compulsively entering towards their own holes, simply claiming that «this is my hole, and was made just for me.» They just can’t stop. Worse still, Yoshida says that one voice is calling her in to her hole, and despite her resistance, the voice is too strong to disobey, also she is scared that she will die in there.

Owaki proceeds to block the hole with rocks.

Later, that night, Yoshida explains to Owaki that she is always been lonely, all her life, and that is why she is so fond to the hole, but Owaki promises that he will protect her. They kiss afterwards. However, Owaki has another nightmare. This time, he dreams he is a convicted criminal from the Ancient times, and for his crime, he is sentenced to… enter a hole in which he can’t get out. Inside, the hole starts to deform, twisting his legs, arms and neck in a horrific manner, to the point of not being human. However, he is still alive.

Owaki wakes up. and discovers that Yoshida entered into her hole, much to his grief. As he laments her departure, he accidentally throws his flashlight, just to find out that his hole is nearby. In a sort of trance, Owaki takes off his clothes and enters his hole.

Several months later, another earthquake takes place, and a new fault is discovered in the other side of the mountain. Like the previous one, this fault has holes, but are extremely deformed. Two scientists walked toward them, and one of them lights the hole, only to discover that some monstrosity, with no clear definition, is moving slowly… about to leave the hole.

SYMBOLISM

In this story, Junji Ito has dealing with the element of «compulsion», because the holes were done for the people, and they feel this irresistible urge to get inside them. That is similar to what Sigmund Freud called «death drive»:, an unconscious desire of the individual to self-harm, like when you are in the edge of the cliff, ready to jump. This sensation of self-destruction that we feel once. (I hope not).

And what is more interesting here, is the lack of any supernatural, malevolent force that drives the individual toward its own demise, unlike most of Junji Ito’s stories. Just psychological horror.

But, if you ask me, I interpret it as «we are the monster.» Because humans are beautiful, but are as malevolent and horrific as the Cthulhu Mythos itself. That is why Owaki, Yoshida, Nakagaki and the rest that entered into the hole have become this…

At least, from my opinion. The most enemy of the individual… is oneself.

CONCLUSION

Without a doubt, the Enigma of the Amigara Fault is one of the best stories written and illustrated by Junji Ito. And the fact that is so psychological makes it scarier. I said once, and I will say it again… Japan creates some of the greatest horror stories. I recommend this story for those who want to meet Junji Ito once. Or those who want to feel that vibe of Halloween.

And I finish with the same fan-made animation from before.

Thanks my friends, for stepping by, and I hope you have enjoyed It’s Junji Ito Time.

The best is about to come.

References:

<https://junjiitomanga.fandom.com/wiki/The_Enigma_of_Amigara_Fault&gt;

A VERY JUNJI ITO ANNOUNCEMENT (MY PLANS FOR OCTOBER)

A VERY JUNJI ITO ANNOUNCEMENT (MY PLANS FOR THIS OCTOBER) 伊藤 潤二

Hello my friends. Welcome to another entry of my blog.

Today… I want to do something different. Once again. The title says it all. Also… Welcome to October.

First and foremost…. What can you say about Junji Ito that it hasn’t been said already? I will start saying that what H.P. Lovecraft and Stephen King are for literature, and R.L. Stine is for children’s literature, it is Junji Ito for manga.

Born on July 31, 1963, on Sakashita, Junji Ito (伊藤 潤二) was deeply influenced by many experiences from his childhood, especially the one in which he had to cross towards an underground tunnel to reach one of his house’s bathrooms, and that tunnel was apparently full with spider crickets, and by his previous job as a dental technician during the 1980s, when he started to write as a hobby.

Then, on 1987, he published a short story, called Gekkan Halloween (月刊ハロウィン), which was immediately serialised on one of his most important works – Tomie.

From that moment, Junji Ito has been creating a lot of characters and monsters that have starred some of his most important and bizarre stories, including Gyo, Uzumaki, Museum of Terror, Remina, The Junji Ito Collection, and many more.

In all his stories, the protagonists are victims from an inhuman and, shall we say, cosmic evil that destroys their minds and bodies, to the point of almost deviate from everything known as humanity, and always combine with an unnerving social commentary, especially to the Japanese modern society.

Even Mexican filmmaker, Guillermo del Toro, has based some of his work on Junji Ito.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH JUNJI ITO

Personally, I am more reader of H.P. Lovecraft and Mary Shelley than of Junji Ito. I have a lot of favourite authors, including Jules Verne, Gabriel García Márquez, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Homer, J.K. Rowling, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Mikhail Bulgakov among others. Unfortunately I was never a big reader of Junji Ito, especially while I lived in Colombia.

But now, everything has changed, and now I am enjoying this fantastic author as much as I can.

And throughout October, I will be reviewing many of his work, along with my usual anime reviews. Also, I am planning to do a First Impressions of the Junji Ito collection at Crunchyroll. Of course, I will not review EVERY character of Junji Ito, because, like I said, I basically started just now, besides, it is humanely impossible to analyse the work of Junji Ito in one month.

So join me throughout October, with this new section that I have called.

IT’S JUNJI ITO TIME.

And… what a great way to start this new section than… with the very first story of Junji Ito that I read, and that is…

Stay tuned.

And Happy Halloween.