If you've always been curious about Junji Ito's manga and art, Shirl has put a little guide to introduce you to his wonderfully unsettling world, with a few recommendations to get you started!
For so long over my time working in the books industry, Junji Ito’s manga kept appearing before me. I don’t usually read manga, however the horror aspect of his work piqued my interest, so a few years ago I was like ok ok, I need to see what all the fuss is about. Let me tell you, once I started I couldn’t stop and I went on a major Junji frenzy! I devoured pretty much his whole catalogue at the time, I kind of felt like 'No Face' in Spirited Away lol I just couldn’t get enough! If you’ve always been curious about his books and art, here's a little rundown of his work....
Who is Junji Ito?
Junji Ito is a well known Japanese manga artist, specifically in the horror genre. His first manga was published in the 1987 with Tomie which he is best known for. He has been drawing since a very young age and always has had a fascination with horror. His work has been developed into animated films also.
Why are people drawn to his manga horror?
For me, I love how his stories always start off as a seemingly everyday life situation and then slowly turns into something bizarre and terrifying, it almost feels like these situations could actually happen in real life. There’s always some level of psychological unease that goes with each book. The level of detail in his art is next level, I’m always amazed at how he comes up with such grotesque and horrifying drawings. There’s always much anticipation of turning the page to see what you will encounter next!
Where should you start?
If you are a fan of horror then I think you will definitely like Junji Ito’s manga. These are perfect if you are looking for a quick read, especially if you are in a reading slump, I find these help fill the gap. I would recommend starting with Tomie followed byUzumaki then Gyo, I think these will give you a great introduction into his work. Then from there you can pretty much jump into any of his other releases, have a browse of what tickles your fancy!
A few favourites from the team!
Shirl’s Picks:
So I started my Junji Ito journey with his most popular manga, Tomie. I find it really hard to find a good original horror so this one captured me straight away, it was so different to anything I’d read at the time. I feel like when this was released in the 80s it would’ve been so shocking, the idea of monster feminist would’ve been so new. I think my love for that genre came from first reading Tomie as I’ve recently enjoyed books by Monika Kim who also writes feminist monster novels. I highly recommend her recent release Molka and her previous book The Eyes Are the Best Part - how good is this special edition! After Tomie my next fave was Uzumaki, the spiral artwork was mesmerizing to me and I was imagining him spending many hours drawing spirals lol.
Liam's Picks:
I started reading Junji Ito of a few recommendations online (much like the rest of us), and hooked my teeth pretty quickly into a copy of Uzumaki, to avoid sounding repetitive though, I’ll probably focus on his most only non fiction release, Uncanny. As someone that inhales through horror like nothing else, and is a massive fan of lit-breakdowns (my own personal term for the subniche of a nonfiction whereas the author discusses what brought them to the style / concepts they used in their works.), Uncanny was an incredibly pleasant find, the novel utilises his beautiful symbiotic relationship with art to exemplify the more mundane aspects of his life, with these incredibly intricate artworks. It also gives the more traditionally western reader an insight into some of the lost cultural context between the page and the reader, ultimately providing a much larger literary insight and appreciation. Personally, I feel this memoir is an invaluable companion text to his larger works, and more than worth a read.
If you are also a fan of Junji Ito let us know in the comments which are your favourites and if you have any other manga recommendations we’d love to hear from you!
