#horror mangaka

[carica-ficus]

Review: The Liminal Zone

Author: Junji Ito

Date: 13/02/2023

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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While I am a big fan of Ito's work, I haven't had the time to pick up some of his newer works up until now (when I forgot to take a book of my own to read on my way home, so my boyfriend offered me a few from his collection). "The Liminal Zone" is another collection of short stories, featuring 4 of his works: Weeping Woman Way, Madonna, The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara and Slumber. He has worked on them during the pandemic and had been publishing them online before they ultimately got published as a physical book.

Ito's quite self-conscious about all his newer work, repeatedly saying how his stories aren't as good as they used to be, but compared to his older work, I'd say the stories in "The Liminal Zone" are definitely some of his best.

Weeping Woman Way is a story about a girl who suddenly can't stop crying after an encounter with a hired weeping woman on a funeral. In its core, it is a tale about the desperation of grief, sadness and depression women experience as they experience loss, not just of their beloved, but thousands of other people they have not personally known. Only the women are affected by the crying malady, and only other women truly understand the suffering it invites. Their sorrow becomes almost palpable through Ito's provoking illustrations. He has perfectly enraptured the pure helplessness that comes with sadness.

While Madonna was actually a really solid story with amazing Christian symbolism, the salt powers of the main antagonist take away from the fluidity of the plot. Ito's creative process for a story usually starts off with a specific source of inspiration that he decides to incorporate into his story, but he often doesn't have the right skills to blend it into the story properly, so some parts seem forced and unnecessary. Still, Madonna is a great read with some gorgeous, creepy visuals, especially of the statue of Mary crying bloody tears and the panels where the vice-principal shows her true angry and resentful nature.

The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara is the weakest story of the four, featuring a sick man who decides to kill himself somewhere deep in the forest, but finds some sort of cave from which spirits come out at night in the form of a raging river. The visuals are definitely unnerving, but the plot itself is quite shallow and somewhat silly.

The idea behind Slumber is nothing new, but it is nonetheless riveting. Ito took the famous The Killer in Me horror trope where the main character has no recollection of their crimes and spins it into a narrative where they have no obvious connection to the victims, but have memory flashes of killing them. There's a few minor issues I had with this story, mostly regrading Ito's explanation of the memories, but overall it was an exciting and compelling read. I'm a sucker for this trope and I am glad Ito decided to do his take on it.

The majority of negative comments regarding Ito's new work are mainly concentrated on his biggest weakness: mending plot holes. Ito's a writer who stays true to his ideas, so when they don't necessarily add up, he offers the reader a fairly simple explanation. In hindsight, yes, it negatively impacts his story, but I'd argue it's also his redeeming quality. A lot of his most impactful and well know work wouldn't even exist if he limited himself to completely drawn out ideas. If you prefer carefully planned out plots, his work might not be to your liking, but Ito definitely offers a truly unique and recognizable experience of horror that is worth to give a chance.

"The Liminal Zone" is an excellent choice for both old and new lovers of Ito's work. It features some great stories, it's filled with gorgeous, gory and horrific illustrations, and it's an interesting read.

[jollymalt]

inspired by junji ito posing in the barbie box

[ghoooooooooooooooost]

death mark 2 spoiler pile #2

aka my idea for a mildly different plot which is canon now actually they are patching this in as we speak

i don't like the konoe drawing i think i've invited demons into my home

[emily-mooon]

Nancy Wheeler the shoujo manga protagonist you are what with your love triangle and everything about you my pookie <3

[turnipoddity]

FREAKY GHOST SEX!!!!?!?!!!!!!

OH. IM SURPRISED YOU REMEMBER LMFAOOO

dude. that part is still so far away from the og ghost adam comic plot line but like. If you want me to get to that one right away…. lmk HAHAHAHA

[wewerebornsextuplets]

i read all of the denki mystery stories in a frenzy a few weeks ago and have been stewing on kiru concepts for it ever since.... shes a laundry attendant in akatsuka village with [less than] loose ties to the matsuno family. in this au shes particularly close to toshio/jyushi, who begins frequenting the laundromat after his grandmother's death in spite of the considerable wealth the ogami estate has. he seems aware that theres a connection there but he isnt sure what it really is...

[deafeningblazeturtle]

:3

[spacecovvgirl]

Death Note (Tsugumi Ōba, Takeshi Obata, 2003-2006)

[vxmpire-vxlle]

[silvermoon424]

everyone knows Junji Ito, for good reason. do you have any favorite horror manga authors who aren't him?

Yes omg! As much as I adore Junji Ito and he rightfully gets a lot of attention, I wish some lesser-known horror mangaka got more attention.

I'd say my favorite non-Junji Ito horror mangaka is Sachiko Uguisu! Her style is gorgeous and her stories are so fun and unique. I highly recommend Shibito no Koe wo Kiku ga Yoi ("You Will Hear The Voices of the Dead") as well as her oneshot manga.

I also really like Kanako Inuki. Unfortunately much of her work isn't available in English, but there's still quite a lot you can read. I like Presents and Wish Fulfillment a lot.

Ahh, does Matsuri Akino count? I think she does. She's the creator of the Petshop of Horror series and her art style is sooooo beautiful!

[talesfromacrippledphoenix]

Brazilian tarot card for the special Junji Ito: Master Collection release

2023 edition

(a total of 32 cards will be released, 4 by edition)

[endykelopaedia]

i just read madk. a fucking brilliant story with beautiful art some of the most compelling & gut wrenching character conflicts ive ever seen. the sex was so strange i could barely tell what was happening most of the time (POSITIVE). The world building was seriously interesting & im so impressed that suzuri made the world feel so full in under 20 chapters. And of course, its a very chilling & heavy look into the cycle of abuse.

i would only recommend it if you have a stomach for body/psych horror, and the sexual/emotional abuse that the character's undergo as adults and children. it is NOT a love story. And nobody should go into it expecting one. I think if madk suffers from anything it is it's killing stalking-esque ~dark romance~ advertising bc its two men at the centre of the story. it too is more of a cautionary tale. With that in mind, i could almost call it a perfect story.

[voxallcaps]

watched Alien with my bf recently, had to draw Her

[dumplingprincessextraordinaire]

And we love him for it so hmph

[wewerebornsextuplets]

what are your favorite heso/merch aus/which aus do you wanna stick your gaybies in🥹 ik you’ve done cowboy (mwah love that one so so so so so so super much), denki (🤤), yakuzaaaa.. punch me if i missed any. Basically what are your fave and do you plan on adding your sweetnesses into any more 👋

oh this is a REALLY good one ty for asking!! so yakuza wolf + denki mystery are definitely my favorites of the bunch, and theyre the ones i have the most Thoughts on; YW more than denki though, since i have a better idea of keikos situation in YW. i also have a soft spot for gunslingers even though its not super fleshed out just because i really like cowboys in general ^__^

aside from that though, ive been wanting to get musical au designs down for them... jesus, probably since march at this point! its especially hard because the fake 80s movie popularity castes are mostly all taken in canon already 😭😭 but we'll get there... i also really wanna do akuma rider designs at some point if only because i think the outfits are super fun. still flip-flopping between what i want everyone to be in that one though

this ask also reminded me, i never actually shared YW keiko's design even though its been done for a couple months now! so ill share that here :3 please ignore all the grammatical errors i was typing this out in a vc at like 2am im pretty sure LMFAO

[deafeningblazeturtle]

🚺