Junji Ito Collection (Episodes 1-12)

If I can be honest, I'm not a big fan of horror. I don't like being scared, grotesque imagery freaks me out, and I squirm at anything bloody or supernatural. I remember watching Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) once, and I was so disturbed by it that I left the room - before collapsing onto my knees. Yes, I almost fainted in fear. So you might be wondering, why would I want to review something like the Junji Ito Collection? Well, here's the thing: I may not like horror, but that doesn't mean I don't respect it. Ever since my college years, I've come to appreciate the genre as an art form. People experience hundreds of fears throughout their lifetime, and there are dozens of ways to play on those fears. If you have the right story and characters, anything can be made scary. You can twist the familiar and mundane into all sorts of psychological terrors. These creative possibilities inspired me to write my own horror story for college, and I even watched R. L. Stein's Goosebumps (1995-1998) - a series that terrified me as a child - to write a review on it. Creepy how things sometimes come full-circle, isn't it?Anyway, onto Junji Ito. I first discovered his work by accident while randomly browsing through YouTube. A horror-reading channel featured his mangas, and I'd often listen to them on my lunch breaks. I eventually had to stop because they nearly made me puke a few times. But I still enjoyed their stories. When I found out there was an anime adaption - and that Funimation of all companies did the English Dub - I had to see how well they'd translate to the screen. Did I get the same experience as those horror-readings? Let's take a look.Before I delve into the stories themselves, it's worth mentioning the series' animation. The producers clearly wanted this to look like a living manga. One way they did that was by keeping everything flat and 2-Dimensional. They use pale colours with darker outlines to better emphasise the hand-drawn style. Many close-up shots even use additional lines for shading rather than shadows. CGI is also used, but only on more advanced things like fog or running water. If the goal was to visually pay tribute to the mangas by working within their limitations, they pulled it off efficiently.There's also the structuring of episodes. Each one contains two stories with no relation to one another. They're usually around 11mins each, though sometimes the first story is slightly longer. In rare cases, it even dwarfs out the second. To some degree, this format works. Many of the tales are based on Ito's shorter stories, so they only need half an episode to be told. That being said, others could've benefitted from extensions. Take Hell Doll Funeral, for example. The story is about a girl who catches a fatal disease, which turns people into dolls. Her parents want to keep her as she is, but her body soon mutates into a mangled corpse. It's then they concede to burn her remains. That's all. That's the entire story. It's faithful to how it was presented in the manga. But the quick pacing means we can't emotionally invest in the characters. Had it been given the liberty to add scenes and build on the characters, it could've made for a more tragic ending. As it is, everything is shown in under 2mins!Unfortunately, short runtimes persistent throughout the series. So the stories have to work with limited material. Some episodes succeed in making us care about the characters. But it usually means we're given a lot of exposition. Alternatively, stories presented with less of it leave us wanting more - especially if they suddenly end without proper resolutions. Sometimes it feels like we're being manipulated into buying more of Ito's mangas just because the endings are ambiguous.With that said, let's discuss some of the stories. I should point out this isn't a complete collection of Ito's work. He's written hundreds of mangas over the years, and it'd be impossible to adapt them all. Some have even been adapted into other series like Uzumaki (2021). Knowing this, the producers had to think carefully about which stories to include. They needed to represent Ito's style but also be short enough to fit 11mins. Did they make the right choices? Well, I'm no hardcore fan. But I'd say so.For the most part, Ito's best-known tales are included here. I was already familiar with stories like Window Next Door, Slug Girl and Marionette Mansion. However, there were some I experienced for the first time, too, like Gentle Goodbye, Used Record and Town of No Roads. For the ones I did know, it was a treat to see them animated in colour (with English dialogue). Although, it did make them creepier as well - particularly Window Next Door. As for the stories I hadn't seen, they were just as enjoyable. Gentle Goodbye wasn't much of a horror, but it did keep me invested with its numerous plot twists. In contrast, Used Record and Town of No Roads were both disturbing, showing us the dangers of obsession and lack of privacy, respectively.Admittedly, not every story hits its mark. I was surprised to find myself laughing through most of the first episode. However, the fear factor does pick up. You get monsters, mutations, blood, gore, deformities, madness, and all sorts of things that play on your psychology. Whatever you want to get from a horror story, you're bound to find at least one example here.Another thing I briefly want to discuss is the credits - I was a bit perplexed by them. The opening titles feature various Ito characters among creatively disturbing imagery. However, the music (Writhing in Agony Blues) sounds like a rock song that doesn't fit the series' tone. It's the same with the end credits. Each one is visually unique to the episode, but the song (Mutual Universe) sounds too pleasant. Maybe it's meant to comfort the viewer after the terror they've experienced. But it still feels out of place.One highlight I have to mention, though, is the recurring characters. Junji Ito has created many horror icons over the years, so it's only natural that several appear here. As for how they're presented, it's a bit of a mixed bag.Firstly, there's Toro Oshikiri, a boy who lives alone and is plagued by "hallucinations". Although he's written well, and his story is excellent, he isn't given enough time to shine. He only appears in one episode, which ends on a major cliffhanger. The second character, Miss Fuchi, is a tall and hideous fashion model. She appears in two stories, which both succeed in freaking us out. However, there's little depth to her character besides the fact that she's a cannibal.The third horror icon is Souichi Tsujii. I can understand why the series went with him as its most prominent character. It only takes one look to see how messed up he is. Unfortunately, he's not as intimidating as in the manga. The episodes got some parts of his character right, like his obsession with curses, nails, and being a terror to everybody. However, he seemed more weird than scary. His voice was always off-putting, and he kept getting his comeuppance in hilarious and humiliating ways. It was pretty pathetic, if I'm honest.The final recurring character is Tomie. Oh my gosh, let me tell you about Tomie. She is, without a doubt, Junji Ito's magnum opus. She's what's known as a femme fatale: an attractive young woman who seduces men, only to take advantage of them. She might seem charming and beautiful, but she's cruel, manipulative, and delights in the suffering of others. Whatsmore, she's immortal. She has the unnatural ability to regenerate her body, like a lizard. Many people have been driven to kill her - and succeeded. But she always finds a way to return. Even if you hack her into pieces, they'll eventually grow into more Tomies that continue spreading misery and suffering. Putting it simply, Tomie is to Japanese horror what Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, and Jason Vorhees are to western audiences.With such a legendary reputation, the series was under immense pressure to represent Tomie well. Fortunately, the English dub chose the perfect voice actress for her. Monica Rial has more than 200 different roles to her name. Plus, with one of the most distinctive yet diverse voices in the business, people have referred to her as the Queen of Anime Dubs. Having her as the voice of Tomie seemed like a match made in heaven. That being said, the stories also had to represent her well. In my opinion, they only just managed it.Initially, there was only one story featuring Tomie - Painter. It was a good choice, as it's one of her more well-known tales. Plus, it highlights everything that defines her femme fatale character. The only part that fell flat to me was the ending; it's not made entirely clear that Tomie can regenerate. Newcomers might be confused by her body parts twitching in the final scene. Fortunately, it's made up for later.The series' Blu-ray contains two new OVAs. Both harbour back to Tomie's origins in animated form. It was interesting to see because Monica Rial had to voice the character as both a young woman and a teenager. As for the plots themselves, they highlighted the character's coldheartedness once again. But they also emphasised more on the terror of her powers. Seeing her hacked to death and then grow inside another woman (from one of her kidneys) was one most spine-chilling moments of the series.In conclusion, the Junji Ito Collection is a diverse and unpredictable collection of tales. The short runtimes are rather damaging, and there have been more terrifying stories from the author. But for what it's trying to achieve as an anthology, there's a little something for everyone. If you're a fan of Junji Ito or horror stories in general, I would recommend giving this series a watch. Not everything about it is scary, but it's a fitting tribute to one of Japan's most celebrated horror writers.That's all I have to say for the Junji Ito Collection. Until next time, stay tuned.

The way that the show functions is that the plot is very meandering on its own, but the characters will subconsciously warn you of and guide you to the obstacles in the show. It does screw your head on in a way that lets you imagine the junji ito style animated in songs. For that, I would much moreso label this as a musical resource, in comparison to the Uzumaki movie, which I thought was absolutely perfect if you like the criterion camp section.

Excellent product, no scratch, box with no imperfection. Very happy of this purchase.

Great stuff for any horror fanatic!

I get what everyone is saying, the art isn't as good as the manga. I don't think the anime is bad, but the Manga is just better.The stories have some fluff to hit a certain run time that kind of ruin pacing or spoil a plot twist. But other than that, this is alright. BUT READ THE MANGA!!FUNimation is still ripping us all off with their releases. Everything they bring out is either in way too many seperate releases or just one over-priced release. This was $64 for just 14 episodes (I'm including the two OVAs) that's $4.60 for each episode. That's pretty ridiculous. I wish VIZ can get the rights to more IPs and FUNimation goes away

Arrived in perfect condition and quickly.