I’m too squeamish for horror movies–the blood alone is enough to send me screaming for the exits. But horror manga? That’s in my wheelhouse, as manga allows me to engage with the material as much–or as little–as I wish. Junji Ito’s work is largely responsible for showing me the possibilities of comic book horror; I don’t think I’ll ever forget the image of an enormous great white shark climbing a flight of stairs in pursuit of his next meal, or an entire village consumed by a voracious plague of… spirals. (It’s scarier than it sounds.) So when VIZ announced that they would be publishing a new collection of Ito stories, I knew I would buy it. But does Fragments of Horror deliver? Read on for the full scoop.
Fragments of Horror
By Junji Ito
Rated T+, for older teens
VIZ Media, $17.99
Uncanny–that’s the first word that comes to mind after reading Junji Ito’s Fragments of Horror, an anthology of nine stories that run the gamut from deeply unsettling to just plain gross. Ito is one of the few manga-ka who can transform something as ordinary as a mattress or a house into an instrument of terror, as the opening stories in Fragments of Horror demonstrate. Both “Futon” and “Wood Spirit” abound in vivid imagery: apartments infested with demons, floors covered in eyes, walls turned to flesh, rooves thatched in human hair. Watching these seemingly benign objects pulse with life is both funny and terrifying, a potent reminder of how thin the dividing line between animate and inanimate really is.
Taut–that’s another word I’d use to describe Fragments of Horror. Each story is a model of economy, packing 60 or 70 pages of narrative into just 20 or 30. “Dissection Chan,” for example, explores the forty-year relationship between Tatsuro, a surgeon, and Ruriko, a woman who’s obsessed with vivisection. In a brief flashback to Tatsuro’s childhood, Ito documents the unraveling of their friendship, capturing both Ruriko’s escalating desire to cut things open and Tatsuro’s profound shame for helping her procure the tools (and animals) necessary for her experiments. Three or four years have been packed into this seven-page vignette, but Ito never resorts to voice-overs or thought balloons to explain how Tatsuro feels; stark lighting, lifelike facial expressions, and evocative body language convey Tatsuro’s emotional journey from curious participant to disgusted critic.
Not all stories land with the same cat-like tread of “Dissection Chan.” “Magami Nanakuse,” a cautionary tale about the literary world, aims for satire but misses the mark. The central punchline–that authors mine other people’s suffering for their art–isn’t executed with enough oomph or ick to make much of an impression. “Tomio • Red Turtleneck” is another misfire. Though it yields some of the most squirm-inducing images of the collection, it reads like a sixteen-year-old boy’s idea of what happens if your girlfriend discovers that you’ve been stepping out on her: first she’s angry at you, then she’s angry at the Other Woman, and finally she forgives you after you grovel and suffer. (In Tomio’s case, suffering involves grotesque humiliation with a cockroach–the less said about it, the better.)
Taken as a whole, however, Fragments of Horror is testament to the fecundity of Ito’s imagination, and to his skill in translating those visions into sharp, unforgettable illustrations like this one:
PS: I recommend pairing this week’s review with 13 Extremely Disturbing Junji Ito Panels, a listicle compiled by Steve Fox. (The title is a little misleading: the images are unsettling, but are generally SFW.)
Reviews: Sean Gaffney reads Pandora in the Crimson Shell and Magika: Swordsman and Summoner so that you don’t have to. At Women Write About Comics, Amanda Vail compares the light novel and manga versions of The Devil is a Part-Timer!
Connie on vol. 3 of Alice in the Country of Clover: Knight’s Knowledge (Slightly Biased Manga)
Jennifer Wharton on vols. 1-6 of The Betrayal Knows My Name (No Flying No Tights)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 55 of Case Closed (WatchPlayRead)
Kristin on vol. 1 of The Demon Prince of Momochi House (Comic Attack)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of First Love Monster (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Frank Inglese on vols. 3-4 of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (Snap 30)
Megan R. on Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden (The Manga Test Drive)
Connie on vol. 6 of Gravitation (Slightly Biased Manga)
Dave Ferraro on The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Comics and More)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 13 of Library Wars: Love and War (Sequential Tart)
Connie on vol. 6 of Love Pistols (Slightly Biased Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 4 of Mushishi (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of My Love Story!! (WatchPlayRead)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Nisekoi: False Love (Comic Book Bin)
Joe McCulloch on Pandora in the Crimson Shell (The Comics Journal)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 28 of Pokemon Adventures: Emerald (Sequential Tart)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 1 of Requiem of the Rose King (Sequential Tart)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 18 of Rin-ne (Comic Book Bin)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 10 of Sankarea: Undying Love (The Fandom Post)
confusedmuse on Skip Beat! (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses)
Kate O’Neil on vol. 4 of Soul Eater Not! (The Fandom Post)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 4 of Spell of Desire (Sequential Tart)
Courtney Sanders on vol. 1 of Twin Star Exorcists (Three If By Space)
Ken H. on vol. 5 of Witchcraft Works (Sequential Ink)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 6 of Wolfsmund (The Fandom Post)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 5 of World Trigger (The Fandom Post)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 3 of Yukarism (WatchPlayRead)
