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[TamerVirus]

Hmmm, I though Uzamaki and Tomie were among Junji Ito's most recognizable works.

There's also his cat diary.

[Parsely]

Hmmm, I though Uzamaki and Tomie were among Junji Ito's most recognizable works.

There's also his cat diary.

Unfortunately I've never heard them mentioned until now. I'm just starting Uzumaki though. I have no idea where this is going, I can't wait to read more.

[JoshuaFH]

Hmmm, I though Uzamaki and Tomie were among Junji Ito's most recognizable works.

There's also his cat diary.

Unfortunately I've never heard them mentioned until now. I'm just starting Uzumaki though. I have no idea where this is going, I can't wait to read more.

While it's probably his most recognized work, it's probably one of his weaker works since Junji's style doesn't adapt well to having long, cohesive storylines with a stable cast. It's kinda the same complaint you had with Gyo. Tomie is probably better in that regard though since every section of Tomie is completely disjointed from every other.

But I did enjoy Uzumaki, if only because the whole plot boils down to "Man... spirals are just out to get errreebody." and boy, do they ever.

My favorite thing about his stories though, is how audaciously FUCKED his characters are, just for the simple crime of being a character in his stories. It doesn't matter what kind of benevolently simple life you lead, the moment a Junji horror gets involved, there's just nothing they can do but watch as it crushes their lives, their family, their friends, and possibly the entire world. Off the top of my head, the only person to ever be a survivor in ANY of his stories is Mimi from Mimi's Ghost Stories, anyone else from any other story is either explicitly doomed or their fate is left completely ambiguous.

[Neonivek]

Uzumaki is to me basically a Twilight Zone / Outer Limit type comic where... while there is continuity... continuity is just there for your enjoyment.

It is also very Silent Hill

[Hawkfrost]

I liked Uzumaki the best, actually.

Particularly because by the end all the elements fuse together into something whole. But then again it stops being really horror, and just became something I wanted to read and find out the plot of. It's easily his most actual "story", compared to his short story works and collections.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is a fair bit chilling, if you consider that events are only going to continue and spread until everything is gone in the world and it all becomes part of the spiral. Nobody escapes it, and it's a much slower and more brooding process than in most Junji Ito endings.

Tomie is the opposite, a work only meta-connected as a continuous piece. It's also very good, but doesn't really have a conclusion (just a series of unrelated semi-conclusions.)

Gyo is in my opinion his weakest core story due to him trying to explain the situation with a degree of science instead of leaving it unknown, as people have stated.

[Parsely]

While it's probably his most recognized work, it's probably one of his weaker works since Junji's style doesn't adapt well to having long, cohesive storylines with a stable cast. It's kinda the same complaint you had with Gyo. Tomie is probably better in that regard though since every section of Tomie is completely disjointed from every other.

My favorite thing about his stories though, is how audaciously FUCKED his characters are, just for the simple crime of being a character in his stories. It doesn't matter what kind of benevolently simple life you lead, the moment a Junji horror gets involved, there's just nothing they can do but watch as it crushes their lives, their family, their friends, and possibly the entire world. Off the top of my head, the only person to ever be a survivor in ANY of his stories is Mimi from Mimi's Ghost Stories, anyone else from any other story is either explicitly doomed or their fate is left completely ambiguous.

I disagree. Hellstar Remina and the Black Paradox both had a pretty stable cast and a persistent story and were fantastic.

Yeah that's generally what happens. I can think of a few where the characters survived. The two girls in the bathhouse short both survive, and I'm pretty sure both Mimi and her boyfriend make it out. And the main character of the one where he's digging up his friend on page 1 (can't remember the name, I think it was called Hallucinations) seems at peace by the end, though its implied that he does go to jail, he's just happy that he's stopped seeing things.

[Darvi]

Oh man that last P4G episode.

"Sempai, you can make me do anything you want."
"Go buy some stuff for me."

[Sergarr]

Oh man that last P4G episode.

"Sempai, you can make me do anything you want."
"Go buy some stuff for me."

best response y/y?

also what is P4G?

[BlitzDungeoneer]

Persona 4 Golden, if I'm not mistaken.

[lemon10]

I liked Uzumaki the best, actually.

Particularly because by the end all the elements fuse together into something whole. But then again it stops being really horror, and just became something I wanted to read and find out the plot of. It's easily his most actual "story", compared to his short story works and collections.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is a fair bit chilling, if you consider that events are only going to continue and spread until everything is gone in the world and it all becomes part of the spiral. Nobody escapes it, and it's a much slower and more brooding process than in most Junji Ito endings.

Spoiler: Disagreement (click to show/hide)

The last chapter (19, not 20) disagrees with you on this. It says that the spiral has happened before, and will happen again when another city is rebuilt there.
Not only that, but its local in nature, only able to affect the same (fairly small) area.

[Aklyon]

Persona 4 Golden, if I'm not mistaken.

Which was also a PSVita game of a ps2 game.

[Hawkfrost]

I liked Uzumaki the best, actually.

Particularly because by the end all the elements fuse together into something whole. But then again it stops being really horror, and just became something I wanted to read and find out the plot of. It's easily his most actual "story", compared to his short story works and collections.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is a fair bit chilling, if you consider that events are only going to continue and spread until everything is gone in the world and it all becomes part of the spiral. Nobody escapes it, and it's a much slower and more brooding process than in most Junji Ito endings.

Spoiler: Disagreement (click to show/hide)

The last chapter (19, not 20) disagrees with you on this. It says that the spiral has happened before, and will happen again when another city is rebuilt there.
Not only that, but its local in nature, only able to affect the same (fairly small) area.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I thought the point was that the underground cavern keeps expanding with each cycle, and draws a slightly bigger area above it down each time? At least that's how I saw it, could be wrong.

[Spehss _]

"Sempai, you can make me do anything you want."
"Go buy some stuff for me."

Logic checks out. Seems like a perfectly reasonable response.

[lemon10]

I liked Uzumaki the best, actually.

Particularly because by the end all the elements fuse together into something whole. But then again it stops being really horror, and just became something I wanted to read and find out the plot of. It's easily his most actual "story", compared to his short story works and collections.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is a fair bit chilling, if you consider that events are only going to continue and spread until everything is gone in the world and it all becomes part of the spiral. Nobody escapes it, and it's a much slower and more brooding process than in most Junji Ito endings.

Spoiler: Disagreement (click to show/hide)

The last chapter (19, not 20) disagrees with you on this. It says that the spiral has happened before, and will happen again when another city is rebuilt there.
Not only that, but its local in nature, only able to affect the same (fairly small) area.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I thought the point was that the underground cavern keeps expanding with each cycle, and draws a slightly bigger area above it down each time? At least that's how I saw it, could be wrong.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's possible that that will be the end result, but I personally think it isn't. But even it it was the result, such a course would take millions or even billions of years to complete (due to it only being able to activate every 100-10,000 years).
The text is ambiguous enough that it is possible (it's "building itself", but that doesn't necessarily mean that its expanding horizontally, maybe its just getting closer to its perfect state). You also have to realize that in order for it to end the world, it would also have to defeat all the other cosmic horrors that are sure to exist in any world created by Ito.

Despite all of that, you could be entirely right. Much of the interpretation of the ending is up to the reader to decide.

Actually, after thinking about it a bit, I just realized that it has no way to cross the ocean, so worst case would it be simply taking over all of Japan.

[Hawkfrost]

I liked Uzumaki the best, actually.

Particularly because by the end all the elements fuse together into something whole. But then again it stops being really horror, and just became something I wanted to read and find out the plot of. It's easily his most actual "story", compared to his short story works and collections.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The ending is a fair bit chilling, if you consider that events are only going to continue and spread until everything is gone in the world and it all becomes part of the spiral. Nobody escapes it, and it's a much slower and more brooding process than in most Junji Ito endings.

Spoiler: Disagreement (click to show/hide)

The last chapter (19, not 20) disagrees with you on this. It says that the spiral has happened before, and will happen again when another city is rebuilt there.
Not only that, but its local in nature, only able to affect the same (fairly small) area.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I thought the point was that the underground cavern keeps expanding with each cycle, and draws a slightly bigger area above it down each time? At least that's how I saw it, could be wrong.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It's possible that that will be the end result, but I personally think it isn't. But even it it was the result, such a course would take millions or even billions of years to complete (due to it only being able to activate every 100-10,000 years).
The text is ambiguous enough that it is possible (it's "building itself", but that doesn't necessarily mean that its expanding horizontally, maybe its just getting closer to its perfect state). You also have to realize that in order for it to end the world, it would also have to defeat all the other cosmic horrors that are sure to exist in any world created by Ito.

Despite all of that, you could be entirely right. Much of the interpretation of the ending is up to the reader to decide.

Actually, after thinking about it a bit, I just realized that it has no way to cross the ocean, so worst case would it be simply taking over all of Japan.

Hah, true enough. But it's fun to think about these things.
Good horror always leaves you wondering about possibilities.