Junji Ito

I like horror, and Japanese horror more than American horror, and manga is a great way to really portray weird stuff that tv just can't quite get. So when I found out that Junji Ito did horror manga, I decided to check it out.

First I read Museum of Terror, which was the collected Tomie stories. Tomie is a young girl who captivates the minds of men until they get so passionate that they kill her. And then she comes back. Some well done stories in that vein, although once you get the gimmick most of the stories are waiting for that element to come into play, and few are original takes. There looks to be a slew of movies about Tomie, so I'll see if I can get my hands on some.

However, next I read Uzumaki. Now... that was one of the more brilliant manga I've ever read. Any time I took a break at work, I snuck in another chapter. I just devoured it. It's about a town that gets consumed by spirals, and it has weird stuff all over the place, and I love it. The movie is more about the stories in the first volume, and it is slower than the manga. And it gets stupid weird, just avoid it really. But if you like that genre, definitely get the manga.

And I still have Gyo to read, although can't find the first volume in English for less than a truck load of money...

I'm glad I found out about him, and will see what else I can get. And if you like that, also go grab the manga of Ju-On. (The cat scene is freaky!)

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