Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection: Flesh-Colored Horror

nathandouglasdavis Sep 6, 2022

4

As always, one of Junji Ito's biggest weak points is the characters. Part of this is just the simple fact that these are just one-shots, so there's limited opportunity to develop characters. But the characters will also act in ways which feel unrelatable and odd (though this is also probably intentional, because Junji Ito is trying to create odd scenarios). More often than not, the characters just feel like they are fulfilling a role in order to allow for whatever aesthetic climax Junji Ito wishes to achieve in that story. Junji Ito's strong point is probably the ideas that fe is able to tap into, in order to evoke feelings of repulsion or disgust or perhaps even fear in the readers. And admittedly, a few of these stories do have nice narrative structures, interesting plot twists, and imagery which make them worth reading (even without strong characters). The worst story is the first one, and it might just be worth skipping that one (I rated it as a 1/10). The next few are nothing to write home about, but they're probably pretty average quality of a Junji Ito oneshot (from what I've experienced). The last two stories are the one's that make this collection worth reading (or, at least, not a waste to read). I rated them both as 6/10s and I think that they are decently entertaining and well-written and are definitely worth reading for Junji Ito fans. * * * For reference, here are links to my reviews on each individual oneshot: Yaneura no Nagaikami Yurushi Hachinosu Hakumei Kubi no Nai Choukoku Niku-iro no Kai