Junji Ito's Insanity

EPISODE TWO: The Lovesick Dead - The Crossroads Pretty Boy

The first chapter of The Lovesick Dead was actually the manga I was currently reading (or had on-hold), so I was kind of in a dilemma if I should watch the anime form. Obviously, I chose to watch it, because I remembered The Lovesick Dead has multiple chapters.

When I saw the fog, I immediately knew that we were going to see the Crossroads Pretty Boy. The first thing that I want to say about this first part of the third episode:

THANK GOD! Suichi’s episode and Fuichi were fine, really, but now that The Long Dream has passed us, we’re getting in the bizarre horror which I so much like about Junji Ito. 

The Crossroads Pretty Boy was amazing. While the art style was sometimes - just sometimes - a little bit off, I absolutely liked it. It gave me shivers down my spines at the moments you were supposed to get shivers. 

I’ve got nothing else on the Pretty Boy’s part, with the exception of some of the details. In the manga, there is a lot of emphasis on the possibility of Fukada being the Pretty Boy. After this half was done, I was a little bit disappointed they didn’t put that in. Left me wondering if this will be the only time adaption of The Lovesick Dead, I hope there will be more.

EPISODE TWO: Slug Girl

When I read Slug Girl, I was left with a feeling there was something stuck in my throat. And luckily, the anime also managed to give me that feeling...

Just the imagery of a smily slug crawling in your mouth, makes me swallow. For a five-minute part, Slug Girl was very effective in its horror-ness. 

But due to its short length, I can’t really say much about it. It was a good part, it left me uncomfortable with a feeling something was stuck in my throat and me saying: “Noww we’re beginning.”

Conclusion

In comparison to the first and second episode, episode three was amazing. I feel like we’re now getting to the weird, twisted and insane imagination of Junji Ito. 

If anyone haven’t watched Junji Ito’s Collection; I’d probably recommend to start with the third episode (or, at least the second half of episode two). 

EPISODE 2: Fashion Model

Fashion Model was the first time I sent a screenshot of Junji Ito’s manga to one of my friends with the caption: “wtf is happening”. It was the photo of fashion model Fuchi, so I thought it was quite ironic that I had the same reaction to her photo as the manga’s main character.

Sadly, “wtf is happening” is also my opinion on the first part of Episode Two in broad terms. While I like the original manga and while this adaption was almost spot-on with the original, I had this feeling that the story rushed itself. 

Everything played out to quickly, but exactly like it did in the manga. Even before writing this, I tried to make sense of how I felt about this part of the episode, but I accepted that I couldn’t. 

Besides that, I missed detail. Junji Ito’s mangas always have this one page that contain a huge amount of detail. Most of the time, this one-page image is the horror of the story. But Fuchi’s face in the anime was ugly, and not in the way it was intended. She lost the scariness of her face, because it lost its horrific details.

Did I do like something about this part? Well, I liked the story (if you can count that as a compliment), but to be honest, that’s really about it. Maybe I’m to critical or negative, but Fashion Model didn’t turn out what I expected. Fuchi’s voice was not what I thought she would sound like and, like I said, for some reason it felt rushed.

EPISODE 2: Long Dreams

I think I’m starting to notice a trend, but I’m not sure of it. It seems, at least for me, that a episode always starts of bad, but makes a good twist in the second part.

Of course, I’m not a credible source, but just like episode 1, the second half of episode two was my favourite. But maybe that’s because I always liked Longs Dreams better than Fashion Model...

Now, with this part, I didn’t feel like it was rushed, even though it has the same “pace” of Fashion Model. So, why’s that, I hear you ask? Well, the events in Long Dreams happen gradually, because there are really just two things happening (at the same time). Mami’s fear to die and Mukouda’s long dreams; in Fashion Model, multiple things happened until we got to the main plot.

Long Dreams is, currently, the best adaption of Junji Ito’s works, in my opinion. The story unfolds in a nice pace, you empathise with Mukouda and maybe even Mami and you want to know what’s going on. It’s exciting and unnerving, to say the least.

Conclusion

Compared to the first episode, this one was better. We at least got to the horror stuff. But for some reason, the Collection hasn’t satisfied me yet of left me with a feeling of horror. But hey, we’re just at the second episode, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Aside from that, I do enjoy it so far. I will watch the next episode, because that’s also one of the ways I got, or get, through Junji Ito’s works. Because of the amount of manga Junji Ito created, it was inevitable that there would be bad ones (like Sword of the Reanimator, for example). It’s the same with this anime, some parts are better than the other one.

EPISODE 1: Souichi’s Convenient Curse

I’m going to be honest. The Souichi-stories are my least favourite. 

Don’t get me wrong, I like them, but I don’t think they’re really that good; they’re not the kind of horror that Junji Ito is known for. And that’s logical, because they’re really just dark comedy.

So, after watching the first part, I’m left wondering why they started of a anthology anime of horror stories with one of Junji Ito’s more lighthearted works? I can understand that they want to start off a little bit slow and not immediately start off with the horror of Uzumaki, for example, but I felt like Souichi just wasn’t the right way to start off the anime. 

Not because they’re not my favourite, but because, in my opinion, they give the wrong atmosphere. I read the comments after I was done watching the episode, and there were quite a few people who were confused. These people are not familiar with Junji Ito’s work. They were probably expecting something horrifying, but the anime begins with a episode dominated by more comedy than actually something scary.

Only a few were aware that this was a anthology, but more than a few thought that this was the set-up for (maybe) twelve episodes of the same character cast and plot; Souichi misadventures, which is not the case.

Episode 1: Hell O’ Dollies / A Doll’s Hellish Burial

Now, this one came unexpected, but I screamed out of excitement when I saw the mansion in the thunderstorm. I immediately knew what was up!

I wasn’t expecting for a shorter bit to play after Souichi was done. I was ready to close my tab, when this shorter piece starts to play. When I saw the mansion on the thunderstorm, followed by a man thinking “I can’t believe it...”, I immediately knew that it was Hell O’ Dollies, or A Doll’s Hellish Burial, as I prefer it. 

A Doll’s Hellish Burial was a good way to end the first episode. After the comedic ending of Souichi’s part, seeing Junji Ito’s twisted imagination play out on my screen, was really a... well, surreal experience, to say the least. But it was a good!

Of course, I wished they started off the first episode with A Doll’s Hellish Burial, but I can understand why they didn’t to that. The original story is just too short. 

However, it pleasantly surprised me. Hearing Marie (the Doll, btw) talk gave me shivers down my spine and it felt like this was the true beginning of the anime.

Conclusion

Although I think it’s kinda strange to start a horror anime with a dark comedic one, they redeemed themselves with A Doll’s Hellish Burial, in my opinion.

But aside from the stories, the anime itself looks quite nice. I’m really a fan of the artwork and the voice actors of this episode did a great job. 

I’m certainly looking forward to the next episode.