#hardcover

Title-Tomie 3

Author-Junji Ito

Year of Publication-2001 (translated from Japanese 2006)

Series Title-Tomie

Series Status-Complete (1997-2001)

Book In Series-3

Total In Series-3

Summary-Sequel to Tomie 2. The youngest brother gets the dirty task of disposing of Tomie’s corpse and accidentally makes 4 more of her. A young boy living on the beach meets Tomie in a tide pool and his life is ruined. After being driven mad by Tomie a young man takes her pulverized body and makes it into sake. A hired babysitter is locked in with Tomie during a fire and loses her mind. A young man mourning his girlfriend is brought to a Tomie centric cult. A former top model who had his life ruined by Tomie plots for decades to make her grow old and enlists the older sister of one of his clones. However his plan goes wrong at the very last minute after the block of concrete Tomie is encased in has a crack.

Pros-Has an ending instead of going on indefinitely. The final three chapters all being connected. Short hair Tomie and kimono Tomie are both a treat. Tomie returning to the beach after a long time.

Cons-I’m holding out hope that one day Tomie Takeover will be translated.

Author-Junji Ito

Year of Publication-1997 (translated from Japanese 2001)

Series Title-Tomie

Series Status-Complete (1997-2001)

Book In Series-2

Total In Series-3

Summary-Sequel to Tomie 1. Tsukiko is confronted again by Tomie for a final fight. A trio of hikers find Tomie abandoned by her boyfriend with disastrous consequences. A man peddling strange bundles tosses them into a waterfall when confronted by the villagers unleashing a new wave of Tomie. A promising new painter finds his muse in Tomie. A young man finds Tomie and soon involved in a fight. A high school girl finds a box full of hair in her father’s desk and shares it with her friend. An old couple adopt Tomie after finding her passed out in the yard and for a while the small family is happy.

Pros-Tomie is at her peak beauty in this volume. Here we have solid proof Tomie is a parasite. After the waterfall episode all subsequent appearances of Tomie are all different. The many appearances of Tomie with different looks and personalities.

Cons-I’ve always wondered what happened to some of characters like Chie who lived through their encounter. Mr. Takagi made his last appearance and vanished.

Author-Junji Ito

Year of Publication-1997 (translated from Japanese 2001)

Series Title-Tomie

Series Status-Complete (1997-2001)

Book In Series-1

Total In Series-3

Summary-Tomie is a beautiful young girl hunted by death. During a school trip she accidentally falls to her death, but the day after the funeral arrives to school like nothing happened driving her classmates and teacher Mr. Takagi mad. Three years later Mr. Takagi has escaped a mental institution and Tomie is back to terrorize Yukiko who is ill in the hospital by poisoning her friend Tadashi against her. But when Tadashi kills Tomie she is able to return once again using Yukiko as a base. Tsukiko is a student photographer who makes a quick buck selling girls photos of their crushes while nursing her own crush on Yamazaki. And of course Tomie is there to thwart her and gets Tsukiko suspended, but now Tomie’s influence is growing and she’s able to get boys to do what she wants including Yamazaki. Playing the part of the nice guy Tomie visits Tsukiko when her ability to reproduce begins without her knowledge and Tomie’s minions meaning to cut off the growth cut her head off. Tsukiko is the first person to really get in Tomie’s way and she’s willing to do anything include manipulating her own blood under the carpet to get rid of her.

Pros-Ito’s less polished art style suits these early Tomie stories. I’m hoping one day Tsukiko will come back. Takagi being a reoccurring antagonist. The first two chapters being connected, and the next two, and the following two.

Cons-What happened to Reiko? I’m assuming Tomie used her the same way she used Yukiko.

Title-The Secret World of Briar Rose

Author-Cindy Pham

Year of Publication-2026

Summary-Corin is poor and petty thief and besides her sister Elly her family is dead. Once over a century ago the kingdom of Glydan was prosperous thanks to the help of a faerie, but once the heir princess Amelia fell into an enchanted sleep on her 18th birthday the kingdom fell into ruin. Now Corin is alone after fighting with Elly and her sister running away and the only clue she has is Elly’s love of the fairytale about Amelia who could only be awoke by true love’s kiss. One hundred years ago in the kingdom of Glydan princess Amelia knows her life is ticking away as her 18th birthday approaches. Her father king Victor has remarried Lilith in hopes of getting a new heir. Amelia’s godmothers are of no help and her only chance of breaking her curse is find the demon Malicine who cursed her. As Corin searches for Elly and Amelia watches her life pass her by they cross paths not in the real world, but in the dream world of Briar Rose.

Pros-One of the prettiest covers I’ve ever seen. Less reliance on romance between Corin and Amelia or with Malicine and more about trusting others. The dream world reminds me of Spirited Away. The kiss between Corin and Amelia not necessarily being romantic, but still saved them.

Cons-The storytelling was very messy and hard to follow. The godmothers were pretty awful, but then disappeared never to be seen again. The ending felt rushed.