Junji Ito—Maybe the Scariest Thing I've Watched Yet!

Review by Paris Murray. Photo from Junji Ito and Funimation.

November 30, 2021. I finished watching the Junji Ito Collection on Animix. It was astounding. From the fear, the visuals, the mystery, to the originality, it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen! Ito has a way of telling his stories so that it seems like the characters are hopeless so that you’ll just have to stick around and wait until you’re presented with a reason why, how or even what the danger is. A resolution may be reached or it may not and that's what's so intriguing! He leaves so much to the audience’s imagination.

The Junji Ito Collection is a series based on a horror manga artist’s elaborate collection of works. With only 12 episodes you're able to finish it in a day, but that's not what stands out about it. Each episode is a new story line with new characters and new meanings. My personal favorite characters are Tomie, an immortal succubus with a design literally to die for and Souichi, a boy who casts spells on bullies that always backfire.

I loved this show, but of course, just like anything else there's the good and the bad. The good: The artstyle—I swear I couldn't get enough of the way it's drawn. It’s so unique. Whether it's having to portray grotesque creatures, beautiful scenery or just character designs, I was in love. The bad: However, sometimes I didn't personally like Ito leaving some of the stuff he did to the imagination. In one of his stories, Snail Girl never answered why, how or even if something happened before. I get that's where the horror aspect is supposed to come in, but that made it low impact with more of a seeming shock factor.  It ends with no explanation or reason—just a close up of Yuuko after she becomes snail girl.

In conclusion, If you're a fan of horror, anime or letting your imagination wander a bit, I'd say to 100% check it out! Even if you don't just check it out for a few episodes, the Junji Ito Collection is severely underrated and deserves more attention. So, in conclusion I would honestly rate this show 4.2 pixel hearts out of 5!

Paris Murray is a sophomore who attends Friendship Collegiate Academy.