Hi, guys this is my second post in this community. I really like reading and upvoting the posts here and I really want to be a good member of this community so please be nice ;-;

This is my review of Ma No Kakera(translated, Fragments of Horror), a collection of short stories by Junji Ito. He is famous for his horror stories and eerily detailed drawings of his monsters.

The first half of this book is amazing but the back half is mostly meh. Also my translation did Hehehe as Kekeke so yes. (@_@)

Ranking the Stories

1. Red Turtleneck

Who is this boy wearing wearing a turtleneck sweater despite the summer season?!

This goes way way farther than it needed to, to gross me out. I am still shivering thinking about it. I would recommend you just skip this and if that ain't the highest praise for horror, what is?

2.Lingering Farewell

You never have to say goodbye in this house

Junji Ito is mostly about gross art and characters doing this one bad thing so it's surprising to see an emotional story here. And the story lands so great! It's a really good short story.

3.Futon

Why won't he come out of his blanket?!

Just very weird, very Ito. Love the art here, it's absolutely bonkers in its details.

4.Haunted Wood Mansion

What happens when your guest falls in love with your house?

Ito's formula generally is, if you can't make anything scary at once, draws distorted eyes on em. Just an incredibly specific fetish. I mean you do you Ito.

5.Dissection Girl

This girl is crazy

"Uh Okay?"

That was my whole reaction to this. Again incredibly specific fetish but I read the wood story first so the fetish base was already covered. The last image here is AMAZING. But otherwise? Just plain manipulation honestly.

6.Whispering Woman

What happens if your daughter becomes dependent on her tutor?

Just a revenge story packed as horror. I expected to be more surprised by the whispering lady's backstory but I mean okay. Ok. It's mediocre and forgettable.

7.Blackbird

What if a bird fed you?

Ito can't do science fiction. This doesn't work and the big lips lady reminded me of Kylie Jenner so like I'm used to that Junji, you can't scare me. That's just normal now. Unimpressive.

8.Nanakuse Kyokumi

Maybe you shouldn't obsess over authors

Why? Why did you write this? It is just bad. The horror is just one image, the rest is weird stuff which is not even scary just like "okay this is happening now." Everyone being copycats is not scary, we live in a plastic world. Tiktok is just about trends, you don't scare me Ito. And also like the "eerie-land" constant repetition is not scary or anything really. It's just frustrating. Like find other words.

Well that's the end for today. As usual, I hope you enjoyed my thoughts and form your own opinion about this. If you've read it, tell me what you thought in the comments.

Thank you for reading <3