Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the
Macabre | 2023 | 12 episodes
Genre: Adult
Animation/Anime/Animation/Drama/Horror/Mystery | Country: Japan
IMDB: 6.1/10
My Rate: 9/10
The first serial animation of 20 manga stories by Junji Ito, presenting a variety of tension and horror.
Warning:
Contains scenes of violence, murder,
suicide, disturbing pictures.
Synopsis:
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the
Macabre presents 20 different stories in 12 episodes. Each episode has a
runtime of about 25 minutes. A summary of each episode is as follows:
Episode 1: The Strange Hikizuri
Siblings: The Séance
The Hikizuri, consisting of 6 siblings,
live together where their eldest brother always pretends to go to work to look
authoritative. He meets a woman who is interested in the spiritual world. He
invites the woman to his house to witness a spirit summoning ritual. However,
the spirit summoning instead causes conflict in their family.
Episode 2:
The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel
Goro and his friends go to a mysterious
tunnel where Goro's mother disappeared in it. His frightened friends leave Goro
alone in the tunnel. However, Goro finds his younger sibling who is suddenly in
the tunnel and keeps pulling his younger sibling back to that place.
Ice Cream Truck
A father and his child have just moved into
their apartment. In the apartment complex, there is an ice cream truck that
often sells. Long queues are always seen and there is a ritual where the ice
cream seller will invite children who buy his ice cream to go for a walk with
the truck. They don't realize that something strange will happen afterwards.
Episode 3: The Hanging Balloons
A young actress is found dead hanging near
her house window. A few days later, people are startled by the appearance of
balloons flying in the air that resemble the young actress's head. Her
schoolmate initially didn't believe it, until she witnessed for herself the
many balloons that appeared in the air and tried to hang them.
Episode 4:
The Four by Four Wall
Koichi struggles to study because his
younger brother, Soichi, who has a slight disability, constantly bothers him
with noises. His father offers a solution by building a soundproof room for
Koichi. The worker assigned to build the soundproofing uses the four-by-four
method. Where four layers of space are made inside the room. Turns out Soichi
doesn't run out of ideas, instead, this makes him even more annoying to Koichi.
The Sand Man's Lair
Yuji hasn't slept for days, because Yuji is
worried that 'himself' in the dream world will take over his body. Yuji asks
Mari, his girlfriend, to make sure he doesn't fall asleep. However, Mari, who
doesn't believe it and feels sorry for Yuji, lets him sleep. Until a strange
incident happens in front of her.
Episode 5:
Intruder
Oshikiri meets some new friends at school.
They like things that are mysterious. Oshikiri, who feels that he often hears
footsteps in the house he lives in, invites his friends to visit his house.
They discover a shocking reality that endangers their lives.
The Long Hair in the Attic
Chiemi, who has just broken up with her
boyfriend, is very upset. Her hair, which she deliberately grew long for her
boyfriend, makes her feel even more disappointed. After accidentally falling
asleep, Chiemi wakes up and is startled by a rat tangled in her head. Chiemi
finally asks her younger sibling to cut her hair. While her younger sibling is
looking for scissors, Chiemi loses her life because of her own hair.
Episode 6:
Mold
Akasaka returns from his overseas
assignment for a year and finds his house in a really bad condition. Mold is
everywhere, covering all the walls and furniture. This happens after Akasaka
rents his house to Mr. Rogi, his former teacher. Initially Akasaka was a little
hesitant because the house had just been built, but his younger sibling kept
pushing him. Akasaka didn't expect his house to be destroyed when he returned.
Library Vision
Goro inherits a library filled with books.
He is obsessed with the books and reads and memorizes them every day. One day a
book disappears from the shelf. He becomes hysterical and confused. Koko tries
to calm Goro down. However, Goro sees an apparition of the book in human form.
Episode 7: Tomb Town
Tsuyoshi and his younger sister, Kaoru,
plan to visit Kaoru's friend in a village. They accidentally hit a teenager on
the way. Fear makes them put the teenager in the trunk of the car and take her
to the village. The village has a strange ritual where tombstones are scattered
in various places, including in the middle of the road. Dead people cannot be
moved and they will grow into tombstones, because if they are moved, the dead
person will not rest in peace. The situation becomes more complicated after
Tsuyoshi and Kaoru find out that the teenager they hit is the nephew of Kaoru's
friend.
Episode 8:
Layers of Terror
A group of scientists discover a skull in a
strange layer of soil. Years later, an artist and her family have an accident
that causes her face to peel off. However, a strange thing happens where the
artist's body consists of several unnatural layers. This is like a curse that
befalls their family because his father was part of the scientists.
The Thing that Drifted Ashore
A freshwater fish carcass is beached on the
shore. Everyone is surprised by this phenomenon. Several scientists come to
investigate. They see a strange figure inside the carcass and finally open it.
Uncommon human corpses begin to spill out when the carcass's stomach is opened.
Episode 9: Tomie’s Photo
Tsukiko from the photography club at school
sells photos of boys to girls at her school. Tomie, part of the discipline,
doesn't like it and makes Tsukiko lose money and even gets punished. Tsukiko
then secretly takes a photo of Tomie and discovers a terrifying hidden secret.
Episode 10:
The Unbearable Labyrinth
Two friends go hiking and get lost until
they find a group of monks and follow them. They are invited to stay and follow
training there. Until they meet a woman who is looking for her younger sibling
in that place.
The Bully
Kuriko tells her boyfriend about her dark
past, where she used to bully a young boy who was her new neighbor. This habit
appeared after seeing the reaction of the child who, even though he was
bullied, never moved away from her. She did this without the knowledge of the
child's mother.
Episode 11:
Alley
A young man moves into a dormitory near his
school. The dormitory has been vacant for a long time. Every night he hears
noises from the alleyway next to his room. However, the alleyway is closed off
by a high wall and he doesn't find anyone in the alleyway when he tries to
look. The next day, a man comes to see him and tells him the hidden secret in
the alleyway.
The Headless Statue
An artist who is also an art teacher at a
school makes a headless statue. He and one of his students are preparing for an
exhibition the next day. However, the teacher is found dead without a head and
the student also disappears.
Episode 12:
Whispering Woman
A girl has a mental health disorder where
she constantly feels worried and unable to make decisions about what she will
do. A woman then applies to take care of the girl. She slowly gives the girl
instructions in a systematic way and makes the girl better. However, as the
days go by, the woman looks different from when they first met.
Soichi's Beloved Pet
Koichi and his younger sister find a cat
and plan to take care of it at home. Soichi also likes the cat and somehow
turns the cute cat into a scary figure. Koichi and his younger sister are
scared and try to get the cat back to normal.
Review:
The story ideas of each episode are quite interesting and out of the box. However, there are some stories that end with a cliffhanger and are not very memorable. Sometimes it also seems like there is no conclusion to the core story that is trying to be conveyed. So it makes the audience a little less satisfied.
The pictures and animation are presented well. The pictures flow well and are not stiff. The coloring uses black and white for some parts and color for others.
The memorable scene in the Vision in the
Library episode is presented very well and has an interesting plot twist in it.
Layers of Terror also presents a touching and heartwarming story. Overall, this
series is very suitable for watching for those who like mystery stories,
especially fans of Junji Ito.
(Aluna)
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