Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

Deserter by Junji Ito

28 reviews

adorableautist's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Junji Ito's earlier works, while occasionally rough around the edges, really illuminate how enduring his talent for unsettling stories is. These early stories lack a lot of the otherworldly or "eldritch" horror that characterizes much of his most recognizable work, instead evoking the quality of uniquely twisted urban legends. Still, Ito's mastery of pathos, body horror, and ecstatic madness, along with his penchant for young moralistic heroes trying to withstand a world of nihilistic horrors, gives this collection a quality that is uniquely his.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, and Suicide

dishwaterpossum's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Some super good stories and some okay ones. Mix mix.  A few delightfully creepy images to stick with you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Bullying, and Suicide

urezia's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Putting aside Ito's classics like Tomie or Uzumaki, I think Deserter is a good book to start reading his work if you've never read Junji Ito before. It's based on short stories, but each of them has the dark intense and crazy plot-twists only a guy like Junji Ito can come up with! Besides the uniqueness of his illustrations, each story is very entertaining and it's hard to guess where it's gonna go until you get to the last page. I think it was so well thought of! There's definitely a little bit of everything so please make sure to check the content warnings before you give this one a try.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Torture, Gore, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Religious bigotry

Minor: War

saltnvinnies's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Gore, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Body horror, War, Animal cruelty, and Gaslighting

alexutzu's review

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.25

Not my favourite Junji Ito collection, but not the worst either. I would say that it was more twisted than others, including many disturbing scenes: from war-related stories to  unusual spiritual rituals, including all sorts of abusive interactions. A story that caught my attention was "A Father's Love" though, as it covered family dynamics in a particular (and disturbing) way.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Death

Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Minor: War

emma_iride's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Violence

nightstitch96's review

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Self harm, Death, Suicide, Gore, and Body horror

haleybre's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Murder, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Violence, Blood, Child death, Confinement, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Suicide, and Body horror

jaredolin's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Child death, and Child abuse

doomluz's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a collection of some of his earlier stories. I had read "The Face Thief" in an older collection, which reminded me of why I fell in love with his stories to begin with.
The art is still good, though not as a refined. The stories feel less connected, but interesting and show how creepy and weird his stories are.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Bullying, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: War and Child death