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sandramarinis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Confinement, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Grief, Medical content, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Miscarriage, and Panic attacks/disorders
chaoticnostalgia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Graphic: Pregnancy, Body horror, Violence, Grief, Child death, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Murder, Death of parent, Confinement, Gore, Terminal illness, Death, Medical content, and Mental illness
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The body horror in this was extremely disturbing and I would proceed with caution while reading. We ended up reading 5 chapters/week, which was good because I needed that space to process each section.
Overall, another 5⭐️ winner from Junji Ito. I thought there was an interesting combination of cosmic horror and socio-political commentary. And each chapter packed a punch! I will not be the same after reading this one—the spirals will haunt me.
Graphic: Confinement, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Classism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Suicide, Blood, Gore, Bullying, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Murder, Cannibalism, Self harm, and Death of parent
momo4130's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, Gore, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Terminal illness, Bullying, Child death, and Death of parent
Minor: Pregnancy, Terminal illness, Mental illness, Self harm, and Car accident
bookworm247's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Pregnancy, Medical content, Confinement, Death of parent, and Death
clovetra's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
so first off i have to say this easily my favourite ito collection. i loved how there were consistent characters i.e. kirie & shuichi (ugh my loves). the only reason i'll say this isn't a 5 star is because i loved vol 1&2, however i didn't enjoy vol 3. ok lets rate the chapters baybeeee
the spiral obsession part 1: amazing beautiful stunning. i love the "origin" story. it also sets the tone super well and the visuals are stunning. 4/5
the spiral obsession part 2: i loved the insanity of this chapter. the pacing was amazing, beginning to see shuichi's spiral (heh) into insanity was fun. 5/5
the scar: quintessential uzumaki story. so fucking weird and i loved seeing the images we all recognise as ito's work. ending is insane but tbh what story doesn't end wildly. 5/5
the firing effect: lowkey forgot about this story. visuals eat but idk the story is mid. 3/5
twisted souls: insanity. the visuals esp at the end had me gasp out loud. the story overall was a bit messy imo but the ending made up for it. 4/5
medusa: was quite insane. i liked seeing kirie in the firing line of the spirals. the ending is cute & i love her relationship w/ shuichi here. also hair battling is cool. 4/5
now onto volume 2:
jack in the box: LOVED IT. batshit crazy & idea was great. kinda irrelevant for the plot overall. 3/5
the snail: also giving quintessential ito. enough said. 5/5
the black lighthouse: idk i didn't like this one. it kind of didn't follow the theme of other chapters & seemed a bit too far-fetched for the universe. 2/5
mosquitos: least favourite story of uzumaki. so random & did not fit this anthology. also irrelevant 1/5
the umbilical cord: same deal as mosquitos except slightly more fucked up. 2/5
the storm: weird, never expanded on, but crucial to the plot so i kind of get it. 2/5
ok now volume 3:
to me volume 3 doesn't have chapters. idc that they do. they all follow sequentially so im going to like just stream of consciousness this bitch. this volume kinda sucked ass! literally if u asked me anything significant that happened i could maybe name 3 things. i liked the snail plot (i love the snails bro they're so fucked up and i just like snails full stop). i get this takes the spirals to a new level but idk man i kind of didn't like it. i know i complained about this exact issue with flesh colored horror but i hate when ito explains the fucked up things happening!!!! and this is exactly what vol 3 does. i did enjoy the time skip & the visuals but they were nawt enough. the ending was also incredibly lackluster. and the extra chapter <b>galaxies</b>.... where does that fit in the timeline? im just confused at this point.
overall i liked this, but i felt as the chapters progressed ito lost his way a bit. this is easily my favourite junji ito story tho. lets hope as i go thru his more recent works the more i enjoy them SKFJSKF
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Self harm, Pregnancy, and Body horror
Moderate: Confinement, Medical content, Child death, Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, and Suicide
mxpringle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Confinement, Murder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Blood, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Grief, Gore, Child death, Cannibalism, and Animal death
thegayestghost's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Violence, Cannibalism, Pregnancy, Stalking, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Blood, and Death
chazaiya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
story-wise for most of the run it's alright. it goes through a new scenario every chapter with a new horrifying idea relating to spirals. it's cool how creative Ito gets with how exactly he can make something as simple as a spiral scary. but the real greatness of this work starts to show in the later chapters once Chie enters. at this point the story has more structure to it and Ito is writing not purely for the sake of being scary but to reach a logical conclusion. those last few chapters are incredible.
and needless to say Junji Ito is masterful with his art and how he uses it for worldbuilding. the way he uses his pen draw such unnerving figures and settings is unlike anything i've seen.
it's good. i get why people praise Ito so highly for this. i might check out some of his other multi-chapter stories like Tomie or Gyo. i'm particularly interested in his adaptation of No Longer Human, so maybe that next.
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Self harm
Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, and Gore
Minor: Stalking
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- 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? No
4.5
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, and Toxic friendship