Reviews tagging 'Torture'

Tomie by Junji Ito

48 reviews

nobody3am's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Murder, Child death, Violence, Gore, Suicide, and Torture

dani_aurora_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Torture, Body horror, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Medical trauma, and Emotional abuse

el_wheel's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Death, Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, Murder, Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Torture, Gaslighting, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Child death, and Confinement

Minor: Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Incest

dreamreader's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

My first attempt at Junji Ito, and while not my favorite, it certainly won't prevent me from picking up more of his work. The art was great, exactly as horrifying as I wanted and expected. The storytelling got boring and repetitive. If this had been a tight 300 pages, with only the best stories, I would have loved it. I think the author is doing something really clever with showing cycles of abuse and violence against women as the actual horror of this story. The commentary on beauty is important. The different stories in which Tomie sometimes "deserves" what she gets and sometimes doesn't reinforce that it doesn't really matter what women do or don't do: some men will find a way to hate and defile them regardless. These messages were strong, and I think would have been better in a shorter, punchier work. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Gore, Death, Murder, Body horror, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

cowboylikestoread43's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Torture, Blood, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death of parent, Child death, Gore, Medical content, Misogyny, Stalking, Confinement, Pedophilia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Self harm

courte_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Torture, Violence, Gore, and Domestic abuse

yzer2468's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Child death, Rape, Child abuse, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Mental illness, Addiction, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Physical abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Death, Bullying, Blood, and Body horror

celisabeth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

 Tomie embodies a recurring narrative where the titular character is portrayed as either an enchantress or temptress. She's depicted just as the seductive figures draining men's vitality or the mythical creature luring sailors to peril from tales from the past. This story though often paints Tomie as a cunning woman who faces consequences when her manipulative tactics backfire. Sadly, this portrayal reinforces a troubling narrative: it's as if male violence is a justified response to an elusive female malevolence. Many women resonate with the fear that trusted men might turn violent, justified by such stories. However, while Tomie's narrative touches on these themes, it primarily focuses on her repeated dehumanization. Readers are consistently nudged to view her as the antagonist, not a victim. The narrative tries to restrict women from empathizing with Tomie by only allowing male characters, ensnared by her charm, to display concern, which often inadvertently ends up with them causing her harm. This perpetuates Tomie's monstrous image, overshadowing any recognition of her humanity. Women readers may recoil at the graphic nature of her demise but Tomie is still a feminist icon, while still leaving a lingering sense of discomfort. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Torture, and Bullying

laurenmcglamery's review against another edition

challenging dark tense

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

3.5

What. The. Hell. 😅

Manga is out of my range of genres, but I received this book in a mystery book exchange at NYE 2022 (heading into 2023). The mystery book description was “a collection of heartwarming stories about a very normal girl.” It is not. 🤣

The art is INCREDIBLE! I can’t believe how detailed each page and panel was! 

However, with each story, this shit got more and more violent and gory and wild. 

CW: murder, suicide, beauty standards, sexism, inappropriate adult-child relationships

It got rough. 😰

Overall, this is an incredible creation and Junji Ito is brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gore, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Blood, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Infertility, Fatphobia, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Body horror, and Alcoholism

clovetra's review

dark funny mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Physical abuse, Medical content, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia