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roskoff's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Classic Junji Ito. Interesting, unique horror plots drawn in a fascinating, grotesque way. Loved it and also it gave me nightmares.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Blood
pheebabeeba_'s review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Really creepy and bizarre! I love the art! The second and third stories were my favorites!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Body horror
Minor: Pedophilia
astrangewind's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
I don't think I need to sing the praises of Junji Ito as a horror writer. This collection is exactly what you'd expect: gorgeous art, compelling characters, terrifying stories that leave you with a sour taste in your mouth. I finished this book in about an hour, and, despite not being a huge fan of horror, found it enjoyable. Ito's brand of horror does include some amount of gore, which is the easy answer as an artist, but much of his horror is more subtle, quieter, the kind of thing that scares the everliving shit out of you without resorting to pure shock value. The thing that mostly squicked me out was the Mary statue crying blood.
I also appreciate his opportunity to use dissociative identity disorder as a plot device, and explicitly refusing to use it. It's a mark of a truly original artist to reject such harmful yet common tropes.
I also appreciate his opportunity to use dissociative identity disorder as a plot device, and explicitly refusing to use it. It's a mark of a truly original artist to reject such harmful yet common tropes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Violence, Death, Murder, and Grief
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Terminal illness
bookishwondergoth's review
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
3.25
Beautiful artwork as always in Junji Ito’s wholly distinctive, freaky style. The stories themselves are a bit of a mixed bag, with ‘Weeping Woman Way’ being somewhat dull, ‘Madonna’ being a pretty interesting story and ‘The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara’ being downright bizarre.
The final story, ‘Slumber’, legitimately freaked me out. With this one, I got it: the dread of turning the page, the unsettling discomfort looking at the images, the dismayed horror and lurch in my stomach at the final panel. I’m writing this review at 12:30am and can already tell sleep is going to be a struggle. This final story alone warrants a full 5 stars, but the other 3 are so lacklustre that I can’t really bring myself to rate the whole book higher than a 3.25.
I really should stop reading Junji Ito’s standalone stories before bed. I’m usually totally ok with them for the most part but every now and then one will really, really haunt me. ‘Slumber’ is definitely one of them.
Absolutely love it though.
The final story, ‘Slumber’, legitimately freaked me out. With this one, I got it: the dread of turning the page, the unsettling discomfort looking at the images, the dismayed horror and lurch in my stomach at the final panel. I’m writing this review at 12:30am and can already tell sleep is going to be a struggle. This final story alone warrants a full 5 stars, but the other 3 are so lacklustre that I can’t really bring myself to rate the whole book higher than a 3.25.
I really should stop reading Junji Ito’s standalone stories before bed. I’m usually totally ok with them for the most part but every now and then one will really, really haunt me. ‘Slumber’ is definitely one of them.
Absolutely love it though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Pedophilia, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Grief
Minor: Suicide and Terminal illness
katndrsn's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Child death, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, and Death
evelphysicist's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Entertaining horror but not quite as impactful as Ito’s previous works in my opinion.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Infidelity
saint_eleanor's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Loved this one, the spirit flow story was so creeeeepy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, and Gore
Minor: Pedophilia
howlinglibraries's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
This was absolutely incredible and probably my favorite Junji Ito book thus far. The Liminal Zone is a collection of a few different stories, as many of Junji's works are, and these stories share in the bizarre, messed up, outlandish nature that his stories typically do, but something about these really shone for me.
'Weeping Woman Way' features a couple who come across a town that seems to still utilize the old, mostly forgotten tradition of "weeping women" (professional mourners) at funerals, but after coming in contact with one of the weeping women, Mako finds herself inconsolably sad. The depictions of the weeping women were so chilling and fascinating, and I really loved the idea of this corpse that continues to weep long past her death.
'Madonna' is a religious horror story featuring some incredibly messed up zealots who believe they are on a personal mission to find the reincarnation of the virgin Mary, and I loved the way the ending played out and the twists in this one. Junji Ito has toyed with religious themes in some of his previous works, but this was definitely my favorite example of that theme in his writing so far.
'The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara' follows a couple's trip to Aokigahara's infamous "Suicide Forest" after one member of the couple has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Once arriving in the forest, the two find an unexplainable source of spiritual activity that draws Norio in and begins to create bizarre changes in him. This felt like the most classically familiar style of story from the collection, as it deals with some really bizarre elements and artwork later in the story that were highly unnerving!
'Slumber' is about a young man who has memories of murder every morning when he wakes, but otherwise has no recollection of planning the murders, nor does he have a motive. This was my least favorite in the collection, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it — I only wish there had been a little more explanation regarding the twist, but I've long since learned that sometimes, with Junji's work, you just have to go with the flow!
I highly recommend The Liminal Zone to any horror manga lovers, whether you're brand new to Junji Ito books or have read all of his previous works. Again, I'd say this was my favorite of his books yet, and it made me extremely excited to see what he writes next!
'Weeping Woman Way' features a couple who come across a town that seems to still utilize the old, mostly forgotten tradition of "weeping women" (professional mourners) at funerals, but after coming in contact with one of the weeping women, Mako finds herself inconsolably sad. The depictions of the weeping women were so chilling and fascinating, and I really loved the idea of this corpse that continues to weep long past her death.
'Madonna' is a religious horror story featuring some incredibly messed up zealots who believe they are on a personal mission to find the reincarnation of the virgin Mary, and I loved the way the ending played out and the twists in this one. Junji Ito has toyed with religious themes in some of his previous works, but this was definitely my favorite example of that theme in his writing so far.
'The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara' follows a couple's trip to Aokigahara's infamous "Suicide Forest" after one member of the couple has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Once arriving in the forest, the two find an unexplainable source of spiritual activity that draws Norio in and begins to create bizarre changes in him. This felt like the most classically familiar style of story from the collection, as it deals with some really bizarre elements and artwork later in the story that were highly unnerving!
'Slumber' is about a young man who has memories of murder every morning when he wakes, but otherwise has no recollection of planning the murders, nor does he have a motive. This was my least favorite in the collection, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it — I only wish there had been a little more explanation regarding the twist, but I've long since learned that sometimes, with Junji's work, you just have to go with the flow!
I highly recommend The Liminal Zone to any horror manga lovers, whether you're brand new to Junji Ito books or have read all of his previous works. Again, I'd say this was my favorite of his books yet, and it made me extremely excited to see what he writes next!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Murder
Minor: Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
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