Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Liminal Zone by Junji Ito

20 reviews

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.

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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

nightstitch96's review

dark 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Death, and Body horror

sandramarinis's review

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

The two first stories were just okay, but the last two blew my mind. I absolutely loved them. Didn't expect to feel horrified. The last stories made me feel uncomfortable, tense and uneasy, which was exactly what I wanted to feel. Loved the twists. The artwork was amazing for the entire manga. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Body horror, Death, Dementia, Grief, Stalking, Violence, Chronic illness, Gore, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Minor: Confinement and Adult/minor relationship

m4rtt4's review

dark mysterious sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

This one was milder with the gore, and while I was not primarily looking for blood and bodily horror, they probably would have made the stories more horrifying as the psychological horror felt milder too and overall I wasn't as creeped out as I usually am with Ito. Insanely skilled art and creative stories as always, but something was missing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Infidelity and Adult/minor relationship

devynreadsnovels's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, Murder, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Violence, and Suicide

mercurial's review

fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness

physicalsecrets's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

doomluz's review

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Murder, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: 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.

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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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Suicide attempt, Body horror, and Death

Moderate: Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Infidelity