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Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Religious bigotry
Minor: Body shaming, Terminal illness, Stalking, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder
Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt
Madonna was much more interesting to me, very striking iconography alongside the theme of the Madonna/Whore complex in men and its destructive effect on the perception of women.
The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara is a classic Ito story, unnerving body horror and just the right amount of absurdity. Has the bones to be a longer story if Ito wanted to do so, I think.
Slumber has a great sense of intrigue and a wonderfully twisted idea at its core, this one more than any of the others I would love to see explored in a more long form comic.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting
Moderate: Misogyny
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Murder
Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder
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.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Grief, Religious bigotry
Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness
Graphic: Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Religious bigotry, Murder
Moderate: Suicide
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Blood, Religious bigotry, Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization