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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
dark
funny
fast-paced
For as much as I love Soichi – and I really do – I expected to hand this thing five stars. I just thought that a few of the stories – especially closer to the end of the collection – fell a little short of the mark, often introducing repetitive elements and deux ex machina-type plot points. For the most part it's a hit, as expected, but a tighter story really could have pushed it over the edge.
dark
funny
fast-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*This asshole better be adolescent and dumb for eternity cuz I don't wanna see even more kinds of insufferable shit the adult Soichi'd be up to. (Jokes aside it would be interesting to see grownup Soichi with perhaps more control of his "power" and developments for his personality/relationships)*
My reading experience of this was just fine! I hadn't purchased the physical copy like I'd had usually done with Ito's books; the Soichi features sprinkled here and there in Ito's past collections were mostly duds compared to the surrounding stories, so I didn't really have high hopes before reading this book digitally. While it was not perfect, happy to report it was better than I expected! I liked Teacher of Cloth, Coffin, and Rumours the most. While the others are just weirdly mysterious and creepy, those three stories had the perfect blend of humour, body AND social horror, good panels, AND still remained more hilarious and disturbing than the other chapters somehow. My main complaint is that besides one or two moments, Soichi (or really his whole ass family) has stayed one-dimensional in terms of motives and personality throughout the entirety of the book. Soichi's not to blame tho; he's just acting like a gloomy insecure old creepy lady that curses other people because he was literally brought up by one lol.
Overall, still won't buy the physical copy, unless Soichi 2 comes out. Would be hype if that happens. Predictions: experiencing an alien encounter, discovering emo music, an enemies-to-friends-to-sacrificial-subject-to-lover arc with a classmate, Soichi starting a national zombie crisis with his strangely op power, but then realizing that he has to be in exchange sucked into literal hell (Uzumaki) etc etc. The reason why I'm still typing this review might or might not be because of insomnia <3
My reading experience of this was just fine! I hadn't purchased the physical copy like I'd had usually done with Ito's books; the Soichi features sprinkled here and there in Ito's past collections were mostly duds compared to the surrounding stories, so I didn't really have high hopes before reading this book digitally. While it was not perfect, happy to report it was better than I expected! I liked Teacher of Cloth, Coffin, and Rumours the most. While the others are just weirdly mysterious and creepy, those three stories had the perfect blend of humour, body AND social horror, good panels, AND still remained more hilarious and disturbing than the other chapters somehow. My main complaint is that besides one or two moments, Soichi (or really his whole ass family) has stayed one-dimensional in terms of motives and personality throughout the entirety of the book. Soichi's not to blame tho; he's just acting like a gloomy insecure old creepy lady that curses other people because he was literally brought up by one lol.
Overall, still won't buy the physical copy, unless Soichi 2 comes out. Would be hype if that happens. Predictions: experiencing an alien encounter, discovering emo music, an enemies-to-friends-to-sacrificial-subject-to-lover arc with a classmate, Soichi starting a national zombie crisis with his strangely op power, but then realizing that he has to be in exchange sucked into literal hell (Uzumaki) etc etc. The reason why I'm still typing this review might or might not be because of insomnia <3
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death
Minor: Child abuse, Violence
these stories feel like what it’s like to grow up as the weird horror kid in very normal surroundings. very humor heavy but i still prefer tomie and others
dark
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:
Yes
dark
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
fast-paced
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
not junji ito’s best book but def a great book!!
Neato collection, all stories involving this creepy kid named Soichi who sucks on nails because he has an iron deficiency. There are callbacks to some of Ito's earlier collections too!
I always love Soichi with his dabbling in the supernatural and sometimes pushing it too far and getting into trouble himself. Most of these stories I recognize from one collection or another but it is fun getting a big dosage of his ridiculousness in one go.