Junji Ito. Writing process
Junji Ito, is probably, one of the most famous people in horror mangas history during all the time. Many of his manga films have produced anime films that are now quite popular. An example of such success is the Collection of Junji Ito. To be honest, I am the owner of two books that contain his manga. In this post, I want to analyze his work and the writing process itself, as it can help me to write a real horror book.
First of all, I want to say that our work with him will be different in the genre of writing because he is a manga artist, which suggests visual novels. I’m going to write a usual horror book. However, his works are filled with the atmosphere that I would like to achieve in my work. A very great role in the creation of his stories is his drawings. Analyzing his work not only in writing but also in design is important enough for me because I want to include in my book some drawings made by me.
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| Junji Ito Collection |
"Ito has been painstakingly rendering the environment to give shape to lingering disgust, miasma, and/or stench."(Astra W, 2022)
I think it’s a skill I need to learn. I want to reflect the horror not only of the situations themselves, but also of how it affects the environment, both in pictures and in writing.
One of Junji Ito’s distinctive features is the description of the characters. Almost every hero in his works is obsessed with some strange things. For example, in Handsome Man at the Crossroads, a schoolboy was addicted to giving everyone the answer that their love would be happy because he was the reason for a woman's death when he was a child. In Tomie, the protagonist is addicted to her beauty, which makes it unhealthy. The Japanese manga writer not only demonstrates an unhealthy obsession but exaggerates it more than 10 times.
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| Glyceride |
"His creatures inspire a more practical type of fear; taking creatures that are usually removed from daily life, and giving them the means to intrude into what would normally be considered safe from them. This concept is expanded upon in Ito’s work, in which there are often no safe spaces, and characters are doomed to confront the horrors with little reprieve."(Andi, 2019)
Junji Ito reveals the concept of losing oneself in his stories. The characters in his manga do not really influence the end result, but the reader is interested in watching their reactions. All chains of events are driven not by ordinary monsters, but by almost God-like entities that end up unstoppable. They are beyond human comprehension and outside human intervention.
"There is a recurring sense of inevitable demise throughout Ito’s work, which again strengthens the sense of losing agency"(Andi, 2019) |
| Phyrexian Praetor |
References:
https://www.ukposters.co.uk/posters/junji-ito-collection-of-the-macabre-v83929
https://yattatachi.com/tbt-junji-ito#:~:text=Junji%20Ito%20uses%20many%20techniques,us%20for%20the%20upcoming%20events.
https://www.impericon.com/uk/junji-ito-glyceride-poster.html
https://the-artifice.com/junji-ito/#:~:text=Ito's%20art%20style%20also%20makes,also%20relies%20on%20its%20content.
https://www.polygon.com/23507184/mtg-junji-ito-phyrexia-all-will-be-one-previews-lands-foils-box-pricing-release-date
https://www.unpublishedzine.com/film/the-appeal-of-junji-ito#:~:text=One%20reason%20why%20Ito's%20works,and%20Ito's%20is%20very%20distinct.
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