Junji Ito is a renowned Japanese manga artist known for his works of abstract horror such as Uzumaki, Gyo, and Tomie. He utilizes a variety of techniques to create compelling and terrifying horror. Ito's art style is highly detailed and unsettling, featuring pale faces and dark eyes to build an atmosphere of discomfort. He takes common human fears and themes from both Western and Eastern horror and distorts them into grotesque abominations, dragging readers out of their comfort zone. Ito's horror is unpredictable and inescapable, with threats arising from ordinary objects and no one is safe, making his works deeply unsettling and compelling.

1. WHAT MAKES JUNJI ITO’S
HORROR SO COMPELLING?
Horror is an incrediblypopulargenre,andwiththatcomesoversaturation. Time andtime
again,movie directorsandauthorsalike keeprehashingthe same ideasorchoosingtouse cheap
jumpscaresinsteadof tryingto create a goodhorror experience. However,one Japanese manga
author,renownedasa masterof abstract horror,is Junji Ito.He ismost knownforhisworkssuch as
Uzumaki(2001), Gyo (2003) andhisdebuttitle, Tomie(2016), whichwill formthe focusof my
discussion.EasternandWesternaudiencesalike are drawnintohisworldof cosmicand twisted
horrors,but whatabout hisworkis socompellingtous?These worksinclude highlevelsof detail
and focuson takingordinarysubjectsandsubvertingthemintosomethingterrifying. JunjiItohasa
large varietyof worksthat effectivelyutilizestechniquesbothuniqueandcommoninthe genre.
Horror is alreadya genre thatkeepspeople comingback,nomatterhow gruesome or terrifyingthe
experiencesare. Generally,audienceslove horrorforthe adrenaline rush,like arollercoaster.Horror
allowsaudiencestoexplore theirdeepestfears,inadetachedandsafe environment,whichcanbe
incrediblythrillingandwhyIto’sworkissocompellinginit’s grossoutnature withingthe ordinary
and everyday.
Junji Ito’sart isverydistinct, he hasa signature style thatisinstantly recognizable. Due to
Ito’sworksbeingina comic format,there isan importantneedtoproperlypace yourself asanartist
because of the intense workloaditrequirestocreate acomic. The amountof workneededto
illustrate everypanel infull detail is excessive,andbecause of thisItois quite selectiveof whento
make hisart detailed.Forpartsinhis storythat are relativelynormal,withnothingoutright
horrifyinghappening,hisartstyle israthersimple,butwhendepictinghorrificscenes Itodecidesto
spare no detail.The horrorpanelsare overwhelmingly thorough,usuallyspreadacrossone ortwo
pages.Theyare filledwithgrotesque imagery fromtoptobottom – visuallybombardingyouwith
gross bodyhorror. This can be seenin Uzumaki(1999), where afteryou’ve continuouslyseen
Shuichi’sfatherravingabouthisspiral conspiracy,youfinallyseehimcontortedandmutatedinto
exactlywhathe’dbeenobsessingover,aspiral.The detail isintense,andthe whole scene takesup
the entire page.
Anotherimportantaspectof Junji Ito’sartis how unsettlingitis,andhow itbuilds
atmosphere.Justfromseeingaregularportraitin hisstyle,youcantell it’s of the horror genre.This
isbecause there is somethingsounsettling aboutit.The facesare pale,withlittle detail outside of
the eyes.The eyesplayabig part inthe unsettlingfeeling,they’re sodarklookingincomparisonto
the rest of the face,and the irises are smaller– all thisresultinginaghastlyappearance.Unlike
traditional manga,Ito’s artstyle israther mature,featuringmostlyhumanlike andnatural
proportions.Thisconnectswiththe readermuchmore,asthe characterslookso humanit’seasierto
place yourself intheirsituation andformsthe moodandtone of beinguncomfortablebythe close
nature of the subjectsandthe proximityof the differentorstrange appearancesor experiences,
theyhave. Alongsidethis,JunjiItoalsodiffersfromtraditional mangaartistsinthe wayhe shades
and colourspanels.Generally,mangaartistswillmake use of screentones andhalftonestoshade
and create patterns.Ito,onthe otherhand,shadesandcreatesdepthand detail bybuildingon
linework. Incomparison,the workof KazuoUmezu whousesa popularmainstreamstyleshares

2. technique withItobutismuchmore traditionally Manga,makingthe impactandintensity less
compellingthanIto’s.
In Junji Ito’sworks,he usesanassortmentof techniquestoportrayfearandhorror. He
utilizescommonhumanfears,such asinsectsorthe deepocean,andthentwistsand distortsthose
topicsintounfathomable abominations.Forexample,in Gyo (2001), the threatis presentedvia
oceancreaturessurfacingwithlarge and disgustinglookingspiderlegs. Thisalsocoincideswiththe
overarchinglackof safetythroughout all hisstories, the audience canneverrelax once the threat
has beenestablished.Oceancreatureslike whalesandfishare generallyremovedfromourdailylife,
as we are on the landand theyare inthe sea. The fearsof the ocean are somethingthatwe can
easilyignore,asit’ssofar removedfromus,butwhenthese creatures’ surface ontolandwithlong
and huge spiderlegs,they invadeoursafety,andforce usto confrontthese fears.Itodragsyou out
of yourcomfortzone,and thenusesthatvulnerabilitytoshow gruesome horrors of excessive detail.
Carryingon withthe ideaof safety,it’sshowntoyouconstantlythatno one is safe inthe worldof
Junji Ito. Anythingcanhappentoanyone,forno reasoninparticular. Thisalsoendsup ineverything
beinga potential threat,anythingasmundane asgrease,asdepictedin Glyceride (2015) Thisisa
commontheme inthe cosmichorror genre,whichItoisstronglyinspiredby. Generally, inhorror,
there isa motive tothe various terrible thingsthattake place,InIto’sworkthisis the opposite.
Threatsare alwaysabstract andsometimesevengodlike –ultimatelyanythingthathappensisoutof
the protagonist’shands.It’ssomethingthatcannotbe controlled, andthatlack of control makesthe
fearso compelling.
The horror of Junji Ito’sworkhasmany differentinfluences.A large partof Junji Ito’s
inspirationcomesfromthe worksof HPLovecraft(1890-1937), such as The Call of Cthulhu (1928)’s
overarchingthemesof non-humaninfluencesonhumanityandsuperstition.Bothauthorsfollow the
themesof cosmichorror.The threatof the storyis usuallyabstract,youare notable to fully
understanditandneithercanthe characters.The horror comesfrom ordinarypeople gettingstuck
inthese horrible situations,andthe feelingof hopelessnesswhentheyare powerlessagainst
whateverthreatemerges.
The culture behind horrorinthe east andwestdiffersgreatly.Ineasterncountries,horror
tendsto be much more psychological initsapproach,astark comparisontothe in-your-face
Hollywoodhorrorof the west. Japanspecifically,focuseslargelyonpsychological horror.Post-war
Japanhad a boominthe genre, withlarge influencesfromthe nation’scollectivetraumaof World
War 2 and nuclearbombings.Examplesof thisinfluence include Godzilla (1954), whichwasan
allegoryfornuclearwarfare,and Onibaba (1964),where the special effectsmakeupwasinspiredby
the mutilatedvictimsfromnuclearbombings. Theseinfluencescause adifference innarrative in
Japanese horror, suchas the psychological themesand‘villains’of the filmsbeing supernatural
vengeful ghosts,orunstoppable Kaijumonsters. The Westcontraststhis,as It has a much larger
focuson full frontal shockfactor,suchas in slashermovieslike Nightmareon ElmStreet (1985) and
Friday the 13th
(1980).
While there isstill anotable scene forpsychological horror,you’llsee thatthose tendtogo
more unnoticedmostof the time comparedto the bigHollywoodreleases. Thisisbecause western
audiencesviewhorrorassomethingmore sensationalized,filledwithcheapthrills andrepetitive
tropes. Westernhorrortendsto follow theseandrelieson jumpscares andshockfactor to make you
feel scared.Forexample, TheWoman in Black(2012)and othersupernatural horrormoviesrely
particularlyhardon jumpscaring,andoftenfollow the same structure forbuildingthemup. Horror
moviessuchas thisare much more palatable forgeneral audiences,asitdoesn’tprovoke much

3. thoughtaside frombasicfear. Modern Japanese horrortendstohave a focusmore onhaunted
housesandfamilyaffairs,due tothe increasedcultural focus onfamilylife overthe years,alongside
Japangenerallybeinglargelysuperstitious.TheseinfluencesaffectJunji Ito’soverall work,asmany
of hisstoriesinclude themesof supernatural occurrenceshappeningtoordinarypeople. Itodraws
inspirationfrombothtraditionalandmodernJapanese horror,suchashisstory Gyo (2003) being
inspiredbyhisanti-warfeelings,andstorieslike Tomie(2016) andUzumaki(2001) takingplace in
simple domesticsettings.
Junji Itoutilizesmanytechniquesandconventionstoeffectivelyportrayhorror. The unique usage of
hisart style,andthe level of detailisdeeplycompellingandvisuallyinteresting –and the wayhe
accentuatesthe varioustechniqueshe usestoscare readerswithhisdetailedartstyle isalso
incrediblycaptivating.The mixture of bothwesternandeasterninfluencesonhisworkalsocreatesa
refreshingtake onhorror,andthisdistinctive wayhe tellsstoriesisinterestingandcompelling.Junji
Ito takescommoneverydaythemesandfears,andthentwiststhemandmorphstheminto
somethingdeeplyterrifying,anditssocompellingbecause asreader’swe canfeasiblyputourselves
intothese situations.

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