Remina

I love the art of Junji Ito. I love his story-telling ability. The tale he undertakes here is compelling. It is also exhausting to me. I decided to let it wash over me without expectation or prejudice. I simply wanted to experience it; and, once I had, I felt drained. Maybe it's a little too accurate. The story is the improbable tale of a planet-eating planet named Remina named after the daughter of its discoverer, Dr. Ogura. The revelation to the public is met with awe and the doctor and his daughter, especially his daughter, are raised to the level of celebrity. Demure, Remina really doesn't want the limelight or all the perks that come with it. In short order, men are fighting over her. She definitely doesn't want that. She is quickly reduced from celebrity to a source of angst, a condition that only worsens when it is realized that the planet, Remina, is loose and eating other planets in our solar system. Mob mentality is central to the story and it is handled with grave acuity. Just as her celebrity had been thrust upon her, Remina and her father are irrationally blamed for "calling" the planet into our solar system. When it's obvious that it's heading toward the Earth, society collapses into homicidal chaos. Far from being the fought over focus of competing men, Remina quickly finds herself on the run from the insane mob. Separated by her father and dependent upon one reliable friend, she watches as her world disappears around her; and, as the planet named after her closes in on Earth, it seems most likely that the end is near. I will not spoil the story, but I will affirm that nothing particularly uplifting occurs and Remina's future, and the future of humanity, is left very much in doubt. Maybe, just maybe, this can be viewed as a commentary about public opinion and how easily swayed it can be in our time, but it simply left me in the deepest imaginable of depressions. It's a worthy tale, a masterpiece I suppose, but it's one you must approach with caution.

So Junji Ito ... my wife is addicted to his writing and manga ... so when he was at SDCC ... I knew I was in trouble. So we went to his speaking engagement and the man is really brilliant (honestly I had no idea who he was prior to this) ... I felt bad for him because his hands are very badly gnarled because of years of drawing. But no one can take away the horror he inspires with everything he writes and draws. He creates horrors that give nightmares horrors ... the things he writes and draws is amazing and terrifying and beautiful at the same time. The stories are all enthralling and tell tales that will give you nightmares but you will soon realize that even your nightmares pale in comparison to the nightmares he is writing. It's truly awe inspiring to be honest. One day we will lose this horror genre master but for now, I recommend everyone buy his books and be both inspired and terrified.

The quality of the book deserves a 5-star. It is on-par with older Junji Ito releases. Smashed, and Shiver are the closest in quality, but Remina is only about half the content as those two collections. The cover is glossy, and smooth; with no sleeve. The spine is a mat, textured paper. This contrast of the cover and spine is pleasing, and stands out as soon as you pull the book from the shelf. I wont get into the story, it isn't long enough for spoilers. That being said, my personal preferences aim towards other Ito titles, the ending of this one feels weak to me. I can appreciate what he was going for, but Ito seemed to grow bored with the idea by the time he was done. It's not bad, and any fan will be happy to add more to their collections. It would have worked better at half the size, and it's already short enough. Newcomers will find more enjoyment from a collection, or one of his longer staples like Uzumaki, Gyo, or Tomie. Personally I would recommend one of the collections, with Fragments of Horror being the last collection I would recommend, and Shiver or Smashed fairly equal in content. Frankenstein is neat, but only if you like the story already, or are already a fan of Junji Ito's work. The same goes for No Longer Human; if you don't already appreciate one or the other I can't see it making you a new fan. It isn't to say it won't, and maybe you'll love Remina more than anything else he's written. With so many objectively more compelling stories that take up 1/4 of the pages to say what this says, written by Ito himself, this story is for fans.

Spoiler-free review: Remina is a true cosmic horror in terms of tone and scale. It achieves a sense of impending dread while holding up a mirror to humanity and showing just how cruel we can be as a species when pushed to the brink. In this respect, Remina features two kinds of 'monsters' equally terrifying in their motivations and actions. The pacing of the narrative is perfect and escalates in a logarithmic fashion that keeps you hooked and unable to put the book down. Readers should be warned that they may experience existential dread and a few sleepless nights. It is difficult to find many faults with Remina but if I am pressed to find any, it would be in the way that some science fiction elements are presented. The story, out of necessity, takes place in the future and requires the use of particular tropes that Ito does not have much experience in portraying. The manner in which particular pieces of technology are illustrated or explained, indicates that Ito could have done a bit more research before starting this book. This is just a minor gripe and it does not detract from the overall narrative. Ito's style of art is well-suited to the subjects portrayed in Remina. He has perfectly captured horrific imagery at both the micro and macro scale in this book. There are numerous splash pages with illustrations that are utterly haunting but impossible to look away from. Determining where this book ranks among his previous works is difficult. Gyo will always be his best but I find Remina to compete very closely with Uzumaki for second place. An absolute recommendation for this book if you are an Ito fan. Because of its grand scale, I would say that this should be the 4th or 5th book you loan to a friend to get them into the works of Junji Ito.

Remina isn’t a bad manga. It’s also not particularly good. It’s a type of literature that transcends those boundaries. It’s nonsensical and truly eldritch, with half the time my mind unable to process what I read. The pace was a bit rushed - most manga make careful use of their limited pages. This one is more like a fever dream. A very violent one. I think everyone should read it, because it is unique. This was my first Junji Ito book, and I’m not sure if I’ll read more of his works, but I can’t deny this was an interesting read.

I am a Junji Ito fan and in the process of collecting all of his works. That being said I already had high hopes for this. The artwork is fantastic as always and as for the story it progresses fast. This story doesn't focus much on character development but jumps right into the action as his stories generally tend to do. I enjoyed it but it is one of the more violent stories I've read of his and it continues to escalate throughout reading, focusing mainly on the way the humans are reacting to their impending doom more than the disturbing planet itself. Definitely a "humans are the real monsters" type of telling. I definitely recommend this for any Junji Ito or general horror fan.

This is my oficial debut into the world of Junji Ito’s works. I bought it on impulse as soon as I saw to cover without knowing much about it. Let’s just say that I am a very happy customer. As mentioned previously, I have not experienced anything Junji Ito before, and I feel like this is a great start to his work. The art is top notch, if anything I would warrant a buy just for it. The book itself is gorgeous, mine came with little to no handling defects, and it looks great in a book shelf. It itself is a hard cover book, which makes it feel more elegant in my opinion. The binding is good, and the feel of it is just right. As for the story, without spoiling anything, it is a very interesting read. Not what I was expecting as far as horror goes, but great nonetheless. I will admit, certain plot points did feel like it needed very “convenient” things to occur in order to work, but again Sci-Fi x Horror, it’s meant to be unrealistic. Do yourself a favor and get this if you like manga, the price is more than reasonable for the work, and it is a great product for what it’s worth.

No issues

Ik ben dol op Junji Ito manga maar deze valt me tegen.

What happens when your entire planet is about to be devoured? This manga is a page turner or sure, the art and perspective are amazing. I am subtracting one star though since it arrived with a slightly damaged cover and a worn spine, I thought it was supposed to be a new copy but seems to be a used one. Again, in proper storage caused the book to smell a bit musty on arrival.

وصل بحالة ممتازة و متحمس للقراءة

Ito's first ever cosmic horror, story treatment and style is different this time as Ito is mostly into paranormal and body horror. This is a must read for Ito fans and Lovecraft fans and for the horror fans in general. Art is as usual beautiful and horrifying at the same time, usual Junji Ito there.

Tbh I don't think I will ever leave less than a 5 star review for Junji Ito, I have all his books and I can't get enough! My favourite manga author by far. His books are fantastically and fascinatingly 'scary', with just downright awesome stories. Not to mention, the art is phenomenal.