#hikizuri siblings

[zatoichisublime]

#2023 #junji ito #junji ito maniac: japanese tales of the macabre #the strange hikizuri siblings #hikizuri #hikizuri siblings #netflix

[maybellineissatisfied]

Cemetery Sweethearts - Kazuya Hikizuri/GN!Reader

A/N: This is my first time posting on tumblr, so sorry if the format is off a bit

Contains: Macabre Fluff, Mentions of Dying (cemetery duh), Implied Sexual Content (but no smut srry)

Also on AO3 if you prefer that for reading fanfics :)

The heavy clouds shrouded the darkening sky, casting a dark blanket over the mansion as the lanterns illuminated sections of the graveyard. The mansion's windows glowed yellow and the muted sounds of shouting and crying rang across the graveyard towards an isolated figure walking towards the furthest corner of the unkept 'garden'. They passed copious graves as they followed a gravel path that had lonely blades of grass growing between the small stones as it weaved throughout the labyrinth of the dead. The path faded into the dense grass the further away from the house it stretched until eventually it was swallowed into the tangle of green. 

You crouched by a few of the graves that claustrophobically decorated the backyard, muttering lowly to them about what was on the news that day, and about what you did. The spirits wailed and whined in response as they soared overhead and dipped under the ground. You giggled wryly as they tickled you with a cool breeze when they flew too close. Sometimes the spirits asked you in echoing voices about something specific, whether it be their family, politics or if the convenience store on near their childhood home still had their favourite snack. You would answer to the best of your ability, however, some of them were stubborn and refused to accept that times were changing although they were dead. 

"Always the stalker, never the stalked." You tittered as some gravel crunched behind you, not bothering to turn around. "Right, Kazuya?"

"Nothing gets past you, my observant little raven." Said man chuckled, emerging from behind a tall headstone, running a hand through his hair to brush off stray leaves as he sauntered towards you.

"You've stalked me since we first met, I know how you work." You rolled your eyes and turned to face him. His eyes softened when you stood up to brush some imaginary dust off his shoulders and straighten the collar of his shirt. "Why'd you follow me? You said you were going to take a bath."

"I heard the coo of a lovely mourning dove and wanted to catch a glimpse of them." He brought your left hand up to his face and pressed a gentle kiss on your knuckles. "It's a sign of good fortune after all."

"You flatter me." You smiled as he continued to kiss your hand.

"You bewitch me, my darling." Kazuya purred, turning your hand to press kisses into your palm. "It was this very hand that picked up my pen and gave it back to me. I almost proposed right then."

"I would have said yes even back then." You giggled as Kazuya trailed kisses up your arm.

"I know."

"I remember at graduation; you gave me the second button of your uniform because you didn't know if you'd see me again." You reminisced as he softly kissed your neck, tilting your head to accommodate him but still feeling the frame of his glasses prod your skin. "I wore it as a necklace ever since that day, it was like a wedding ring."

"And you still wear it, alongside your wedding ring." Kazuya mused, holding your necklace and inspected the button that used to be on his uniform. "Do you love me that much, darling?"

"Of course I do," You retorted. "I doubt anyone else could put up with you and your family."

"That's true." He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the button. "I love you." He sighed and kissed his way up your face to your lips.

His lips brushed against yours shyly at first until you grabbed his face and pulled him closer. He smiled against your lips slightly and held your shoulders. When you pulled away, you both were breathing heavily and Kazuya whined quietly, pressing his forehead against yours desperately. You smiled and stroked his face which he leaned into. 

"You're so cute." You smiled. "I'm going to stay out here for a bit, do you want to stay with me, sweetheart?"

"Sure, let's go on a walk though. Afterwards, could I persuade you to join me in the bath?" Kazuya inquired, linking his arm through yours. You nodded at him and squeezed your arm around his.

The two of you strolled around the cemetery, reminiscing about the individuals whose names were inscribed on the headstones. Kazuya eventually halted at a grave that was fore fronted by a barren patch of uneven dirt and the faded edges of a pentagram, there was also some candle wicks laying in the surrounding grass, swallowed by the erratic blades.

"I wish Uncle Diginosuke could have met you, darling, he would've loved you." Kazuya murmured, gazing sadly at the headstone. "Shame his grave is empty now." You remained silent but nodded. Years ago, the grave used to emit woeful groans and cries alongside the occasional mutter of "karma", but you never saw a spirit. Now it was cold and empty, only a distant memory kept alive by a still-mourning nephew.

Diginosuke had always been a sensitive topic for Kazuya, especially after the siblings resurrected him and his zombie was consumed by their father's ghost. Kazuya would talk about his uncle with fondness as he showed you photographs of his infant self playing with Diginosuke. Your favourite was one of Diginosuke sitting on a swing set with a four-year-old Kazuya laughing in his lap, however, that was the last photo of the two before Diginosuke was forced to leave the mansion after an affair and killed himself. Kazuya admitted he cried for a long time after his uncle left and didn't understand what had truly happened as his father told him that Diginosuke insulted the family and to get over him because 'a man shouldn't cry'. Kazuya found out that Diginosuke was dead a few days before he turned five years old.

"I also know mom would have adored you, maybe even more than she adored me." Kazuya's woeful gaze turned to you. "She knew about you, despite me trying to hide my feelings. She wanted me to marry you, and she was the one who encouraged me to give you my button when I graduated; 'It's a subtle yet meaningful way of telling them how you feel.' is what she said." He smiled briefly at the memory.

Masue Hikizuri was a beautiful and kind woman who loved all her children very much and tried to make time for all of them. You had only met her in passing and she always smiled at you which made Kazuya get embarrassed and usher her and his siblings away. Kazuya constantly mentioned how his mom wanted to formally meet you, and have you around for a meal but you never got the chance before her and his dad died. After that, Kazuya would constantly tell you stories about his mom, and what she would have thought about you two being together and being married. 

Even though Kazuya had told you these stories hundreds of times, you never got tired of hearing them, because you knew it made him happy to tell you them. He only talked about his mom and uncle though, he rarely mentioned his father because his father didn't support the relationship and would criticize Kazuya for thinking of courting you. His mom, on the other hand, was fully supportive and was elated her son had found someone he loved to spend time with since he was always gloomy and isolated himself from other people. While you never met his uncle, Kazuya told you about some advice his uncle gave his younger self offhandedly about striving for happiness throughout life, and you made him happy, so he had adhered to his uncle's words.

Eventually, Kazuya rolled his shoulders and smiled at you, gently guiding you away from his uncle's abandoned grave and along another dirt path. You continued to talk about the names on the graves and Kazuya would indulge you in stories about them, since they were his deceased ancestors. However, as you walked further into the cemetery, the headstones became blank; they didn't need names though, you both remembered who each one was and how they died.

"Darling, it's your good friend, Tabata. Remember him?" Kazuya mused, gesturing to a patch of dirt that was nestled between two broken headstones. You could see Tabata's ghost floating above his grave with a woeful expression painted on his disfigured face as his vacant eyes bore into your soul. You stared back, apathetic, and leaned into Kazuya's side more. "I sure remember what you did to him."

"I always knew you were a bit of a freak, but I would never have thought murder turned you on so much. You couldn't keep your hands off me, not that I'm complaining." You teased, making him smirk.

"Like you were any better than I was."

"Yeah, I had you arching your back and biting the pillows then, and I always do it again easily." You smirked triumphantly as he flushed and pulled your linked arm to continue walking.

"Ah, it's poor Kotani and his mannequin." Kazuya giggled at some grass under a tree. "I remember the fun we had with him."

"How many of Narumi's boyfriends have you guys killed overall again? I've been present for seven, and Kotani makes eight of them dead."

"Twenty." Kazuya stated apathetically. "Well we've only physically killed them a few times, most of them got scared to death like poor Kotani. My favourite was one extremely rude boy who thought he could attack Misako," Kazuya laughed. "The look on his face when she scratched his arms to shreds was a pretty picture. It was even better when we got a hold of him, but the clean-up was a pain." He sighed dramatically.

Eventually, the two of you stopped walking around and sat on the lone bench in the graveyard with Kazuya's head resting in your lap as you caressed his face and played with his hair. The dark grey clouds framed the moon, allowing the natural light to illuminate the world for the first time that night. The moonlight shone down on you and Kazuya, creating a soft silver glow on the grass and the granite and marble headstones.

It was a typical weekend evening, with you and Kazuya enjoying each other's company away from his overbearing siblings, even if it was in the graveyard at the back of the mansion. It reminded you of when the two of you would sneak away from your friends and family as teenagers to see each other, however, his siblings would usually stalk you two to check that their big brother wasn't abandoning them. Fortunately, they grew out of the habit after knowing you were not threat, but also because Kazuya and Kinako would scold the younger ones. 

"I want to share a grave with you, darling." Kazuya whispered, breaking the silence. "'Deep in the earth, my love is lying, and I must weep alone.' Doesn't that sound awful? Being apart from you is a nightmare I refuse to experience, there's no point to life if my mourning dove isn't singing."

"Poetic." You smiled sadly, twirling a strand of his fringe around your finger. "You could be the next Poe with the depressingly macabre stuff you spout. Or maybe even Keats? Do you want me to cut off your head and keep it in a plant pot?" You laughed glumly.

"I mean it, (Y/N), if you died before me, I would end my life to be laid next to your body." Kazuya's insistence on dying together was unnerving to say the least, and his sincere expression made you shiver. He sat up abruptly and moved to sit in your lap, bringing your hands to his chest. "Our bodies would grow cold and rot together until we become one with the earth." He smiled dreamily and nuzzled his head against yours.

"Or until Hitoshi performs some necromancy." You muttered, causing him to pull his head away and scowl. "Bright side is, we would be undead together, and I know you would be a handsome zombie."

"So would you, my dear." He smiled and kissed you softly. "Maybe I'll ask Hitoshi to do that in the future; just to wake up with you in my arms and see your face again."

You both lapsed into a comfortable silence, with Kazuya sitting in your lap, leaning against you, a serene expression on his face. You wrapped your arms around him and brought him closer to you and rested your head against the crook of his neck to which he sighed contentedly.

"'Neither the angels in heaven above, nor the demons down under the sea, can ever dissever my soul from the soul, of the beautiful (Y/N) Hikizuri.'" Kazuya said, holding you closer. "We're fated to be together for all of eternity, and in every life. I'll never let you go again." His voice lowered to a more possessive tone and he wrapped his arms around your shoulders.

"You said that when you proposed to me, and on our wedding day." You sighed, nuzzling into his neck. "If you weren't worshiping the ground I walk on, I would think you were in love with Poe, the amount of times you quote his poems and change the words."

"His poems are macabre, emotional, passionate." Kazuya's voice shifted to a sultry tone with every word. "Just like us." He purred into your ear.

"You're so sappy!" You laughed and pushed him off your lap.

"You love it, (Y/N), don't deny it!" He insisted, wrestling you down on the bench. He tickled your sides and pressed a wet kiss on your face as you yelped and tried to squirm out from under him. He laughed loudly and pressed his weight down on you, trapping you underneath him as he continued to tickle you.

"Okay! Okay! Let me go!" You cried, cheeks hurting from laughter. Kazuya stopped his attack and smirked down at you. He sat back and pulled you up so you were sitting side by side on the bench. "You're right, I do love it." A bashful smile spread across your face as you leaned against him and he did the same while pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Have I told you that you look so melancholy tonight?" Kazuya asked, cupping your chin in his hand, running his thumb across your bottom lip. "The moon highlights the pessimism in your eyes."

"The shadows around your eyes and cheekbones make you look dead, my dear." You whispered, leaning closer to him, gazing at him as his eyes lit up. "But your eyes are alive and conniving. I almost feel like I'm in danger."

"Does that excite you?" He purred as he kissed your neck, smirking into your skin as you moaned and shuddered.

"We will disturb the dead, beloved." You gasped as he nipped your neck and heatedly ran his tongue over the marks. Low groans and wails echoed in the distance but you tuned them out as Kazuya's hot tongue trailed up your throat and jaw.

"Let them be disturbed." Kazuya moaned breathlessly, cupping your face. He crashed his lips onto yours, kissing you feverishly and pulled you down on top of him. 

#junji ito #junji ito x reader #kazuya hikizuri #the strange hikizuri siblings #japanese tales of the macabre #first kazuya fanfic?

[hitoshihikizuri]

hitoshi when he sees any of his siblings in a 100 mile radius

old art lol

#junji ito #hitoshi hikizuri #the bizarre hikizuri siblings #art #junji ito maniac

[lostjunjiitofan]

Gonna have to translate 68 pages of this Junji Ito story from French to English so I can read it, someone pray for me

#lowkey motivated to finish my Duolingo course now #my wrists hurt but at least I know a little more French if #only bought this story for the strange hikizuri siblings don’t get it twisted #junji ito #lostjunjiitofan

[tiredgn0me]

#junji ito maniac: japanese tales of the macabre #the strange hikizuri siblings #junji ito #anime #gif #bugblock

[dramaticngay]

small icon dump !!

i haven't had time to make any more than these + the jjk ones i just put up , so sorry !!

i'll try to get the rest out soon <3

like or reblog if using !!

#jonah scott #junji ito #kazuya hikizuri #the strange hikizuri siblings #sniper mask #high rise invasion #my icons #icons

[jackgoodfellow]

"Hikari, why are you so frightened?"

"..... and why do you always smell like garlic??"

After receiving some excellent fan art from @adamofingolstadt that absolutely made my week, I decided to provide a full face and body reveal for Hikari, since they are only partly visible on the cover art!

They wear the school uniform but not the school uniform shoes, since running shoes are best for running away, and they are all about being prepared! (Although all that the garlic actually does is make them smell like garlic. Silly Hikari! Vampires aren't real! And whatever Samo is, there is no knowing what they are or what their weakness is, if they even have any.)

Stay tuned for another suitor reveal, as well as a lovely little proof-of-concept comic about Samo the protagonist and Alfonse the sporty pastry chef!

#my art #alt-text #image description #image descriptions #i escaped my genre #hikari hikizuri #their last name comes from the Junji Ito story The Strange Hikizuri Siblings. which i have only watched and not read actually. #i watched all of the new netflix collection of his stories and they were quite good! and i just bought Tomie to read! #junji ito #junji ito maniac #horror #horror art #the new suitor is a hot fat theater kid (i mean they are like 32 but you know what i mean) #hikari is like 25 but they are so often consumed by anxiety and horror that they often look older #idk what their specialty cuisine is. maybe Italian food cause of all the garlic lol. or maybe since they are so good at research they are #into recreating historical cuisine. idk. what is the best food category for a prospective demon hunter?? 😅 #they do eventually come around to Samo btw. but it is likely the longest arc in the series #Samo probably like. validates for them that they are seeing strange things. and also says that Hikari's fear of them is very hurtful. #maybe samo saves them from some generic street toughs or something #idk yet. right now i like the idea that samo is only ever seen talking by whispering in people's ears. and the audience doesn't know #what they are saying but the other characters are like HAHAHA OH SAMO YOU ARE A RIOT!!! #i was gonna make them non verbal but then i realized i didn't want my only non verbal character to be a literal monster. #if i make ANOTHER suitor they can be nonverbal or else otherwise relying on sign language and writing to communicate #but one thing at a time. kind of. #hikari is an amab trans person who sometimes wears skirts and sometimes wears pants. they have a fluid gender expression and white hair #they are the child of japanese immigrant parents and they are bilingual at least. idk if they have siblings yet.

[huginnraven]

In that Junjo Ito anime on Netflix I don’t think those 5 kids’ parents are dead. I think they just left because they were sick of dealing with their weird, annoying children.

#junjo ito #maniac #the strange hikizuri siblings #junjo ito maniac

[thecoffeelorian]

O...KAY.

These kids are either very eccentric, or...other people curiously wind up dying after being in their company for awhile...?  🤔🤔

#junji #junji itō #tales of the macabre #tales of the macabre spoilers #the strange hikizuri siblings

[necroscura]

I hate soichi bruh why does ito write him so much 😭

#if i could remove all soichi stories from my collection i WOULD #the hikizuri siblings can go with 'em

[atouchofsass]

anyway the new anthology show is pretty good! it's impossible to translate stories like that perfectly for the screen but I think they mostly did as well as you could ask for

#i do think if i was releasing this show i would change the order around a little to put some of the stronger pieces earlier on #i wouldn't open with the bizarre hikizuri siblings at any rate

[arcsin27]

Reviewing all the stories in junji ito maniac because I can, fuck you :)

The strange hikizuri siblings - uhh okay. Not scary nothing even happened. Okay a guy was a jealous simp, little kids are just like that, some guy threw up bread dough ig, then a ghost stared at everyone for a while and dipped the end

The story of the mysterious tunnel - Jesus Christ that was pretty spooky what the hell. Lost my marbles when he assumed the drop was water, and the kid in the ceiling fucked me up with her voice (dub) and screams

Ice cream bus - im never eating ice cream again. Jokingly compared the driver to William afton fnaf in the beginning but he was somehow worse. The dad pushing the kid away jumpscared me, then horrified me, and I needed a break from the show

Hanging balloon - so absurd it was kinda funny. The nonlinear storytelling added a bit if spook as I slowly realized who was at the window but idk the concept was just funny to me. Also I was so happy someone finally showed up to a horror plot strapped until I saw the result. Sorry random Chad with a crossbow, wish you coulda helped…

Four x four walls - thought something horrific would happen outside and he wouldn’t hear it but it didn’t, thought soichi was famous for being scary but he wasnt, I think this was like a comic relief in episode form. No spook, kinda funny

The sandman’s lair - *laughs nervously* what the fuck. No clue what happened, why would you tape yourselves like that, let me see his dream form damnit, the nature of humanity is we reinvent homestuck etc

Intruder - these kids are based tbh. Balls of steel, don’t blame the redhead, just move on with their lives

Long hair in the attic - also based, i had wondered where her head had gone but i shoulda known by the title, that grinding sound pissed me off tho

Mold - thank. God. It was in black and white. I choose to believe its dust. Also idc about culture or taboo if your floor is coated in inches of ropes and pools of mold just wear your damn shoes. Jesus Christ

Library vision - this one felt like it was calling out all of my anxieties about losing the things and memories precious to me. Also 10/10 Sean chiplock that final recital of hell of thorns was incredible and spooky. Also what the fuck was the ending

Tomb town - im never driving again. Also just call the cops surely you get a reduced sentence for actually reporting the crime. Other than that not scary lol

Layers of terror - im never picking my skin again. god ALMIGHTY why did i bear witness to this. Fuck that mom bro she sucks. I was thinking about how the proportions of human anatomy change as you age and how a toddler with such short limbs and a thick torso could fit inside an adult but uh… then they answered my question. And then it got worse. Funnily enough the 2yo looked like a monster id design

The thing that drifted ashore - was this supposed to be scary…? Oh boy they turned into fish people and promptly fucked off good for them ig

Tomie • photo - wow what bitches lmfao. Idk why she has a face growing out of her scalp hut I didn’t need to see the removal process. Or how botched the removal process was. Based that the photographer just fuckin moved on. “Damnit the blood ruined my pictures :/“ incredible.

Unendurable labyrinth - probably woulda been scarier if they were lost for longer but to me it looked like they took five steps, found the brother, seven steps, “aaaah we’re lost,” two steps, “theyre looking at me!” then suddenly the mummies have eyes, fade to black. Cool

The bully - I was sooo ready for retribution, then I got reconciliation and got even happier, then it turned into child abuse and I wanted to kill a bitch

Alley - pfft idk if its based that she killed those kids or not but it was extra based that they got revenge on her lmao shoulda brought a ladder bro

Headless statue - Jesus fuck that’s gross. Stop it. Also smash the statues again it worked brilliantly earlier. Or maybe jump out a window idk

Whispering woman - mega based. The nervous girl gains support and confidence, the attendant is freed from her abusive friend, the abusive friend gets violently killed, its just wins all around

Soichi’s beloved pet - once again a comic relief episode but tbh it was pretty funny, soichi was a lot less hateable this time too!

#junji ito #horror #long post #junji ito maniac #japanese tales of the macabre #review

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

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#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[xjustonemoremiraclex]

Ok, final thoughts on Junji Ito Maniac

It was... fine. Better than the Junji Ito Collection, for sure, though I'd argue the creepy scenes looked... well, creepier there lol Let's be honest, I think it's clear by now it's impossible to recreate Ito's artstyle, it just works a lot better on paper.

The one thing that annoyed me though is how they just... decided to stop some of the stories short? Like, I get some changes need to be made, but it almost seems like they looked at some of the stories and went 'pff who needs these last couple of pages? just throw them out'. So weird.

Anyway, some general (relatively spoiler-free) thoughts on each episode that no one cares about:

‘The Strange Hikizuri Siblings’: love how they started with some dark humor (for some definition of the word humor) to lead you into a false sense of security.

‘The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel’: meh, the original was better

‘Ice Cream Bus’: The ending fucked me up <3

‘Hanging Balloon’: a fascinating mixture of "this is so dumb" and "wait why is this also terrifying 😭", love the non-linear storytelling

‘Four x Four Walls’: another one that's more darkly humorous, it made me feel so claustrophobic jfc

‘The Sandman’s Lair’: oh look, another one that fucked me up <3

‘Intruder’: I find this one weirdly fascinating, kinda would love to know more about wtf actually happened

‘Long Hair in the Attic’: the one that made me regret watching this show, I am officially traumatized <3

‘Mold’: you could not pay me to stay in that fucking house, goodBYE sir

‘Library Vision’: again, not a super fan of the changes, but it's still pretty good. And creepy.

‘Tomb Town’: I really like this one for some reason, but the animation in that scene at the well was... questionable. And the original ending is MUCH better (imo)

‘Layers of Terror’: Oh, my mistake. NOW I'm traumatized for life <3 fuck this show why did I start watching this 😭

‘The Thing that Drifted Ashore’: my least favourite, by far. And I'm sorry, but it looked... bad. Like, really bad 😕

‘Tomie – Photo’: also titled 'the girl who can't stop making terrible decisions' jeez

‘Unendurable Labyrinth’: meh

‘The Bully’: I also really like this one and it's also disturbing as all hell <3

‘Alley’: karma is a bitch huh

‘Headless Statue’: girl for the love of god why tf would you follow his shady ass and why would you not jump out of the nearest window when given the chance 😭

‘Whispering Woman’: another one I really like, and I find it weirdly nice in a super disturbing way lol

‘Soichi’s Beloved Pet’: we stan a guy who's super passionate about animals, we don't stan a guy who fucks up a perfectly good kitty 😭

#junji ito #junji ito maniac #junji ito maniac spoilers

[spammreviews]

The Junji Ito Story Ranking, Worst to Best

Trigger warning:

Suicide, self harm, mentions of body horror, death, animal death, rape, marital abuse, transphobia, and sexism.

This will not include Junji Ito’s adaptations of others' works. There are also some works which couldn’t be put in this story because they simply aren’t available in English.

Also, there are two kinds of Junji Ito stories: one shots and longer stories.

One shots are stories such as Slug Girl and the Enigma of Amigara Fault.

Longer stories include Gyo and Remina.

There are some stories which are kind of on the fence between the two such as Tomie, Souchi, Uzumaki, and the Dissolving Classroom. These are collections of multiple different stories which can work together as one cohesive story. I ranked all of the Tomie chapters as separate stories as I felt like their quality varied, but Uzumaki, Souchi and Dissolving Classroom had more consistent quality (for better or for worse), so they were ranked as one whole work.

Penultimately, some of these stories have multiple titles. I have tried to show both titles when that happens, but there are most likely some times when I have made a mistake.

Lastly, some of my reviews will contain spoilers while others will not. Those with spoilers will contain a (Spoilers) tag.

Worst to best

F:

133. The Bizarre Hikizuri Siblings:

The Seance-

I hate every character in this story.

This story is about a family and they’re all spooky weirdos, like the Addams family if they were all annoying.

There’s the fat guy.

His design is obnoxious, and his entire existence is a never ending stream of stupid, overdone fat jokes. Wait, actually, that’s not fair, there is also a bunch of gross out humor.

There’s the little girl. She’s the “evil little girl” trope. She’s obnoxious and I hate her design.

There’s the little boy. He’s the “evil little boy” trope. He’s obnoxious and I hate his design.

There’s the eldest girl. She’s…she’s there.

There’s the eldest boy. He’s pretending to be mature and he speaks in a weird false-eloquent manner. He is not extremely obnoxious.

There’s Narumi. She’s “normal”, which means she’s boring.

The first half of the story sees us being introduced to our main characters. The eldest boy invites a girl to dinner. At the dinner, ee see the fat guy drooling and eating lots of food in a gross way. 

The family has a fight and I don’t know what emotion I should be feeling in that scene. Is it funny? If so, it fails, because there aren't any actual jokes. Is it supposed to be dramatic? If so, it fails because I don’t care about any of these characters. It’s clear that the family is grieving, but they’re all grieving in these extremely inhuman ways- so I can’t relate to them.

The family decides to have a seance for their dead parents, and that takes up the rest of the story. It’s filled with gross-out humor, inane banter, and extremely repetitive character beats. I think the little girl cries like ten or so times.

The family is also just arguing all of the time. Every page is another argument. I know that families argue with each other, but this is ridiculous. I don’t think this family likes each other.

All of this arguing means that the plot has the pacing of molasses, as none of this arguing moves the plot forward.

Also, family drama isn’t interesting when the family are just annoying caricatures of tired archetypes. 

This story sucks in every way. It’s not even nice to look at because the designs of the family make me want to vomit.

God, I hate this story so much.

132. All of the Souichi Stories-

The Souichi stories are too silly to be scary, too dark to be funny, too down-to-earth to be campy, and too annoying to be likable. 

Souichi is a child who never poses a threat to our main characters, so he’s never scary. 

However, his hijinks are also not fun to watch because they usually involve hurting people.

Fictional characters getting seriously hurt can be funny in a fucked up way, but only if something is added to make it funny. These stories just have someone getting their hand hit with a hammer. People getting hurt can also be fun if they are being injured in an extraordinarily cartoony manner, like in Evil Dead 2, but the injuries characters receive here are stuff like stepping on a nail, which is a very simple and realistic way to injure oneself, meaning that it’s not fun.

Despite being about a child who’s evil, these stories never have much fun with that premise or do anything creative. The only way Souichi being a child barely affects his career as an asshole is that he doesn’t face consequences.

Also, the others characters in this story are blacks of wood with no personalities and no dimensions. As such, the story is extraordinarily boring whenever Souichi isn’t on screen.

Watching a child be annoying to a bunch of boring people gets extremely old extremely quickly, especially with how repetitive these stories are. There are about fourteen of them, and they all have the same plot.

Lastly, Souichi is just annoying. He has all of the most annoying character traits of children: he always repeats things, he screams way too much, he eats really messily, he’s a gleeful asshole, and he never faces any consequences for his actions. 

This kind of character can work, like that prince kid from the Tintin comics, Abdullah or whatever. However, that kid appears in like fifteen pages over the course of two different books. 

However, Souchi is the main focus of these many stories.

Even when Souchi gets what is coming to him, it’s never cathartic because it’s always way too much, like him getting nails through his cheeks. That’s disturbing. 

Essentially, the problem with these stories is that they have no sense of tone. The mix of morbidity and wackiness leads to the stories just being really annoying.

They’re also really repetitive, both in the sense that almost all of these stories follow the same formula with the same beats, but this formula is one where the plot is one continuous cycle of Souchi being a little shit, getting away with it, and then getting angry for some reason. 

131. Fashion Model-

(Spoilers)

Haha it’s funny because the woman is ugly and aaah! it’s also scary because the woman is ugly and haha it’s funny because the ugly woman is going to rape the man as punishment for being slightly paranoid. 

This story is stupid. It’s cruel to every character involved, it’s not funny, the tone is all over the place, the pacing is extremely slow, and its attempts at suspense are laughably pathetic because they’re based on us being scared by a woman for no other reason than her being ugly.

It also has two really annoying tropes being taken to their extreme:

A woman pursuing a man who is clearly not interested in her and

Ugly people are evil/gross/funny.

When this story isn’t being absolutely awful, it’s just boring because every character ranges from bland to just kind of unlikable, like our main character. 

Despite him being kind of a jerk, seeing bad things happen to him isn’t gratifying because they are far worse than what he deserves. 

130. The Bizarre Hikizuri Siblings: 

Narumi’s Boyfriend-

(Spoilers)

This first two pages of this story see a teenage girl, Narumi Hikizuri, about to commit suicide, only to be saved by her boyfriend. You would assume that the rest of the story explores depression. You would not be wrong.

We then meet the other Hikizuri siblings, who, as I mentioned previously, suck, and there are five of them!

Then, we cut back to the teenage girl, Narumi obviously, and her boyfriend. Narumi is depressed and threatening to commit suicide again. Her boyfriend is kind of being an asshole about it, complaining about how hard it is to care for her. 

It’s pretty fucked up that there is really no good support network for Narumi.

Then, Narumi’s family finds her and kidnaps her, and it’s at this point where I can’t help but wonder if Narumi’s siblings are supposed to be scary or funny in this story. It wouldn’t make any sense for them to be scary, as their designs are weird and they talk weirdly, and they’re stupid and silly and wacky and dumb. However, them being funny makes no sense considering the fact that this is a story wich starts with a suicide attempt. Also, it’s hard to laugh because the siblings are so fucking stupid looking. They make me nauseous. Not only that, but the family members are being abusive to Narumi, and that’s not funny, even if their abuse is silly.

Anywhoo, the story randomly swerves in tone when Narumi says she’s going to kill herself, douses herself with gasoline, and flicks a cigarette lighter. You assume she’s on fire and is dying. You would be…uhh…wrong?

After that happens, the family gets Narumi’s boyfriend, takes him to their house, and tortures him by forcing him to lay in a bag with what appears to be the burnt body of Narumi.

It’s kind of disturbing, but it’s also very silly. So, what emotion am I supposed to be feeling?

Then, Narumi shows up, and the boyfriend dies of a heart attack.

As it turns out, the thing that burned was a mannequin, and the family were just messing with the boyfriend.

Narumi only seems a bit angry about her boyfriend dying, and the last panel sees her saying she “Had no intention of actually doing it” meaning she had no intention of setting herself on fire.

Now, I’m going to give the story the benefit of the doubt and say that Narumi was actually going to kill herself. I sure hope that when the family told Narumi she was just doing this for attention, they weren’t right. I sure hope that when Narumi threatened to kill herself in front of her boyfriend, she wasn’t manipulating him.

If that was true, this story would be awful.

I’m going to assume that Narumi is just lying. The story still sucks because we have a depressed character trapped with her abusive family and the story doesn’t seem to care. However, it sucks a little bit less because it’s not insinuating that depressed people are “looking for attention”.

In conclusion, this story is one of the most tonally bizarre things I’ve ever seen. It goes back and forth between silly hijinks and serious drama. 

It also doesn’t help that the silly hijinks aren’t funny, and I don’t even know much about Narumi and her boyfriend, so I don’t care about the drama of their story!

129. Groaning Pipes-

(Spoilers)

This is the story about the people getting stuck in pipes.

To truly understand this story, we need to go in deep.

The story starts off with black haired girl being stalked by, gasp!, a guy who is overweight and ugly. Now, I’d argue that the comic seems to want us to find him gross through the way the panels frame him.

So, we’re not off to a great start.

The pudgy kid asks black haired girl out and black haired girl rebukes him, something we are told has happened many times before. So, this guy sucks. 

However, black haired girl then insults this guy by calling him a “swollen and ugly".

Now, obviously, black haired girl has every right to insult someone who is being a creep. However, she is not insulting him on the grounds of being a creep, but instead focusing on his appearance, something he can’t control. In fact, all of the insults the black haired girl levels against the pudgy kid, and there are many, revolve around his appearance. The pudgy kid isn’t bad because he’s pudgy, he’s bad because he’s being a creep.

A result of this is that I kind of dislike both characters in this situation. Maybe that’s the point. If so, then I can congratulate this story on being rather complex in making the point that the girl had the right to not want to have sex with a guy she doesn’t like. Meanwhile, the guy, however much of a piece of shit he is, has the right to not be belittled for his appearance.

Of course, I’m assuming that’s the point. It’s probably not, because the rest of the story is very stupid. Also, the way both characters act is so extreme, it makes them seem like complete caricatures. The pudgy guy is a gross creepy incel and the black haired girl is a vapid valley girl.

Anywhoo, once that scene happens, black haired girl and her sister go to their house, where they bathe for way too long. At first, I was a bit unsure if these siblings were actually siblings because they look to be the same age and act less like siblings and more like casual work friends.

Then, we learn there is something wrong with the pipes in this house. We also see that the mom of this character is a total neat freak. The story feels the need to tell us this fifty or so times in these ten or so pages, and it quickly gets very annoying. There’s also an agonizingly pointless scene  where the mom yells at a plumber. 

It is also in this part where the two girls hatch a plan to let the pudgy guy go to their house so the neat freak mother can scare him off.

To finish our set up, we also meet the Dad of the family, who is divorced from the Mom and hasn’t seen his kids in a while. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t have the time to explore what it’s like to be a child of divorce in any meaningful way. 

So, the story has just been set up. There isn’t even the suggestion of something scary.

The plan of the two sisters goes perfectly, and the mom throws eggs at the pudgy kid.

Anywhoo, then the plot actually kicks off when the mom accidentally kills the Dad because she thinks he’s the fat kid when he sneaks into the house at night. I guess the Dad just really wanted to see his kids again, and IDK, maybe he was drunk or something. None of the members of the family seem concerned about the death of this man.

The mom tells the cops that the husband had a knife, so her killing of him was in self defense. I suppose that makes sense. However, what doesn’t make sense is that the family is just allowed to stay in this house that has become a crime scene. I suppose I’m nitpicking. Whatever.

We then see the Mom obsessing over her husband’s blood being cleaned from the floor, and the harassment causes the maid to quit. Why does the maid even exist in the story? I don’t know.

After these excruciatingly long sequences of nothing, we finally get some suspense when mysterious sounds start coming from the pipes.

This, among many other things, causes the Mom to freaking lose it. This is not the only Junji Ito story where a stressed out mom with a dead husband goes crazy. Another one will be near the top. However, this one doesn’t work because the mom is an annoying caricature of a mom, and her neurosciences are so extreme she becomes unbelievable.

Anywhoo, it turns out that the pudgy kid is in the pipes, which is where the sound is coming from.

The black haired girl suddenly starts acting like an asshole for no reason, and the story ends with the sister getting pulled into the pipes- presumably by the pudgy kid. I should mention that she is wearing a towel, so there is an unsettling subtext to this.

That’s fucked up. What is this story saying? Fat people are rapists?

Also, the mom just disappears from the story.

One kind of wonders why the husband and his death was even included, as he’s absolutely inessential to the actual main plot, which is the incel in the pipes. The mom is also pretty pointless, with her only important action being throwing eggs at the pudgy kid.

This whole story is convoluted, contrived, and nonsensical. Every character in it is a caricature, whether it be of women or of fat people. It also seems uninterested in actually creating an atmosphere of dread and suspense.

Unfortunately, a common theme throughout Ito’s stories (specifically his earlier work) is unattractive people being cast as villains and women going through extremely traumatic events in a way which feels indulgent. This story has these two being taken to the extreme.

128. Nanakuse Kyokumi-

This is the transphobic story.

It follows a woman , Koroketsu, who is obsessed with a writer. She goes to see that writer, Nanakuse, only for Nanakuse to turn out to be evil…and also a trans woman. 

Anywhoo, the main character, Koroketsu, of this story is one of the more colorful main characters because she’s really weird.

This means that the beginning of this story is…interesting with how strange it is.

Then, we meet Nanakuse, the author. She is drawn with a very pronounced chin and nose, and our main character literally thinks “A male!” when she first sees her.

It’s at this point when I stopped wanting to read the story, but I had to because of this fucking list.

After this, the author throws the main character into a dungeon, our main character suffers some body horror, and then the story ends.

If it wasn’t for the transphobia, this story would probably be in C. It is very quickly paced. In fact, it’s too quickly paced, as there’s no time given to creating suspense and atmosphere. We don’t see the author seeming more and more off putting as we get more hints that she is evil. The second the main character shows up, the author acts like an absolute asshole. Then, we get a scene of the two of them drinking which does nothing to build suspense. At the end of that scene, the author randomly reveals themself as evil when they toss the main character in a dungeon. It’s kind of sudden. There’s no buildup with this story.

You know Dracula? That’s a story about a person visiting the house of someone mysterious (Dracula), and we get more and more red flags about Dracula throughout the beginning of the story. It’s fun and suspenseful. If Dracula hypnotized Renfield after one conversation, the story would be very boring.

Moving on, the quick pacing means that the stuff about people having “quirks” doesn’t have time to be fleshed out. It seems interesting, but we barely get to see any of it, or the consequences of it, or why all of these people are obsessed with it.

A bunch of exposition is given, but it's all surface level stuff that doesn’t even help us to genuinely understand what’s going on. We learn how the author bought the house and why she keeps people in the prison, but none of this explores the idea of having quirks. Obviously, horror stories thrive when the horror isn’t explained, but it’s helpful if we at least understand what the horrifying thing even is. Imagine Jaws, but we never learn that it’s a shark.

Not only that, the body horror is a little more silly than scary. It’s also very sudden, much like the rest of this story.

Overall, even without the extreme transphobia, this story is just half-baked, with a half-baked idea that never makes any sense or seems all that scary. 

Also, what was the deal with the old servant lady?

[tiredgn0me]

#junji ito maniac: japanese tales of the macabre #the strange hikizuri siblings #junji ito #anime #gif #bugblock

[honoringthehorrific]

I watched Junji Ito Maniac: Tales of the macabre and here's what I thought of each episode 1/3

My thoughts on the follow up to the Junji Ito Collection...The stories chosen, the animation and Ito's work. As always my friends! Spoilers under the cut!.... Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Review

I'll try to be descriptive on my thoughts on all 10 episodes. I went into most of these having never read the manga counterpart.

Episode 1: The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Seance This episode was from a story I'd never read! I thought this was rather interesting and while the characters were introduced too quickly for me to understand who they were individually thought the episode i got a feel for them. This was not a particularly scary episode and not one I would personally choose to start the series off with however I did like the twist and the animation for the father's spirit. This story made me think of Souichi, another sort of reoccurring character with his own short stories. I think he would get a long with their creepy little family. Episode 2: The Story of the Mysterious Tunnel; Ice Cream Bus Another I'd never read before, This was a mysterious little story. What's interesting to me about this is that the family seems to be fairly loving? The father is a caring one and the siblings don't seem to quarrel when they're interacting. It's only so notable to me because Ito seems to favor writing dysfunctional families which while that has it's own horror to it I think it's nice to see here. Another notable thing to me is the use of 3D Modeling on the car? It feels strange and out of place to me however It's something i like to see in animation. While the tunnel wasn't frightening there was something about the image of seeing Ice cream bus freaked me out a bit...The concept seems outlandish and silly but the ending unnerved me deeply? I think its strange it did but I liked it. Episode 3: The Hanging Balloons Another one under my belt that I've actually read! I never thought this story was scary as it didn't play on any of my personal fears however I always found it unnerving. It starts off pretty decently how I remember it? I think the best visual this episode is when the balloon pops and you see a girl's eyeballs pop out. Aside from that this episode despite being a recreation of a fairly popular story and from what i remember, a fairly lengthy one for a short story, this episode feels...Average? The voice acting is nice, I liked specifically the part where the girls are gossiping about the "ghost" it sounded really good? Good enough for me to remark on it at least. The visuals of people's hanging bodies are...disturbing? However nothing that really rattles me to my core haha. Episode 4: Four x Four Walls; The Sandman's Lair Finally! A Souichi episode! I was a little miffed when I saw his iconic nails because I couldn't remember what this story could be but then i remembered this one! I love this story and I think Typically stories with Souichi are funny to me and this was no different. The only thing that really unnerved me was the way the carpenter looked! Sandman's lair was another I hadn't read. I thought this would have been a great one for the start of the anime? The story made me gag seeing his arm protruding from his mouth and hearing him gag and moan as he shoved it back in. This seems to play off the sort of Jekyll and Hyde type of story. I think it's sad and also vaguely romantic. The image of her being devoured felt...Horrific to me the idea of being swallowed whole like that...However at the same time it's almost sweet...She sacrificed everything for him. Fun fact about this episode: Beauty YouTuber Michelle Phan voiced Mari, the girlfriend! Episode 5: Intruder; Long hair in the Attic Something about this episode felt so familiar but I couldn't say what until my wife reminded me this character is a semi reoccurring one. The episode before this from the Junji Ito Collection was called The Ongoing Tale of Oshikiri Collection. This one finally covers the alternate Oshikiri. While I like the continuation I feel maybe a little childish for saying this isn't my favorite of Ito's ongoing shorts. I find the Oshikiri tales actually fairly boring. I can't quite follow the alternate dimension plot points and it all becomes muddled to me. However if you like those sorts of things you may like this.

Part 2 / Part 3 / Review

#reanimated reccomendations #junji ito maniac: japanese tales of the macabre #horror anime #junji ito