Itou Junji Kenkyuu: Horror no Shinen kara

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Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Masei (82195) and has subsequently been merged into Itou Junji Kenkyuu: Horror no Shinen kara (138343).


8/10

Pretty good for a one-shot story. It’s impressive how it delivers in such a short length.
’Demon Voices’ feels like story one would hear from someone at a bonfire when everyone is narrating scary stories that they’ve heard.
It’s got all the elements for a traditional sailor’s scary tale too.
It’s about an unexplained supernatural phenomenon that starts affecting the seamen and it’s written fairly well.
The real winner here is the art style and atmosphere which make this one-shot into a memorable mood ... piece.

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Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Masei (82195) and has subsequently been merged into Itou Junji Kenkyuu: Horror no Shinen kara (138343).


I'll admit, I was a little unsure going into this. It didn't sound like my usual horror story - I like a good bit of gore, or some psychological that makes me wary when I go to do something that reminds me of the story - for instance, Junji Ito's Human Chair, which made me incredibly careful about what chairs I sit down in and will for a long time. This particular story seemed to be your usual strange occurrences happen at ... sea, maybe everyone drowns or becomes stranded. Not my usual type of horror reading at all.

However, as short a read as this was, it was definitely intriguing. Playing on some of the old urban legends from varying culture, Ito manages to bring to life a superstition that has been written about in fear to life in a gruesome manner. With chilling art, as expected by one of the most renowned guro artists there are, this leaves chills down your spine and may cause some anxiety getting on a fishing boat.

The artwork is definitely what brings this to life more than anything else - the story seems quite basic and there may be many similar renditions to a story such as this. However, Ito's artwork makes this stand out from any possible crowd it could be put into. This one will definitely be read more than once this year for me, and makes me even more excited for future reads by Ito.

Mod Edit: This review was originally posted for Masei (82195) and has subsequently been merged into Itou Junji Kenkyuu: Horror no Shinen kara (138343).


Demon's Voice is basically just 'another Junji Ito manga', it has not much more depth and nothing really special. The characters are one sided, which is usually not a problem with Junji Ito, but here it's really noticeable due to the lack of anything else. The horror element is scary, but nothing special, just basically zombies. It wasn't really exciting to read, I felt like I just brushed through it and forgot about it in few moments. The art is amazing, as ... it's Junji Ito we are talking about, but not as special as other mangas he's written. I wouldn't really go back to this manga anytime soon, but it wasn't garbage, it was still creepy and it could be so much worse.
I give Masei a 6/10