Itou Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection 16: Frankenstein

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Alternative Titles

Synonyms: A Doll's Hellish Burial, Memories of Real Shit, Jigoku no Ningyousou, Real Unko no Omoide

Japanese: 伊藤潤二恐怖マンガCOLLECTION⑯ フランケンシュタイン

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 1

Chapters: 5

Status: Finished

Published: Jan 1999

Genres: Drama, Horror, Supernatural, Suspense

Theme: Psychological

Serialization: None

Authors: Itou, Junji (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.56¹ (scored by 6,424 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #2545²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #1730

Members: 12,565

Favorites: 86

7.56

Ranked #2545Popularity #1730Members 12,565

MangaItou, Junji (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /1

Chapters: /5

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Synopsis

1-3. Frankenstein
4. Jigoku no Ningyousou (The Hell of the Doll Funeral)
5. Real Unko no Omoide (Memories of Real Poop)

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Background

Frankenstein is an adaptation of Mary Shelley's 1818 gothic horror novel of the same title. While generally a faithful adaptation, the story diverges from the original in the final third where Junji Itou provides his unique spin on the story. In 2019, it won the Eisner Award in the Best Adaptation from Another Medium category.

Frankenstein and Jigoku no Ningyousou were published in English (the latter as The Hell of the Doll Funeral) by VIZ Media as a part of their Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection. Meanwhile, Real Unko no Omoide was published in English as Memories of Real Poop as part of VIZ Media's Lovesickness: Junji Ito Story Collection.

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Reviews

Oct 26, 2024

Mara2463

Recommended

Frankenstein – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 7/10 – 7 x 0.275 = 1,925
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 6/10 – 6 x 0.225 = 1,35
Enjoyment – 5/10 – 5 x 0.3 = 1,5
Total: 6,375 -> 6

Disclaimer
This review will only cover the Frankenstein story, as many compilations have more than just the aforementioned story. In this case, not all the additional tales that MAL indicates – The Hell of the Doll Funeral and Memories of Real Poop – are present in the edition I own (the second one is absent). Moreover, Frankenstein, by its size, deserves to have a proper review ...

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Jun 10, 2022

Curiouswanderer

Recommended

Damn son, I nearly got teary there at the ending like never I would think I’d nearly cry at a Junji Ito series in my life! It tells a man who created the famous beloved monster himself, Frankenstein and he’s basically yeeted away from him so he doesn’t get caught on a ship. However he becomes sick and tells his story to the captain who saved him. I really liked the buildup on the story like it is intense enough that you don’t know who dies or who survives.

Definitely read this folks, it’s just super good for your horror genre collection!

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Apr 6, 2019

robiu013

Mixed Feelings

Frankenstein has always been one of my favourite stories of any medium - I know, kind of ironic considering, I still haven't finished the original book by Mary Shelley.

Then again, just like the titular character, who wouldn't have things some other person's or force's way, I saw the films, read and researched on things and somehow patched together a plot summary of my own over the years. The general idea of the story was always really compelling to me: a man wanting to surpass god, as well as the sympathetic attempts of the monster, who was shunned out of society for being different always ... spoke to me on a personal level, so the first moment I noticed on Book Depository, that an english translation of Junji Ito's Frankenstein manga was available, I immediately grabbed my credit card and ordered it.

So what's there to say about Ito's Frankenstein?

Well for starters it's Frankenstein alright. Ito took minimal freedom in re-telling the Frankenstein story. You can go step by step through the Wikipedia article on Shelley's Frankenstein and it'll match up 90% of the time.

If you're not familiar with the classic novel, the story is about Victor Frankenstein, who inspired by alchemy throughout his childhood sets out to create life, where there is none. Blinded by ambition, he eventually finds himself succeeding, but creating a creature too repulsive to let out walking in the sunlight alone. The story, that's often considered a horror classic, ultimately diverts into a double character-drama; one, who is guilt-tripping over the pandora's box he just opnened and another, who being the content of said box, is struggling to find his place in a world, that clearly doesn't welcome him.

Like I said, the story mostly aligns with the original Shelley novel, however diverts in some places. Most notably the climax; Ito seemingly took more inspiration from the 1932's Bride of Frankenstein movie rather than the source material. Thinking things through I doubt, that effectively benefited the story or characters, but it doesn't really ruin them or take the overall narrative in a different direction.

Given those minor changes and probably some details the artist couldn't bring onto just 200 pages of comic panels, Ito still does a pretty good job at adapting the story. The story is still coherent and the two lead characters are pretty decently presented - even if I do find, there was a bit of that lacking.

Artwork was good, but I did feel like the author was page-limited to a degree, where panels just weren't placed as strategically as they could be. Take the first facial reveal of the monster we see. The art is good, but the full reveal is on an uneven page number. You turn the page and get this build-up of the monster getting up, but the suspense gets lost, when the facial reveal is right there to the right. In the manga's defense, I'm not sure whether this is just a flaw of the edition I bought or whether it was in every printing of the manga.

Another thing on the artwork. Every panel with the monster looks pretty detailed and good, but it is giving me vibes, that Ito's interpretation of the monster is cosmetically very derivative of his otherwise recurring Fashion Model character of his short stories.

So to summarize: it's a fine book and I'm sure glad Ito had interest in re-adapting a favourite story of mine into a different medium. It's faithful to the source material, so if you're only familiar with the general idea of Frankenstein, but want to know the original story and are not much of a novel reader and more into manga/comics than this is quite the recommendation for you. On the other hand Ito doesn't do much to make the story his own, even the schocker artwork is mostly derivative of his other work, so he isn't pushing himself to new levels with this book either. It's a good read, but there are probably better ways to experience Frankenstein and Ito.

6/10

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Poll: Itou Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection 16: Frankenstein Chapter 4 Discussion GurschachX - Oct 6, 2023	1 replies	by yveltalkyogre »» Oct 3, 2024 7:50 PM
Poll: Frankenstein ReaperCreeper - Oct 25, 2014	10 replies	by FatChicken9999 »» Nov 2, 2022 3:01 AM
Poll: Itou Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection 16: Frankenstein Chapter 5 Discussion serialexperimets - Sep 1, 2022	1 replies	by waalex11 »» Sep 10, 2022 6:32 AM
Poll: Memories of Real Shit ReaperCreeper - Feb 26, 2015	2 replies	by meowmeowgaming »» Apr 16, 2022 12:14 AM
Poll: A Doll's Hellish Burial ReaperCreeper - Feb 26, 2015	1 replies	by Kajo_Senpai69 »» Dec 13, 2018 6:36 PM

Itou Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection 16: Frankenstein
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