Horror Court: Junji Ito Collection
Court is in session with this animated collection of manga artist Junji Ito, and I am sorry to say that it failed to capture Ito's story-telling in a lot of ways. I'm going to open with the fact that I am a big fan of the comics that Ito puts out. I was pretty excited when I finally got a chance to sit down to watch the animated collection. The intro and outro music were quite good, and I didn't mind listening to them. I also appreciated that they were rather short compared to a lot of the other anime I've been watching lately since they didn't break up the pause between episodes overly much. The stylization was immediately recognizable and I was pumped up by the time the first short started. Unfortunately that's about when things started to break apart.
Of the shorts, at least half of them were misses for me with a couple of exceptions. Without taking up too much space I'm going to list a few pros and cons of the different mini episodes that were in the collection.
The Evidence
"Souichi's Convenient Curse"
Don't get me wrong. I like Souichi. He's a completely inept horror antagonist that is always fun to see. He provides a lot of campiness to Ito's work, and I always like the bit of a breather that comes with him. The stories around him are honestly creepy and good, even though the execution is usually more on the side of comic relief. It was an odd way to open the collection, but, at the time, I figured it might be a way to be more disarming than serious at the outset.
"Hell Doll Funeral"
Loved the concept. I thought we were about to get into some meat after the opening with Souichi with some good creepy doll action. It was really too bad that this short was about two minutes long. It definitely leaned closer to what I'm used to with Ito.
"Fashion Model"
Fuchi is by far one of my favorite recurring characters. I really liked the way they portrayed her in this collection. This was the first short that actually showed some of the casual and unavoidable horror that I enjoy about Ito's work. The way that the animators approached this one felt more true to the comics. I liked this one even though I don't think that Fuchi is a very scary monster.
"The Long Dream"
One of the top three in the collection in my opinion. This short has that nice twist on perceived reality that Ito also enjoys playing with. There are body horror elements that are also familiar but unsettling. The story leaves me wanting more information about the setting and world which is always a nice thing in horror. Unfortunately this one was the first one that felt like a home run, and it was the end of the second episode. Not a great choice with the flow of the story.
"Boy at the Crossroads"
This was a pretty solid short. I didn't hate it, and it had a nice little story to go with it for the protagonist. The psychological and physical horror aspects were present and I wish they'd done more like this in the collection.
"Slug Girl"
I always like "Slug Girl". It's a bit campy, but I just like the almost comedic way it plays out. The art style and color choices for this one were especially charming and stand out in my mind even a few days after watching this collection.
"Shiver"
This is probably one of the more well known comics that was rendered in this collection. I definitely don't suggest this one if you have trypophobia. The body horror is really prevalent in this with a nice little mystery packaged up with a creepy unknown entity. It's not in my top three, but it's damn close. It was a solid showing.
"Marionette Mansion"
One of the nice things about Ito is that there's usually something for everybody with his horror. A lot of people have a fear of dolls and marionettes. I am not one of them, but this was still a fairly effective story. It had some real basement horror vibes where you are just waiting for the other shoe to drop while things get more and more unsettling.
"The Ongoing Tale of Oshikiri Collection"
Even though the title makes this short sound pretty forgettable it is a pretty nice romp. Different planes and murderous doubles are always nice tropes. There was some pretty strong body-horror thrown that added to the ambiance really nicely without seeming over the top for the sake of grossness.
"Cloth Teacher"
Souichi is back, and this time his teacher is a giant voodoo doll. Again, this was more campy and silly than anything, but it still had some pretty dark moments. It was sort of jarring to come to this right when things started to be picking up to be more of the collection I expected.
"Window Next Door"
This would make a really good campfire story. The pacing and repetition really suit it, and it has a couple moments that feel pretty tense. It might be because it was right after "Cloth Teacher," but I really couldn't take this one too seriously for some reason.
"Gentle Goodbye"
This one is another of my top three even though it reads closer to a drama for most of the short. The fact that the images of the dead don't realize that they're dead gives the whole thing a level of dread and horror retroactively that I found really enjoyable. It's a sad story, and there doesn't seem to be much of a happy ending to it, but I really enjoyed the subtler implications of the horror of the situation. It was really very artful and one that I hadn't read yet.
"Used Record"
This one was the last of my top three. The narrative was good, and it was a really good example of the unavoidable tragedy that Ito likes to use in his work. The score that they chose for this episode was exceptionally strong as well. It was really nice to see this comic come alive.
"Town of No Roads"
I didn't like this one as a comic, and I didn't like it as an animation. The animation was a bit more successful I think, but this story always reads more like bad Stephen King than Ito to me. But I'm also bored to death of seeing Jack the Ripper, especially in Japanese animation. There are just so many other options, but everyone seems to gravitate to him.
"Honored Ancestors"
Good creepy vibes from this one. I liked the use of the caterpillar for foreshadowing for the suppressed memories. The way that the ancestors work makes my stomach twist. It's got some grossness without it being lazy. The turn from concern and a few jokes to the reveal is really good, especially with the father.
"The Circus Comes to Town"
This one always makes me think of Black Butler for some reason, and honestly, they executed this idea better. It's a bit tropey, but it's a trope I enjoy. Some of it reads like violence for the sake of it and trying to shock the reader/viewer. Something about this one just doesn't feel genuine.
"Painter"
I like this concept and Tomie is a fun character. If you happen to have watched this and like her go to the comics. She's a recurring character. This one was a good rendering of Ito's comic and I enjoyed the way they handled it. The voice actors did a really outstanding job of selling this short.
"Blood-Bubble Bushes"
This one never reads horror to me for some reason. Personally, there is little to no tension in what the protagonists are going to do, and nothing surprising happens. There is a definite failure to make their choice to become monsters have a cost.
"Greased"
The only reason that this isn't in my top three is because I will likely never watch this one again. This is the only one of the shorts that made me gag. There were a few times that I genuinely thought I might need to tap out. The tone is a bit like Poe to me, and I love the protag. The story is just repugnant in the best way, and the choice for the sound effects really made the entire disgusting thing pop. Just using the word pop in relation to this one gagged me out. It took a few turns I wasn't expecting and gets props for that. Probably the most icksome short in the whole collection.
"Bridge"
This one didn't read as a horror, but as a supernatural drama. The execution was really enjoyable, and there was a connection to the characters in this one that isn't always present in Ito's work. I like "Bridge," but I would have liked one that was more horrific for this collection.
"Supernatural Transfer Student"
Super campy. It was sort of a fun one. I do like campy horror, but it was about half of the collection that came up campy now that I'm looking at the list. I like the implications of this one, and there were a few elements that were good for tension. I really liked the fact that the one student that turned into a zombie could still talk. I honestly wasn't sure that he was dangerous to his classmates. He seemed like a nice fella.
"Scarecrow"
This one was a pretty original concept for me. I like the idea of it. This one, to me, had some of the weakest voice acting in the series unfortunately and that really made it hard for this to be horrific. If anything, it seemed a bit hopeful to me?
"Smashed"
There was actually a lot of nice world building in this one? I especially loved the parallels between the people drinking the nectar and the mosquitoes. It's hard to take it too seriously, but it was still a fun one to have in there.
"Rumors"
Oh Souichi, you dear sweet idiot. It was honestly really satisfying to see him get served, and I got to see my girl Fuchi. This one reads more like a comedy again, and was pretty campy. By this point I was so sick of campy that I think I'm being harsher on this one than is needed.
The platform that I watched this on did not have the OVAs that are part of the Junji Ito Collection but since they include Tomie I can hazard a guess about which comics they include and they're probably pretty okay.
Ultimately, I think that the problems with the Junji Ito Collection boiled down to mistakes made in the ordering of the collection as well as some of its contents. A lot of the pieces chosen were exceptionally campy or leaned more toward paranormal dramas instead of the horror most people think of when it comes to Ito. There were moments where things seemed to be running smoothly and others where it all just fell apart and seemed more like a joke against Ito than anything.
What's in the numbers?
There are a lot of components to consider in this, and while there are definitely some stand-out pieces in this collection ultimately I think it failed to operate as a cohesive unit. Since this is an animated feature some of the scoring will need to be looked at differently. Since it's a collection, I will also be generalizing on how well tension was used throughout.
Total Score - 3
Here’s the breakdown:
Behind the Scenes - 4
I'll give the Behind the Scenes a solid 4. There were some really nice uses of acting and the direction given seemed pretty solid. Even though a lot of the horror leaned more toward comedy it doesn't mean that the actors did poorly. That said, I can think of individual acts that seemed to just have weaker acting or writing than others and they need to be taken into account.
Effects - 5
Effects are a bit strange of a thing to say for an animated piece isn't it? A lot of this will go into the artistic style and way that things were represented. I'd definitely give that a 5. The style was consistently true to the original work, and the design for the horror aspects was varied and thoughtful.
Threat Execution - 1
Whether it comes down to the order or the contents selected there were just so few times that the dangers to the protagonists felt truly tense or threatening. I can think of moments here and there, but then again, that may owe to the fact that a lot of Ito's horror stems from the inevitability of it. I just wish there would have been better pacing in the animation to give things the same level of dread as when you read the comics.
Technical Design - 3
I'm going to have to give the sound and lighting choices for the animation a three. There were a few highlights, and a couple points where it missed the mark, but honestly a lot of the scores were forgettable, and there was nothing interesting done with the lights. It's always a shame to see that in animation since you have more control over the picture that you're presenting.
Personal Preference - 2
I really like Ito and a lot of this felt like a slap in the face. I liked several of these, but the tone that ended up being set was just so wrong. Visually lovely as always, but honestly this collection had more negatives than positives.
The Verdict
I've got to say that looking at the whole picture, the Junji Ito Collection was mediocre at best. It's especially sad because I'm a fan of the source material. It's not that it doesn't have some good points, but the negatives just tally up too quickly to give this collection a verdict of Guilty. That said, I suggest a few of the shorts, but you would probably do better to give the whole animated collection a miss to go read the comics instead.
Closing Remarks
Thank you guys for joining me to take a look at the Junji Ito Collection. I have several more articles in the pipeline, and I'm definitely looking forward to hearing from you all.
If you enjoy the material on this site please consider supporting us! If you think I missed something, found something you enjoyed, or you would like me to cover something specific make sure to leave a comment below or contact me on twitter. You can also catch our streams over on Twitch for video games, art, and tabletop gaming content. I am also the Lead Writer for the Paths: World of Adia RPG and one of the writers for Realmwarp Media's Great Cities of Magic!