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Interview: Junji Ito's Frankenstein




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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:18 pm Reply with quote
I picked this up recently, and from what I've glanced through so far, i'm very impressed with it. The thought always in the back of my mind regarding this story is "How can Frankenstein still be frightening, given its pop culture status?", but Ito's art really sells the monster being both horrifying and sympathetic.

Having read this piece, i'm now very interested in whatever Mr. Gou Tanabe's adaptation of Lovecraft was! Hopefully i'll find something licensed in english.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2654
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:31 pm Reply with quote
Lucky for you, Dark Horse released a volume! I haven't had a chance to read it, but if Ito thought it was definitive, I'm willing to bet it's pretty great.
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Merxamers



Joined: 09 Dec 2013
Posts: 720
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Princess_Irene wrote:
Lucky for you, Dark Horse released a volume! I haven't had a chance to read it, but if Ito thought it was definitive, I'm willing to bet it's pretty great.


I think i saw that at my local comic shop! I'll have to check it out ASAP
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Zeino



Joined: 19 May 2017
Posts: 1098
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 5:27 pm Reply with quote
Ito draws the perfect Frankenstein's Monster. Only the late Berni Wrightson can compare. I especially love how he does the unsettling always watery eyes of the creature as described from Shelly's novel.
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DarthSomebody



Joined: 07 Aug 2017
Posts: 27
PostPosted: Wed Oct 31, 2018 9:32 pm Reply with quote
Yep, Gou Tanabe's Lovecraft adaptations are absolutely awesome. Nice to see that Junji Ito thinks the same way about it.
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Mew Berry



Joined: 02 Apr 2016
Posts: 187
PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 8:13 am Reply with quote
I picked this up not long ago and it was definitely good. It also comes with a few Ito short stories that hadn't been officially released in English yet.

It's kind of disappointing that he's given up on adapting Lovecraft, because that would have been amazing. Sounds like I'll have to check out Tanabe's version.
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residentgrigo



Joined: 23 Dec 2007
Posts: 2584
Location: Germany
PostPosted: Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:09 pm Reply with quote
His, now 2 decades old, Frankenstein manga is the best work Ito ever did and the best adaption of that novel. A rare accurate one too.
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RegSuzaku



Joined: 08 Jul 2018
Posts: 273
Location: Ikebukuro
PostPosted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 11:09 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Fans of both Shelley and Ito should find this appealing, and it certainly does prove the validity of his advice to aspiring horror creators, “please absorb many different art forms like novels or movies.”... Ito's Frankenstein is evidence that borders do not have to inform horror fiction – and that's scary good news indeed.


..... this is true for all genres though.

I'm... personally way to scared to every try to read any of his manga again after trying one of his short stories (I'm not a horror fan lol) but it's probably way better than the play that was done in London (I think?) a few years ago, with Benedict Cumberbatch. I saw a screening of the filmed performance, I thought it was... trying to be like the book, but also like, in a typical modern-theatre way, sort of, ... trying too hard to be ~meaningful~, I guess? I just found the tone of it sort of annoying...

but I do like the book, and I like the elements of it that this... article that says interview but...??? doesn't have enough quotes to really be an interview ???... anyway, I like the elements of the book that Ito is saying he drew on, including how the frame story builds that tone. So this is probably really good.
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