The Fall 2024 Light Novel Guide

Uncanny

What's It About? 

Horror manga legend Junji Ito has fascinated the world with his beautiful and strange tales, from his debut story “Tomie” to Uzumaki, Gyo, and many other famous works.

In this professional memoir and horror manga analysis, he tells all and digs into dark recesses—reflections on influences from his childhood, thoughts on manga, next-level idea-generation techniques, character design, craftmanship, and more. Full of never-before-told insider anecdotes and behind-the-scenes stories, this is a must-have book for fans who want to immerse themselves completely in the world of Junji Ito.

Uncanny is written by Junji Ito. English translation by Jocelyne Allen. Published by Viz Media LLC (October 15, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Why are you reading this book? If it's to get insight into how Junji Ito creates his manga, you may find yourself a little disappointed. He spends the back chapters discussing that and offers some decent insights into what makes for effective horror. Still, when you compare it to, for example, Hirohiko Araki's Manga in Theory and Practice, it's lacking as a craft manual. If you're reading this to get a bit more insight into Junji Ito the person, you're likely to be much happier. The front chapters are autobiographical and far more interesting.

Ito discusses how he came to horror by way of science fiction which is a fascinating genre shift in and of itself, and what many of his early influences were. Unsurprisingly, a major one was Kazuo Umezz in the same way all of the Gothic novels name-dropped by Jane Austen in Northanger Abbey were republished in the mid-twentieth century, some enterprising publisher could put out a collection of Ito's influences since many of them aren't available in English, and some are likely out of print in Japan as well. Most of Ito's early works were published in the shoujo horror magazine Halloween, and Ito talks about why he prefers the short story to a long serial, even when he writes a series of self-contained shorts about the same character, like Tomie or Soichi. He also discusses how he came to write Gyo and Uzumaki, along with specific shorts, such as “Deserter,” and his adaptations of No Longer Human and Frankenstein.

The book itself is very well designed. There's a separate illustration under the jacket, and each page has a centered box of text on a navy blue background with blue-grey images from Ito's work lightly printed on it. Ito's initial sketches for many of his pieces and some of his earliest manga efforts from elementary and middle school are included. On the lower right corners, there's a small flipbook animation from about the halfway point of the book, and a complete bibliography is also included, breaking down which stories are included in which collection. It's a good read; just go into it expecting more of an autobiography and personal musing than anything solid in the craft arena.

I've always been curious about how the mind of classic horror creator Junji Itō works. Every interview I've seen of this guy goes the same way, he gives off incredibly humble vibes with an almost everyman disposition. But then, every now and then he'll say something that will just sort of remind you of some of the twisted imagery that he has created throughout the years. The Origins of Fear is a book that does what I think I've wanted for a very long time and that gives an intimate look into this man's history from his perspective. This book is massive, being over three hundred pages long and filled with details about Itō's life spanning back to the very first horror movie he ever watched at three years old. The book is mostly text, however, every dozen or so pages are broken up with exclusive artwork from Itō himself, portraying specific scenes from his life. It could be the time he had a catheter removed from him without anesthesia or the times he would rollerblade with his friends in a cemetery.

The thing about Itō's life is that the most mundane elements about them have some sort of twist to them. It's interesting to hear a lot about his hobbies and how some of them trace back to a lot of the creative ideas that he would later implement into other works in his life. The book has a very casual tone about it and it really does feel like you're just sitting down, listening to Itō recount nostalgically about his life. There's no sense of purpose as much as it is just a sit-down with his audience. To be honest, I think that's how it should be because while his works are no doubt iconic, Itō never comes off as a creator who feels fueled by his own sense of importance. This book does highlight that. He had very humble beginnings and led a life that in some ways doesn't feel that different from the life that I would live, but it's the way that he interprets the world that would define him and I find that so fascinating. This book is definitely a commitment, but if you were already fascinated with Itō's works or a longtime fan of his, then I would say that this is a must-buy. Everybody else, I would say sample some of his works first to see just how far your fascination with him might go.