Reviews

Black Paradox by Junji Ito

Only show reviews with written explanations

_lunaria_'s review

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Still my favorite work of Ito’s, love all the twists and turns this one takes mixing scifi with the supernatural. Black Paradox is some of his best character work and watching the quartet of protagonists interact with each other and the unfolding horrors is a delight.

Spoiler

Their final choice to doom humanity to get revenge on the doctor that used them, perhaps at the cost of two of their souls, is a fantastic ending that is both triumphant and harrowing.

600bars's review

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3.0

I realized on 12/31 that there was no hope of finishing Blockchain Chicken Farm within the day but I had already made my instagram post saying I had read 142 books and I didn’t want to be a LIAR! So I quickly read this on my lunch break and idc about cheating bc all that matters is my own personal rules.

Black Paradox is about a group of people who meet up online on a site called…Black Paradox… to commit suicide together. This exact thing just happened in the anime I’m watching rn, Welcome To The NHK. The four of them discuss their fear of doubles, one guy was the model for a robot built at his school and the robot is better than him, one guy sees his shadow everywhere, and one girl is in a tussle with her reflection in the mirror. The only girl without a double quickly realizes that she’s actually with the doubles and not the originals. They eventually figure things out and attempt suicide, but the robot-double guy starts vomiting up these orbs. Turns out a portal between the spirit world and our world was opened in his stomach. The orbs are made of a mineral that doesn’t exist on Earth, and the remaining 3 people in the group get rich selling jewelry made of the beautiful rock. The orbs actually contain the souls of the dead, so whenever they smash one to make jewelry or sell they are 1) releasing loose souls into the world and 2) reducing space for future dead souls to reside. They also keep causing explosions.

I was really into the soul orbs aspect of the story. The fact that the portal was located in the stomach provided some excellently disgusting body horror which is where Junti Ito excels. I was also thinking of Stalker, because the portals are like a room that grants wishes but it’s very difficult to get to and many die trying. When the 3 living members of the group start making money, they are able to solve some of the problems that made them suicidal in the first place, but they also deteriorate in frightening ways as a result of getting what they want. It’s like how amphetamines make you smarter in the short term but over time you feel your brain function getting worse and worse. I’m always fascinated by the double edged sword of getting what you want and as always am a fan of Ito’s grotesque drawings.

I also love stories involving doubles, and this provided several twists on that theme– a robot, a mirror, a shadow, etc. But it felt like too many elements going on in such a short story, and I don’t really think the doubleness added much to this. Also, nothing can hold a candle to my favorite iteration of the “online meet up to commit group suicide” trope, which is that episode of Paranoia Agent that is both slapstick and the saddest thing you’ve ever seen.