Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

No Longer Human by Junji Ito

76 reviews

kaeubi's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


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biladhaa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

can't put any words how i would describe this manga. i've never read something like this before. there were many times i put my hand on my mouth when i discovered something unhinged, wish i could erase those from my brain. i felt sorry for Yozo Oba but yet sick of him. shockingly tragic and purely depressing. all these characters literally need THERAPY. but nonetheless the artwork and the details are GOAT. both Junji Ito and Osamu Dazai were legends


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bo_thee_reyez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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siriface's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25


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jasmin_awoodun's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This was the first manga I read by Junji Ito, my favourite mangaka of all time, and on the third reread it's as powerful as ever. No Longer Human delves into the darkest parts of the human psyche, charting the unfortunate life of Yozo Oba, a damaged and deeply flawed individual who digs himself into a hole so deep it seems impossible to get out. Junji Ito's art style compliments the narrative beautifully, with some truly nightmare-inducing imagery. The manga also touches on the life of original author Osamu Dazai, with Oba and Dazai coming into contact at a crucial point in both their lives, and then again shortly before the end of Dazai's. A gripping story where just when you think things couldn't possibly get worse, they always do.

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somethinelse's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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keyisbored's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I think the visuals add to the story in a horrific, beautiful way. Junji Ito captured something great. I haven't read the original novel and people say it's better, but I feel people love to say that about anything and everything. Ito incorporates aspects of the life of the original author, Osamu Dazai, and it's clear he truly understands the theme of the story and Dazai's legacy. 

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clary0402's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75


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linxed's review against another edition

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dark fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The art style is fantastic and the drawings are amazing. The story itself is one that's boring and redone a million times. X male gets addicted, fucks women and ends up with a string of dead ghosts haunting him. Halfway through the misogyny and overall grotesque treatment of literally every female character almost made me put the book down. I didn't out of spite and thanks to the actual art which is why I wanted to give this an actual rating as the art is fantastic but the story is not worth it imo. The main themes are essentially torture porn & the CSA scenes at the beginning were definitely too much and whilst yes they're an integral part of the MC's character, as someone else mentioned, alluding to CSA would've been more than enough. 

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arobo's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

No Longer Human was a conflicting experience, though I ultimately enjoyed it and view it in high esteem. 

I firmly believe the gratuitous sex is unnecessary. Though I understand
it is a key element of Yozo's addictive and dissociative personality, the child rape and incest is too far, and could've been implied


The nuances of Yozo Oba's personality and its progression is a compelling journey to partake on. The themes represented in the story are handled well and in detail, often leaving me uneasy and disturbed.

While the final pages depicted a fitting ending,
the meta inclusion of Dazai was very clunky. The insert immediately felt jarring, and caused confusion, even if intended by Ito. Readers who weren't aware of Osamu Dazai in reality would be left out of the loop, potentially ruining the ending for them.


No Longer Human is a flawed masterpiece. The positive aspects are incredible and genre-defining, while the negative aspects truly weighed down Ito's work.

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