Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

No Longer Human by Junji Ito

8 reviews

somethinelse's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Stalking

Minor: Police brutality

clary0402's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, and Blood

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Chronic illness, Incest, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

petitemass15's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

lonely_tardigrade's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

2.25

Ok just finished reading the whole thing in one sitting. For context, I have read over half of the original novel already but I was impatient so I read the manga in between.

First thing I gotta say is this is a VERY loose adaptation. Like, more of an “inspired by” situation imo. There were many parts that just plan old didn’t happen in the novel

including the end.

For a solid minute I was like is he gonna change the ending?? Like when he had Yozo meet Dazai at the hospital and start to get better. For a minute I thought this was gonna be a “fix it” version. Then BAM last minute he switched it up again and Yozo is revealed to be stuck in an abusive household for 12 years. Honestly that switch kinda threw me for a loop. Like, it felt like the original plan was a happy ending, and then someone said, “you can’t do that, this story is famous for being a tragedy,” so Ito slapped on an epilogue last minute. Just kinda… strange.

That being said, I think Ito’s art style is an excellent fit for this dark story. It really captures the uncanny feeling Yozo gets from the world around him. I just wish he didn’t lean so MUCH into that reputation to the point that the story itself changed. Even the tone of Yozo’s narration was different and less self-aware, which is probably due to the exaggerated creepiness.

Final thoughts: it’s good as a manga, not so great of an adaptation. Don’t read it and think you’ve read No Longer Human. It’s not remotely that same thing - but it’s not bad standing on its own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Ableism, Drug use, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and War

For the emetophobes out there: THIS BOOK IS NOT SAFE. Very explicit depictions multiple times. A lot of it is key to the plot but here are the pages to avoid: 182-189

the worst one by far. A woman overdoses as a suicide attempt and painfully vomits to death. Fun stuff.

364-396

nonstop vomiting. The plot here is that he will vomit up the 10 misfortunes in him and… hoo boy it’s graphic.

musicalchikaan's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Alcohol

elharpwhy's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

afi_whatafireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Adapted from the novel No Longer Human, Junji Ito took a spin on No Longer Human and wrote it in such a way that still sticks to his style, with insights of goriness and adds such a wonderful somewhat companion to the novel. It was graphic, it was horrendous and it was very depressing, but yet, it was just as good.

Personal Ratings : 5🌟

If the novel was already good, the manga somewhat completed it and made it more wholesome and has an in depth insight of the horrendous nature of human beings. I love that Ito Sensei actually stick through the basis of the novel but emphasized more on the pain of others that Yozo had caused alongst with his pain. In the novel, most of Yozo's suffering was somewhat integrated so deeply with his thoughts that there are some parts like the sexual abuse that he had suffered can be undetected. Ito had took the spin of the suffering into his own usual style and added a more grotesque way in showing how it had affected his mind and the people around him.

This manga and this novel as a whole is bloody depressing, and its a comfort read for me whenever I have a relapse on my own. One of the biggest aspects that was included in the manga was the character of Dazai himself as an author to be portrayed in here, as somewhat like a mirror to Yozo. The fact that No Longer Human was somewhat a semi-autobiography made this manga so unique and I cried so much at the end as to a certain degree, it reflected Dazai's suffering as well, and it had translated into the novel that he was writing. Ito was smart in that sense and major respect that he had taken his own spin to include Dazai in the manga.

This manga and story as a whole is depressing. Its a life of a man that went through stages of clowning and hatred for the human kind, to a point that he had resulted to drugs and alcohol to escape his own mind. Was he a character that is likeable? Obviously not. But for what's worth, his suffering and trauma is something that cannot be changed. For those who relate to the story, I'm sincerely sending you the warmest hugs. As for me, this manga became a good companion in a moment of my own darkness.

May everyone find the light that they deserve in their lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

yas_mean_ie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol