Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

No Longer Human by Junji Ito

21 reviews

jasmin_awoodun's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Police brutality, and Death of parent

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

deadratsinthesewer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

No longer human explores some incredibly dark and disturbing subjects, I find that Junkies Ito’s equally dark and disturbing art style complements this really well. The visualisation of this adaptation is more than I could’ve ever imagined, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the artwork. It is certainly not for everyone, it was a painful read (in a positive way), definitely a story would revisit 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Fire/Fire injury

helianthus1313's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Yozo Oba was a scum on this earth. He fooled with a lot of people which led to those people taking their lives. This man was hollow from the inside out. He grossed me out with his behavior towards women. He used all of them for his own gains. In the end, he got what he deserved. An empty hollow life like himself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Abortion, and Death of parent

piepatch's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Definitely a dark read, quite diffetent to Junji Ito's typical brand of horror. The base story that Ito is retelling is horrifying in its own right, and is a much more grounded and realistic type of horror than Ito's normal work. It's absolutely elevated in Ito's style though, a very visceral portrayal. Highly recommended, its a captivating read, but just a warning that it's quite confronting at times.

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.

veggiecats's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

Really intense, but really well done. As a book, I mean its masterful and raw. In terms of Junji Ito's rendition of it, I think the illustrations definitely help with certain themes, such as a

Takeichi being "reborn" as Yoichi. And also the delusions and envisioning different people inhabiting one person.

I think this is wonderfully done and really resonated with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

I would not recommend reading this if you are actively struggling with feelings of hopelessness and suicidal ideations, symptoms of psychosis and extreme paranoia, or are sensitive to themes of sexual assault and rape.

itsdoroo's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

abookishgoth's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

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