Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

No Longer Human by Junji Ito

30 reviews

nathiddles_106's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Murder

Minor: Body horror and Death of parent

bo_thee_reyez's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

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

chantale's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Incest, Infidelity, 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

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

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.

juju_432's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

The art was fantastic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, and Toxic friendship

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.