Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

No Longer Human by Junji Ito

55 reviews

charlottevarela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, and Gaslighting

kylesafgt's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

cesargaglioni's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-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: Ableism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Dementia, and Death of parent

beck_wreck'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Was hard to read how utterly horrible the life of this character was. Even more so when you consider the strong possibility that it is a reflection of the authors life. To think that this entire story is possibly an elaborate suicide note is haunting. I feel like Junji Ito really added a lot to the story with his art style, and his changes and additions made it his own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Rape, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Extremely graphic art of the above triggers. I don't recommend this book to anyone who has gone through these tragedies or could be triggered by them.

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.

happycroissant'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Blood, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

zombie_loves_books's review against another edition

dark tense 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

As always Junji Ito's art is astonishing! I doubt I would have been able to read this otherwise.

A person you come to hate pretty fast going through a never ending spiral of momentary content quickly followed by self-imposed dispare that almost always leads to  death of a mostly innocent party. Even being haunted by those he wronged he never acknowledged his part in it and instead justifies everything in his own mind, blames the victims and just women in general.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

samsalamander's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship