A review by krystal_uwu_
Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition by Junji Ito

dark mysterious 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

Junji Ito's works need no introduction. His art work is so grotesque, his story telling ragged and harsh and all of it just makes up for a beautiful experience. All of his works evoke a physical response from me which I think is every hard for art to do so, obviously, it's absolutely fantastic. Uh, I've said this before and I'll say it again. Junji Ito isn't much of a story teller but, his art work and execution makes up for it. The theme of male violence is prominent in Tomie. A man killing the woman he loves disturbs traditional gender roles. Usually, society scorns women for being too emotional, hysterical, and delirious. In Tomie it is the men who are driven to insanity by Tomie's beauty, whilst she never returns their affections. Also, I am not fond of Tomie, I don't like her one bit. Furthermore, for this manga, I have a few complaints. It felt repetitive...story after story of unsuspecting people being affected by Tomie, ending in her or their death (not even like fun death. Just a lot of stabbing and dismembering, booooOring). I wish there had been more body horror involved; the biological horror that is Tomie’s regenerative ability was pretty much the most extreme part of this book, and while it was cool, it wasn’t NEARLY as trippy or grotesque as the imagery seen in uzumaki, gyo, or some of ito’s other doujins. Some of the stories were definitely a bit on the absurd side, even for the usual bizarre shit that ito brings to the scene.
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