Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection

Product Information

I find it easy to recommend Deserter because, as a whole, it is cemented in my mind as a very solid collection. A solid collection of short horror stories from a master artist that will leave you squirming with its gore and body horror.

Some of the stories seem to prefigure his better-known work, and could perhaps be seen as earlier versions, or am I imagining that connection? Ito's take on fear is eccentric and the proof is in each of these tales, all of them taking their own form of mind bending impossibilities (or so we think). Biography: Junji Ito made his professional manga debut in 1987 and since then has gone on to be recognized as one of the greatest contemporary artists working in the horror genre.

The title story “Deserter” and “The Long Hair in the Attic” had unexplainable manifestations of evil that made me want just a few more answers. It wouldn’t be a bad place to start, and if you’re hungry for me to read, this shouldn’t disappoint. Or “Scripted Love” about a jilted lover who murders her ex after she receives a tape of pre-recorded messages from him.

The story is not concerned with why she can do this, however, nor where she even came from (it is revealed faculty doesn’t even really know who she truly is). Deserter by Junji Ito is the latest collection of stories by the horror manga author to be published in English by VIZ media.It’s a creative way of portraying a difficult subject though it doesn’t make it that interesting to read either. r/junjiito is dedicated to legendary award-winning horror mangaka Junji Itō (伊藤潤二) and friends like Kazuo Umezz (楳図かずお), Hideshi Hino (日野日出志), and other horror mangaka. This collection is interesting as insight into the early work of Ito, but displays the flaws of a developing manga artist. Although the artwork seems dated, it does state in his bio blurb that these stories are of his earliest collections. If you’re new to Junji Ito, I wouldn’t advise checking this one out till you’ve read some more of his work, particularly Uzumaki or Remina.

As a whole, the collection is nice mixed bag, with some stories dealing with more paranormal phenomena and others being more about human derangement. A vengeful family hides an army deserter for eight years after the end of World War II, cocooning him in a false reality where the war never ended. If you have trouble with bad things happening to young kids, skip A Father's Love and, moreso, Bullied. I’ve seen so many people complaining about this being work from his earlier days, but I loved these stories. The first, “Bio House,” feels shocking for shock’s sake and has a rather slap-dash kind of plot, while “Where the Sandman Lives” makes little sense.

Junji Ito’s story collection Deserter was only recently published in English a few months ago but it was originally published ten years ago in Japan. All i have to say really is its open on the left side as its Japanese so if that annoys you id advise trying to find a one that fixes that but that doesnt really bother me! If you enjoyed Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark when you were a kid, this is the ramped-up adult version for sure.