Winter is placed under the sign of horror by the multiple news related to the great ruler of fear, Junji Ito. Present in France, an exhibition is dedicated to him at the international comic book festival, but he is also in bookstores by two releases: an artbook and the collection Love and death.
Fog brings destiny in Love and Death
This collection of short stories written and drawn by Junji Ito takes us on a tour of Nazumi, a city permanently plunged into a thick fog. As soon as he arrives, Ryûsuke Fukada is uncomfortable. He hates superstitions. Indeed, in Nazumi, young people come out to ask for an oracle from the first person arriving at a crossroads. This innocent game turns to drama when young girls commit suicide. A long man would be responsible.Beginning with a short story, Junji Ito wanted to stay in this dark village. The accumulation forms a vast narrative that is increasingly delusional.
As the title shows, Love and Death introduces you to two inhabitants of Nazumi: Eros and Thanatos. Indeed, these stories pre-published in shôjo magazines mix the thrill of adolescent love and that of death. Middle school students play at scaring themselves, but real terror spreads like a virus fueled by rumors. Ito does not refer to tales, but to an everyday horror. We commit suicide with a cutter. The main characters are schoolgirls, passers-by or salarymen.
Nazumi is a city doomed to love failure. Love is not happy, but a morbid obsession. You can't confess his feelings and this secret drives him crazy. For Ito, the feeling of love becomes an addiction to pain. Reason disappears, as do social rules. Under brutal emotional shock or constant pressure, bodies transform. Dark circles deepen with a black shadow around the eyes. This man wearing an earring is androgynous. Junji Ito shows that bullying at school and the exclusion of different people can shake young people to the point of making them doubt their identity. From a few individual cases, madness becomes collective. However, Junji Ito inserts a positive trigger in the middle of the book that revives the reader's interest.
In the last third of the book, Ito introduces the strange Hikizuri siblings. Since the death of their parents, five brothers and sisters kidnap the most beautiful of the family. It's like a children's tale, but is it that simple?
Beautiful horrible images
The other recent release is the splendid artbook dedicated to Junji Ito's illustrations. More than 130 images, mostly in color, demonstrate all the talent of the master. For the occasion, the publisher Mangetsu offers a quality edition. The book is a large format close to exhibition catalogues. The removable black and grey cover offers a chilling image of a black widow with neon orange eyes.
The neophyte will discover the illustrations of Junji Ito's emblematic titles. It is logically, the famous Tomie that welcomes the reader first. However, the terrible Soichi garment is not far away. The sizes of these prints vary greatly from vertical full-page to horizontal double-page. If these pages do not contain any information to let the graphic genius of Junji Ito express itself to the maximum, the reader can easily find the origin of these images in the index at the end of the volume where each image is commented by the artist. The volume not only compiles these must-haves, but the fan will also discover rarer illustrations such as record covers. One cannot help but make connections between the works. Refined faces manage to convey multiple emotions. The bodies are very elongated and very often deformed. Animals often return: cats, worms… Junji Ito frequently pays tribute to masters of Western art.
There are not only covers but also outstanding pages of the master from the manga. Rather than simply reproducing these pages, the editor offers a silver background reinforcing the strangeness of the images. The second part of the book also adds an interview with Junji Ito where he details his artistic techniques.
More than thirty years after starting his career, Junji Ito is finally recognized in his rightful place in France: the first. It was then necessary to honor it with beautiful works. The publisher Mangetsu does it with honor by the magnificent artbook and then the terrifying Love and Death.
Shiver again as you read reviews of other Ito titles: Ghost Zone and Frankenstein.
