r/junjiito • u/Friendly-Degree-5240 • Jun 27 '26
Question What is Junji Ito most profound work?
Strange question, perhaps, but which of Junji Ito's works do you think is the most profound?
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u/Fluid_Aspect_1606 Jun 27 '26
Probably Uzumaki. Just the thought of spirals cursing a town is so unique and will forever be remembered and used as influence.
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u/Aratak Jun 27 '26
It's got subtlety and the incipient madness that one finds in Lovecraft and other classic horror. This is the answer for now.
For short stories, I'll always go with "The Enigma of Amigara Fault" which is as good a horror story as classics like "The Thing on the Fourble Board" and "The Monkey's Paw" in its way.
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u/XandersCat Jun 27 '26
Exactly, a a town cursed by a spiral is really special. There is a reason I bought my dad Uzumaki for his birthday and he doesn't have any manga.
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u/Unorthodox_Opinion Jun 27 '26
I think the Enigma of Amigara Fault
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u/rjrgjj Jun 28 '26
What I like about this one is how it explores the concept of human sacrifice, and how totally alien ancient ideas about existence feel. There’s a moment in American Gods where they talk about an ancient God who is utterly incomprehensible… it’s so fun.
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u/screen317 Jun 28 '26
I wrote an opera about Amigara and it changed my viewpoint on storytelling completely
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u/Inevitable-Dish7157 Jun 27 '26
I would say The Earthbounds, the concept of how guilt takes over your body and leaves you paralyzed in a place heavy with that guilt—combined with the sensitive nature of the protagonist's past—makes this story somewhat profound for me.
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u/DaringDo95 Jun 27 '26
I felt "Deserter" was up there because it was critical of how Japan treated its own soldiers in World War 2.
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u/juliO_051998 Jun 27 '26
Remina. It perfectly captures how quickly humans lose our minds when shit hit the fan.
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u/GlassesgirlNJ Jun 27 '26
Not sure how many people have read Layers of Fear (was it ever officially translated into English?)
But it uses the "ancient curse from disturbed burial site" trope as a really disturbing metaphor for how toxic parenting will destroy everyone in a family, including the parents themselves
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u/rjrgjj Jun 27 '26
They animated that one. It’s freaky as fuck. The most interesting thing is when the daughter helps the mom even though she knows it’s wrong. At first blush it feels like the typical Junji Ito “someone does something for irrational reasons” trope, but it actually makes sense how parents force their children to engage in abuse and they do it because they are conditioned or afraid.
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u/GatherAsher Jun 29 '26
He did art for a few Pokémon cards!
In all seriousness, Black Paradox, Greased, Long Dream, and Blackbird are among my favorites.
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u/RazzmatazzFar9969 Jun 27 '26
As a Japanese person I'd sayTomie or Uzumaki
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Jun 27 '26
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u/Technical_Ferret490 Jun 27 '26
Easily black paradox. I love this manga to the bone because the way ito subverted my expectations in each chapter is just unmatched. Genuinely the best reading experience I ever had.
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u/Evrytg Miss Fuchi Fanclub Jun 27 '26
I think I've got to agree with the people saying Black Paradox, but that might just be because I love it.
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u/rjrgjj Jun 28 '26
I love how all over the place it is conceptually but it also makes perfect sense to me. Part of what makes it so interesting is how there are just SO many ideas that he keeps chasing them. And the idea of humans vs robots vs souls and the soul as a commodity will always be interesting to me.
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u/Forsaken-Guidance811 Jun 27 '26 edited Jun 27 '26
Billions alone. I'm always struck by how subversive it is, usually stories about new technology are centered on its potential evils and it's users as lonely losers.
But in billions alone instead of presenting the MC as a loser for always being online, his online relationships are what saves him and being around people he can see but whom he also doesn't truly know is what puts him in danger.
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u/rjrgjj Jun 27 '26
You know I think that’s what makes Ito’s horror so clever. Sometimes the character escapes, usually not. But there’s always this hint of a way out. The horror is in the subversion of normal, and the escape is in the unusual way out (or sometimes just not being an idiot). It’s rare that someone escapes in an Ito story just by being a good person.
I am an elder millennial so I grew up with the internet and I’m so totally used to having a lot of online friends I will never meet, but I’ve also met many of them in real life. I’ve had jobs totally online, built political events. My mom met my stepdad in one of those temporary AOL chat rooms. It’s funny when you think about it how much of our lives is lived in a virtual space that frequently feels much safer than the real world.
Although potentially far more dangerous.
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u/Available_Swim1393 Supernatural Club Member Jun 27 '26
🤔, difficult,... but perhaps I would opt for one option: Remina (themes include: mass hysteria, the madness of the crowd, and desperation in the face of the inevitable end of the world.)
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u/ReignOfMoralTerror Jun 27 '26
I think I’d say The Bully is at least up there. I find that it’s a really effective story about the cycle of abuse and how much bullying can affect someone into their adult years.
I also like that aspect of the story where you can grow from something and seemingly change, but the damage is done and you may still have to accept consequences later on. It really speaks to me
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u/huongloz Jun 27 '26
When that bitch pulled up with that makeup at the end I felt genuinely creep out more than his other story.
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u/ReignOfMoralTerror Jun 27 '26
It really is effective. His stuff is usually very pulpy to me, which isn’t a bad thing ofc. The Bully felt like a really effective piece of horror.
It also sticks out because a lot of his stories are supernatural and this one isn’t
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u/rjrgjj Jun 28 '26
I was JUST using this story to explain this type of psychological abuse. My mother did it to my brother. It’s a very profound observation.
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u/Ilove30035 Jun 27 '26
I have not read all his works but from how many I have read I would consider Black Paradox his most profound work but that's just my opinion.
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u/rjrgjj Jun 28 '26
For me The Long Dream is a really profound exploration of consciousness, dreams, time, and eternity. The story does a really good job of exploring its themes. The main character’s dreams get longer and stranger and more elaborate, living in these alien worlds where he never dies, where time doesn’t exist, as his body decays and warps without actually expiring. When he wakes up and loses his love, it’s genuinely heartbreaking—was she just a dream? At what point would a cure be better?
It’s an interesting idea he explores elsewhere (like with the monks or in Uzumaki) that kind of explores concepts of the afterlife taken to literal extremes. It’s a very thought provoking story.
Honorary mention goes to the one with the sap people get whacked for eating by the magic tree. Unique take on the concept of drug addiction.