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Horror legend Junji Ito has seen his various works adapted over the years into a variety of different forms: feature-length films, coloring books, and an anime series. Unfortunately, said anime series wasn’t representative of the best the industry could muster for the man who brought us Uzumaki, Gyo,em>, and Tomie. Now, the master horror artist’s works are back once more in Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. With improved animation, a wide range of stories, and better direction, this series aims to give some of Ito’s best the adaptations they deserve. The verdict? It’s a far better job than the previous group did considering this is the equivalent of Disney to American animation for the Japanese horror genre, but it could still use a bit more oomph.

Opening Shot: The camera pans down from the night sky, revealing a hooded figure tossing something in front of an ominous building, then flicking a lighter and setting something aflame before revealing an odd group of people: the Hikizuri family. It looks like they’re burning a body.

The Gist: Legendary horror manga author Junji Ito has released dozens of creepy stories over the course of his career. From iconic tales like Uzumaki to the massively popular Tomie, he’s penned unique stories that make our skin crawl ever since his debut. But while there have been multiple theatrical adaptations of his manga over the years, there’s only been one mostly subpar anime series until now.

Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is an anthology series that follows some of Ito’s most famous and not-so famous works, giving them a chance to shine on the small screen. The first episode tells the tale of “The Strange Hikizuri Siblings,” a totally strange family without parents that involves a spirit photographer and her boyfriend as they try to put on a seance to speak with their deceased father.

It begins as a scam with one sibling pretending to vomit up ectoplasm so they can lord over their abusive brother, but as they all soon see, making fun of the dead and making light of their circumstances is a horrible idea. One of them actually has supernatural powers, and the patriarch of the Hikizuri family doesn’t take kindly to being impersonated, as the rest of the brothers and sisters soon see.

JUNJI ITOS MANIAC NETFLIX
Photo: Netflix

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? You’ll be thinking of Junji Ito Collection while watching this new anthology series, though the previous grouping of Junji Ito stories, while based on excellent stories, wasn’t as well-crafted or given as well of an animated treatment as this series was. It also shares plenty in common with horror-centric anime series like Yamishibai: Japanese Ghost Stories and The World Yamizukan, which both rely on anthology-style storytelling.

Our Take: Though Maniac doesn’t kick off with the most exciting entry in Ito’s cadre, leaving much of that for later in the series, the first episode is a great taste of some of the less disturbing material in his portfolio. The tale that was selected to kick things off wasn’t the most grotesque or even scary that could have been used, but it’s an interesting enough and weird setup that should keep viewers coming back to see what else might be on the agenda, especially since it leaves things open to a potential sequel and other setups with the Hikizuri family in the future.

Sex and Skin: None here. In fact, it would be nearly inconceivable to think that there’d be anything remotely resembling sex as we know it in most of Junji Ito’s tales of horror.

Parting Shot: The youngest brother, Hitoshi (Laura Stahl), comes staggering out of the Hikizuri home after the real spirit of the family’s father escapes and leads them all outside of the home into the cemetery. Hitoshi has no idea what happened, which scares the family even further.

Sleeper Star: Corina Boettger brings their recognizably shrill voice as Genshin Impact’s Paimon to work as Misako Hikizuri, who does little more than scream and wail throughout the whole episode, but Boettger totally nails it. When Misako is angry, Boettger sounds like she’s going to burn a house down. They totally work, giving this episode a little extra with their excellent screaming talents, as funny as that is to say.

Most Pilot-y Line: Kazuya Hikizuri goes to work every day as an “elite as a large insurance company” and the rest of his family thinks he’s amazing for his daily “natural duties” as the oldest son. “They’re all so easy-going because they don’t know anything,” Kazuya Hikizuri (Jonah Scott), the eldest, says after he leaves his brothers and sisters to go sit and do nothing all day. “Our Hikizuri family has a large inheritance, so we don’t have to work. For the sake of my cute little siblings, I’m setting a good example as a responsible role model,” he says. This sets the tone for many of the characters across Ito’s works, as they can behave bizarrely and selfishly.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While there’s still much that could be done to improve animated adaptations of Ito’s work, Maniac does a decent enough job of translating it to the small screen. The story mix includes some truly ghastly tales, but it opts for easing viewers into the weirdness with a somewhat tame tale to begin with. Still, its improved animation and excellent voice acting make for a great watch whether you’re into Ito’s work or looking to read more of his stories. This is a good one to settle down with and watch as a slow burn.

Brittany Vincent has been covering video games and tech for over a decade for publications like G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot, and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she’s collecting retro consoles and tech. Follow her on Twitter: @MolotovCupcake.

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