The Japanese are famous for their horror stories andscary mythology, and the acclaimed manga artist Junji Ito is very famous for producing bone-chilling horror tales in mangas. Standing out in his homeland and abroad for his outstanding work, Junji Ito had some of his works previously adapted into live-action films and anime, and now is coming back to life once more in the new animated anthology series with Netflix, which has been investing a lot in original content, with some cool anime on their sleeves. The result of their partnership brought twenty of his scariest twisted stories to the small screen, that isJunji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabreanime anthology series.
When theNetflixadaptation was first announced in June 2022, Junji Ito, the influential horror mangaka who won several Eisner Awards, inclusively for Best Writer/Artist, spoke in a three-minute video and shared some glimpses at the design drawings to be expected to appear in this Netflix adaptation of his iconic works.
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First Impressions
The first teasers provided some glimpses at one of Ito’s most popular characters, Tomie, also confirming five of the tales that now compose the twentyin the anime anthology series. Full of darkness and nightmarish horror, Junji Ito’s works provide a lot of nightmare fuel, both with psychological and body horror, which is the mangaka’s trademark. With its heavy themes, such as suicide, curses, and meddling with dark arts, it is interesting to see Tomie coming back to life again on screen, even more not only becauseTomieis his debut work, but also because the character herself refuses to stay dead, a very welcoming pun.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabreis directed by Shinobu Tagashira and written by Kaoru Sawada, and its debut season, now streaming on Netflix, has 12 episodes, featuring a selection of 20 nightmare-inducing tales fueled by his originally creepy and fascinating worldview and style that intend to immerse the viewers inJunji Ito’s maniacal charm. Fans had been skeptical, though, regarding this adaptation. While the opening is per se very promising, would the translation of the body horror and other terrifying themes of Junji Ito finally have a decent adaptation?
And The Verdict Is —
Unfortunately, it was not this time, which led many people to turn their hopes now toward the adaptation of one of the most famous titles of the author,Uzumaki, also promised for 2023, which is being produced by Adult Swim and Production IG because Netflix’s recent take on Junji Ito’s really terrifying manga stories is lackluster, to say the least. IfUzumakiproves to be a good adaptation, maybe finally those who are and are not familiar with his works can be pleased. The aforementioned maniacal charm of the author is missing in the anime anthology, while some of the segments are indeed boring — that is a double sin, especially regarding such great original work.
There are several points in the adaptation that make it fall flat. Sometimes the comic factor takes the scary elements from the forefront, and, while it can happen with iconic works like the Addams Family over the years, with regard to the very first episode of this anthology, it is not only distracting but also very annoying. With the first episode being It is really hard to binge-watch the series when minutes feel like hours. Art in this anthology is also a problem. Just looking at some of Ito’s drawings makes us squirm with the abject terror, the body and cosmic horror, and everything terrible his images and words evoke. Maybe not so terrible for the non-initiated in Ito’s disturbing works, at least the goal to disturb is in part met. The possible nightmare-inducing segments are more due to the original mastermind behind the original work than the anime anthologicaladaptationof these works.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales Of The Macabreis another iteration, with its approach to Ito’s work failing to capture and struggling to reproduce the same harrowing experiences found in his original works. Yes, the root of his good work is there, in the middle of a messy adaptation. “Whispering Woman” is chilling more because the topics chosen are dark and disturbing by themselves. The take on “Tomie” feels disjointed, no pun intended, in the literal sense ofanimation and storytelling. Bad choices in both cases.
If you actually manage to go through all the episodes, the binge-watching will at least give you tiny moments in which the stories are connected, but that is it. Lacking the appeal of the original, at the end — or at the very beginning — it leaves us with a bad taste in our mouths for we sure wanted more. It is just a taste of an ice cream that does not last too long, which has been gone, together with the scary ice cream truck of one of the titles. A solution for the sensation it comes, for this bad aftertaste in your mouth, if you are a newcomer to Ito’s gut-wrenching horror stories, the recommendation is that you put your handson his manga stories. You shall not regret — or maybe you shall, for the experiences from reading his manga stories will surely last longer in your mind than this unremarkable take, full of stories, but with very few of them that are decent and even unforgettable.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabredebuted, in full, on June 29, 2025, exclusively on Netflix.
