MARRY THE TWINS

8.5/10  
Pretty good collection, though I still despise Ito for "Glyceride." I side with his editor on this one, without a doubt.  

1. *The Dark Drinks Blood*:  
6/10  
At best, it's fine. The story introduces its protagonist as insecure and recovering from a bad relationship, which could have been an interesting foundation to explore with horror elements. However, the premise is quickly abandoned in favor of an underwhelming concept, reducing the initial setup to nothing more than a transition. From there, the story begins to falter. The antagonist lacks intrigue, and the mystery is predictable, leaving little to engage with. While not outright terrible, it's undeniably dull and mediocre. Some readers might appreciate it more than I did.  
Unfortunately, this is one of the rare Junji Ito stories where the art failed to leave an impression on me—something even weaker stories managed to achieve.  

2. *Ghosts of Golden Time*:  
8/10  
Surprisingly effective. It boasts a solid horror concept, a compelling villainous duo, exceptional art, and a well-crafted atmosphere. Although the ending initially left me unimpressed, it has grown on me over time. All elements work together harmoniously, making this a standout entry.  

3. *Roar of Ages*:  
5/10  
This story ultimately disappoints due to poor execution of its premise. Many of Ito's average tales could reach greatness if he learned to differentiate between premises suited for short mood pieces and those requiring extended development. This story clearly needed the latter but fell short.  

4. *Secret of the Haunted Mansion*:  
7.5/10  
Here, readers are introduced to Souichi, who appears in several other shorts. The story begins atmospherically, enhanced by its night setting, before shifting focus to eccentric villains—a trope I typically find less appealing. Despite this, Souichi and his son are written convincingly enough to make the narrative work.  

5. *Glyceride*:  
8.5/10  
Let me be clear: DO NOT LET MY RATING TRICK YOU INTO READING THIS STORY.  
Where I come from, we believe that God resides in all things and people. After reading this, I feel like the God within me has died.  
Absolutely revolting, repulsive, and sickening, this short is proof that editors should include warnings for content like this. A decent mystery is ruined by Ito's grotesque and abhorrent visual imagination, brought to life (regrettably) by his undeniable artistic talent.  
I only rated it this high because it delivers what horror manga fans expect: something so horrifying and disgusting that you're compelled to look away while still needing to finish it.  

6. *The Earthbound*:  
9/10  
Avoiding spoilers regarding the central theme, I can say this is one of Ito's stories with a strong conclusion. The atmosphere, art, mystery, and twist at the end elevate it to another level—a refreshing change.  

7. *Dead Man Calling*:  
7/10  
The second story in the collection to derive horror from guilt, it succeeds fairly well. The sense of mystery remains engaging throughout, but the ending feels unsatisfying—not because of the explanation of the supernatural elements, but due to a lack of thematic resolution. Like many others, this story shines most in its beginning and middle.  

<p>

Yami no Koe is a horror manga anthology crafted by the celebrated author and artist Junji Ito, who is famous for his grotesque and psychologically unsettling tales. With a career that has spanned numerous years, my first encounter with his work was through the collection Mimi's Ghost Stories, or Mimi no Kaiden in Romanized Japanese. Initially, I wasn't particularly fond of the story itself, which made me somewhat reluctant to dive into this new anthology. However, after hearing glowing reviews about the story "Glyceride" from a friend and learning it was included in this collection, I decided to take the plunge.

Reviewing this collection presents a challenge. The stories are disparate, unified only by their shared eerie artwork and horror themes. Demons, ghosts, criminals, and unsettling narratives abound throughout these pages. Each tale possesses its own merits, yet some inevitably fall short when compared to others. Individually, each story could be rated four or five stars, but collectively, I almost settled on three and a half stars. For instance, stories like "Earthbound" lack cohesion and depth when juxtaposed with more compelling entries like "Secret of the Haunted Mansion," which itself pales in comparison to other standout pieces. This is the primary issue I encounter with such anthologies—Mimi no Kaiden, for example, offered a cohesive narrative centered around one girl's experiences, reducing the need for direct comparisons.

Despite my enjoyment of the anthology, it didn't resonate with me as much as I had hoped. A collection like this might have been more successful if the stories were at least thematically connected, such as grouping paranormal tales together. In that case, the horror intensity could remain consistent across all stories rather than varying significantly. As previously mentioned, "Earthbound" leaned more toward science fiction or crime, despite incorporating elements of the paranormal, thus detracting from the overall horror experience.

Setting aside these criticisms, this remains a formidable collection. Ito demonstrates his prowess in crafting horror that spans from the supernatural to the bewildering, spine-tingling, and gut-wrenching. The artwork throughout is breathtaking, and there were moments where I physically recoiled upon turning a page. His ability to not only conceive terrifying imagery but also bring it to life through his illustrations is a rare skill that many artists and writers struggle to achieve. This collection serves as a testament to his talent, allowing it to truly shine.

In conclusion, while the disjointed nature of the stories may hinder the overall impact, Yami no Koe is a powerful anthology that showcases Junji Ito's mastery of horror in both word and image.

I appear to be developing a pattern of critiquing highly acclaimed authors recently. I adored Uzumaki for its eccentricity and barely endured Gyo (perhaps I should pen a review of that soon), but Voices in the Dark didn't resonate with me, despite all of Glyceride's grotesque elements.

Art 6/10  
Honestly, I was wavering between giving this a six or a seven. At this point, I have mixed feelings about Junji Ito's signature style. I appreciate how realistic it is, yet simultaneously, if you've seen one Ito piece, you've essentially seen them all except for the monsters. The characters consistently make the same expressions, and their mannerisms seem almost traced from other Ito works. The environments are decent, but there are certainly other artists out there with more striking styles at this stage. The monster designs, like the bat-thing in the first chapter, deliver the standout page turns that Ito is famous for, and as usual, the art remains consistently solid in those parts.

Story 5/10  
This is an anthology, making it somewhat challenging to rate, but overall, the stories are decently crafted yet feel overly explicit for the most part. One chapter is entirely dedicated to paying homage to another of his works, so it's basically pure fan service for those characters. Otherwise, in terms of themes, it adheres strictly to convention, with characters stumbling upon urban legend-style mysteries and such. Something dreadful/mysterious occurs, usually with someone acting deranged, and we conclude with the main character either living on ominously or, more rarely, implied death. Classic Ito short story material. It's not bad, but story-wise, it's not good either, honestly.

Characters 4/10  
Here comes the unpopular opinion. I've always detested how Junji Ito writes his characters. They're bland placeholders, mere stand-ins for the audience and their loved ones, lacking any distinctiveness. They start to blur together if you read his works consecutively, and their repetitive facial expressions across stories genuinely irritate me. Junji Ito is clearly talented in art, but his human characters are utterly stagnant, both in design and writing. Their dialogue often feels stilted, and no one stands out across stories. I understand this is because they're meant to be blank slate characters for Japanese readers to project their own loved ones onto ("this scary stuff could happen to you!"), but as a non-Japanese reader, it completely misses the mark. As someone who used to enjoy Stephen King, I find this writing device ineffective for American works too, so maybe it just doesn't work for me.

Enjoyment 5/10  
I must admit, for a horror manga, next to nothing impacted me in this work. There's perhaps one panel in the first story—not one of the 'shock' page-turners—just a vaguely unsettling look on a guy. Otherwise, Glyceride is purely gross-out material, and nothing else was notably frightening. Ghosts of Golden Time is an absolute disaster of a story, and the fact that it made it past the concept stage truly astonishes me. It's one of the worst Ito stories I've encountered. Altogether, this was an average collection of 'urban legend' horror tales. Regrettably, it felt more like something Junji Ito released to earn some quick cash. Definitely not his finest work by a long shot.

Overall 6/10  
If Ito's work typically scares you, this might scare you. If it doesn't usually scare you, this definitely won't, and you'll likely wish you had back the half hour you spent reading it. That's a pretty narrow target audience.

Yami no Koe is a collection of short stories or one-shots. It's challenging to rate it as a single entity since each story left a unique impression on me. I'd say overall it was decent. I did enjoy some of the stories to a reasonable extent.<br /><br />The standout feature here is definitely the art. Junji Ito's unsettling style perfectly complements the narratives he presents in this visual medium. However, my main criticism lies with a couple of specific stories. One in particular felt like it was grotesque just for the sake of being grotesque, lacking a compelling narrative to support it for me.<br /><br />In conclusion, if you're interested in some brief horror tales, this is worth checking out. But if you're at all squeamish, be warned that there are scenes that might feel more gross than gory.

Not exactly Ito's strongest output, but not without merit. While the anthology consisting of 7 short stories does feature some of the author's best work, it's not the go-to volume to get acquainted with him. The main issue I had is not that the stories were bad, but that compared to other Ito's work, the shock and horror factor was at a much smaller rate in this book.

The volume starts with "Blood Slurping Darkness," which, as the title suggests, is an alternative spin on vampirism. While the ideas Ito has are interesting and there is a twisted touch of romance to the story, it's not exactly the most terrifying story Ito put out. This is followed by "The Ghost of Golden Time," which is quite frankly one of his weakest stories I've read or seen adapted; bland villain idea, forced conflict, and a main character who just happens to have the right supernatural ability to explain to the reader what's happening for some reason. Luckily, this is the lowest point the volume reaches. "Roar of Ages" as story #3 is titled brings back Ito's ability to take long-existing horror concepts and twist them in a way that feels fresh. While the writing definitely is in the right place, Ito's intention seems off, as the story seems to play more with the emotion of sympathy than with fear. "Secret of the Haunted Mansion" is another story that plays with my horror-fan expectation but doesn't quite satisfy it. To be fair, the build-up is great, but the payoff is basically (if I may allow myself a bit of an indirect spoiler) mostly just fan service for the Ito fan and probably a mess to the outside-manga-reader. Story #5 "Glyceride" is one of Ito's most memorable stories. Partly for the broken-home setting, but mostly for the creative and wonderfully explicit portrayal of the effects puberty has on the human body. "Earthbound" is similar in nature to story #3 in that it's more of a mix of supernatural with drama and mystery than being a horror story. Once again, interesting concept, but not exactly packing much of a horror-punch. The book concludes with "Dead Man Calling," which I liked for its ambiguity and some of its art, unfortunately, it's once again not much of a shocker.

So to summarize; it was a fun read and a competent addition to Ito's vast collection of horror stories, but as far as horror goes, it does lack some big guns. I do recommend it to those who are already Ito fans, as for those who aren't: try Uzumaki or Fragments of Horror first and if you liked either of those, here's a bonus.

This review has been structurally a bit different from my other reviews, though I'm sure most readers won't catch up on that. The reason behind it is that this was a 20-minute slap-together for Goodreads, that I wrote spontaneously, since the site immediately gives you the text box after setting a novel as finished and I felt like writing at the moment. In order to compensate for the different structure, here's the run-through of different categories I otherwise cover:

Story (☆):
This category, I covered relatively well in my original review, so read above if you for some reason haven't yet.

Art (☆☆☆):
I guess this one is a no-brainer to everyone familiar with Ito's art. The man is a master of turning ink lines into horrific and unsettling imagery. Though I must admit, that I almost felt compelled to take a star away. As mentioned, the book lacks some big shockers. Most of the stories are lacking in visual horror. Exception is the gruesome "Glyceride." "Secret of the Haunted Mansion" also has some fascinating visuals, but those are mostly staples in Ito's artistry and therefore only have a limited impact.

Characters (☆):
It's a horror anthology, therefore characters play a limited role and only serve as the devices to make you relate to the horror of the situation. None are particularly well characterized, but they don't really need to be. I guess, you can always be a monster-fanboy and critique the creativity of the villains, those are however a mixed bag. On one side, you have the acne-ridden weird kid in story #5, which had a great backstory and intriguing eccentricities, and on the other, you have the completely unfunny comedy duo in story #2 with their unappealing character design and bland superpowers.

Rating system:

As seen above, I use a star system (symbols I have stolen from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s entries here on MAL) to rate the series/movies in terms of the significant categories, which can indicate its quality. Those ratings do affect the final score I give the series/movie, but I do not use a strict mathematical method to assign the final score. Ultimately I weigh the final ratings by considering the stars given. I do not consider the categories to be equivalent and value a good story and characters over good art or a catchy soundtrack. As far as the stars given go, I use a four-stage scale:
(-) - bad, a series/movie is terrible in this category
(☆) - okay, it's fine, tolerable, but likely nothing special
(☆☆) - good, it's good, but may have flaws or isn't quite among the best I've seen in the category
(☆☆☆) - great, the best rating I can give, when it's truly remarkable in the category

Final score: 6/10

"Worth finishing up but don't expect anything much  

This was my first Junji Ito manga, and his artwork caught my attention because it seemed either more Western-influenced or featured a more restrained action panel style compared to most mangas I'm accustomed to.  

It's also the first horror comic I genuinely tried to follow through and complete, largely thanks to the internet making such works easier to discover and finish. This newness likely swayed me to rate the art highly while being more critical of the manga's story, even though it was already presented as a collection of short stories.  

First off, the art didn't resonate with me. It wasn't scary; instead, it made these stories feel like children's folktales. It seems the artist is more interested in telling cautionary fictional urban legends than focusing on horror.  

This point is worth noting because the plot heavily depends on this art style. It's not just about describing how the art looked to me but a warning for those planning to read this—if the artwork doesn't appeal to you, don't dwell on it, as the overall quality of this manga relies heavily on the art keeping you engaged enough to turn the next page.  

Even though the artwork didn't work for me, I rated it a 9 compared to the story's 6 because this is the kind of manga where the art elevates the story's interest. The narrative only works because the art is there. While an art change might enhance the manga's quality, I can't deny that this specific style gives the manga a unique essence rarely seen elsewhere, making it memorable as a whole package.  

Though I have no other similar horror mangas to compare it to, this is why I finished it—the art was captivating enough that, despite not appealing to me, it made me want to see the entire thing through.  

On the flip side, I’m almost certain this ranks among the more mediocre horror mangas out there, even without comparing it to others. The reason lies in how the stories attempt to evoke mystery at their ends but fail due to abrupt pacing and conflating the climax with the conclusion.  

Expanding on this flaw, the plots are so rushed that if you were more engaged with the story (unlike me), you might be surprised when a story extends unnecessarily or conversely ends prematurely.  

This issue would normally lower the story's rating, but the tales themselves are intriguing. If your experience with Asian horror involves mainstream works like *The Ring* or *Fatal Frame*, you’d recognize that all the short stories here are far more original, morally superior in terms of folktale warnings, and much more satisfying in general storytelling.  

However, this doesn’t mean much since it’s still not scary, much like those examples, yet its genre and design aim for horror. Add the rushed conclusions, and it becomes an ambitious but poorly executed set of short horror stories with good intentions.  

But again, this is where the artwork and plot complement each other well enough that, despite these flaws, it's worth picking up. Had I found and read this from a physical tankobon or comic book rather than on my PC, I'd have rated it higher.  

It’s the kind of guilty pleasure comic that pairs well with weekly American superhero comics I couldn’t afford or wasn’t particularly interested in investing in. However, when judged relative to the quantity and availability of content online (even assuming no piracy or illegal uploads, just compared to other mangas sold digitally), it loses its luster. Without the tactile experience and given the abundance of alternatives, all the uniqueness of the plot and art melding together merely results in a disappointing and unresolved fictional mystery that neither horrified nor left a lasting impression due to the lack of proper climaxes, conclusions, or completeness in the tales contained within."

<p>Well, that was a good collection. It's not the best work by the author, but it's still pretty solid. As a huge Ito Junji fan, I know there are others that surpass this one, like Tomie. If you're diving into this, be prepared for depression, darkness, and some of the weirdest things you'll encounter. Regardless, the art is incredibly dope—I love it. What bugged me here was that some stories had open endings, which was somewhat disappointing. On the other hand, all the stories were intriguing enough to keep me hooked until the end.<br /><br />I genuinely enjoyed this. Truly, I did. However, I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped. A collection like this could have been stronger with interconnected stories, for instance, grouping paranormal tales in one set. The horror intensity for each story could have been more consistent instead of varying—some being scarier than others. As mentioned earlier, Earthbound felt more like science fiction or crime rather than a form of horror, despite the presence of the paranormal.</p>

Seems interesting. Their first kiss like just wow. Aaron is the crush of every girl, how will he gonna be end up with our doctor