TW: This article contains mentions of suicide, psychological abuse, manipulation, and body horror. Please proceed with caution.
When most people think of horror novels, what almost instantly comes to mind are the celebrated works of Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, and H.P. Lovecraft. And while all of the aforementioned authors have most definitely left their mark on the world of both classic and contemporary horror literature, when it comes to blood-chilling manga and graphic novels, few authors can compete with the world built by Junji Ito, a Japanese manga artist who is known for his representation of cosmic and psychological horror in his works.
Born in 1963 in Nakatsugawa, Japan, Ito’s interest in art and manga formed from an early age, becoming a hobby that he would pursue until the start of his career as a dental technician. Despite not being able to fully dedicate himself to art at the time due to his profession, Ito managed to submit one of his stories to the Kazuo Umezu Prize competition, where it won an honorable mention. This served as a starting point for the author’s career. Over the years, Junji Ito’s number of publications grew, and his works Uzumaki and Gyo are now recognized as some of the most representative graphic novels in the horror manga genre.
But none of Ito’s works truly compare to the worldwide success of Tomie, one of his most celebrated and chilling masterpieces. The manga, which was first published in 1987 as part of the Japanese magazine Monthly Halloween, follows the story of Tomie, a young woman blessed with ethereal beauty who magnetically attracts all men who interact with her, and showers them with attention. However, the moment they helplessly fall head-over-heels for her, their love is met with cold indifference and neglect from Tomie, leading them to cross the fine line between love and hate and to kill her in brutal ways. But each time she is dismembered by one of her lovers, Tomie is reincarnated in another story, bringing yet more misfortune to other characters. Both readers and Tomie’s lovers soon realize that no matter how hard they try to get rid of her, Tomie will always exist in the world of Junji Ito.
Despite the gore and body horror that inundates readers from the first pages of the manga, at the heart of Tomie is a profound analysis of human nature taken to the extreme, which is exhibited through an egocentric eponymous protagonist and a series of deuteragonists who resort to dire measures to destroy her. Although Tomie’s personality matches that of a traditional antagonist, she is really the embodiment of psychological manipulation and abandonment – the latter being a concept many consider to be more terrifying than any amount of gore or bloodshed. After all, each story in the graphic novel follows a similar, repetitive structure – Tomie meets one of the male side characters, leads them on, rejects them, and drives them to love-infused hate, where, in a fit of rage, they murder her.
However, what fully enhances this horror story is the inevitability of the previously mentioned cycle, since most men who set their eyes on, let alone speak to, Tomie are immediately attracted to her appearance, almost as if they had no choice but to helplessly fall in love with her. Some even leave their partners for her, just to be met with psychological abuse from Tomie’s side. Tomie is the metaphorical queen of her chessboard who moves the men around her like pawns, all of whom willingly comply with her every bidding due to their never-ending love for her. They continue to do so even when it means inflicting damage upon themselves and others, such as suicide and straight-up murder, just to keep Tomie satisfied and to prevent her from abandoning them. But despite their desperate tries, the protagonist proceeds to leave her temporary lovers, absentmindedly charting a path towards her own death.
Furthermore, although she views her short-term relationships with men as a game, Tomie only abandons her partners once they outwardly display their affection for her, or, in other words, when they recognize her beauty, therefore boosting her ego. As soon as this boost occurs, the narcissistic nature of this character is satisfied,, leading to her leaving these men for whom she no longer has any need blinded by her appearance. However, whenever a character who is typically a friend of Tomie’s present lover does not pay any attention to her or is numb to her charm, Tomie’s need for his attention grows, which results in her taking any necessary measures to keep his attention on her and further demonstrating her desire for recognition and love from others that will never be reciprocated.
When analyzing this from a psychological perspective, it is also possible to apply the diagram of the Karpman Drama Triangle, a model which highlights the toxic power connections between three main roles: the victim, the rescuer, and the persecutor. In this diagram, the victim feels trapped or hopeless about themselves and does not assume any responsibility for their circumstances, blaming their seeming misfortune on the persecutor and expecting the rescuer to save them. On one hand, the rescuer complies with the wants of the victim and constantly volunteers to help them out of their good will, oftentimes sacrificing their own time and needs for those of the victim. On the other hand, the persecutor is critical of the victim and blames them for their problems without offering a potential solution, and may sometimes resort to violence towards the victim.
In the case of Ito’s Tomie, although it may seem counterintuitive to some, Tomie is not the persecutor but instead is the victim in this scenario, repeatedly blaming one of her bloodthirsty past lovers for her circumstances or scars left behind from her last murder and looking to her current lovers for help or, in other words, for an ego boost. The men Tomie surrounds herself with, however, occupy the two remaining roles at two different times in the story, going from the rescuer, who becomes a pillar for Tomie and shows her affection at the expense of themselves, to the persecutor, who blames Tomie for not loving them back and resorts to violence to remove her from their lives, completing the never-ending cycle that shapes the manga.
Tomie was also Junji Ito’s first published manga, which established him as one of, if not the, most influential horror manga writers of his time. By crafting a graphic novel that contained a psychological analysis of extreme manipulation and codependency, hidden behind curtains of gore and visible horror, Tomie has become a staple in the genre of psychological and supernatural horror. The manga has also been adapted into a live action series in 1999, aside from the couple of episodes that have been included in the animated series by the name of the Junji Ito Collection. When discussing the manga itself, the author of this article recommends it to the readers and classifies it as a must-read if one wants to open the door to Junji Ito’s world of horror.
Works Cited
- B, Bryan, and October 13 Wednesday. “Author Spotlight: Junji Ito | Richland Library.” Www.richlandlibrary.com, 24 June 2022, www.richlandlibrary.com/blog/2021-08-18/author-spotlight-junji-ito.
- Darcy, Diane. “Junji Ito’s Tomie Is More Tragic than Scary.” CBR, 31 May 2022, www.cbr.com/junji-ito-tomie-more-tragic-than-scary-horror-manga/.