LogFAQs > #929067097

60. Junji Ito Collection Ep. 1: "Souichis Convenient Curse" & "Hell Doll Funeral" (16 points)
Nominated by: OracleGunner (2/5 remaining)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CSlGzwRfak" data-time="

Note: Since the nomination was for "any episode", I mainly stuck with the first. However, I will also discuss a little bit of the series as a whole too. The ratings below are also for the series as a whole.

Importance: 3
Fear: 6
Snake: 7

The Junji Ito Collection should've been huge. It should've been the definitive anime adaptation his manga stories deserve, but instead it was a half-assed disappointment for many. I don't know, personally I liked it. Do they hold a candle to the original stories? What can most of the time? Like any comic adaptation, I see it as more a separate entity attempting to stand on its own with its own unique voice and style. That being said, the Junji ito Collection is practically 1:1 translations of the manga stories, and as such, if you're not into the animation and coloring of iconic scenes you probably won't find this series very essential.

Let's take the first episode, adapted from "Souichis Convenient Curse" (part of Souichi's Diary of Curses) & "A Doll's Hellish Burial", a short story. As stated, "Souichi's Convenient Curse" pretty much follows the manga to the T. I think there's some benefit here to it being animated though. Souichi manages to feel creepier and more awkward than the manga, and there was some cool stuff towards the end with Souichi's spider costume hopping around in a way that felt very unreal. The Ito flair can still be felt despite this being more of a comedic horror episode. It's really hard for these stories not to grab you since they're compelling in a very simple way that appeals to our base instincts, paranoias and fears. The coloring and animation of the episode serves as a nice accent on what is really not one of my favorite Ito stories, but a decently well known one nonetheless. "Hell Doll Funeral" is in and out before you even know it, and doesn't benefit as much from this animation translation. The manga's artwork blows this lame by comparison attempt out of the water, and on the final panel, you just weren't quite sure what you were looking at or what happened and that is extremely freaky. The animated version makes things just a bit too clear for my tastes.

Future episodes I think are better, I just focused on the first, since well, it's a very good place to start. It adapts some more stories from Souichi's Diary of Curses, and really well-known stories like Long Dream, House of the Marionettes, and The Neighbor's Window. There's also an OVA that adapts Tomie. I think this series deserves a second look, to me it it's just fun to see these stories in a new light. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but the soul of Ito always remains in each and every one.
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I've decided to put my fears behind me. I'm not going back.
https://i.imgtc.ws/2Q88rI4.gif - https://i.gifer.com/E07R.gif