Junji Ito - Frankenstein

When authors establish themselves in a genre it's often hard for them to distance from it and explore into something new. Especially if they are famous in their respective genre. Junji Ito is often called a master of horror which, of course, is something good but every now and then for your own sake you should explore new grounds and test yourself. You are not an artist if you don't push yourself to the limit.

Frankenstein is an example of this in part. Only in part because the story and art still has a horror vibe but it's not exactly trying to be scary. I can only remember maybe two of his famous two page scares that he so often implemented in stories like Uzumaki and Gyo. The emphasis here is on the human psyche and the desire to repent and avenge. As you might have guessed the story is based on the famous story of Dr. Frankenstein and his creation. I haven't read the book but I saw the original movie and the manga does not follow the story of it at all. Maybe a little in some parts but for the most part it has a voyage of its own. I found it very compelling and interesting. It poses many questions about our obsession to imitate god and his ability to create life but it also shows consequences of neglectful nature that the creator has over his creatures. The ending was very powerful as well and I wasn't disappointed at all by it.

Art is usual Junji Ito. Heavy use of dark tones and exhausted insane faces. Dreadful and morbid. Not that much gore I think and very few on screen deaths.

If you want to experience a little bit different Junji Ito you should definitely read this. This isn't something if you want to get into him. Better start with some of his more famous stuff that I posted before (and you can find it easy at other places as well).

Download.