A Collection That Will Surely Give You Shivers

VIZ Media recently sent us a copy of the newly released Junji Ito collection, "Shiver". A part of the "VIZ Signature" line this is one release that we were excited to get so let's dive right into it and see if it's something that might interest you all too!

"Shiver" collects nine previously released stories that run the length of Junji Ito's illustrious career, though it's worth mentioning that most of these are unique to this collection in terms of these English translated versions. Junji Ito, for those that are unfamiliar with his work, is a master of horror manga and has created many popular works such as Uzumaki, Gyo, and Tomie, with a lot of them having been being converted into various filmed versions. The stories within "Shiver" were collected by Junji Ito himself and feature several special features that can only be found in this collection. These features come in the form of commentary on each story and some concept sketches and notes, the latter of which are also nicely translated into English. This collection also features a short story that was made for this release and is exclusive to "Shiver" and also can't be found anywhere else.

Examining this set without going in-depth on Junji Ito's style itself is somewhat hard, but I'll try to keep this short and to the point. Junji Ito is truly a master of the horror short story and it shows well here. Telling a story that is creepy or horrific can be hard enough when you have a lengthy medium to work with, doing so in a short quick format is something that even the horror greats struggle with and Junji Ito hits it out of the park here several times. You never get bogged down with too many details or story elements and everything is kept simple in a way that goes far beyond anything that can be considered boring. All the stories here are all self-contained and usually wrap themselves up nicely; even the Tomie piece is a completely stand-alone piece. Art is reflective of the horror manga style which is hard to describe if you're not familiar with it, and follows a "classic" manga look. This style does come with an admitted sameness to some of the character designs, but that is balanced by some of the more extreme imagery when things get "weird".  There is no real negative to the work in "Shiver", but my only true complaint with the work here is the fact that I found the main characters themselves somewhat forgettable and rarely remembered a name after it was mentioned once. Also, since these are all short stories with limited runtime, they sometimes end very abruptly. Not in the cliffhanger or suspenseful way, but more in the "ran out of time and page count" kind of way. This isn't a deal breaker in my eyes, but it is worth mentioning.

Aesthetically speaking this is a beautiful set. Nicely bound in hardcover, the cover portrait features elements from all the presented stories and features both matte and glossy touches. Internally the art is standard black and white, but the contrast here is amazing and I'm sure that the art here is the best you'll find. A good example being the previously released "Painter" story which looks far more sharp and clear in this presentation. Translation seems close from what I can grasp and the manga is presented in its original right-to-left Japanese manga format. Also, while I feel that it's a somewhat weird thing to rave about, the paper quality here is not leaps and bounds above your typical manga fare. It is thick and holds the art well with no distortion or bleeding and definitely is the biggest reason why everything looks strong and sharp. More than once I was blown away for the amount of presentation you get for the price on this one and I still can't believe that this is barely a couple dollars above the previous Junji Ito collections that didn't have such high-quality paper nor a hardcover format.

Moving on from the release itself let's take a closer look at each of the individual stories:

Used Record: A REALLY cool concept involving ghosts, vinyl recordings, and jazz. Has more than its share of creepy moments, but features one of those aforementioned abrupt endings. I am not sure on how these stories are organized, but my main thought on this chapter is that it would have been better presented in the middle with a flashier story up front to kick off this collection.

Shiver: This one creeped me out and will probably creep out anyone else who isn't a fan of holes. A curse brought about from an artifact causes the bearer to develop holes throughout their body. Basically lots of body horror in this one and it has some really shocking moments. Also suffers from an abrupt ending and some unanswered plot holes (no pun intended) but its overall presentation allowed me to overlook the story missteps.

Fashion Model: A small group of filmmakers audition for their female lead and get an application from a creepy model that is more than she seems. This one confused me as it's your standard "monster" style story, but as often happens in these I'm confused why things don't just get crazy from the get-go and why the main characters seem okay with a "monster" in their midst. This one moves quickly, but if I have one complaint it's that things aren't as grisly or gory as you might imagine it to be. I also feel that this story should have opened the collection.

Hanging Blimp: This one has some post-apocalyptic elements, but I honestly found much of it more amusing than scary. Plot is odd to try to explain succinctly without giving it all away so I won't bother here, but this one actually has a decent flow and ending that doesn't disappoint even if I found myself laughing at things I think were meant to be creepy.

Marionette Mansion: A broken puppeteer family reunites and our main character finds that his brother and family now live their lives as marionettes. This is probably my favorite story of this collection not so much for its creep factor, but for the story itself. I imagine this one would lend itself well to a movie or perhaps a segment in an anthology horror film. My small gripe with this one is that its length doesn't allow it to really go too in-depth with some plot elements and I think if this story had a few more pages to breathe it could have been better fleshed out.

Painter: This is also included in the second Tomie collection so I was familiar with this one going in. Tomie is an ongoing series about a girl who drives those who fall in love/become obsessed with her to eventually kill her (usually by cutting her up into pieces) and this is one of the best takes on the concept. I'd give this my favorite mark if I hadn't already read it a couple times before so I knew what was coming. That being said it is a stand-out piece here and I'll hold off telling too much about it in the hopes that everyone go check it, and the entire Tomie series in general, for themselves.

The Long Dream: Tells the story of a hospital patient who experiences "long" dreams each time he falls asleep lasting from months to centuries. This one had a very unique concept and reminds me a bit of the work of H.P. Lovecraft. Similar to Lovecraft there are a lot of unanswered questions that aren't exactly a bad thing in this case as mystery and wonder seem more central here than horror. Small gripe once again regarding "monster" looking characters being pretty much accepted by the main cast, but at least one of these characters has an accurate response to a monstrous figure in their midst. Abrupt ending here too, but I think this one works really well.

Honored Ancestors: I can't really talk about this one in-depth without giving away the plot so I won't go into the story itself too much, but this is also a great story with a couple really creepy moments. My one gripe on this one is that it's a little predictable and that the story that is mentioned in the notes actually seemed like it would have been a bit more interesting than what was eventually completed. Some readers might have flashbacks to "The Human Centipede".

Greased: Another one where discussing the somewhat thin plot might reveal key plot points and twists. I will say that this one creeped me out a lot and there are some images in it (like the kid squeezing his face full of pimples) that have been etched into my mind long before this volume. While I have no real complaints on this one I think that the ending was just a little weak. The "greasy" imagery was unsettling in and of itself, but I think it could have benefitted from more traditional gore elements. If not for the story unique to this collection I would have felt that this was a weak story to end the collection on.

Fashion Model: Cursed Frame: A sequel to the "Fashion Model" story earlier, this is a really short ten page story that actually showcases the gore I felt was missing from the original. Once again I wish that the original "Fashion Model" would have opened this collection so that these two stories could have served as cool bookends.

There you have it. This collections is amazing and more than worth the price. The only question is whether you'll buy it now after reading this review or if you've already purchased it. (In which case why are you reading this review? Go read it!) Here's hoping that VIZ Media puts out more Junji Ito collections like this in the future! If they do then you can be assured that A-to-J Connections will be taking a look at them!

Note: All the pictures used in this review were taken from the free preview which can be found at the link below as well as information on where to buy "Shiver"!
https://www.viz.com/shiver-junji-ito-selected-stories

-Manuel

---

Overall Rating: A

Pros:
+Fantastic artwork.
+Some truly creepy and unsettling imagery.
+Goes beyond simple horror and explores other genres/elements.
+Excellent presentation and features unique to this collection.
+It's classic Junji Ito!

Cons:
-Not all the stories felt as if they were 100% classic status.
-Some stories suffered from their short length.
-The overall pacing could have been helped with the shuffling of some of the stories.

---

Somewhat related, check out this uber creepy video that VIZ Media put out!

Note: This item was provided to us by the publisher for the purpose of this review. This fact does not affect the outcome of the review in any way.