The Enigma of Amigara Fault

[qcrisp]

Spooky Hallowen Of Doom: Amigara (http://brasscockroach.com/h4ll0w33n2007/manga/Amigara-Full/Amigara-0.html)

A fine short manga tale of horror. Read panels from right to left (top to bottom). Please enjoy.

[Bleak&Icy]

That was magnificently weird! Many thanks for sharing it. I will have to seek out more of Junji Ito's work.

[MorganScorpion]

Thankyou so much for that. I saw it once before, lost the link and forgot the title.

One VERY disturbing manga.

[starrysothoth]

Greatness. All of Junji Ito's stuff is worth reading and viewing, if you can find it. He has had a couple English language manga books published within the last few years.

[EemeliJ]

It's already been sometime since I saw something this scary.

[Robin Davies]

That was magnificently weird! Many thanks for sharing it. I will have to seek out more of Junji Ito's work.
I'd recommend Uzumaki for starters, which is published in 3 volumes. It was also faithfully adapted into a pretty good film. The two volumes of Gyo are also excellent, though anyone who's averse to seafood (as H. P. Lovecraft was) might find it a gruelling read! The second volume contains two bonus stories, one of which is The Enigma of Amigara Fault.
There is something deeply disturbing about Amigara Fault isn't there? It's a bizarre idea but seems to touch a very deep nerve. Maybe there's some symbolic level in addition to its powerful evocation of claustrophobia. Perhaps the holes are the moulds that we are all supposed to fit into to become part of society. We are drawn to enter them, but ultimately they only isolate us, and then the forces of nature (or society) which are beyond our control distort and destroy us.

[qcrisp]

I'm glad people are enjoying this.

I read the first volume of Uzumaki, and very much enjoyed it, but haven't got round to anything else by Itoh Junji yet, except this one.

I think, next time I'm in Japan, I'll try and remember to pick up a few volumes. Incidentally, if you like Itoh Junji, you might like Suehiro Maruo, though the emphasis is very different.

Anyway, The Enigma of Amigara Fault does, indeed, seem to be a peculiarly effective tale. I can't quite say what I think it means, though it certainly seems to go deeper than the grotesquerie of deformity through torture.

[starrysothoth]

My recommendation for readers who like shorter stories like this one is to read Dark Horse's Museum of Terror, Vol. 3. This book contains about a dozen short works by Junji Ito, really bizarre tales illustrated by equally freakish art. It's been a few years since I've read my copy, but off the top of my head, I recall stories about school age torment, self-mummifying Buddhist monks, demonic sirens, and various types of vampires.

Museum Of Terror at TFAW.com (http://www.tfaw.com/Search?_results_limit_search=30&_results_order_search=title&_results_sstring_search=Museum%2Bof%2BTerror&_results_publishers_search=&_search_nick_dent_search=T)

Incidentally, Dark Horse was originally supposed to published Ito's complete works translated into English over a number of years. The poor sales of these first three volumes seems to have stalled their plans, though, unfortunately. To date, they've only put out Tomie (a series of interconnected stories comprising one larger narrative about a strange immortal girl) in the first two volumes and the third volume I mentioned containing a handful of Junji Ito's shorts.

[MorganScorpion]

Tomie and Uzumaki both by Ito?

That explains a lot.

I really enjoyed Uzumaki, and also the Tomie movies - that I have so far seen.

Head on over to http://www.asian-horror-movies.com/ where some of them are available for watching online.

[Tom A.]

Yes, Ito is definitely an interesting manga artist.
By the way, if you can read french, then more of his books are easily available, see here :
Amazon.fr: junji ito: Livres, Livres en anglais, Musique, DVD, Logiciels, Jeux vidéo, High-tech, Jeux et Jouets, Cuisine et Maison, Montres et Bijoux

[Darke]

Which volume should one purchase to get this story in English in book form? It is excellent.

[Robin Davies]

The Enigma of Amigara Fault is in here:
Amazon.com: Gyo, Volume 2 (0782009161639): Junji Ito: Books

[slayn666]

That edition is OOP. Here's the link for the second printing: Amazon.com: Gyo Vol. 02 (2nd Edition) (9781421513881): Junji Ito, Annette Roman: Books