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My previous only exposure to Soichi was a badly scanned and translated version of one of his stories, which didn’t particularly stand out to me against the rest of the Junji Ito bangers I read back in those days (Amigahara Fault, Human Chair, you know the drill). Now, having plunged fully into the world of this vicious yet strangely endearing boy, I can say that, next to Cat Diary, this is Junji Ito at his funniest and most charming.

Soichi is a misfit teen who lives constantly shut in his room plotting curses for people he feels have somehow wronged him. His curses are usually childish in nature or explained away by logic, leaving much of the “supernatural�� here up in the air. It does not contain the visceral, uncanny visuals Junji Ito is known for (at least not “per se��). The humor is light, and though Soichi does become relatable at that level of social alienation most of us horror fans have felt at least to some extent, that edge is not executed with particular originality.

So, I give this five stars because I understand it not as another endeavor from Mr. Ito to horrify us, but rather to have us understand his philosophy of horror a bit more, and I am absolutely in love with just how simple his philosophy is: Horror is fun! And moreover, Ito fashions Soichi as the perfect vehicle through which this message is carried. Soichi so evidently becomes a vessel for Ito’s own humor and antics. We constantly see Soichi in anticipation, teasing at what horrible curse he’s laid out this time around, and then the revelation comes (in typical “horrific page-turning Ito fashion), yet Ito insists on unmasking the horror as something light, unserious, and Soichi most often ends up getting his comeuppance (rightfully so, Ito seems to always say, as mischief is only good when concentrated on the page). I can so clearly imagine Ito approaches his storytelling in a similar fashion, always plotting the most horrible things imaginable (Soichi even downright plots murder at certain times) yet releasing them through inventive, entertaining, and ultimately light and fascinating caricatures.

Ultimately, what I want to say is, Junji Ito has once more shown that it’s the unserious where some of the most satisfying engagement with horror lies. Even when dealing with curses and dark energies, Soichi insists on interposing his own comparatively innocuous personal drama—is that not what we all do when we read horror? ☺️