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幻怪地帯 [Genkai Chitai] #1
El umbral de lo siniestro
Esta obra está formada por cuatro relatos terroríficos en los que se explora el umbral que separa el mundo de los vivos y el de los muertos, lo real y lo fantasmagórico, la fe y la locura, la vigilia y el sueño. Cuatro historias que demuestran que, más de tres décadas después del inicio de su carrera, la imaginación de Junji Ito sigue en plena forma y todavía es capaz de provocarnos asombro, desasosiego, terror y repugnancia.
216 pages, Paperback
First published November 29, 2022
320 people are currently reading
15397 people want to read
About the author
Junji Ito
203 books14.8k followersJunji Itō (Japanese: 伊藤潤二, Ito Junji) is a Japanese cartoonist and illustrator, best known for his horror manga.
Ito was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan in 1963. He was inspired to make art from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's horror comics. Until the early 1990s he worked as a dental technician, while making comics as a side job. By the time he turned into a full time mangaka, Ito was already an acclaimed horror artists.
His comics are celebrated for their finely depicted body horrors, while also retaining some elements of psychological horror and erotism.
Although he mostly produces short stories, Ito is best known for his longer comic series: Tomie (1987-2000), about a beautiful high school girl who inspires her admirers to commit atrocities; Uzumaki (1998-1999), set in a town cursed with spiral patterns; Gyo (2001-2002), featuring a horde of metal-legged undead fishes. Tomie and Uzumaki in particular have been adapted multiple times in live-action and animation.
Ito was born in Gifu Prefecture, Japan in 1963. He was inspired to make art from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's horror comics. Until the early 1990s he worked as a dental technician, while making comics as a side job. By the time he turned into a full time mangaka, Ito was already an acclaimed horror artists.
His comics are celebrated for their finely depicted body horrors, while also retaining some elements of psychological horror and erotism.
Although he mostly produces short stories, Ito is best known for his longer comic series: Tomie (1987-2000), about a beautiful high school girl who inspires her admirers to commit atrocities; Uzumaki (1998-1999), set in a town cursed with spiral patterns; Gyo (2001-2002), featuring a horde of metal-legged undead fishes. Tomie and Uzumaki in particular have been adapted multiple times in live-action and animation.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,516 reviews
November 6, 2022
(Duh duh duh duh, duh duh duh duh) You're travelling through another Junji Ito horror manga, a manga not only of panels and word balloons but of lunacy. A demented journey into an hysterical land whose boundaries are that of imagination and page counts. That's the creepy signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Liminal Zone!
Junji Ito’s back with a new collection of longish short horror manga, The Liminal Zone, and, while never boring, all four stories are kinda… stupid.
I mention some details of the stories below so I’ll say SPOILERS at the top - this is one for fans of Ito only, who’ll perhaps be more forgiving of his bonkers plotting and might even have developed a taste for it over the years.
Weeping Woman Way is about a town of women who can’t stop crying and take the main character’s girlfriend as their weeping leader… for reasons?
Madonna is about a corrupt Catholic school where the (of course, because it’s Catholic) pervy principal keeps taking wives to be his Mary Madonna. Again, y’know, for reasons.
The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara is about a suicidal couple who bathe in a river of souls (as you do) in the famous “Suicide Forest” at the base of Mount Fuji - which changes them in weird ways.
And finally Slumber is about a guy who thinks he might be a SECRET SERIAL KILLER. I know, I’m laughing too. And, no, there is no story here called “The Liminal Zone” or any mention of what that is. Brilliant.
The stories are all unpredictable but only because Ito doesn’t let things like explanations get in the way of telling his stories. So the people at the Catholic school are turning into salt because something like that happened in the Bible, and one of the women has superpowers, because why not? Who cares what the “spirit flow” is, it’s just there and doing stuff! How does the serial killer manage to transplant his memories to the innocent guy? Ahhh, come on, it’s just fun! Etc., etc.
Ito is surprisingly honest about how weakly his stories are constructed too. From his afterword: “Perhaps I’m tired after drawing manga for years on end. I’m out of good ideas. The stories in this book were created drawing on ideas that I’d left unused in an old notebook of possible topics.” He then goes on to describe “Madonna” as a “silly idea” and “The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara” as “too absurdly science fiction” and “deeply bizarre.” I concur.
Still, the stories are undeniably original and I was interested enough to see where they were headed - none of it made sense but it was imaginative and intermittently entertaining nonsense at least. And Ito’s art is the best it’s ever been - he’s a much better artist than he is a writer, and the serial killer’s face in Slumber is genuinely unsettling.
The Liminal Zone isn’t among Junji Ito’s better collections but I doubt that’ll stop his many fans from picking it up anyway. If you’re interested in this creator’s horror manga, I recommend checking out his better books like Shiver, Frankenstein, Gyo, and Uzumaki instead.
Junji Ito’s back with a new collection of longish short horror manga, The Liminal Zone, and, while never boring, all four stories are kinda… stupid.
I mention some details of the stories below so I’ll say SPOILERS at the top - this is one for fans of Ito only, who’ll perhaps be more forgiving of his bonkers plotting and might even have developed a taste for it over the years.
Weeping Woman Way is about a town of women who can’t stop crying and take the main character’s girlfriend as their weeping leader… for reasons?
Madonna is about a corrupt Catholic school where the (of course, because it’s Catholic) pervy principal keeps taking wives to be his Mary Madonna. Again, y’know, for reasons.
The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara is about a suicidal couple who bathe in a river of souls (as you do) in the famous “Suicide Forest” at the base of Mount Fuji - which changes them in weird ways.
And finally Slumber is about a guy who thinks he might be a SECRET SERIAL KILLER. I know, I’m laughing too. And, no, there is no story here called “The Liminal Zone” or any mention of what that is. Brilliant.
The stories are all unpredictable but only because Ito doesn’t let things like explanations get in the way of telling his stories. So the people at the Catholic school are turning into salt because something like that happened in the Bible, and one of the women has superpowers, because why not? Who cares what the “spirit flow” is, it’s just there and doing stuff! How does the serial killer manage to transplant his memories to the innocent guy? Ahhh, come on, it’s just fun! Etc., etc.
Ito is surprisingly honest about how weakly his stories are constructed too. From his afterword: “Perhaps I’m tired after drawing manga for years on end. I’m out of good ideas. The stories in this book were created drawing on ideas that I’d left unused in an old notebook of possible topics.” He then goes on to describe “Madonna” as a “silly idea” and “The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara” as “too absurdly science fiction” and “deeply bizarre.” I concur.
Still, the stories are undeniably original and I was interested enough to see where they were headed - none of it made sense but it was imaginative and intermittently entertaining nonsense at least. And Ito’s art is the best it’s ever been - he’s a much better artist than he is a writer, and the serial killer’s face in Slumber is genuinely unsettling.
The Liminal Zone isn’t among Junji Ito’s better collections but I doubt that’ll stop his many fans from picking it up anyway. If you’re interested in this creator’s horror manga, I recommend checking out his better books like Shiver, Frankenstein, Gyo, and Uzumaki instead.
March 21, 2023
This is probably my least favorite Junji Ito so far 😭 it’s a collection of four short stories, and I didn’t find any of the stories particularly interesting. There was a few good ideas, I think the first two are better than the last two, but overall it’s very forgettable and feels uninspired.
June 21, 2022
This was absolutely incredible and probably my favorite Junji Ito book thus far. The Liminal Zone is a collection of a few different stories, as many of Junji's works are, and these stories share in the bizarre, messed up, outlandish nature that his stories typically do, but something about these really shone for me.
'Weeping Woman Way' features a couple who come across a town that seems to still utilize the old, mostly forgotten tradition of "weeping women" (professional mourners) at funerals, but after coming in contact with one of the weeping women, Mako finds herself inconsolably sad. The depictions of the weeping women were so chilling and fascinating, and I really loved the idea of this corpse that continues to weep long past her death.
'Madonna' is a religious horror story featuring some incredibly messed up zealots who believe they are on a personal mission to find the reincarnation of the virgin Mary, and I loved the way the ending played out and the twists in this one. Junji Ito has toyed with religious themes in some of his previous works, but this was definitely my favorite example of that theme in his writing so far.
'The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara' follows a couple's trip to Aokigahara's infamous "Suicide Forest" after one member of the couple has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Once arriving in the forest, the two find an unexplainable source of spiritual activity that draws Norio in and begins to create bizarre changes in him. This felt like the most classically familiar style of story from the collection, as it deals with some really bizarre elements and artwork later in the story that were highly unnerving!
'Slumber' is about a young man who has memories of murder every morning when he wakes, but otherwise has no recollection of planning the murders, nor does he have a motive. This was my least favorite in the collection, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it — I only wish there had been a little more explanation regarding the twist, but I've long since learned that sometimes, with Junji's work, you just have to go with the flow!
I highly recommend The Liminal Zone to any horror manga lovers, whether you're brand new to Junji Ito books or have read all of his previous works. Again, I'd say this was my favorite of his books yet, and it made me extremely excited to see what he writes next!
✨ Content warnings for:
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
———
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'Weeping Woman Way' features a couple who come across a town that seems to still utilize the old, mostly forgotten tradition of "weeping women" (professional mourners) at funerals, but after coming in contact with one of the weeping women, Mako finds herself inconsolably sad. The depictions of the weeping women were so chilling and fascinating, and I really loved the idea of this corpse that continues to weep long past her death.
'Madonna' is a religious horror story featuring some incredibly messed up zealots who believe they are on a personal mission to find the reincarnation of the virgin Mary, and I loved the way the ending played out and the twists in this one. Junji Ito has toyed with religious themes in some of his previous works, but this was definitely my favorite example of that theme in his writing so far.
'The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara' follows a couple's trip to Aokigahara's infamous "Suicide Forest" after one member of the couple has been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Once arriving in the forest, the two find an unexplainable source of spiritual activity that draws Norio in and begins to create bizarre changes in him. This felt like the most classically familiar style of story from the collection, as it deals with some really bizarre elements and artwork later in the story that were highly unnerving!
'Slumber' is about a young man who has memories of murder every morning when he wakes, but otherwise has no recollection of planning the murders, nor does he have a motive. This was my least favorite in the collection, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it — I only wish there had been a little more explanation regarding the twist, but I've long since learned that sometimes, with Junji's work, you just have to go with the flow!
I highly recommend The Liminal Zone to any horror manga lovers, whether you're brand new to Junji Ito books or have read all of his previous works. Again, I'd say this was my favorite of his books yet, and it made me extremely excited to see what he writes next!
✨ Content warnings for:
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
———
twitter | booktok | bookstagram | blog
October 22, 2022
Not his strongest work artistically, but I’m not so heartless as to not be won over by extremely heavy-handed christian symbolism and then also a woman looking vaguely uncomfortable that her boyfriend went out into the woods and became the smoothest, slipperiest, most fuckable twink alive
July 19, 2022
As always, Junji Ito does manga body horror that is enthralling, unsettling and utterly bonkers. I'm not sure I would recommend it as a first read if you're new to him but if you know what you're getting into it will scratch that fucked-up itch in your head that wants to know that there are people out there that are stranger than you are.
Also, you're supposed to say, "Wait. What?" at least 5 times in every one of his books, right? Because if not, I'm reading them wrong.
Also, you're supposed to say, "Wait. What?" at least 5 times in every one of his books, right? Because if not, I'm reading them wrong.
March 15, 2024
what a lovely traumatic experience. Junji Ito being one of my comfort authors might be bizarre to some people but oh well. forever a fan
November 5, 2022
4.5 stars
This was such a solid collection of four horror manga short stories. I have been hit or miss with some of Junji it's most recent translation but I loved this one. The weeping women and the serial killer stories were great but my favourite story by a long shot involved the Catholic girls boarding school. So creepy and so topical!
This was such a solid collection of four horror manga short stories. I have been hit or miss with some of Junji it's most recent translation but I loved this one. The weeping women and the serial killer stories were great but my favourite story by a long shot involved the Catholic girls boarding school. So creepy and so topical!
October 22, 2021
El tomo está compuesto por cuatro historias que tratan temas directamente relacionados a esa delgada línea que separa el mundo de los vivos y el de los muertos.
Historias:
▪️La Cuesta de las Plañideras.
Trata sobre el tema de las mujeres que lloran en los funerales, llevándolo a un extremo lleno de lágrimas, locura y a un extraño pueblo con un altar muy peculiar.
Una pareja viaja a una ciudad, se encuentran con un funeral en el que hay una mujer que llora desconsoladamente, afectando de alguna forma a nuestra protagonista.
▪️La Madona
María llega a una nueva escuela católica en la que los rituales son muy específicos y el fanatismo es abrumador. La esposa del director, muy estricta, se viste como si de la virgen María se tratara y el director tiene un grupo especial, para quienes solo considera merecedores. Pero algo más extraño está pasando, hay algo saliendo los oídos de las alumnas.
▪️La Corriente Espectral de Aokigahara
Una pareja se va al bosque de los suicidas, ya que él está muy enfermo y han decidió ir a morir juntos. Al llegar allá se encuentran con una extraña luz que cambiará el curso de sus deseos y de su objetivo.
▪️El Duermevela
Takuya sueña todo el tiempo con que mata a personas, lo ve y escucha todo, hasta esa siniestra canción, y cuando despierta se da cuenta que esos asesinatos sí han ocurrido en la realidad.
Tomo entretenido y bizarro, que se mueve entre lo fantasmagórico, lo real e irreal, la locura absoluta con sus toques de humor negro y macabro
En general, me ha gustado, cada historia tiene lo suyo y dan ganas de seguir leyéndola, el dibujo como siempre es espectacular con escenas impactantes y escalofriantes.
Es un manga que sí recomiendo del autor, a pesar que tiene mejores, considero que las historias son llamativas y podrían gustarle a muchas personas no tan acostumbradas a lo bizarro y extremo que crea Junji ito, a pesar que si contiene escenas impactantes.
Historias:
▪️La Cuesta de las Plañideras.
Trata sobre el tema de las mujeres que lloran en los funerales, llevándolo a un extremo lleno de lágrimas, locura y a un extraño pueblo con un altar muy peculiar.
Una pareja viaja a una ciudad, se encuentran con un funeral en el que hay una mujer que llora desconsoladamente, afectando de alguna forma a nuestra protagonista.
▪️La Madona
María llega a una nueva escuela católica en la que los rituales son muy específicos y el fanatismo es abrumador. La esposa del director, muy estricta, se viste como si de la virgen María se tratara y el director tiene un grupo especial, para quienes solo considera merecedores. Pero algo más extraño está pasando, hay algo saliendo los oídos de las alumnas.
▪️La Corriente Espectral de Aokigahara
Una pareja se va al bosque de los suicidas, ya que él está muy enfermo y han decidió ir a morir juntos. Al llegar allá se encuentran con una extraña luz que cambiará el curso de sus deseos y de su objetivo.
▪️El Duermevela
Takuya sueña todo el tiempo con que mata a personas, lo ve y escucha todo, hasta esa siniestra canción, y cuando despierta se da cuenta que esos asesinatos sí han ocurrido en la realidad.
Tomo entretenido y bizarro, que se mueve entre lo fantasmagórico, lo real e irreal, la locura absoluta con sus toques de humor negro y macabro
En general, me ha gustado, cada historia tiene lo suyo y dan ganas de seguir leyéndola, el dibujo como siempre es espectacular con escenas impactantes y escalofriantes.
Es un manga que sí recomiendo del autor, a pesar que tiene mejores, considero que las historias son llamativas y podrían gustarle a muchas personas no tan acostumbradas a lo bizarro y extremo que crea Junji ito, a pesar que si contiene escenas impactantes.
February 8, 2023
La collina delle lacrime ☆☆☆☆
Demonia ☆☆☆ 1/2
Il torrente degli spiriti di Aokigahara ☆☆☆
Dormiveglia ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Voto globale: 3,75
Demonia ☆☆☆ 1/2
Il torrente degli spiriti di Aokigahara ☆☆☆
Dormiveglia ☆☆☆☆ 1/2
Voto globale: 3,75
January 11, 2023
3.5 stars
September 22, 2022
Junji Ito laments in his afterword that he is out of good ideas and these short stories are the dregs of unused topics jotted in a notebook when he was younger. Ironically, I like this book better than the last few of his I've read.
As always, Ito's stories are carried by the twisted art, but here the scripts actually try to carry their weight too. I do think there is a bingo square or drinking game to be made of how often Ito's hapless female protagonists are picked up and carried, but after ticking off that quirk a time or two, he does manage to insert one woman in the final story who isn't entirely passive, which was a welcome surprise.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Weeping Woman Way -- Madonna -- The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara -- Slumber -- Afterword
As always, Ito's stories are carried by the twisted art, but here the scripts actually try to carry their weight too. I do think there is a bingo square or drinking game to be made of how often Ito's hapless female protagonists are picked up and carried, but after ticking off that quirk a time or two, he does manage to insert one woman in the final story who isn't entirely passive, which was a welcome surprise.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Weeping Woman Way -- Madonna -- The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara -- Slumber -- Afterword
September 15, 2022
In comparison to his last tale collection, this series was a really excellent effort. The tales were absurd, as one would anticipate from Junji Ito. I now have read most of his works including this one.
Weeping woman way :- 3.5 stars
-The title uses alliteration beautifully. In India, particularly in rural regions, the idea of the crying woman is still widely accepted. They go by the name Rudaali and dress in full black, much like in this tale. I had no idea that Japan also used this idea. As for the narrative, it was as good as can be expected from Mr. Ito. They claimed that his earlier short stories lacked the junji Ito touch, but I believe this collection will change their minds.
Madonna :- 3 stars
-Retribution is best served salted. What was this story? lots of religious material I'll be honest—I don't understand stories about cults and religion. It is absurd, but it does happen frequently to brainwash a large number of people into believing something.
The spirit flow of aokigahara :- 3 stars
-The streamlined body is actually quite humorous. Nevertheless, the narrative was quite pedestrian, and the conclusion left us a little unsatisfied, but I believe this is typical of Junji Ito's work.
Slumber :- 4 stars
-Oh my goodness, it was actually pretty interesting. The idea of memories passing from a murderer to another person's mind is similar to maintaining a legacy. Sick.
Weeping woman way :- 3.5 stars
-The title uses alliteration beautifully. In India, particularly in rural regions, the idea of the crying woman is still widely accepted. They go by the name Rudaali and dress in full black, much like in this tale. I had no idea that Japan also used this idea. As for the narrative, it was as good as can be expected from Mr. Ito. They claimed that his earlier short stories lacked the junji Ito touch, but I believe this collection will change their minds.
Madonna :- 3 stars
-Retribution is best served salted. What was this story? lots of religious material I'll be honest—I don't understand stories about cults and religion. It is absurd, but it does happen frequently to brainwash a large number of people into believing something.
The spirit flow of aokigahara :- 3 stars
-The streamlined body is actually quite humorous. Nevertheless, the narrative was quite pedestrian, and the conclusion left us a little unsatisfied, but I believe this is typical of Junji Ito's work.
Slumber :- 4 stars
-Oh my goodness, it was actually pretty interesting. The idea of memories passing from a murderer to another person's mind is similar to maintaining a legacy. Sick.
April 4, 2023
The Liminal Zone is a collection that consists of four horror stories; Weeping Woman Way, Madonna, The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara and Slumber.
Weeping Woman Way genuinely sent a shudder up my spine with some of the imagery! Imagine if you couldn’t stop crying uncontrably?!
Madonna is an extreme religion horror story, with a “angry witch woman” and a Bloody Mary statue (blood leaks from her eyes).
The Spirit Flow Of Aokigahara asks the question; would you jump into a never-ending stream of spirits? Would you give yourself completely to the spirit flow? 👻 tw:// suicide
Slumber; ”The moment you wake up in the morning, you forget all of the unpleasant things of everyday life and are immersed in a feeling of pure bliss, but memories of harsh reality quickly come back to you”. but what if these memories were of murdering someone? 🔪
You can always count on a Junji Ito compendium to be good. This was a fine collection of short horror stories and for that I award it 4 Stars.
Weeping Woman Way genuinely sent a shudder up my spine with some of the imagery! Imagine if you couldn’t stop crying uncontrably?!
Madonna is an extreme religion horror story, with a “angry witch woman” and a Bloody Mary statue (blood leaks from her eyes).
The Spirit Flow Of Aokigahara asks the question; would you jump into a never-ending stream of spirits? Would you give yourself completely to the spirit flow? 👻 tw:// suicide
Slumber; ”The moment you wake up in the morning, you forget all of the unpleasant things of everyday life and are immersed in a feeling of pure bliss, but memories of harsh reality quickly come back to you”. but what if these memories were of murdering someone? 🔪
You can always count on a Junji Ito compendium to be good. This was a fine collection of short horror stories and for that I award it 4 Stars.
July 31, 2022
"People know true sadness when they die. You understand that sadness. The tears that pour from your eyes are those of the dead."
The master of horror manga is back with a four short story blood-curdling release. We expect wide-eyed terror when we read his books but this is something more than that. This hits deep down to your core as you reread some parts because of how f**ked up it all was.
This was a phenomenal release and now one of my favorites. The more I think about this, the more I love it. It was weird and dark in the best blood drenching ways. A must read for all horror manga fans.
We all know that Ito never disappoints.
The master of horror manga is back with a four short story blood-curdling release. We expect wide-eyed terror when we read his books but this is something more than that. This hits deep down to your core as you reread some parts because of how f**ked up it all was.
This was a phenomenal release and now one of my favorites. The more I think about this, the more I love it. It was weird and dark in the best blood drenching ways. A must read for all horror manga fans.
We all know that Ito never disappoints.
April 24, 2025
i cant help but to love this one too. i didn’t mind the shorter length, and i felt all the stories had great story telling with the right amount of horror. the art work is amazing as always, some of the visuals even gave me the creeps!! there was a lot to like about this for me, im moving right into the next in the series
February 6, 2023
La cuesta de las plañideras: 4 ⭐
Historia original e imaginativa. Me gustó que centrase el relato en la figura de la plañidera.
La Madona: 4 ⭐
Una mezcla de terror con lo religioso que disfruté mucho.
La corriente espectral de Aokigahara: 3 ⭐
Meh. No me entusiasmó. No tenía muchos elementos de terror.
El duermevela: 5 ⭐
Las historias de asesinos en serie y psicópatas me fascinan, y es la que más me gustó del recopilatorio.
Historia original e imaginativa. Me gustó que centrase el relato en la figura de la plañidera.
La Madona: 4 ⭐
Una mezcla de terror con lo religioso que disfruté mucho.
La corriente espectral de Aokigahara: 3 ⭐
Meh. No me entusiasmó. No tenía muchos elementos de terror.
El duermevela: 5 ⭐
Las historias de asesinos en serie y psicópatas me fascinan, y es la que más me gustó del recopilatorio.
January 31, 2024
Lo que amo a Junji Ito no tiene nombre. Sus historias me gustan cada vez más, aunque mis favoritas en esta antología fueron "La cuesta de las plañideras", por todo el folclore sobre las plañideras en sí, y "La Madonna", por todo el tema de la obsesión religiosa y la muerte. Las dos últimas historias fueron un poco flojas, pero no malas. Simplemente no estuvieron tan buenas como las dos que mencioné. Las ilustraciones son una locura.
April 16, 2025
je mets 4 étoiles parce que j'ai moins aimé la troisième nouvelle. j'ai beaucoup aimé les autres. j'admire le talent de junji ito de dessiner les yeux et de leur donner tant de force, de puissance et de profondeur. je suis très perturbée par tous ces regards, ils sont très dérangeant.
July 4, 2022
The Liminal Zone is a collection of new stories, written during the Covid-19 pandemic and originally serialised on a manga app in 2020. It should be the polar opposite of the last Junji Ito book I read, Deserter, which collected stories from earlier in his career – but in fact they feel like two sides of the same coin, in the sense that neither represent the artist/author’s strongest work. The Liminal Zone also feels comparatively slight, with just four stories. ‘Weeping Woman Way’ follows a couple whose lives are transformed after they visit a village which continues the tradition of employing professional mourners at funerals. ‘Madonna’ is set at a religious boarding school for girls, where the principal’s wife takes a disturbing interest in a new student. In ‘Slumber’, aspiring lawyer Takuya becomes convinced he’s murdering people in his sleep. My favourite of the four was ‘The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara’, which features a terminally ill young man and his girlfriend visiting Aokigahara – the famous ‘suicide forest’ – with the intention of dying together. But instead they find a mysterious ‘spirit flow’. The changes wrought by this power are genuinely creepy, epitomising the body horror and general sense of squeamishness Junji Ito’s work is famous for.
It’s difficult to fault the art – there are some striking illustrations in here, most notably in ‘Slumber’, where the simplicity of the plot fits well with stark black-and-white imagery. But I wasn’t thrilled or disturbed by anything except the effects of the spirits in ‘The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara’, and that detail was the only thing I remembered clearly after finishing the book. I revisited the 2019 collection Smashed just after reading this, and it really reminded me just how superior the earlier VIZ Media collections were to the more recent output.
I received an advance review copy of The Liminal Zone from the publisher through Edelweiss.
TinyLetter | Linktree
It’s difficult to fault the art – there are some striking illustrations in here, most notably in ‘Slumber’, where the simplicity of the plot fits well with stark black-and-white imagery. But I wasn’t thrilled or disturbed by anything except the effects of the spirits in ‘The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara’, and that detail was the only thing I remembered clearly after finishing the book. I revisited the 2019 collection Smashed just after reading this, and it really reminded me just how superior the earlier VIZ Media collections were to the more recent output.
I received an advance review copy of The Liminal Zone from the publisher through Edelweiss.
TinyLetter | Linktree
August 17, 2022
No words needed, he's just the best.
November 10, 2024
I’m not sure why, but I see a lot of negative reviews about this work in the comments. In my opinion, this piece by Ito deserves recognition.
The last story, “Slumber,” sent shivers down my spine because, in a way, it feels very personal to me.
I once had a nightmare where I became a murderer and kept it a secret from everyone. This nightmare occasionally returns, and honestly, I don’t know what it all means—maybe I need to read Freud’s work to analyze my dreams and the world of my subconscious.
Well, Ito, your stories are truly absurd, but you never fail to surprise me.
The last story, “Slumber,” sent shivers down my spine because, in a way, it feels very personal to me.
I once had a nightmare where I became a murderer and kept it a secret from everyone. This nightmare occasionally returns, and honestly, I don’t know what it all means—maybe I need to read Freud’s work to analyze my dreams and the world of my subconscious.
Well, Ito, your stories are truly absurd, but you never fail to surprise me.
March 29, 2025
I really liked the first two stories, not so much the last one. Overall this is a great collection 👍
August 20, 2022
3.5.
Fucking weird as hell. Virgin Mary, people turning into salt, crazy murderers, and an insane story about weeping people. Some work, some don't, art work is always great.
Fucking weird as hell. Virgin Mary, people turning into salt, crazy murderers, and an insane story about weeping people. Some work, some don't, art work is always great.
September 11, 2024
The Liminal Zone just really didn’t slap for me. Junji Ito is a phenomenal mangaka overall, but I don’t know what happened here.
In the author’s notes, Ito writes about how this collection is unique— being that it was written and drawn during the COVID-19 pandemic. What this means is that Ito really had time to expand on these stories, with them being longer than what he traditionally presents to us in his anthology collections. So in The Liminal Zone we’re given only four stories, but the lengths of them are much longer. I would have thought I’d be reading some really great shorts, as I typically complain that Ito never makes his stories long/fulfilling enough. I’m always wanting more, but I’ve come to say— I actually might want him to keep the lengthiness at bay unless it’s a standalone.
None of these stories were great. Three of them weren’t even really good, just okay. Slumber was my absolute favorite— really, really solid. Amazing panels, eerie, and I love a good Am I the killer? trope. But out of all the stories, Slumber is the one Ito skimps on— why!?
I don’t have much to say about this collection aside from the art being actually stunning as fuck, of course. Only one great story and the overall art carried this anthology. I’m not really too bothered—Ito has so much to his name that something is bound to be mediocre here and there. I’m still one of the biggest fans, and he will always have my respect for that incredible creativity of his. But *sigh*— the unresolved endings.
Rating this ★ ★ ★ stars. I’ve gone ahead and attached little blurbs of the what the stories are about below. I still do recommend checking out this anthology if you’re an Ito fan and just love grotesque, beautiful art.
Weeping Woman Way: An engaged couple takes a trip to a town that still utilizes the traditional “weeping woman” during funerals. When some sort of curse is cast upon Mako, creating an inconsolable sadness— the couple must venture back to the town for a solution.
Madonna: A religious horror story about a girl named Maria, who is new to Tensei Academy, an all girls Catholic school. Here, she begins to realize that both students and teachers alike are sort of— off.
The Spirit of Aokigahara: A suicide pact turns into a strange, spiritual, recurring adventure.
Slumber: The dreams of a young man are tainted with memories of brutal murders every time he falls asleep. Is he the killer?
In the author’s notes, Ito writes about how this collection is unique— being that it was written and drawn during the COVID-19 pandemic. What this means is that Ito really had time to expand on these stories, with them being longer than what he traditionally presents to us in his anthology collections. So in The Liminal Zone we’re given only four stories, but the lengths of them are much longer. I would have thought I’d be reading some really great shorts, as I typically complain that Ito never makes his stories long/fulfilling enough. I’m always wanting more, but I’ve come to say— I actually might want him to keep the lengthiness at bay unless it’s a standalone.
None of these stories were great. Three of them weren’t even really good, just okay. Slumber was my absolute favorite— really, really solid. Amazing panels, eerie, and I love a good Am I the killer? trope. But out of all the stories, Slumber is the one Ito skimps on— why!?
I don’t have much to say about this collection aside from the art being actually stunning as fuck, of course. Only one great story and the overall art carried this anthology. I’m not really too bothered—Ito has so much to his name that something is bound to be mediocre here and there. I’m still one of the biggest fans, and he will always have my respect for that incredible creativity of his. But *sigh*— the unresolved endings.
Rating this ★ ★ ★ stars. I’ve gone ahead and attached little blurbs of the what the stories are about below. I still do recommend checking out this anthology if you’re an Ito fan and just love grotesque, beautiful art.
Weeping Woman Way: An engaged couple takes a trip to a town that still utilizes the traditional “weeping woman” during funerals. When some sort of curse is cast upon Mako, creating an inconsolable sadness— the couple must venture back to the town for a solution.
Madonna: A religious horror story about a girl named Maria, who is new to Tensei Academy, an all girls Catholic school. Here, she begins to realize that both students and teachers alike are sort of— off.
The Spirit of Aokigahara: A suicide pact turns into a strange, spiritual, recurring adventure.
Slumber: The dreams of a young man are tainted with memories of brutal murders every time he falls asleep. Is he the killer?
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April 1, 2023I picked up the book because the girl on the cover reminded me of Tomie.
Yes. It has Ito's signature horrifying art style with dark themes, but I am not really scared. 😅
Yes. It has Ito's signature horrifying art style with dark themes, but I am not really scared. 😅
October 23, 2022
This was much better than the first book I read by this author. Creative and creepy as shit!
March 22, 2025
[4.5 stars] An amazing short story collection that touches on themes the title implies — that limbo or gap between the living and the dead, and the emotional rollercoaster of going through grief in life and being in "empty" spaces holding more power than what the naked eye sees.
There are a lot of raw and perceived negative emotions explored from a more spiritual or even religious perspective. Some characters seem to empathize deeply to a detriment, absorbing people's suffering, others are blinded by an alternate reality in which they seek comfort — either at their own, or at others' expense.
Slumber and Madonna are my personal favorites, but all four stories are excellent. Madonna in particular surprised with its very culty, overtly feminist critique of religion. This collection is great if you prefer even more profound & psych motifs
There are a lot of raw and perceived negative emotions explored from a more spiritual or even religious perspective. Some characters seem to empathize deeply to a detriment, absorbing people's suffering, others are blinded by an alternate reality in which they seek comfort — either at their own, or at others' expense.
Slumber and Madonna are my personal favorites, but all four stories are excellent. Madonna in particular surprised with its very culty, overtly feminist critique of religion. This collection is great if you prefer even more profound & psych motifs
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August 1, 2025Świetne koncepty, dużo nieosadzonej symboliki, którą bardziej się zgaduje niż tropi. Wbrew lewitującym po internetach opiniach, uważam, że konstrukcyjna niewytłumaczalność stanowi duży plus wszystkich czterech zawartych w tym tomie mikrohistorii. Choć, rzecz jasna, nie aż tak duży jak artystyczny warsztat ilustratorski, bo to on jest tutaj najlepszy i, co by nie pisać, najważniejszy.
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October 4, 2023More creepy weird manga from the master of creepy weird manga.
December 29, 2022
3.5 ⭐️ rounded up!
This is a creepy, trippy collection. The art is FANTASTIC. Sometimes when the story is trippy, so is the art, and it makes it hard to follow, but not in this case! The stories themselves are all so different and unsettling.
A ranking of the stories:
1. Weeping Woman Way (SO scary and unique and would make SUCH A GOOD HORROR MOVIE)
2. Madonna (gross and def got to my religious trauma!)
3. Slumber (a bit of a mindf*ck!)
4. The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara (I did not like the “streamlined” bodies)
This is a creepy, trippy collection. The art is FANTASTIC. Sometimes when the story is trippy, so is the art, and it makes it hard to follow, but not in this case! The stories themselves are all so different and unsettling.
A ranking of the stories:
1. Weeping Woman Way (SO scary and unique and would make SUCH A GOOD HORROR MOVIE)
2. Madonna (gross and def got to my religious trauma!)
3. Slumber (a bit of a mindf*ck!)
4. The Spirit Flow of Aokigahara (I did not like the “streamlined” bodies)
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