Why should you watch Junji Ito: Collection?
Stories are Outstanding (10). The title says the story out loud. This is a collection of horror stories based on the horror collection of the father of modern Japanese horror, Junji Ito. If you are not familiar with him then think of him as the Stephen King of Japan but more bizarre. The stories of this series are the strongest part of this anime. They are broken down into 2 stories per episode with varying run times, so it is always fresh and you can watch the episodes in any order as they stand out on their own individually. Each of the stories evokes a sense of helplessness, dread, and eeriness that sends chills and uneasiness down your spine. They are meant to be that way so If you are looking forward to jumping scares, there isn’t much here.
Art is Mediocre (5). Yeah… why did the story get a perfect 10 and the art got a 5? It is simply due to one reason: The manga series that it was taken from is way superior to the animation you can’t 100% transfer the experience you have when reading the manga in animation or live-action format. This has been the ongoing problem of adapting stories from Junji Ito’s works. So If you want the full experience read the manga and you will understand what I mean.
Sound is Fair (6). Sound in Junji Ito: Collection is fair enough to justify the emotion it tries to evoke from the audience but it is not a master quality. I watch each episode usually alone in a dark room and it fails to make me feel uneasy which breaks the experience for me. The opening and ending songs are just fair as well. They don’t stand out as much.
Characters are Great (9). As with the story, I love how the characters are made and imagined in the story. When I say characters here, they are not the people, but the supernatural entities who cross the world of the living. Characters like Tomie, Soichi, the professional model Fuch, and more, are the stars of the series hands down. They are all unique enough to have a mini-series or movie of their own which is saying a lot about how the character design and personality were presented.
In general, I came in to watch Junji Ito: Collection with a grain of salt. And my assessment was still spot on. The animation failed to capture the manga. Future adaptation of the manga should learn from this, and the previous feature films that came before it. If they are going to adapt any story from Junji Ito’s Archives, they should not try to make it 1:1. They should make it for what would work for animation and just get inspiration from the manga.
7 blood bubbles out of 10.
