Book Review: Tomie by Junji Ito

 

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Content Warning: murder, violence, death, domestic abuse (emotional, physical, verbal, and implied sexual), dismemberment, cannibalism, misogyny, body horror, gore.

Tomie Kawakami is just like any other teenager. She's interested in fashion, expensive jewelry, and good food. Well, aside from the fact that she can tempt men into doing anything (and I do mean anything), and that she is an immortal seductress who can never die. Tomie goes about her many lives, leaving destruction and suffering in her path, and it isn't long before those who encounter her realize that there's no escape...

How excited I was to find this deluxe edition! It includes every Tomie story, from her beginnings as a wronged-against schoolgirl, to terrorizing a male fashion model who has it all, and many more in between. Tomie is one of those figures that has a large cult following, perhaps because of her sheer evil in combination with her startling beauty. She is the quintessential female monster. 

I was surprised that many of the starred reviews for this were on the lower side. I must admit I've never had the pleasure of reading Ito's Uzumaki or Gyo (those will definitely be next on my list!), which I saw many people citing as better and a more accurate representation of Ito's genius, but I personally found Tomie to be right up my alley -- a metaphorical tale of the dangers of beauty standards, embodied by the femme fatale herself. It's both horrifying (sometimes even disgusting in its horrors, although I mean this in the best way) and wonderfully crafted.

And Tomie is a perfect manifestation of the frightening beauty standards that women feel the need to force themselves into. It doesn't matter if we must suffer to do so -- after all, isn't to be beautiful to suffer? They are ever-evolving, much like Tomie, and no matter how hard we try to refuse them or change them, they continue to plague us and drag us down. 

If you love horror, I highly recommend this amazing collection! It was enjoyable enough that it took me about six days to read it, and it clocks in at around 750 pages. Ito is, indeed, the master of horror with meaning and a beating heart beneath it.