No Longer Human Complete Edition (Manga)

Product Information

Dazai’s influence on Ito is apparent not only through the very existence of this manga adaptation, but also for the fact that Tomie Yamazaki — a woman with whom Dazai famously ran away from his wife and family, and who later committed suicide by drowning alongside Dazai — shares her name with Ito’s first manga publication. Junji Ito is an absolute master when it comes to his artwork and graphic novels. If you pair this with No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai, you have the perfect piece.

Pesadilla existencial donde el descenso a los infiernos de un autor, está directamente contrapuesto con la propia ansiedad de tener que vivir el día a día cuando realmente apenas es capaz de luchar contra la oscuridad que envuelve su vida. Junji Ito capta a la perfección la esencia de Osamu Dazai. This is another story found in Shiver. I should mention that one of the cool things about Shiver (as is common with many manga tankobon) is the inclusion of little notes and anecdotes from the author. They’re often about what inspired the story to begin with.Dazai's stand-in, Yozo Oba, seems to suffer from trauma and impostor syndrome due to childhood molestation and daddy issues. To compensate he becomes a class clown and womanizer in attempts fit in with other people -- from whom he feels separate and whom he hates and fears. He carves his way through the lives of others leaving suicide and murder in his wake, periodically attempting suicide himself. He alternates between living off a family allowance, being a kept man, and a life of poverty as a struggling manga artist and aspiring painter. He dabbles in Marxism and relationships but tends to betray everyone, really only committing to alcohol and drugs. Well and to tell the truth, I started getting myself into all this contemporary Japanese literature stuff after reading the Bungo Stray Dogs manga series. LOL However! Let the record show that this is a book that demands some form of self-blitzing (read: weed) to be even bearable, especially if you're a queerdo with complicated lady feelings, because Ito loves a booby and I do, too, but he also loves charring that booby and drawing the emaciated toothy corpse or drowning it and drawing it bloated and tongue-slugged, so. Crazily enough I was slightly looking forward to “The Human Crazy University”. From what had been shown through promotional material this would be a fun, absurdist comedy told through a 1960s, minimalist animation style about a death row inmate surviving his death sentence and recovering his memories. And it is that… minus the comedy… and the absurdity… and any reason to continue watching it….

That idea is then latched onto and developed (or, rather, morphed and twisted) into a terrifying threat. Eventually the narrative is reduced to hallucinations and an extended dream sequence as Oba becomes increasingly unhinged. This is the last story on this list to feature in the Shivershort story collection. But that book is full of gems that really show off the strength of Ito’s art and plotting. Even the Junji Ito manga that doesn’t fit neatly into the horror genre still has elements of the uncanny and the unsettling in its illustration.

Abola Virus

What you’re getting here is the best of both worlds: Dazai’s original story with new life breathed into it through the art of Junji Ito. Junji Ito Manga Short Stories