Where to Read No Longer Human by Junji Ito Legally
Here’s the short answer: No Longer Human by Junji Ito is available as both a physical hardcover and a digital edition through official channels.
Your main options:
- Physical hardcover omnibus — A gorgeous 616-page book published by VIZ Media (the largest English-language manga publisher). An omnibus means the publisher collected all the individual books of the series into one single volume, so you get the entire story in one purchase. Available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and most major booksellers.
- Kindle digital edition — Read it on your phone, tablet, or Kindle device. Available on Amazon. Check the Kindle store for current digital pricing.
- VIZ Manga digital platform — VIZ.com offers the manga for digital reading through their own platform.
The physical edition is a hefty, satisfying book that looks fantastic on a shelf. The hardcover typically runs listed at $34.99 (retailer prices vary). If you prefer reading on a screen, the Kindle and VIZ digital versions are both solid choices with clean, high-resolution pages.
All three formats contain the exact same story content — the only difference is whether you’re holding a physical book or reading on a screen. No hunting for chapters across sketchy websites. One purchase, complete story.
What Is No Longer Human by Junji Ito?
First, a quick introduction: Junji Ito is a Japanese manga artist widely regarded as one of the greatest horror creators in the medium. He’s been writing and drawing horror manga since the late 1980s and is known for his incredibly detailed artwork and his ability to turn ordinary things — spirals, fish, holes in a mountainside — into sources of deep, lasting dread.
No Longer Human is Ito’s manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel Ningen Shikkaku (the Japanese title, which you might see when browsing online) — one of the most famous and widely read works of Japanese literature. The word “semi-autobiographical” gets used a lot to describe Dazai’s novel, meaning it draws heavily from the author’s own life. It follows Oba Yozo, a man who feels fundamentally disconnected from other people, masking his inner turmoil behind a clown-like facade as his life spirals through addiction, failed relationships, and self-destruction.
Dazai’s novel is already deeply unsettling in a quiet, psychological way. What Junji Ito does is take that psychological horror and make it visual.
Ito originally published this adaptation chapter by chapter in Big Comic Original, a Japanese manga magazine, from May 2017 through April 2018. It was released across 3 separate Japanese volumes (individual books in the series), and VIZ Media collected them all into the complete English omnibus edition on December 17, 2019.
This isn’t a loose “inspired by” adaptation — Ito follows Dazai’s story closely, but filters it through his distinctive art style. The result is a manga where the protagonist’s inner anguish literally manifests as the kind of grotesque, nightmarish imagery Ito is famous for. Moments of social anxiety become visual nightmares. Scenes of isolation feel suffocating. Dazai’s literary despair gets a face — and it’s terrifying.
It’s worth noting that this is a completed series. You buy one book, you get the whole story. No waiting for future volumes, no cliffhangers left unresolved.
Why You Should Avoid Mangago and Similar Piracy Sites
There are real, practical reasons to skip piracy sites — reasons that affect you directly.
Security Risks Are Real
Piracy sites like Mangago rely heavily on aggressive advertising networks. We’re talking:
- Malware and malicious downloads disguised as pop-ups or redirects
- Intrusive tracking scripts that follow your browsing activity
- Phishing attempts embedded in fake login pages or download buttons
Even with an ad blocker, you’re rolling the dice every time you visit one of these sites.
The Reading Experience on Piracy Sites Is Worse
Pirated manga scans are almost always lower quality than official releases. You’ll run into:
- Blurry or low-resolution pages where Ito’s detailed artwork turns into muddy gray blobs
- Inconsistent translations (sometimes machine-translated, sometimes by fans with varying skill levels)
- Missing pages or chapters
- Awkward formatting that doesn’t fit your screen well
Junji Ito’s art is incredibly detailed. His horror works because of fine linework, careful shading, and precise compositions. Reading a degraded scan of his work is like watching a horror movie through a foggy window — you’re losing what makes it effective.
The Legal Edition Is Genuinely Affordable
The physical hardcover typically costs listed at $34.99 (retailer prices vary) for 616 pages of content, and the digital edition is available at varying prices through retailers like Amazon or VIZ.com. For a complete story of this length and quality, that’s a strong value. When manga sells well in English, publishers license more titles — which means more horror manga translated for English-speaking readers in the future.
Edition and Format Guide
Here’s a quick breakdown of what’s available:
| Format | Details | Where to Buy |
|---|---|---|
| Hardcover Omnibus | 616 pages, collects all 3 Japanese volumes into one book | Amazon, Barnes & Noble, local bookstores |
| Kindle Digital | Same content, readable on Kindle devices and app | Amazon |
| VIZ Digital | Same content, readable through VIZ Manga platform | VIZ.com |
Key details:
- Publisher: VIZ Media
- ISBN: 9781974707096
- Page count: 616 pages
- Status: Complete — one book, whole story
- English release date: December 17, 2019
The hardcover is a beautiful edition. It’s got good paper quality, solid binding, and the larger format really lets Ito’s artwork breathe. If you’re even slightly considering a physical copy, it’s worth it. This is the kind of book that earns a permanent spot on your shelf.
The digital editions are identical in content. If shelf space is tight or you prefer reading on a tablet, you won’t miss anything.
Is No Longer Human by Junji Ito Worth Reading?
Yes. Enthusiastically yes.
Here’s why this particular book stands out, even among Ito’s many works:
It’s Unlike Most of His Other Work
Ito is best known for supernatural horror. His most famous work, Uzumaki, is about a town that becomes obsessed with and consumed by spirals. Tomie follows an unkillable girl who drives everyone around her to violence and madness. His short story collections feature everything from fish with mechanical legs walking on land to nightmarish body transformations. Wild, imaginative, often surreal.
No Longer Human is different. The horror here is psychological and human. There are no cursed objects or cosmic monsters. The terror comes from a man who cannot connect with other people, who performs humanity like a role he’s memorizing, and whose life disintegrates around him through addiction, exploitation, and despair.
Ito does weave in his trademark grotesque, nightmarish images throughout — but they serve the character’s mental state rather than existing as standalone scares. It makes the book feel heavier and more emotionally complex than a typical horror manga.
It’s One of His Most Ambitious Works
Most of Ito’s English-language releases are either short story collections or series that rely on escalating supernatural concepts. No Longer Human is a sustained, novelistic narrative — a single story told across 616 pages with real character development and emotional depth.
Adapting one of Japan’s most beloved novels is a bold move. Ito doesn’t just illustrate the story — he interprets it, adding layers of visual meaning that change how you experience Dazai’s text. Readers who’ve read the original novel often say the manga gave them a completely new perspective on the story.
It Works for Different Types of Readers
This book sits at an interesting crossroads:
- Horror manga fans get a deeply unsettling psychological narrative with Ito’s incredible art
- Japanese literature fans get a fresh visual interpretation of a classic novel
- Newcomers to Junji Ito get a complete, self-contained story that showcases his range beyond supernatural scares
If you’ve only read Ito’s short stories and want to see what he can do with a longer, more emotionally grounded narrative, this is the book.
How It Compares to Other Junji Ito Works
If you’re trying to figure out where No Longer Human fits among Ito’s books, here’s a rough comparison:
| Title | Tone | Length | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Uzumaki | Supernatural, escalating dread — a town consumed by spirals | ~650 pages (3-in-1 Deluxe) | Readers who want Ito’s most iconic and widely recommended work |
| No Longer Human | Psychological, literary horror — one man’s disintegration | 616 pages (single omnibus) | Readers who want emotional depth and character study |
| Tomie | Supernatural with dark humor — an unkillable girl who warps everyone around her | ~750 pages | Readers who want horror built around a single terrifying character |
| Short story collections (Shiver, Smashed, etc.) | Varied — supernatural, surreal, disturbing | ~200-400 pages each | Readers who want variety and quick reads |
No Longer Human is the most literary thing Ito has done. If that sounds appealing, you’ll love it. If you’re looking for pure supernatural scares, Uzumaki might be the better starting point.
Where to Go After No Longer Human
If you read No Longer Human and want more Junji Ito, here are some natural next steps:
- Uzumaki (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition) — Ito’s most celebrated work, about a town consumed by spirals. The deluxe edition is a stunning hardcover that collects all three volumes. If you haven’t read it yet, this is the one most fans recommend first.
Uzumaki (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition)
- Junji Ito Story Collection 3 Books Set (Lovesickness, Deserter, Fragments of Horror) — If you want to sample Ito’s range, a collection bundle is a great way to go. His short stories — standalone tales that each run about 20-40 pages — are where a lot of his most inventive and disturbing ideas live.
Junji Ito Story Collection 3 books set: Lovesickness, Deserter, Fragments of Horror
- Stitches and Alley — Two of his more recent story collections, both published by VIZ Media. Great if you’ve already read the classics and want to keep going.
Stitches (Junji Ito)
Alley: Junji Ito Story Collection
- The original novel — If the manga made you curious about Osamu Dazai’s source material, the novel No Longer Human is widely available in English translation. The Donald Keene translation is the most widely available and frequently recommended version, though other translations exist as well. Reading both gives you a fascinating look at how Ito interpreted and transformed the text.
Quick FAQ
Is No Longer Human by Junji Ito the same as the novel?
It’s a manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel. Ito follows the story closely but adds his own visual horror elements. It’s the same narrative, experienced in a very different way — through images instead of prose.
How many volumes is it?
In Japanese, it was published as 3 separate volumes (individual books). In English, VIZ Media collected the entire series into one 616-page hardcover omnibus. One book, complete story.
Is it scary?
It’s disturbing more than jump-scare scary. The horror is psychological — a man’s inability to feel human, his self-destruction, and the ways people around him fail or exploit him. Ito’s art makes the internal horror external and visceral. If psychological unease gets under your skin more than monsters do, this will absolutely unsettle you.
Is this a good first Junji Ito manga?
It absolutely can be, and if this is the book that caught your attention, go for it. It’s a complete, self-contained story with stunning art and real emotional weight — a great showcase of what Ito can do. That said, it’s not the most typical example of his work, since most of his famous pieces lean more into supernatural and surreal horror. If you finish No Longer Human and want to see that side of him, Uzumaki or one of his short story collections would be the natural next step.
Uzumaki (3-in-1 Deluxe Edition)
Can I read it on Mangago for free?
Piracy sites may host it, but you’ll get lower-quality scans, potential malware exposure, and a worse reading experience. The official edition is affordable — listed at $34.99 (retailer prices vary) for the hardcover, with the digital version available at varying prices through retailers like Amazon or VIZ.com — and readily available. Grab the real thing and experience Ito’s art the way it’s meant to be seen.
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No Longer Human is one of those rare manga that works as both great horror and great literature. It’s complete in one volume, it’s beautifully produced, and it’s easy to find legally. Skip the piracy sites, grab a copy, and experience one of Junji Ito’s most powerful works the way it’s meant to be read.