Why Junji Ito Is the Name in Horror Manga Junji Ito started his career as a dental technician — yes, really — before winning an Honorable Mention in a manga contest judged by the legendary horror manga creator Kazuo Umezu back in 1987. That winning submission? The first chapter of Tomie, which went on to … Read more
The 10 Best Junji Ito Manga, Ranked 1. Uzumaki (Best Complete Horror Series) Uzumaki is Junji Ito’s masterpiece, and it’s the book that turned countless readers into horror manga fans. The premise is deceptively simple: the small town of Kurouzu-cho becomes obsessed with spirals. That’s it. Spirals. What Ito does with that concept over the … Read more
What Is Japanese Horror Manga? Japanese horror manga refers to horror comics created by Japanese artists and published in Japan’s manga tradition. These comics are printed in black and white (as nearly all manga is), and they share roots with the broader wave of Japanese horror that gained worldwide attention in the 1990s and 2000s … Read more
What Is Tomie? — Junji Ito’s Debut Horror Manga Here’s the short version: Tomie is a 20-chapter body horror manga by Junji Ito — and it was his very first published work. It debuted in February 1987 in Monthly Halloween, a Japanese manga magazine that published horror stories on a monthly schedule, and Ito kept … Read more
The Complete Ito Junji Manga Collection in English As of 2025, Junji Ito has 23 titles available in English. The vast majority are published by VIZ Media as hardcover single volumes with a uniform spine design — meaning the books share the same height, font, and visual style on their spines, so they look cohesive … Read more
Inuyashiki Manga vs Anime — Bottom Line Up Front If you searched “inuyashiki manga vs anime,” here’s the direct answer: read the manga. It’s the stronger experience. The anime tells the same story from start to finish, but the manga has better art, more character depth, and far more intense horror. The anime works as … Read more
Is Inuyashiki Worth Reading? What to Expect Before you spend money on 10 volumes, you probably want to know whether this series is actually worth it. Short answer: yes, very much so — with a few caveats. What Makes It Great The protagonist. An elderly office worker as the hero of a sci-fi action manga … Read more
Hiroya Oku’s 3D-Assisted Art Process Most manga artists sketch their layouts, ink them by hand (or digitally), and use studio assistants — junior artists who help fill in backgrounds, screen tones, and other detail work under the lead artist’s direction. Oku’s process is fundamentally different. Step 1: He constructs full 3D environments in Shade 3D … Read more
What Are ZQN — The Zombies in I Am a Hero Manga The infected in I Am a Hero aren’t called zombies within the story. They’re called ZQN (often pronounced “zqn” or treated as an abbreviation). The manga never fully explains where the name comes from — that’s intentional on Hanazawa’s part, not a gap … Read more
Is the I Am a Hero Manga Getting a Reprint? Here’s the short answer: Dark Horse Comics has not announced a reprint or new edition of the I Am a Hero omnibus series. There has been no official statement on reprint plans as of 2025. For readers new to manga (Japanese comic books published as … Read more