Junji Ito

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Junji Ito
伊藤 潤二
Born July 31, 1963(1963-07-31)
Gifu Prefecture
Nationality Japanese
Area(s) Writer, Penciller, Inker, Manga artist
Notable works Tomie
Uzumaki

Junji Ito (伊藤 潤二 Itō Junji?, born July 31, 1963) is a Japanese horror manga artist best known for his horror stories. Some of his most notable works includes a series of stories about Tomie, an immortal girl who drives her stricken admirers to madness, Uzumaki, a three-volume series about a town obsessed with spirals, and Gyo, a single-volume story where fish are controlled by a death stench.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Junji Ito was born in the Gifu prefecture of Japan in 1963. He was inspired from a young age by both his older sister's drawings[1] and the work of Kazuo Umezu. Ito first began writing and drawing manga as a hobby while working as a dental technician in the early 90's.[2] In 1987, he submitted a short story to Gekkan Halloween that won an honorable mention in the Kazuo Umezu Prize (with Umezu himself as one of the judges).

In addition to Kazui Umezu, Ito has cited Hideshi Hino, Shinichi Furuka, Yasutaka Tsutsui, and H.P. Lovecraft as being major influences on his work.[3]

Some of the recurring themes of Ito's work include body horror, seemingly ordinary characters who begin to act out of irrational compulsion, the breakdown of society, deep sea organisms, and the inevitability of one's demise.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Manga

[edit] Adaptions

Following the success of the film Ringu, Tomie was adapted into a series of films, beginning in 1999. Several other works of Ito's have subsequently been adapted for film and television:

[edit] Trivia

In English-speaking countries, Junji Ito's manga has been subject various internet memes in particular a walking shark creature from Gyo with the English translated sound effect of "gashunk", and the translated sound effect "DRR DRR DRR" from the climax of the Enigma of Amigara Fault. The game Minecraft references the Enigma of Amigara Fault meme, with the "DRR DRR DRR" sound effect appearing as one of the random yellow messages over the title logo that pops up on logging in to the game. The line from Enigma of Amigara Fault "this is my hole, it was made for me" has also become a meme. Other characters and icons from Ito's work show up as memes in various forms, as Ito's work continually proves to be popular among western readers exposed to it.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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