San Diego Comic-Con has started and with the major comic convention set to release plenty of news in the pop culture world, the same is true for the anime medium. With franchises such as Dragon Ball Super, My Hero Academia, and the films of Studio Ghibli, Comic-Con is also venturing into the world of horror. Junji Ito will not only be attending the convention, but Viz Media has set up a unique exhibit that honors the master of horror’s past works via the Junji Ito Exhibit.
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Earlier this year, Netflix released an original anthology series that brought some of Junji Ito’s scariest stories to the small screen for the first time. Junji Ito’s Maniac: Japanese Tales of The Macabre featured spine-chilling stories such as The Hanging Balloons, Mold, Tomie, and Where The Sandman Lives to name a few. This recent Netflix outing isn’t the only anime project that was adapting some of Ito’s scariest stories, as Adult Swim is still working on its anime adaptation of Uzumaki. The Cartoon Network series has been seen by many anime fans as the most faithful to Ito’s original artwork, based entirely off the promotional material released so far. Many Ito fans are crossing their fingers that new Uzumkai developments will be revealed at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.
Junji Ito: Welcome To The Ito-Verse
Even if you aren’t attending San Diego Comic-Con, Viz Media has you covered with photos of the new exhibit honoring the master of horror. Junji Ito has spent decades creating stories of terror that are unlike anything in the world of pop culture, anime, or otherwise. With there still remaining plenty of scary stories by Ito that have yet to be brought to the anime world, we’re interested to see what’s next for Junji Ito in the medium.
Anime isn’t the only place that is adapting some of Ito’s scariest stories. Currently in the works from Fangoria Studios is Bloodsucking Darkness, a spooky tale that has Junji Ito recreating the vampire mythos with a terrifying twist. While the release date for this film is far from confirmed, it has been billed as the first of three new movies that will bring Ito’s works to the silver screen.
What is your favorite scary story from Junji Ito? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of horror.
