Junji Ito Reveals What Genre He’d Like To Try Outside of Horror

Junji Ito has distinguished himself as one of the biggest manga creators when it comes to the world of horror, creating spine tingling stories such as Uzumaki, Tomie, Gyo, and countless others that do a fantastic job of blending the mundane with the supernatural, but in a recent interview as a part of Comic Con 2020, the mangaka revealed what other genre he’d like to tackle in the future. Ito himself hasn’t always done simply horror in the past, and while we love his horror, we certainly wouldn’t mind seeing this amazing artist dive into new territory!

During the interview with Viz Media, Ito was asked what genre of story he’d like to try out if he weren’t focused on horror, and the prolific mangaka responded that he’d love to try out “romantic comedy”. Needless to say, this is a bit of a surprise considering the terrifying stories that he’s done in the past, but seeing his detailed art used in this unorthodox genre for himself would certainly be something to see. Some of his past horror stories have had romantic aspects to them, certainly with the likes of Tomie having the idea of love and infatuation being a central part of the story, but this genre would certainly be a departure.

Ito himself hasn’t always created simply horror, with one story involving a day in the life of Junji Ito and his cats that went by the title of Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu. In the story, Ito depicts his cats with often frightening levels of detail, creating some hilarious scenarios wherein the author isn’t sure if his cats are trying to kill him or simply being regular old house cats. While there hasn’t been an anime adaptation announced for this particular story, we wouldn’t mind seeing it brought to life at some point in the future considering the humor that it conveys.

Junji Ito has gone on record time and time again regarding his love of horror, but definitely seems like an author that throws himself into his work while living a regular life in Japan. With the upcoming adaptations of Toonami’s Uzumaki and Quibi’s Tomie, Ito is certainly going to be front and center in the world of anime and live action anime adaptations!

Would you like to see a Junji Ito story that is created in the world of romantic comedies? 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 Junji Ito!