Manga Review: ‘Mimi’s Tales Of Terror’ By Junji Ito

Junji Ito‘s Mimi’s Tales of Terror is a compilation of nine manga stories based on Shin Mimibukuro, a collection of urban legends that was originally written by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama. It was published by Viz Signature.

I’ve always liked Junji Ito’s work, but sometimes it’s hard to get into. I like body horror conceptually, but Ito’s extreme detail can be…let’s say challenging. If you like Ito’s work but have a hard time with the physical nastiness of stories like Glyceride, Mimi’s Tales of Terror might be right up your alley. While each story delivers on fear, body horror is never the focus.

Each story follows a young woman named Mimi as she encounters something supernatural. In Seashore, the spirits of drowning victims complicate a trip to the seaside, while in Grave Placement the graves in the cemetery facing Mimi’s apartment are mysteriously turned around.

One thing I like about these stories is that they often end without the central mystery being solved. For example, in Rustling in the Grass, Mimi and her boyfriend Naoto discover a hanged woman while hiking in the woods. They never find out who she is or why she was hanged, and they never find out what the mysterious substance coming out of her and then disappearing is.

Part of this might be because the stories are based on urban legends, and urban legends often lack clear endings. Still, it’s tempting for many writers to wrap things up in a neat little bow. Ito either did not feel or resisted that temptation, preserving a sense of mystery that the collection might not have otherwise had.

I also liked that the stories, while self-contained, still followed a narrative thrust. Mimi’s relationship with Naoto starts off fine but runs into some trouble because Naoto decides that their supernatural encounters aren’t real. This leads to one of the final stories, which is also one of the more dramatic of the bunch since it deals with a massive personal betrayal.

My favorite story was probably the aforementioned Grave Placement. I won’t say how it ends because it’s a huge spoiler, but it was absurd and unexpected in a way that made it really stand out.

Overall, I’d say that if you’re a horror fan, this volume is absolutely worth reading.

Note: I received a free copy of the manga in exchange for this write-up. The content of the review represents my opinions and not necessarily those of Viz Signature. You can buy a physical or digital copy starting on October 24th, 2023

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