An analysis of Junji Itos horror manga, Tomie.
Honestly, along with the interesting points of her taking on a slightly different personality when losing composure, I think Tomie is a very interesting individual to dive into. I had alot of fun writing this.
The outro animation at the very end of the video was a collaboration between Waifumeister and I. If you liked the style of his editing with the animation and/or you like animes/mangas like Lain or Berserk, be sure to check out his channel: [ Ссылка ]
To clear up confusion with the chapter placement, I'm using the order of chapters used in both the Tomie novels, "Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection" and "Tomie Again", which both would have a total of 20 chapters if counted together.
Here's the specific chapters named and referenced in the video I.e
My sources:
(in the order of "The Junji Ito Horror Comic Collection" and "Tomie Again")
Chapter 1 - Tomie
(When talking about Tomie and her human beginings)
(Side note: when saying the quote "we've been pals since we were little", I'm referencing a translation slighlty different from the one visually featured of the same character saying "We're childhood friends" instead. I didn't use the first quote as a visual example bcuz I did not have access to it at a higher pixel resolution. Same goes for any other situations where the quote pictured isn't word for word to my verbal quoting of it. I think it's annoying how both old and new printings of tomie have different translations. I know they're similar enough, but still. I personally prefer the first printings translation over the second printing.)
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Chapter 2 - Photograph
(When talking about how Tomie lied to Tsukiko)
Chapter 3 - Kiss
Chapter 4 - Mansion
(Mentioned when talking about how Tomie lies again to Tsukiko and explaining Tomie's fickle attitude towards Mr.Takagi)
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Chapter 5 - Revenge
Chapter 6 - Basin of the Waterfall
Chapter 7 - Tomie Part 2
(An example of Tomie lying. She tries to decieve her current boyfriend and he points it out.)
Chapter 8 - Basement
Chapter 9 - Painter
Chapter 10 - Murder
(Referenced when explaining Tomie's psychic connection to other Tomie's as well as pulling examples of vurnability and current mindset from Tomie's various comments) Shit, I think I made a run-on sentence. Ah, screw it.
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Chapter 11 - Hair
Chapter - 12 Orphan Girl
(Another example of Tomie lying. Tomie tells the elderly couple she was part of a plane crash and the maid makes it evident that there never was a plane crash.)
Chapter - 13 (or 1 of "Tomie Again") Little Finger
Chapter - 14 (or 2 of "Tomie Again") Boy
Chapter - 15 (or 3 of "Tomie Again") Moromi
Chapter - 16 (or 4 of "Tomie Again") Babysitter
Chapter - 17 (or 5 of "Tomie Again") Gathering
Chapter - 18 (or 6 of "Tomie Again") Passing Demon
Chapter - 19 (or 7 of "Tomie Again") Top Model
(I reference this when talking of a time when Tomie has been purposely vague or unclear in comparison to Chapter 10 . This also serves as an example of when she has given a sarcastic response to someone rather than directly answering their question. In essence, a more specific example of typical character expression and how it contradicts her actions in chapter 10. Also, honestly, as a side note, "sarcastic response" would have been better wording than "clever comment" or "sarcastic insult" like I used in the video. Ah well, better luck next time)
Chapter - 20 (or 8 of "Tomie Again") Old and Ugly
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Bonus theory: Tomies emotionless state when obtaining her impulsive desires may be a way of attribuitng this sense of being a now hollow character with no ambition of long term goals. Once she gets what she wants, she has no real desire to give effort or importance towards anything beyond what is in front of her.
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For my smart bois out there who want the breakdown of this videos framework:
I chose to use Rhetorical Elements rather than Cultural References or particular Historic References. I think using Rhetorical Elements helps create the flow and style I'm going for. The Rhetorical Elements in this Close Reading is shown through the expository and informative mode of discourse present.
Specific Subject: Does Tomie as a story and as a character have a sense of plot progression and character development?
Audience: Readers of Tomie and to a lesser extent, Junji's Ito's works in general.
Purpose: Providing a alternate perspective when reading Tomie that hasn't (I assume) been introduced before and attempting to substantiate it using different chapters.
General Idea/Genre: Answering how the various chapters in Tomie connect to one another.
Music featured in video:
Yume Nikki OST - Dark world
Beethoven- Silence
Peter Gundry - Sorrows Passing (btw, here's his channel: [ Ссылка ])
