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Remina
I MET REMINA'S EYE.
An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, and its discoverer, Dr. Oguro, christens the celestial body "Remina" after his own daughter. His finding is met with great fanfare, and Remina herself rises to fame. However, the planet picks up speed as it moves along in its curious orbit, eliminating planets and stars one after another until finally Earth itself faces extinction… Is the girl Remina the true cause of the catastrophe? A masterwork of horror from Junji Ito, unfolding on a universal scale.
THE PLANET NOTICED OUR EXISTENCE...
An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, and its discoverer, Dr. Oguro, christens the celestial body "Remina" after his own daughter. His finding is met with great fanfare, and Remina herself rises to fame. However, the planet picks up speed as it moves along in its curious orbit, eliminating planets and stars one after another until finally Earth itself faces extinction… Is the girl Remina the true cause of the catastrophe? A masterwork of horror from Junji Ito, unfolding on a universal scale.
THE PLANET NOTICED OUR EXISTENCE...
256 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 2005
About the author
Junji Ito
229 books12.8k followersJunji Itō (伊藤潤二)
Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1963, he was inspired from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. Nevertheless, upon graduation he trained as a dental technician, and until the early 1990s he juggled his dental career with his increasingly successful hobby — even after being selected as the winner of the prestigious Umezu prize for horror manga.
The most common obsessions are with beauty, long hair, and beautiful girls, especially in his Tomie and Flesh-Colored Horror comic collections. For example: A girl's hair rebels against being cut off and runs off with her head; Girls deliberately catch a disease that makes them beautiful but then murder each other; a woman treats her skin with lotion so she can take it off and look at her muscles, but the skin dissolves and she tries to steal her sister's skin, etc.
Ito's universe is also very cruel and capricious; his characters often find themselves victims of malevolent unnatural circumstances for no discernible reason or punished out of proportion for minor infractions against an unknown and incomprehensible natural order.
His longest work, the three-volume Uzumaki, is about a town's obsession with spirals: people become variously fascinated with, terrified of, and consumed by the countless occurrences of the spiral in nature. Apart from the ghastly, convincingly-drawn deaths, the book projects an effective atmosphere of creeping fear as the town's inhabitants become less and less human, and more and more bizarre things begin to happen.
Before Uzumaki, Ito was best known for Tomie, a comic series about a beautiful, teasing and eternally youthful high school girl who inspires her stricken admirers to murder each other in fits of jealous rage. Eventually, unable to cope with her coy flirtation and their desire to possess Tomie completely, they are inevitably compelled to kill her — only to discover that, regardless of the method they chose to dispose of her body, her body will always regenerate.
In 1998, during the horror boom that followed the success of Ringu, Tomie was adapted into a movie. Since Tomie, many of his works have been adapted for TV and the cinema.
Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1963, he was inspired from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. Nevertheless, upon graduation he trained as a dental technician, and until the early 1990s he juggled his dental career with his increasingly successful hobby — even after being selected as the winner of the prestigious Umezu prize for horror manga.
The most common obsessions are with beauty, long hair, and beautiful girls, especially in his Tomie and Flesh-Colored Horror comic collections. For example: A girl's hair rebels against being cut off and runs off with her head; Girls deliberately catch a disease that makes them beautiful but then murder each other; a woman treats her skin with lotion so she can take it off and look at her muscles, but the skin dissolves and she tries to steal her sister's skin, etc.
Ito's universe is also very cruel and capricious; his characters often find themselves victims of malevolent unnatural circumstances for no discernible reason or punished out of proportion for minor infractions against an unknown and incomprehensible natural order.
His longest work, the three-volume Uzumaki, is about a town's obsession with spirals: people become variously fascinated with, terrified of, and consumed by the countless occurrences of the spiral in nature. Apart from the ghastly, convincingly-drawn deaths, the book projects an effective atmosphere of creeping fear as the town's inhabitants become less and less human, and more and more bizarre things begin to happen.
Before Uzumaki, Ito was best known for Tomie, a comic series about a beautiful, teasing and eternally youthful high school girl who inspires her stricken admirers to murder each other in fits of jealous rage. Eventually, unable to cope with her coy flirtation and their desire to possess Tomie completely, they are inevitably compelled to kill her — only to discover that, regardless of the method they chose to dispose of her body, her body will always regenerate.
In 1998, during the horror boom that followed the success of Ringu, Tomie was adapted into a movie. Since Tomie, many of his works have been adapted for TV and the cinema.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,197 reviews
February 6, 2021
I once saw a quote attributed to Matthew M. Bartlett, in which he tries to define cosmic horror:
"For me, cosmic horror is about not only man’s insignificance, but his fragility, both physical and mental. Except for the fact that man is haunted by the vast gulf of nonexistence before his lifespan and its fast-returning resumption, he is in a fundamental way not terribly different from a newborn who dies within minutes of his birth. There’s an awakening into incomprehensible chaos, bright and loud and terrifying, and then it’s all gone. Forever. In our moment of chaos, we witness abjection, corruption, violence, and a ubiquitous instability of all systems—a general sense that we are at all times unsafe. And while there are beautiful things here for some of us–love, comfort, entertainments, the company of friends, and of animals–we fear that those good things exist only to mock us. In the end, we face the ultimate forgetting. All of that, and then there are the monsters."
While I'm not sure I fully agree, I find it the closest to defining cosmic horror in the sense of how it makes me personally feel. Cosmic horror is, and I say this on a personal level, the most terrifying of all horror sub-genres, because it's the one that makes me feel dread less because of the monsters, but because of the ideas it presents about the world and how insignificant people are.
Well, that was depressing... Still with me? This is Junji Ito doing cosmic horror.
Yes. Yes it is as terrifying as that sounds.
This is a hard one to review without spoilers. The plot follows the arrival of a mysterious new (or in the classic nature of cosmic horror, very, VERY OLD) planet that appears from a wormhole, lightyears away from Earth. The planet is named Remina after the daughter of the doctor who discovered it. Remina-mania occurs and the girl becomes something of a celebrity in her own regard because of this.
When things go bad, and boy do they ever go bad, people need to blame someone.
This is Ito fully embracing cosmic horror. That definition I posted above... it could practically have been written to describe this book. It shows horror in everything. Celebrity? Horrifying. Science? Terrifying. Hope? Don't make me laugh.
I do not personally believe this is Ito's greatest work. (that is Uzumaki and likely always will be).. but honestly? I think it's his most terrifying. I'm sure it may depend on one's view of cosmic horror, but even if you don't find it the most terrifying sub-genre, if you're an Ito fan, it's well worth a look. A full 5/5 stars
Review copy provided via Net Galley and VIZ in exchange for an honest review.
"For me, cosmic horror is about not only man’s insignificance, but his fragility, both physical and mental. Except for the fact that man is haunted by the vast gulf of nonexistence before his lifespan and its fast-returning resumption, he is in a fundamental way not terribly different from a newborn who dies within minutes of his birth. There’s an awakening into incomprehensible chaos, bright and loud and terrifying, and then it’s all gone. Forever. In our moment of chaos, we witness abjection, corruption, violence, and a ubiquitous instability of all systems—a general sense that we are at all times unsafe. And while there are beautiful things here for some of us–love, comfort, entertainments, the company of friends, and of animals–we fear that those good things exist only to mock us. In the end, we face the ultimate forgetting. All of that, and then there are the monsters."
While I'm not sure I fully agree, I find it the closest to defining cosmic horror in the sense of how it makes me personally feel. Cosmic horror is, and I say this on a personal level, the most terrifying of all horror sub-genres, because it's the one that makes me feel dread less because of the monsters, but because of the ideas it presents about the world and how insignificant people are.
Well, that was depressing... Still with me? This is Junji Ito doing cosmic horror.
Yes. Yes it is as terrifying as that sounds.
This is a hard one to review without spoilers. The plot follows the arrival of a mysterious new (or in the classic nature of cosmic horror, very, VERY OLD) planet that appears from a wormhole, lightyears away from Earth. The planet is named Remina after the daughter of the doctor who discovered it. Remina-mania occurs and the girl becomes something of a celebrity in her own regard because of this.
When things go bad, and boy do they ever go bad, people need to blame someone.
This is Ito fully embracing cosmic horror. That definition I posted above... it could practically have been written to describe this book. It shows horror in everything. Celebrity? Horrifying. Science? Terrifying. Hope? Don't make me laugh.
I do not personally believe this is Ito's greatest work. (that is Uzumaki and likely always will be).. but honestly? I think it's his most terrifying. I'm sure it may depend on one's view of cosmic horror, but even if you don't find it the most terrifying sub-genre, if you're an Ito fan, it's well worth a look. A full 5/5 stars
Review copy provided via Net Galley and VIZ in exchange for an honest review.
October 28, 2020
Shortly after a wormhole is discovered in space, a killer planet (or a planet-sized alien) passes through it and starts bearing down on Earth - and of course it’s all a little girl’s fault! Ready for stoopid? Here’s another Junji Ito horror manga!
A story about a killer planet is always going to be goofy but, even accepting that, Remina is badly written and so coconuts as to be laughable. The dialogue is always awful, the plotting is child-like and one absurd thing happens after another until you don’t care about any of it.
Remina is the daughter of the scientist who discovered this killer planet and who subsequently names the planet after her. Then when the planet starts moving towards Earth, blowing up all the planets in our solar system along the way, seemingly everyone decides Remina is somehow calling this planet to her - based on nothing more than having the same name - and to appease the planet she has to die?!
It makes no sense and is just an excuse for the characters to run around screaming while Remina the planet sits patiently besides Earth (which doesn’t seem to have any effect on Earth’s gravitational pull, etc.) until the book nears its end and so gives the increasingly batty story a conclusion.
The characters are as lightly sketched out as possible. Remina herself couldn’t be less of a non-entity. She’s either blank-faced and silent or sobbing or screaming and yelling out names. Remina the planet is simply a plot device and is as mindless as any animal eating what it needs to in order to survive. There’s a mad guy, an evil rich guy, a heroic homeless guy, and a bad guy in a mask that looks like a Paul Pope character - and there’s nothing to any of them! Couldn’t tell you their names or why they’re behaving the way they are - they’re just inconsequential puppets.
Still, Ito is unquestionably a visionary storyteller and a fine artist, all of which can be seen in Remina. The art is skilful, memorable and really grabs your attention. The opening scene of Remina literally crucified while a horrible giant eye in the sky looks down is a helluva opener. The environs of Remina, once the ill-fated shuttle makes it to its surface, was interesting to see and the absolutely mental final act with the crowds chasing Remina and the homeless hero was amazingly drawn - and funny! And this is an original story - I’ve never read anything like it before.
Remina is the usual Junji Ito: a unique horror story with a blend of grotesque and beautiful art written and plotted so poorly it’s impossible to take even half-seriously. I didn’t care about any of the characters and their endless running didn’t make for compelling reading. Remina isn’t one of Ito’s better efforts.
A story about a killer planet is always going to be goofy but, even accepting that, Remina is badly written and so coconuts as to be laughable. The dialogue is always awful, the plotting is child-like and one absurd thing happens after another until you don’t care about any of it.
Remina is the daughter of the scientist who discovered this killer planet and who subsequently names the planet after her. Then when the planet starts moving towards Earth, blowing up all the planets in our solar system along the way, seemingly everyone decides Remina is somehow calling this planet to her - based on nothing more than having the same name - and to appease the planet she has to die?!
It makes no sense and is just an excuse for the characters to run around screaming while Remina the planet sits patiently besides Earth (which doesn’t seem to have any effect on Earth’s gravitational pull, etc.) until the book nears its end and so gives the increasingly batty story a conclusion.
The characters are as lightly sketched out as possible. Remina herself couldn’t be less of a non-entity. She’s either blank-faced and silent or sobbing or screaming and yelling out names. Remina the planet is simply a plot device and is as mindless as any animal eating what it needs to in order to survive. There’s a mad guy, an evil rich guy, a heroic homeless guy, and a bad guy in a mask that looks like a Paul Pope character - and there’s nothing to any of them! Couldn’t tell you their names or why they’re behaving the way they are - they’re just inconsequential puppets.
Still, Ito is unquestionably a visionary storyteller and a fine artist, all of which can be seen in Remina. The art is skilful, memorable and really grabs your attention. The opening scene of Remina literally crucified while a horrible giant eye in the sky looks down is a helluva opener. The environs of Remina, once the ill-fated shuttle makes it to its surface, was interesting to see and the absolutely mental final act with the crowds chasing Remina and the homeless hero was amazingly drawn - and funny! And this is an original story - I’ve never read anything like it before.
Remina is the usual Junji Ito: a unique horror story with a blend of grotesque and beautiful art written and plotted so poorly it’s impossible to take even half-seriously. I didn’t care about any of the characters and their endless running didn’t make for compelling reading. Remina isn’t one of Ito’s better efforts.
September 7, 2023
1. My notes on Hell Star Remina:
Unwanted Exposure
A downright blood-chilling story of impending doom befalling planet Earth in the guise of a rogue planet.
To me, the most horrific certainly wasn't nefarious, ominous, deathly planet Remina wandering purposedly into the solar system, but the mass psychosis taking precedence over everything on Earth, making people intent on seizing the professor responsible for its discovery and his daughter, after which the odd celestial body was named, escalating to truly unnerving proportions.
The apocalyptic atmosphere was strongly redolent of Poe's Conversation of Eiros and Charmion.
Also see:
The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
The House on the Borderland :
首吊り気球（伊藤潤二コレクション 79）
La Montagne morte de la vie
Solaris
Fiasco
Annihilation
The Mist
-------
2. My notes on Army of One, following the main story:
Ties of Camaraderie
Strange kidnapping are reported throughout the city, soon followed by the discovery of corpses stitched together in increasingly grotesque ways... Could they be linked with the elusive 'Army of One' group?
... This one was quite the nerve rack!
Some of the themes tackled in Army of One:
- Hikikomori phenomenon
- Peer pressure, fear of missing out
- Compulsion and pulsions aroused in increasingly individualistic lifestyles.
...
Reminds me of:
Reset
No One Writes Back
Galactic Pot-Healer
De la Démocratie en Amérique, tome I
De la Démocratie en Amérique, tome II
Le travail - Une sociologie contemporaine
Screenshot from 'Presentable Liberty' videogame
Screenshot from 'Omori' videogame
Unwanted Exposure
A downright blood-chilling story of impending doom befalling planet Earth in the guise of a rogue planet.
To me, the most horrific certainly wasn't nefarious, ominous, deathly planet Remina wandering purposedly into the solar system, but the mass psychosis taking precedence over everything on Earth, making people intent on seizing the professor responsible for its discovery and his daughter, after which the odd celestial body was named, escalating to truly unnerving proportions.
The apocalyptic atmosphere was strongly redolent of Poe's Conversation of Eiros and Charmion.
Also see:
The Conversation of Eiros and Charmion
The House on the Borderland :
首吊り気球（伊藤潤二コレクション 79）
La Montagne morte de la vie
Solaris
Fiasco
Annihilation
The Mist
-------
2. My notes on Army of One, following the main story:
Ties of Camaraderie
Strange kidnapping are reported throughout the city, soon followed by the discovery of corpses stitched together in increasingly grotesque ways... Could they be linked with the elusive 'Army of One' group?
... This one was quite the nerve rack!
Some of the themes tackled in Army of One:
- Hikikomori phenomenon
- Peer pressure, fear of missing out
- Compulsion and pulsions aroused in increasingly individualistic lifestyles.
...
Reminds me of:
Reset
No One Writes Back
Galactic Pot-Healer
De la Démocratie en Amérique, tome I
De la Démocratie en Amérique, tome II
Le travail - Une sociologie contemporaine
Screenshot from 'Presentable Liberty' videogame
Screenshot from 'Omori' videogame
December 22, 2020
I suppose there is a case to be made for Remina being so bad it's good, but I'm not going to be the one to make it. This is a horrible B-movie in manga form as a rogue planet from deep space called Remina heads toward Earth, destroying all other planets in its path. Meanwhile, in Japan, with apocalypse looming, the crazed populace decides the blame lies with the young girl, Remina Oguro, for whom the planet was named by her scientist father.
The imagery is eerie and unsettling, as one would expect from Junji Ito, but the dialogue and characters are stiff and wooden. The twists are predictable, the science is laughable, and the ending is just stupid beyond belief.
And despite the book and planet being named for her, Remina is an empty sexist trope of a victim, existing only to be idolized, pursued, or literally carried like baggage by the men in her life. Sad and disgusting.
The imagery is eerie and unsettling, as one would expect from Junji Ito, but the dialogue and characters are stiff and wooden. The twists are predictable, the science is laughable, and the ending is just stupid beyond belief.
And despite the book and planet being named for her, Remina is an empty sexist trope of a victim, existing only to be idolized, pursued, or literally carried like baggage by the men in her life. Sad and disgusting.
December 4, 2020
Ego the Living Planet comes to Earth and the whole world loses its collective shit. Mankind gets it in its head that the girl the planet is named after is responsible for bringing the planet killer to Earth and tries to kill her. The rest of the book is one big chase scene as she is pulled along by a series of admirers while mobs try to murder her. At the same time, Ego is going all Gene Simmons over Earth. The girl, Remina, is completely useless. You'd think this book was written in the fifties as Remina is repeatedly drug around like Linus's blanket with little say of her own. At least Junji Ito's art is better than his storytelling.
Received a review copy from Viz and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
Received a review copy from Viz and Edelweiss. All thoughts are my own and in no way influenced by the aforementioned.
October 6, 2021
3.5 Stars
This was a crazy action packed manga that blended together cosmic & scifi horror. The story itself was perhaps a little weak, but the artwork was absolutely amazing. The planet Remina was SO creepy. While not my favourite of Junji Ito's work, this is still worth reading if you're fan.
This was a crazy action packed manga that blended together cosmic & scifi horror. The story itself was perhaps a little weak, but the artwork was absolutely amazing. The planet Remina was SO creepy. While not my favourite of Junji Ito's work, this is still worth reading if you're fan.
April 1, 2021
You probably have this idea about the end of the Earth that involves climate change or (as with the dinosaurs) a random asteroid, but Junji Ito's idea is that a rogue sentient planet, named after a teen idol, will destroy us. What's in a name? Is a rose by any other name as sweet? Is a planet named after a girl suddenly lethal? I will try to explain in a minute.
I am not sure how I really feel about this sf/horror/apocalypse manga from horror-master Junji Ito. It certainly is the craziest of Ito stories and this is saying a lot, since many of his stories are crazy. Remina doesn't approach the depth or focus of Uzumaki or Tomie, but it has much to offer for consideration. I skimmed through some of the reviews and I can see folks are split about either hating it or loving it, as I am.
A guy discovers a new planet through a wormhole, and he names it after his daughter, Remina. Then all hell breaks loose; 1) the planet begins to head toward Earth, destroying everything in its path, including planets in our solar system, and 2) the girl becomes a kind of media idol. The manic manga frenzy about the end of the world and blaming the girl for the end of the world that ensues is unmatched in Ito.
The planet Remina has an eye (literally) on Earth as it approaches us, and at one point licks our planet with a giant tongue that makes us spin very fast, the centrifugal force for which throws bodies into space. There's an end of the world feel to this that reminds me of Uzumaki, though it's more subtle and slowly, gradually building in Uzumaki, focused on a collective madness as the world sees spirals everywhere.
The girl Remina, who until the planet is named for her is sort of bland and boring, is suddenly worshipped by (apparently almost all male) fan clubs and media managers and the public at large, until much of Earth begins to blame the girl for the fact that the planet is on the Eve of Destruction. Many of these folks seem to be fundamentalist Christians, who want to burn the media darling and her scientist Dad on actual (religious) crosses, so much of this 2005 book seems to prefigure in some ways current events, even the January 6 (which happens to be my birthday, which has to figure in this story somehow, right?!) insane insurrection. The story of the girl, who loses a lot of her clothes along the way and actually becomes more and more a sex object even as they want to kill her as she may indeed cause massive death with men strewn at her feet, echoes the femme fatale monster story Tomie!
Had enough coo-coo for coconuts yet? Either this is meant to be the wildest super-homage to pulp manga (and commentary about how we destroy our sex/pop idols, ala Britney Spears) and is brilliantly, manically executed, complete with screaming humans dying everywhere as a planet actually LICKS us, or is just too ludicrous for words. You can see I am as of today undecided. But the art is among the best work Ito has done, you have to acknowledge this. I am leaning to seeing it as a wild carnival funhouse ride for the apocalypse. In a matter of hours I bump it up from 3 to 4 stars, just for the pulpy silliness of it.
I am not sure how I really feel about this sf/horror/apocalypse manga from horror-master Junji Ito. It certainly is the craziest of Ito stories and this is saying a lot, since many of his stories are crazy. Remina doesn't approach the depth or focus of Uzumaki or Tomie, but it has much to offer for consideration. I skimmed through some of the reviews and I can see folks are split about either hating it or loving it, as I am.
A guy discovers a new planet through a wormhole, and he names it after his daughter, Remina. Then all hell breaks loose; 1) the planet begins to head toward Earth, destroying everything in its path, including planets in our solar system, and 2) the girl becomes a kind of media idol. The manic manga frenzy about the end of the world and blaming the girl for the end of the world that ensues is unmatched in Ito.
The planet Remina has an eye (literally) on Earth as it approaches us, and at one point licks our planet with a giant tongue that makes us spin very fast, the centrifugal force for which throws bodies into space. There's an end of the world feel to this that reminds me of Uzumaki, though it's more subtle and slowly, gradually building in Uzumaki, focused on a collective madness as the world sees spirals everywhere.
The girl Remina, who until the planet is named for her is sort of bland and boring, is suddenly worshipped by (apparently almost all male) fan clubs and media managers and the public at large, until much of Earth begins to blame the girl for the fact that the planet is on the Eve of Destruction. Many of these folks seem to be fundamentalist Christians, who want to burn the media darling and her scientist Dad on actual (religious) crosses, so much of this 2005 book seems to prefigure in some ways current events, even the January 6 (which happens to be my birthday, which has to figure in this story somehow, right?!) insane insurrection. The story of the girl, who loses a lot of her clothes along the way and actually becomes more and more a sex object even as they want to kill her as she may indeed cause massive death with men strewn at her feet, echoes the femme fatale monster story Tomie!
Had enough coo-coo for coconuts yet? Either this is meant to be the wildest super-homage to pulp manga (and commentary about how we destroy our sex/pop idols, ala Britney Spears) and is brilliantly, manically executed, complete with screaming humans dying everywhere as a planet actually LICKS us, or is just too ludicrous for words. You can see I am as of today undecided. But the art is among the best work Ito has done, you have to acknowledge this. I am leaning to seeing it as a wild carnival funhouse ride for the apocalypse. In a matter of hours I bump it up from 3 to 4 stars, just for the pulpy silliness of it.
September 22, 2020
Welcome to the book of keh keh keh and sob sob sob!
Ito takes cosmic horror to the next level, by having the cosmos itself try and eat us. We're introduced to a planetsized monster that seems to be intent on eating celestial bodies, including our very own Earth.
The scientist who discovered the monster-planet, named it Remina, after his own daughter. The closer the planet comes, the more het up people get, losing their effing minds and thinking if they just kill Remina the girl as an offering, Remina the planet will back off.
What follows is a bizarre and lengthy chase. I loved the art in this, I'm not the biggest manga fan, but Ito's style is quite idiosyncratic (those faces!). The story takes interesting turns, sometimes indulges in body horror (which is fine). The only real point against the book (and it's a big point), is that the girl Remina has no agency at all. She gets pushed and pulled all over the place, and all she can manage to do is sob sob sob. I wish there was more to the character.
3.5 stars
doinking this up to a full 4 stars, its images keep haunting my brain..
(Kindy received an ARC from VIZ Media through Edelweiss)
Ito takes cosmic horror to the next level, by having the cosmos itself try and eat us. We're introduced to a planetsized monster that seems to be intent on eating celestial bodies, including our very own Earth.
The scientist who discovered the monster-planet, named it Remina, after his own daughter. The closer the planet comes, the more het up people get, losing their effing minds and thinking if they just kill Remina the girl as an offering, Remina the planet will back off.
What follows is a bizarre and lengthy chase. I loved the art in this, I'm not the biggest manga fan, but Ito's style is quite idiosyncratic (those faces!). The story takes interesting turns, sometimes indulges in body horror (which is fine). The only real point against the book (and it's a big point), is that the girl Remina has no agency at all. She gets pushed and pulled all over the place, and all she can manage to do is sob sob sob. I wish there was more to the character.
doinking this up to a full 4 stars, its images keep haunting my brain..
(Kindy received an ARC from VIZ Media through Edelweiss)
December 15, 2020
Technically about a 3.5; Ito always walks a tightrope between the sublime and the ludicrous, and while Remina is a bit more overtly ridiculous than usual, it mostly works in the case of this tale of a planet-sized eldritch abomination on its way to consume the earth (and the attending mass hysteria) - a cosmic horror fever dream that feels like it emerged directly from JI's nightmares.
March 10, 2024
More thoughts to come, I thought it was fun!
June 8, 2021
Is this supposed to be horror sci-fi? It's crap, nothing more. It doesn't have a premise, or a motivation, or at least a strong character, not to mention the sci-fi part, which is plain ludicrous - just a lot of idiots screaming to no end . Lol. It's almost funny if it weren't so bad. And the blurb sounded so intriguing... At least the hardcover is great; looks nice on my shelves until I'll get rid of it. No more manga for me, nor Junji Ito, that's for sure.
January 23, 2013
I have always been a fan of Ito and Hellstar Remina showed me that he is still a genius. Hellstar shows the depths of human sickness and insanity, what lengths people will go to in order to survive. Even if they are completely wrong and irrational in their thinking, the sacrifice of a few in order to save the many plays out in horrific detail in Hellstar. I would recommend this for all horror fans. Ito's graphics are awesome and you get a sick feeling in the pit of your stomach while reading. Truly perfect.
July 24, 2020
Otro hermoso día de conocer más a Junji Ito y sus locuras tenebrosas. Aunque no es mi favorito, está ahí nomás. La historia tiene tintes cósmicos, un poco de locura (bastante, a decir verdad) y un final extraño (a que no les sorprende esto).
June 25, 2022
Es un manga bien loco jajaja y, aunque no es de mis favoritos de Junji ito, es muy bueno! Y el dibujo de Ito nunca falla, con la fascinante imaginación que posee.
La historia comienza con el descubrimiento de un "planeta" que hace el científico Oguro, quién decide ponerle el nombre de su hija, Remina. Ella se vuelve muy famosa y las personas comienzan a admirarla y obsesionarse. Pero todo da un giro cuando descubren que el "planeta" Remina, en su trayectoria, devora todos los planetas a su paso y, peor aún, se dirige directamente a la Tierra. Aquí es cuando comienza el caos, la locura, mostrando el lado de la humanidad ante cosas que no saben explicar, ante el peligro inminente y las incansables ganas de sobrevivir a una amenaza poderosa e increíble.
Una historia apocalíptica que se lee muy rápido, las creaciones son excelentes, los eventos que van ocurriendo hacen muy adictiva esta historia llena de locura, fanatismo muertes inesperadas y desesperación. En fin, una total pesadilla para sus personajes.
*EXTRA: Este tomo tiene un extra llamado "Millones Solitarios". Trata de una ciudad que está desesperada porque comenzaron a aparecer personas muertas, pero unas cositas a otras. Una historia siniestra.
La historia comienza con el descubrimiento de un "planeta" que hace el científico Oguro, quién decide ponerle el nombre de su hija, Remina. Ella se vuelve muy famosa y las personas comienzan a admirarla y obsesionarse. Pero todo da un giro cuando descubren que el "planeta" Remina, en su trayectoria, devora todos los planetas a su paso y, peor aún, se dirige directamente a la Tierra. Aquí es cuando comienza el caos, la locura, mostrando el lado de la humanidad ante cosas que no saben explicar, ante el peligro inminente y las incansables ganas de sobrevivir a una amenaza poderosa e increíble.
Una historia apocalíptica que se lee muy rápido, las creaciones son excelentes, los eventos que van ocurriendo hacen muy adictiva esta historia llena de locura, fanatismo muertes inesperadas y desesperación. En fin, una total pesadilla para sus personajes.
*EXTRA: Este tomo tiene un extra llamado "Millones Solitarios". Trata de una ciudad que está desesperada porque comenzaron a aparecer personas muertas, pero unas cositas a otras. Una historia siniestra.
April 26, 2022
This one was more irritating than scary.
January 18, 2021
Not my favorite of his but still worth the read.
Shelved as 'dnf'
November 11, 2020It's time for me to accept that Junji Ito's work is EXTREMELY hit-and-miss for me. :(
February 26, 2021
Honestly, why do drugs when you can just read a Junji Ito book?
September 12, 2022
Rejects from Uzumaki stockpile put together, with some face-melty space travel for decoration. Ridiculous in a much more tiringly chaotic and trite manner, than what the fascinatingly macabre inventiveness, and the titillatingly close to uproarious absurdity set by the aforementioned predecessor established.
Peak pulp horror SF, still, I suppose. But on quite a different, less intimate scale.
Rounded up in hindsight.
_____
Reading updates.
Peak pulp horror SF, still, I suppose. But on quite a different, less intimate scale.
Rounded up in hindsight.
_____
Reading updates.
January 5, 2022
2.25
Kinda dumb and silly with some gruesome bits. Probably would've liked this better if it had been a shorter story in one of his collections.
Kinda dumb and silly with some gruesome bits. Probably would've liked this better if it had been a shorter story in one of his collections.
July 26, 2023
★★★★½
Remina, standing besides Uzumaki and Tomine remains amongst mister Ito’s best works. as story of apocalypse, there’s no need for introducing the “horror” or “cosmic horror” genres, for fear, terror and chaos is evidently intertwined with the word ‘apocalypse’ that a shiver slides down our back by even hearing it.
the art and visuals of this piece are truly amazing, for showing the circumstances isn’t enough, but to really witness and feel all the things that are going on gets points. the plot and characterization had plenty of room for improvement however, I personally enjoyed the probable theme of “majority stupidity” of the story and thought mister Ito very well described it —even if it wasn’t his main purpose, bringing a smirk on my lips, a bitter smile better say.
many love Gyo more than this one, as I’ve seen, but personally Remina, herself and the planet, and the story itself (!) gradually found their way into my top three favorites by the magnificent mister Ito. even though he did not intend to imply any specific concept, I interpret a lot from this story. perhaps this is the main reason why I became so invested.
Also, the ending reminded me of Uzumaki, trying not to spoil anything. although i admit Uzumaki had if not a better ending (which to me was) but indeed a good approach and preparation for it. Not that Remina was rushed, it was long enough, but still the ending was too R.L. Stinish rather than Junji Itoish! If you know, you know!
Remina, standing besides Uzumaki and Tomine remains amongst mister Ito’s best works. as story of apocalypse, there’s no need for introducing the “horror” or “cosmic horror” genres, for fear, terror and chaos is evidently intertwined with the word ‘apocalypse’ that a shiver slides down our back by even hearing it.
the art and visuals of this piece are truly amazing, for showing the circumstances isn’t enough, but to really witness and feel all the things that are going on gets points. the plot and characterization had plenty of room for improvement however, I personally enjoyed the probable theme of “majority stupidity” of the story and thought mister Ito very well described it —even if it wasn’t his main purpose, bringing a smirk on my lips, a bitter smile better say.
many love Gyo more than this one, as I’ve seen, but personally Remina, herself and the planet, and the story itself (!) gradually found their way into my top three favorites by the magnificent mister Ito. even though he did not intend to imply any specific concept, I interpret a lot from this story. perhaps this is the main reason why I became so invested.
Also, the ending reminded me of Uzumaki, trying not to spoil anything. although i admit Uzumaki had if not a better ending (which to me was) but indeed a good approach and preparation for it. Not that Remina was rushed, it was long enough, but still the ending was too R.L. Stinish rather than Junji Itoish! If you know, you know!
December 5, 2022
Dopo che un pianeta sconosciuto emerge fuori da un wormhole divenendo visibile a diversi anni luce dalla Terra, il professor Oguro, suo scopritore, battezza il nuovo e misterioso corpo celeste dandogli il nome di sua figlia Remina, recando ad entrambi fama e notorietà.
Ma quando il nuovo pianeta, che si presto essere invece qualcosa di ben più antico e diverso, inizia a far rotta verso la Terra, facendo sparire fagocitandoli tutti i mondi che incontra sul suo inesorabile cammino, l’umanità intera cade terrorizzata nel Caos, incolpando la sventurata Remina e suo padre della rovina incombente, e dando sfogo ai propri istinti più bassi ed abietti in un tripudio di violenza, disperazione, e follia collettiva che si concluderà solo con l’apocalisse e l’annientamento totale.
Un appassionante ed agghiacciante manga dall'impressionante potenza visiva che omaggia il vecchio cinema di fantascienza anni ‘50 e l’orrore cosmico di H. P. Lovecraft, che mi ha tenuto incollato a leggere dalla prima all’ultima terrificante pagina.
Purtroppo gran parte della trama si riassume ad essere un lungo, estenuante ed assurdo inseguimento, dove la tutt'altro che memorabile protagonista ne passa davvero di tutti i colori, al punto che alla fine ho dovuto sospendere la mia incredulità su come ella conservi intatta alla fine dell’ordalia gran parte della sua integrità fisica e mentale, lasciandomi trascinare dall’azione frenetica e perdendomi senza troppi rimpianti in questo agghiacciante caleidoscopio di orrore e distruzione che è Remina di Junji Itō, e che mi ha ricordato non poco l’apocalisse del Devilman di Go Nagai, gli orrori barkeriani che caratterizzano Berserk del compianto Kentaro Miura, ma anche l’inquietante e splendido Perfect Blue di Satoshi Kon, dove l’adorazione delle masse verso la giovane protagonista finisce con l’essere troppo per una mente malata, degenerando in ossessione e furia omicida.
Menzione d’onore per Unione Universale, breve racconto autoconclusivo a base di hikikomori e body horror in appendice al volume che, nonostante il forzato a mio parere twist finale, mi ha lasciato sgomento e soddisfatto a fine lettura, rimanendo a lungo nella mia mente, quasi strisciando sottopelle e dandomi la pelle d’oca.
Cinque stelle mancate di un soffio per un volume una spanna sotto Tomie, che avevo letto pochi giorni prima e che mi aveva impressionato maggiormente, ma comunque meritevole di acquisto da parte di tutti gli appassionati del maestro dell’orrore giapponese Junji Itō.
September 5, 2024
Hellstar Remina might be better classified as science fiction, similar to Black Paradox, which I read recently.
As usual, Junji Ito’s work will make you feel a sense of dread, especially this time with an apocalyptic theme where a 'hellstar' planet threatens Earth.
However, overall, I feel the story is somewhat dragged out.
As usual, Junji Ito’s work will make you feel a sense of dread, especially this time with an apocalyptic theme where a 'hellstar' planet threatens Earth.
However, overall, I feel the story is somewhat dragged out.
February 20, 2020
Cósmico y aterrador. Excelente, como todo lo de Junji!
December 26, 2021
Better than Dissolving Classroom and Gyo but not as good as Tomie or Uzumaki
Overall,
⭐⭐⭐
OR
☄️☄️☄️
Overall,
⭐⭐⭐
OR
☄️☄️☄️
December 17, 2020
This is probably one of my all time favorite Ito covers, and the art inside is amazing as usual, but this is definitely one of his weakest stories. A scientist discovers a new planet and names it after his daughter, Remina. However, Remina is incapable of making decisions for herself, and she just gets shoved and dragged around for most of the book. When she isn't passed out she's crying. I think I would have liked this one a lot better if she had been a stronger character. It was still a fun read.
January 16, 2022
my first Junji Ito!!!!!! (and I loved it)
August 13, 2021
When people talk about Ito's work, they generally describe his out there premises, the bloody psychological horror, and the artistry of his deranged facial expressions. This volume had all of those tied to the story of the mass breakdown of society due to the arrival in the solar system of a plant-eating malevolent entity. But this focuses more on the derangement of people who look for any and all coincidental explanations to stave off bad events, no matter how unlikely or insane. There are some great set pieces (the round the world chase in lower gravity is really interesting) and while the characters are a bit cardboard and the plot a tad predictable, the sheer overwhelmingness of the art and plot beats makes this a very compelling and disturbing read.
**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
**Thanks to the artist, publisher, and NetGalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
March 1, 2024
A new extrasolar planet is discovered, and the astronomer decides to name it after his daughter, Remina. All very sweet, but this is a Junji Ito manga, so we know things will go Horrifically Wrong. Sure enough, the planet quickly begins to exhibit all kinds of unusual characteristics. It wanders about, seemingly under its own power. Stars in its vicinity seem to vanish. And then it begins to head toward Earth, at an impossible rate of speed. What's the worst that could happen? Rest assured that, as bad as you're imagining, Junji Ito has imagined worse. That's why we buy his manga.
Sure, there are implausibilities galore. But they don't particularly matter. It's Ito. It's all supernatural and grotesque and horrific. It's what he does, and he does it well.
Honestly, this book didn't have the same impact for me as some of his others. It's good. It's imaginative. It's fantastic. But there's a certain spark I get from books like Gyo and Uzumaki that just isn't present in Remina. It's perhaps not fair to compare this to his best. It's decent for what it is, and, compared to other manga, it really is quite good. But compared to other Junji Ito manga I've read, it's just average. Your mileage may vary.
Sure, there are implausibilities galore. But they don't particularly matter. It's Ito. It's all supernatural and grotesque and horrific. It's what he does, and he does it well.
Honestly, this book didn't have the same impact for me as some of his others. It's good. It's imaginative. It's fantastic. But there's a certain spark I get from books like Gyo and Uzumaki that just isn't present in Remina. It's perhaps not fair to compare this to his best. It's decent for what it is, and, compared to other manga, it really is quite good. But compared to other Junji Ito manga I've read, it's just average. Your mileage may vary.
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