This is a new anime series I've been eagerly anticipating, as I greatly enjoy Ito's work, but I would be lying if I didn't admit to some initial feelings of disappointment with this adaptation. Somehow, I missed out on the 2012 version of Gyo, and the 2000 live action Uzumaki film could only do so much, really. Nevertheless, there have been some pretty decent anime adaptations of classic manga over the last few years, such as Parasyte and JoJo's, so I was hopeful about this new anthology of Ito's stories.
Unfortunately, things got off to a rocky start. As much as I would like to jump on the bandwagon and say Ito can do no wrong, it's simply inevitable that such a prolific body of work would include a few clunkers. For some reason, the very first story used in this series is just such a clunker. I think it's fair to say that one of the main reasons Ito is so revered among horror manga fans is the visceral punch typically included at the end of his one-offs; the sickening dread that increases with each turn of the page until the final bit of most shocking imagery assaults your eyes in gory detail. However, the first story, "Souichi's Convenient Curses", lacks this critical element. And even though two stories are included in each episode, over twenty minutes of the first offering's twenty-three minute run time are devoted to this lackluster entry.
To compensate for this poor start, the first episode concludes with a very brief adaptation of "Hellish Doll Funeral", which has decent shock factor at the end. The second episode also picks up the slack with "Fashion Model" and "Long Dreams" which have much better imagery and are paced more evenly as well. My hope is that this trend of improvement continues as the series progresses, climaxing in the spring with two "Tomie" OVAs, which look promising.
Storytelling aside, I also have some gripes about the overall production quality in general. If not outright poor, some of the music choices are at least confusing. Studio Deen is a real mixed bag for me anyway, but I feel like they missed a huge opportunity to dive hardcore into sound design and music to set a mood appropriate for such revered source material.
As for visuals, I appreciate that they seem to be experimenting a bit with the art style from story to story, tending to opt for an appropriately retro feel. That's probably the best way to handle an anthology series like this. However, from what I've seen so far, they haven't yet captured the magic of Ito's original visuals. And that may in fact be the Achilles heel of this entire project. I'm not sure it's possible with the resources of a TV anime to deliver the kind of graphic detail that has come to define Ito's manga while also capitalizing on the value of an animated medium to, you know, show these images in motion. When this anime does finally reach one of Ito's big shock moments, they still fall back on still images as a way to let them add detail. And at that point, I feel like I'm better served to just stick with the manga.
I still enjoy this series for what it is. But I'm left with the question: do I like the anime itself, or do I just like it because it's Junji Ito? If this were an original series with it's own stories, I don't think it would be compelling enough on its own to keep me interested. There is nothing spectacular about the production itself, and it comes across as lacking vision and passion. It's worth checking out for long-time Ito fans, but for everyone else who might be interested, I'd say just check out the manga.
--The Anime Hipster