The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

Mimi's Tales of Terror

What's It About? 

University student Mimi and her boyfriend Naoto encounter one chilling mystery after another. There's the enigmatic neighbor woman dressed in black from head to toe—but if she's so odd, why does it seem like there are many others like her? Then, whose eyes track Mimi's movements from the cemetery next door? And why does a bizarre red circle draw on a basement wall change with each passing day?

Nine scary stories that happened, drawn from the famed collection of urban legends Shin Mimibukuro (New Earmuffs) and adapted into manga by horror genius Junji Ito!

Mimi’s Tales of Terror has a story by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama, with art by Junji Ito. English translation and adaptation by Jocelyne Allen, with lettering and touch-up by Eric Erber. Published by Viz Media (October 24, 2023).


Content Warning: depiction of suicide

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman

Rating:

Mimi’s Tales of Terror isn't, strictly speaking, a Junji Ito anthology of the kind we seem to have every time we do this guide. It's an adaptation of Shin Mimibukuro, a collection of urban legends and “true” supernatural experiences, and Ito has joined them all together with the characters of Mimi and her boyfriend Naoto, who wander through a world that's more than tenuously linked to another, darker plane. While some of Ito's signature scares are present, it comes across as a much less polished work, which honestly is kind of refreshing and feels like it gives Ito a chance to stretch his wings a bit.

The stories don't span any specific amount of time, although Mimi and Naoto appear to be in college for the entire book. They vary in length as well, from only three pages to around fifty. This gives the impression that Mimi's experiencing all of them because there's no real rhyme or reason to her encounters with the supernatural; the lack of uniformity breeds veracity, at least to a degree. Mimi's reactions are always to be at least a little freaked out (or very, in at least one case), but she always seems to base her fear on the actual situation: a mysterious underground room with an expanding red spot on the wall is objectively more alarming than, for example, a narcissistic body builder who turns gravestones around so that they're “looking” at him.

That last example should also give you an idea of the range of the stories in terms of how serious they are. That bodybuilder tale is an actual story in the book, and while Ito still does manage to get some genuine creepiness out of it, the sheer insanity of the premise helps to keep things from being too upsetting, although the idea of someone manhandling grave markers may be enough to pick some readers out all on its own. Many of the pieces have the distinct feel of an urban legend or local folklore – elongated shadows that look like people or hanging dead women who birth grim shadows as they rot aren't too far off from women in white or weeping women by the river. Other stories combine the two sensibilities very nicely, such as the tale about a strange woman built of extendable metal limbs, which is both scary and feels like the sort of story school kids would tell at sleepovers. The book does contain one Ito original at the end, and if it isn't his strongest, it still is pretty good, and it does fit into the theme of the book pretty well.

I don't love the attempts to replicate a Kansai accent in the English translation – it isn't bad, it just feels like trying a bit too hard. But this is just as interesting as any of Ito's other adaptations and it fits in with his oeuvre well. It's kind of Junji Ito Lite, and there's nothing wrong with that.

MrAJCosplay

Rating:

Jesus Christ, this woman is going to need so much therapy. Mimi’s Tales of Terror is Junji Ito's adaptation of a series of pre-established stories and legends. I preface this because I can't fault everything I was dissatisfied with to the horror visionary himself. I'm not familiar with the original stories that these are based on, although I am aware that those original stories did influence a lot of Japanese horror media. That said, Mimi’s Tales of Terror is probably my least favorite book with Junji Ito's name on it to date. There is no payoff or intrigue to many of the spooky events.

This book is a series of short stories revolving around supernatural events that happened to a young Japanese woman named Mimi. I don't know what god she pissed off in a past life to have all these paranormal events randomly happening around her. But if the stories were written specifically to make readers feel bad for her, then mission accomplished. As far as I can tell, she's just an average woman who constantly runs into weird supernatural phenomena, but as early as the first chapter, some of these stories feel out of place. One or two of them are somewhat fleshed out and end on an uncomfortable note, like when she goes to the beach with her friends, but others are just a few pages long. Ito introduces an unsettling thing, and the chapter ends as quickly as it came. This routine is set in chapter one and repeats from there. Naturally, the artwork is impressive and deeply unsettling, but this is far from the first book by Junji Ito that I would recommend to people.