Junji Ito fans rejoice. Since, not only is one of his best-known books, Uzumaki, being faithfully adapted for television, but Netflix has also chosen to throw its hat into the ring with its own take on the horror bibliography ‘ his.
The brand new animated anthology series Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre will be a compilation of twenty of the author’s short stories, many of which have never been produced for the big screen in any form before.
According to sources, the news was first made during Netflix’s Geeked Week in June 2022. It is likely that followers of Junji Ito’s work will remember that this isn’t the first time that an attempt has been made to collect a collection of short stories.
The new style Netflix series was similar to that of The Junji Ito Collection, which was published for the first time in 2018 and adapted a pair of short stories into an anthology.
However, the short-lived series received harsh criticism for failing to adequately convey the sheer terror that emanated from Ito’s original inked pages.
Given that Uzumaki appears to be shaping up to be a particularly faithful adaptation let’s keep our fingers crossed that Netflix can pull off something just as impressive. The information we currently have about Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is listed below.
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre Official Release Date
On January 19, 2023, Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre will be available to stream on Netflix worldwide.
Uzumaki, Junji Ito’s other significant animated work, was initially scheduled for release in October 2022 but was postponed to make sure the highest quality finished version. It looks like Maniac will hopefully release on schedule based on the most up-to-date master art that has been made public.
Plot Details Of Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre
This brand new collection of stories by Junji Ito will be an animated horror anthology. Twenty stories will be adapted, some of which have been given names in advance, including “The Hanging Balloons,” “Souichi,” “The Long Hair in the Attic,” and a few others.
It is not clear how these stories will relate to one another, either thematically or narratively. There is also no scarcity of awesome content that can be presented on screen, particularly since several stories will be animated for the first time.
Major Casts Of Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre
Being an anthology, we can anticipate a sizeable cast of voice actors to bring Junji Ito’s characters to life. Anime fans may recognize some of the voice casts, including Yuki Kaji, best known for his turn as Shoto on My Hero Academia; Yoko Hikasa, best known for her role as the voice of Mio on K-On; and Fumiko Orikasa, best known for her role as Rukia Kuchiki on Bleach are only a few of the numerous outstanding artists currently available here.
There is still room for much more talent to join the team as less than half of the stories have been announced so far. Therefore, the main artists we will see in this upcoming manga include
1. Rie Suegara as Tomie
2. Yumiri Hanamori as Tsukiko Izumisawa
3. Yuji Mitsuya as Soichi
4. Hiro Shimono as Oshikiri
5. Takahiro Sakurai as Kazuya Hikizuri
6. Riho Sugiyama voices Kazuko Morinaka
7. Daisuke Kishio voices Shinya Shiraishi
8. Iori Nomizu voices Kagumi Fujin
9. Taku Yashiro as Yamazaki
10. Tomokazu Sugita voiced Tachi
11. Hiroyuki Yoshino voiced Kimata
Who Is Junji Ito?
Junji Ito, probably the most famous manga creators, is well known for his numerous horror works. Ito has a large cult following fueled by his creations such as the two-volume narrative Gyo and the three-volume Uzumaki series.
Ito is known for his distinctive and very strange art style, which is present in all his works, which are often called body horror stories or cosmic horror stories.
The Tomie manga, which appeared in Halloween Monthly from 1987 to 2000, is one of Ito’s best-known creations. Ito was active during the previous decades. Junji Ito Maniac, the name of the new series, is an anime adaptation of 20 stories by a widely known manga author.
On July 31, 1963, Junji Ito was born in the city of Sakashita, which is now part of Nakatsugawa, Gifu. He first encountered the horror genre when he was quite young, reading Kazuo Umezu’s Mummy Teacher as his first manga. At the age of 4, Ito started creating comics, taking inspiration from the stories he read in magazines.
