Statues: Junji Ito Story Collection Hardcover Overview | 10 New Stories from Manga Horror Master!

Ajouté : 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]from Nearmint Condition, the home of Collected Editions. I can't believe they're giving us manga in this format.

[00:00:05][music] It's insane. And it's still ongoing.

[00:00:13]>> [music] >> How's it going all you minties? This is the Uncanny Omar from Nearmint Condition, the home of Collected Editions. Today, I'm going to give you my overview of the latest Junji Ito story collection from Viz Media. We are looking at Statues. So, please join me.

[00:00:41]And here we have the latest Junji Ito collection. I love that at one time it was so difficult to get Junji Ito manga here in America. They couldn't even call it Junji Ito, like he wasn't a household name. Not that he is now.

[00:00:58]Here's the spine of the book.

[00:00:59]But, you do see Uzumaki shirts like at Hot Topic or Target or even Walmart.

[00:01:05]It's just kind of crazy how much he has blown up here in probably the last decade or so. But, I mean, there were manga that was I think it was brought over here. It was called the Museum of Terror. I love that stuff, but it was basically Tomie. But, this is Statues and what this will have inside are 10 different stories. So, we are looking at the latest horror anthology and much like the other Junji Ito hard covers, it doesn't have a dust jacket. It's just the art on board and this has a glossy finish to it.

[00:01:36]And Statues itself has a glossier finish to it.

[00:01:42]And then here's the back of the book retailing for $25.

[00:01:47]So, let's go ahead and open it up and look at some of this artwork in here and talk about some of the stories that you will find in this collection.

[00:01:56]Okay. Let's go ahead and get this open.

[00:02:00]And there's your end sheets right here.

[00:02:03]Not sure if you can tell or not, but there is a pattern with the end paper.

[00:02:08]And then black and white. The entire book is in black and white. Table of contents, Red Thread, The Giver, The Bridge, The Circus Has Come to Town, which is so weird, Hoarder Nest, Town of Maps, Statues Dying Young, Scarecrow, and Suicide Note. Those are the 10 stories you're going to see collected in here.

[00:02:26]The book has 328 pages and retails for $25.

[00:02:32]Now, I'm not going to go talk about every one of these stories because I want people to be genuinely surprised, especially if you're a big fan of Junji Ito and you're already getting this.

[00:02:43]Uh I'll give you a brief synopsis. Like, for example, the first story is called the Red Thread.

[00:02:49]And it's kind of a really Okay, it's an understatement to call Junji Ito weird and and unusual stories because that's what he does best. But, this is all a take on the What is that called? The Red Thread? The Red Thread of Destiny?

[00:03:09]Uh but, we meet the character of Ishitomo, this guy right here, who his girlfriend has just left him. So, Momoko broke up with him and one day he wakes up and he notices that he has red thread across his wrist. And his friends are kind of mocking him, kind of uh hinting at the fact that he perhaps he has tried to commit suicide because this girl has left him. And he's like, "No, I haven't." And he's trying to cut the thread, but he says, "Oh my gosh, this is like tough as steel."

[00:03:41]So, he's convinced that something is going on. Somebody is doing this to him. And then these threads just start appearing throughout his body.

[00:03:52]And his grandfather gets involved.

[00:03:55]And his grandfather says, "Well, it's got to be Senningbari. That's exactly what it has to be." And the family's like, "No." And the grandfather's like, "Yeah, it is. Actually, you know what?

[00:04:07]It's your grandmother that's doing it."

[00:04:08]So, one night he's kind of staying up and he's asking his grandmother, who has passed away, to come and actually try to sew some more thread on him, kind of threatening her.

[00:04:18]Well, she shows up with a bunch of ghosts, but did it really happen as he wakes up? Was it a dream? Well, what do you think is going to happen when he gets to school and he notices that his face has more red threads on it.

[00:04:31]If you read Junji Ito stories, you probably know where this is going.

[00:04:36]Uh does it have anything to do with Momoko or is it Ishitomo that is actually um making these things happen throughout the story?

[00:04:45]And I'm going to skip a little bit through here cuz I'm not like I mentioned, I'm not going to talk about each and every one of these. Some of them are creepier than others. Some of them are just right down weird. This is the bridge. It's about this woman right here uh who actually ends up trying to find her grandmother. Her grandmother's asked for help and Kanako's trying to get there, but she sees a ghost on the bridge and she runs over. Anyway, it's all got to do with this tradition that happens uh about a bridge. Now, the circus is one of the most weirdest stories. It's about this circus that ends up luring the locals. So, they go from town to town, city to city, and luring locals to become performers for the chance to win the hand of this acrobat right here, Miss Layla.

[00:05:42]So, that that that isn't that weird because he has told stories like that. But, this one doesn't have a lot of body horror.

[00:05:52]I I mean, there are characters that die through here, especially when they're trying to compete for her hand.

[00:05:57]And they drop like flies and die horrible deaths. But, what this one really focuses more on and what a lot of these stories kind of are brought together by is this weird human nature.

[00:06:10]Like, how almost out of character people act.

[00:06:15]Like, this is so weird for people to like throw away their lives for just a chance at a beautiful girl.

[00:06:20]And it's almost like you're looking and reading the story going, "What Why would you even try to do that?" But, it's not the only time that you will find yourself saying that because the more you read these stories and the more you read about Junji Ito's stories, um you do start almost talking to the characters, kind of like you would during a horror movie, unless you're watching it with friends. Don't do that.

[00:06:41]Don't be that person, please. But, it's almost like, "What? That makes no logical sense. Why would you go and and and make these decisions?" It's almost like illogical decisions that characters are making, but that that really there lies the beauty of what a Junji Ito story is. Uh Town of Maps is Okay, I wanted to talk about The Circus one is the one that is really weird. Statues. So, the book is called Statues, so I guess I'll talk about this particular story. This really focuses on three different characters. You have the character of this young lady right here, Rumi.

[00:07:16]And then some friend of hers, I guess, or her boyfriend. Uh this is Shimada.

[00:07:22]And then the guy that he is helping.

[00:07:25]This is Mr. Okabe. And he's working with statues. And they're really creepy.

[00:07:30]They're headless statues.

[00:07:32]Uh this one actually, you can probably guess where this is going. These headless statues perhaps start coming to life. Perhaps it has something to do with Mr. Okabe and a deal that he made, but he Apparently, they're after some heads.

[00:07:48]And maybe maybe the character of Shimada and Mr. Okabe haven't had a head to begin with.

[00:07:57]And that's all I will say about that until you yourself uh can read about it.

[00:08:02]And Scarecrow. Let's talk about Scarecrow. Kind of give you the premise of Scarecrow. Scarecrow is it's more like uh you have a group of grieving relatives and they're trying to bring their loved ones back from the dead.

[00:08:20]Uh but, they're using scarecrows to bring them back to uh from the dead. And they Scarecrows like take the likeness of their deceased loved ones.

[00:08:30]And you can probably tell where this is going. Again, like illogical decisions that characters are making and you're yelling like, "What the hell? Why would you do that?" And that's the last one I'll talk about. The art varies cuz I think these were done through different periods. Some of them you can see the contrast looks a lot different like his use of black and white and more so like the detailed artwork that he uses later on.

[00:08:53]And then you have about the author here, a little bit about Junji Ito.

[00:08:59]Something that they don't really do is actually advertise the other books about the translation and when some of these stories were published. Now, as far as the binding and the build, it is sewn binding and printed in this matte paper stock. A little bit of bleed through happening, but not much. Again, this book has a total of two or 328 pages retailing for $25. That as they say is that. If you're interested in purchasing this latest hardcover from Viz, don't forget to check out our sponsors. If you're in Europe and you're interested in buying these books, definitely check out Walt's Comic Shop in Berlin, Germany. They have the cheapest pre-order prices, flat shipping rate of 12 euros for all EU countries, emails answered within 24 hours, waltscomicshop.com, and you can use the code nearmintcondition at checkout and get free shipping for all EU countries with your first order over 40 euros. That's Walt's Comic Shop, your reliable source for omnibuses and premium collected editions in Europe. Ding.

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[00:10:31]cheapgraphicnovels, your source for the hottest books with the kind of deep discount, quality shipping, and customer service that will keep you coming back for more. And that was the content and page count of this particular collection. In the comments down below, let me know if you have been getting all of Junji Ito in hardcover format, and if the horror genre is one of your favorite genres in manga. But that is it, everybody. Don't forget to hit that like button on the way out.

[00:10:56]Stay healthy and safe out there. Much love.