Junji Ito’s Most Disturbing Story
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ธ.ค. 2024
- WORLDSMITHS ➤ nebula.tv/vide...
Go watch our video on the author of this story himself, Junji Ito! You will absolutely be shocked how wholesome a video about a guy who makes stories like this can truly be. Definitely worth giving a watch, along with all the other videos in the series! Only available over on Nebula.
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The Enigma of Amigara Faults is perhaps Junji Ito’s best-known story, but also one of the hardest to understand. For such a simple story, it’s got a shocking amount of depth.
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This story fully traumatised me as a teenager. The idea that there is a spot for you in metaphorical and literal hell no matter the time period freaked me out.
Traumatized me when I was in 4th grade lol
Traumatized me as an adult!
It is called, "Despair."
And the best part is that it is true.
There is a place for you, if you like, to fit perfectly into... Destruction. Your destruction and the annihilation of every good thing around you.
You can make hell right where you are! The hole is here. Waiting. And you can always choose to enter it...
Except...
...
That's not true either. Because the hole was made for you as you are when you discover it and humans do not long remain as they are. If you were to grow, to develop yourself so that you no longer fit the hole...
Well you would not be in heaven, but you would no longer fit into hell.
I read it for the first time when I was around 10 and I think it's the biggest reason almost nothing ever shocks me anymore.
Best part is, Junji Ito doesn't put this amount of thought into his horror, he just goes, you know what would be fucked up? And then he draws it.
Godspeed
Junji draw, fans theorise, we get life lesson
Exactly why I love his work so much. Most of his stories don’t have a set meaning, so interpretations and theories are wild.
Following in the great tradition much like Alfred Hitchcock. It's not the monster that frightens us but what could lurking in the dark. It gives us just enough to go off of and the imagination fills in the gaps and art by it's nature is open to interpretation and personal to the beholder.
Haha for real
I think Junji Ito is the only author who could make a story about human shaped holes in a mountain and use it as a metaphor for Japan's social pressure for young people to get in the job market and be sucessfull no matter what. Having done it purposelly or not...is still a work of genius.
Uh, no. If it was accidental, it’s just luck.
I don't think it was on purpose, it's just an artist in his craft. But still, that doesn't negate our interpretations.
@@edenwayne8407 Yea but where does art come from, you know. Is it pure coincidence that artists who have experienced the Cold War and the fear of nuclear annihilation include a lot of that dread in their works? The horrors we imagine are in some form based on our world. Even if unintended, the influences are sometimes hard to ignore.
It was probably subconsciously made that way
even if he didn’t intentionally insert that meaning, the fact that you got that out of it is a clever interpretation
I think what’s most horrific is that the people in the holes make it to the other side. You’d think that halfway through, you’d suffocate to death, or starve, or die of thirst, or the deformation of the tunnel would prevent you from moving any further and you simply die of your injuries, or a wrong angle of the rock would break your neck and paralyze you. For all intents and purposes, no one should make it to the end of the fault.
The implication that those who walk in make it to the other side means that SOMETHING in the fault compels them to do so. Something stronger than pain or death or exhaustion, that keeps them alive and suffering, until they reach the very end.
The thing is that they are implied to be alive the entire time.
I thought the fault was slightly tilted? Seems like at least at some point, they're being pushed through the rest of the fault by gravity.
@@Frredster thats not really how it works. gravity in the hole would have to be, like, several times the amount of earth's gravity in order to forcefully push someone through an increasingly warped passageway.
@@atomdecay yeah, but that dude was saying that you would go through via gravity, when thats not how it would work. I agree with you though, i think it is like a “every time you struggle it only gets worse” thing
Im not claustrophobic, but the character getting scared after getting stuck in the hole scared me the most that I couldnt look at the panel for too long. Something about being trapped helpless with no way back scared the heck outta me.
This is how John Edward Jones must have felt
for me the first half is horrific but not the exit of tunnel part, the idea of your body twisting is just too silly (also it appears too many times in his comic so it isn't as scary)
@@fakestory1753 admittedly yeah, the end does seem a little silly with the stretched out figure, I guess because it seems unrealistic (obviously) to the feeling of wanting to go into the hole to begin with, but I guess it's for that weird horror factor to have some conclusion on what happened those who went in the mountains
I love this story.
While knives, guns, or other weapons may seem dangerous, Junji managed to make a hole wey more frightening that any of these. The way it manipulates you mind, it drives you insane and only when you are desperate and near to a mental breakdown, and then it sucks you in and begins slowly but constantly tear your entire body apart. It's a supernatural entity that only wants to kill the very essence of you in every possible way. And the best part, is that it's always there. Is not something you can escape from, because it's right there, in the mountain. It won't follow you. You will follow it.
the bottomless pit has always been a terrifying prospect, for all human history.
@@jamjar1726 unfortunately, it is not bottomless. The story ends with the shame of what you've become for the world to see. You might be unrecognizable, but they just need to see what was on the opposite side. This hole is life itself. It will fuck you up. Nothing to do about it. It is the shame to come. That which follows you always. You are never good enough. Life is hell, for it is horrifying.
As I said above, that hole is life itself. I am afraid to enter it. Terrified of it, yet I've been in there since my first cry. We are born screaming.
Okay but can I fill it with concrete
@@NoiseDay no. Thats just it, you know; you can’t fill it with concrete, because there isn’t any more room for concrete, or anything else. That space is already spoken for, and already occupied. No room for concrete, because the hole is already filled….with you.
Ito's very deliberate inclusion of a couple of tiny, child sized holes casually mixed in with the rest is the part that truly disturbs me. No focus is given to them, they're just there in the background, and once you notice them (especially in hindsight) its just another layer of true despair. The man is a master not only of high octane in-your-face eldritch abominations, but also subtle horrors that'll get you on the re-read
+JazzyCat Oh my god, there were KIDS destined for that? That's really sad.
(EDIT) Eep, I see them now... How did I miss that extra bit of nightmare fuel!?
Holy shit I never even noticed
If one interprets the story as people's lives being shaped by time and outside pressure, then the inclusion of "adult-shaped" holes is the odder choice.
2:24
For those who‘d like a timestamp. And no, I didn‘t register them until they were pointed out. =/
Maybe they were just for... small people
“I am a broken doll and can never be fixed”
That hit me straight in the heart. That was me, once.
I'm in that phase of my life right now and trying to claw myself out of it.
Hmm, reminds me of Hazbin Hotel. Velvet? I see where Viv got the story from. Maybe her unconsciousness or research? I dont know. 🤔
@@NoiseDay yeah, I was you once. In the video he says you can go back from the tunnel, but in actuality you have to break the the stone around you just to be able to even look back at the light on the other side, and you might be a bit warped already when you come out in the end.
Still, it beats what waits for you on the other side, and it can be done. I went preatty far down, but I did make it back.
It will take time before I can unwarp the parts of me that were damaged, maybe I won't manage in my lifetime, but I can live MY life now, and become who I want to be.
And as broken and warped as I may be, I am happy, and I know you will be too. Keep up the good work in there, you'll get yourself out of this.
“I’m am 14, and this is deep.”
@@ryanb4940 "I am 28 and this is relatable("
When i saw the "other end of the hole" part i had to take a moment to just collect myself, the idea that the long hole would slowly but surely twist and turn until you became like that is so horrifying, your body would gradually start adjusting to whatever changes in the shape of the hole and slowly you become like that, sent shivers down my spine
i keep wondering if it hurts, seven months is a long time but not nearly enough to completely adapt to changes as drastic as those so i imagine being stretched and warped would hurt like hell but just enough not to kill you
What’s also is that if you do fully emerge you’ll more than likely collapse in a heap of broken bones after no longer being supported by the rock.
This was weirdly inspiring for such a terrifying story
The compulsion to enter a mold also has a social aspect. How often do parents push their children to pursue a different path because their answer to "what do you want to be" is not satisfactory?
This is mostly personal because as a kid I wanted to be a marine biologist but my dad wanted me to be an engineer (I found a compromise and am going to be spending a year on a submarine doing repairs)
@@someoneawesome8717 You almost became Jotaro
@@someoneawesome8717 Follow your inner Jotaro bro. Just make sure not to have your daughter lose against the gay priest trying to go fast
@@furiousdestroyah9999 I never watched JJBA but the fact I have similarities to a character is pretty cool, and I look forward to the glowing deep ocean fuckery next year
I remember being asked what i wanted to be when I was like 4, I said a singer and they dismissed it.. I love art but because of my fear that they'll just tell me it's not a real job or that I won't make enough money from it I ended up changing my "want to be" to surgeon, nurse, gynecologist, scientist, lawyer since those sounded more practical
I'm currently studying microbiology coz I felt that it sounded more complex than just studying biology, and would make them more contented
Fortunately, I've started getting more in touch with my artistic side during my time in uni.. I even got myself an art mentor who teaches me the ropes every now and then when I'm not busy
I think this story is also a fitting metaphor for harmful compulsions like drug addiction, that can change people until they are unrecognizable.
Sometimes we have bad habits and we cannot fully repent due to not fully cured of our passions. Voluntary and Involuntary sins. Repenting is a struggle. That is why God said that it is better to repent sooner than later. Sometimes people are meant to sin as well. Thou not judge for reasons. You not in control, only God is. Fate..and free will intertwined? 🤔 ☦
@@Featheryfaith7 not everyone is religious
The metaphor goes just as much for working a job we hate or staying in a relationship that's tearing us down from the inside as it does for drug use.
Often when we try something new there's a lot of pleasure and very little pain, but over time that pain grows. Meanwhile, we can slowly become dependant on the very thing that's hurting us. It still provides a certain amount of support.
Eventually, we can find ourselves in a situation that's pretty much all pain and no pleasure and the pain of getting out would be just as bad or even worse than the pain of continuing.
@@finn2828 yeah but i think thats how they interpreted it.Honestly based off their other comments i don’t think they are the kind of person to hardcore spam religious stuff.
drug addiction doesn't take in account quite a few of the story's elements, although considering them with the idea of drug addiction is pretty funny
I always interpreted this story as moreso being about that horrendous feeling when you're standing on top of of a tall tower or at the edge of a roaring river and your brain tells you to jump, even if you've never felt suicidal, for seemingly no reason at all. Something about "This is my hole, its made for me" makes me feel the same way that tug to oblivion always does. Forever dreadful, forever demanding. That being said the interpretation in the video kicks ass and I love it
The call of the void
As someone with harm OCD, this is how I've always interpreted it. But seeing how OCD has twisted me as a person, I suppose the video's interpretation is also apt for me :')
Ragnarox went into this actually, real cool vid aswell!
Interesting comment, so, near the manufacturer factory I work for, there's a dirty river, when the storm comes, this river grows exponencially, but the main question persist, why if there are two bridges, one old af and the other made 5 years ago, I pick the abandoned one?
Well, kinda gives you that perspective of being so close to fall to that fury water, but a lot of people walks over the old abandoned bridge with metal structure too. You can also see a forest while you walk that little bridge, but the will to jump is still there, no matter how good life's going, you think, what would happen?
"This is my hole, it's made for me."
O_O
I love how almost every one of his stories is a different phobia. Like the fear of spirals (Uzumaki), Fear of seduction ig (Tomie) and fear of tight spaces (The enigma of something I forgor). It’s something so cool that I feel specifically targets specific people to really make them disturbed
I feel like the enigma of something is more like body dysmorphia horror, It was what scared me the most at least
The Enigma of Amigara Fault.
I feel dissolving beauty is more fitting of fear of seduction, that's my opinion though.
@@simpbane yeah, that sound better.
@@WhiteTiger950 The Enigg-
This is a nice perspective on this story. The story also makes me think of OCD, how I always feel the need to overthink and break myself down, because it feels right to do. Like the feelings of self hatred and giving up are too hard to resist, and that if I keep going with it, I’ll become an empty shell with a life not truly lived.
But I can always walk away
"It's you... made wrong"
That concept is so fucking horrifying and I wish more media made masterpieces related to the topic
So many really fascinating body horror stories focus on that. A mind unwillingly trapped in a body of someone else’s design, or worse, the same mind, slowly convinced the body is right, and good.
like the "Us", "The Thing", etc.,
Disfigurement, amputation and other unrecoverable conditions are so scary for the same reason.
You'll never be whole again, missing a literally piece of yourself, less then what you could've been.
Perhaps that could be used as a metaphor for body dysmorphia?
@@claramonti3889literally me (i have gender dysphoria)
This story was the first story i read from Junji Ito. He's so good at visualising feelings that every has experienced but is never able to put into words.
I think there is also a flipside to the horror, not shown in the manga: the dread of NOT finding that hole when everyone else does. Imagine being there in a group and all the others find their holes and go while you're left behind. You don't know about the warping happening, all you know is that somehow, there was something 'made' for everyone else but you. You are alone, forgotten, left behind. Maybe that's more sad than horror inducing, but it is a thing I thought about
I know this is an old comment, but man I was about to write something very similar, mainly off the 'finding your niche' bit; since it's hitting very close to home right now. Living as a person without a 'you shaped hole' is very isolating.
Or the non realisation of not needing to fit a pre determined hole so as to not end up like the rest....but then human life is structured in such a way that without fitting into any hole means the very end of your existential worth.
@@changsangma1915 that’s very true and very sad, unfortunately
I get what you mean but I rather not find mines because I'll just die-
This is exactly what i had in mind when i read the story.
"How about those who dont get hole :(("
I read this when I was 12, I found it at a mobile library that visited the reservation I lived on once a month since we were really isolated and had no good access to books. I don’t even remember how I chose the book, I just remember reading it. I didn’t know what story it was but it completely stuck in my mind for years until I was 17. Then I found more junji ito books online, and I thought it looked so familiar. It was like a fever dream to realize that he was the author of a story that completely terrified me when I was a preteen, one that I kept in the back of my mind until adulthood.
I've said it before, but what I love about Junji Ito is that his horror is wide-scale. This isn't something affecting only a single family while the world goes on as normal; it represents a horror that ends life for that setting as they knew it.
This analysis of the story is fantastic. The artist is from Japan, a country with a strict education and work force mandate that, I’ve heard, shapes its youth to become successful members of society from an early age. I can see the artist having those experiences in the back of his mind as he drew his manga.
Well said
Also in the main guy's nightmare he sees (or imagines) that the holes were created by some paleolithic ancestor as a punishment. So society made you that hole because it hates you, and you owe it to society to enter the hole because you DESERVE it. People want to go into the holes but none of them are HAPPY to, even the frenetic first man we see go in looks harried and driven, not excited. And though you might want to just relax and be a young person (the campers) and pursue happiness and fulfillment (when he hooks up with the other visitor) in the end, you OWE IT TO YOUR ANCESTORS to go in the hole and become... unrecognizable. Crushed. Mindless. Spent.
That's the ideal anyway, nevermind that few actually achieve it. It's pretty bad. Mental illness, abuse, etc.
"The Artist is from japan, a country with a strict education and work force mandate".
Youre talking like its only in Japan. Thats what we call CAPITALISM brother. Many countries are Capitalism.
Groom kids to function like a robot for the system without questions. Exploiting people till death. Work work work and doesnt get the benefits that they deserve.
Many of Ito’s stories are known to be direct criticisms of Japanese culture from the pressure for quiet conformity at cost to your individual identity to Gyo’s very pointed call-out of Japan’s “science” developed during WW2.
Ive read a bunch of his work, but Id say the most unnerving Junji Ito story, for me, is the one about that guy with a time-dilating dreaming illness.
Where every-time he goes to sleep he will progressively experience a longer and longer period of time within his dreams.
To the point where the time he experiences in a dream lengthen past his actual lifetime, and he starts losing his mind and crumbles away.
Which to me is such a uncomfortable concept of dreams overlapping reality to the point where you cant tell which is the dream and what is reality.
What is the title of the story ???
@@harpreetkaur4719 i believe its called “Long Dream”
Long Dream is the one that truly filled me with fear. I couldn't sleep after I first read it.
Long Dream was my first Junji Ito! Hard to forget it, especially when you have no idea what you're getting into
If I’m eating good, I would not care, it is what it is
One thing I always wondered about this story: what happens when the twisted people come out? Are they monsters now? Will they just flop onto the ground in a groaning heap? Like, they're clearly still alive impossible as it would seem so... what ARE they?
Human.
Isn't it so perfectly awful?
@@Delcat42 yes
I don't think they're alive. Even if they are they should probably be on the cusp of death given how much time it takes to get from one side to the other (I imagine anyway). I think if they come out, they'll just die from the impact of hitting the ground.
@@hysterical5408 I think this is the best case scenario and it is now my teddy bear for when I imagine *that* coming up the stairs to my bedroom, thank you good soul 🙏
the one question I have is pretty similar too, how did they move forward if they couldnt move back
Interestingly and unintuitively, the more you explained the metaphor behind the mold, the less it disturbed me. Because I realised that I already broke out of my mold. I do computer science, but I also do mixed martial arts. I love science, but consider myself a feeler. I like pretty things, but I love go-karting. I used to disallow myself from feeling what I wanted to feel, but no longer.
I get that, I'm punk who also likes love joy and mcyts an author who reads classics, a comic book video game and ttrpg nerd whos plan career wise comes second to the people I want around me, my hobbies free time and pets when I envision my adult life
Same, it disturbed me a lot more before all of it got explained
Tbh I'm more disturbed by all of the in-depth analyses than the actual story itself.
I want to be that. I want to be that so badly. There’s no taking back my progress into the Fault as it stands, but I can still probably shimmy back. I’m not what I used to be, but I will be what I am regardless.
The only flaw in the whole metaphor of Amigara Fault is the implication I got in the hole, and wasn’t shoved and tamped in like a cannon ball.
Junji ito is my favorite manga artist, because his stories have deep meanings and they grasp the concept of our thoughts and the way most of us live,or think. He makes us realize that people really don't seem to be what they appear. And most of his stories has some sort of creatures,which are really just people who could not devine what they truly are. The concept of being judged,looked down on, bullied,lied to and even more is truly disgusting. But my point is his stories seem relatable and have a meaning. I call this the fruit of the eye. I don't know why I decided on that name,but it suits it bests. I can't find the words to explain it,but just reading it explains it all.. thanks for reading this if you made it this far.
I had a similar reading of the story. Most of the people in the story found their holes and decided willingly, even happily, to climb inside. If you asked them why they'd want to, what's so great about these holes, I doubt they'd give you an intelligible answer, but it's a moot point because no one actually DOES question it. What disturbed me most about th he story is how the deuteragonists are both anxious and afraid of entering their holes, and so they both decide okay, we just won't go. And then in the middle of the night... they go in anyhow. We never find out why.
Perhaps an analogy to how even the stronger people who don't approve of following the masses come to a point where they understand it's the only thing really left to do in order to follow societal expectations? Like having a job even if you shouldn't have it because everyone needs a home and food and you can't just live without the money tied to it. Either that or some supernatural shit lol, I'm still convinced this whole story is about how deadly societal expectations can be and seems very clear when I view it through that lens
Perhaps an analogy to how even the stronger people who don't approve of following the masses come to a point where they understand it's the only thing really left to do in order to follow societal expectations? Like having a job even if you shouldn't have it because everyone needs a home and food and you can't just live without the money tied to it. Either that or some supernatural shit lol, I'm still convinced this whole story is about how deadly societal expectations can be and seems very clear when I view it through that lens
Peer pressure
@@mrtiredeyes But how does one live without a job or money?
@@insertname1841 Exactly - you don't. Hence why they still went. There was no other way.
Ito Junji is a genius. He has a talent for grabbing and pulling out the most disturbing human fears, and visualizing it into a story, with a well suiting drawing style.
I once let a friend rummage through my manga shelf, paying no mind to it.
Suddenly she screams "WTF is this? Why do you have this? Are you insane?"
I turn to her thinking she must have stumbled upon some raunchy scene I had forgotten about.
Nope. She had started reading Tomie. She was at the "hair" part and freaking out.
I justified myself saying Junji Ito is a reknown master of Horror and many have his books.
She calmed down a bit but was still pretty shaken.
She made me realise the impact Junji Ito can have, his work truly is disturbing.
Tomie ... was the first work i read from junji ito .... and i fell in love with it ...
Your friend is a lame fkin normie lmao
And then all the books clapped
@@Nonexistent_Music there's always that one guy...
@@ae9581 Ty, if I didn’t say it then nobody else would.
I saw this video pop up in my recommended several times, and even put it in my watch later playlist, but this time I decided to watch it. And I'm so glad I did. The amount of relatability I have now that I wouldn't have if I watched the video immediately is wild. As somebody still trying to find their place in the world and their sense of self, or "hole", this really resonated with me, and I'll be thinking about this for quite a while. Thanks so much for making this!!
I think it is reallt eerie how compelled I was to go out and buy this story once I heard everyone talking about it. It is like it was meant for me
Huh, i actually never thought about it, and it’s such a shame! This “hole”/“path” is a thing that followed me all the way from times when i was 7, when i was trying to shape my identity into something I would’ve actually love, thinking i would be happy.
Man, I saw this as a 10 yr old, guy narrating it, first ever manga I’ve watched and seen, was super mesmerised with the story but also scared shitless with it, went down a rabbit hole of psychological horror manga, best stuff I’ve seen, huge respect for Junji Ito and artists on the same department.
bro... you good?
lol i thought i waz the only one. forgot abt it 4 a few years, rediscovered it pretty recently
I watched it too when I was around 8 or 9 and the guy that was narrating was terror TV (I am not sure of the name as I don't remember it now)
You see the artwork from PTSD Radio? That shits honestly more eerie to me
Me too
For me, the most disturbing aspect of Junji Ito's stories was the fact that i have no idea of the where and why he got his stories from. It's the dark unknown that's the most horrifying for me. Revealing it as a mere metaphor in real life takes much of the fear away.
That’s why I prefer to take Ito’s stories at face value at the most part. His stories are never character driven, and the protagonists aren’t developed. In most of his stories, the characters don’t suffer because they made a mistake or lapse in moral judgment. They usually just end up in this horrifying situation that will destroy them with no recourse or reason.
@@nathanielrodriguez1873 it's quite like Japanese folklore in that regard. In some other folklore, people get cursed or attacked by angry supernatural forces for doing something wrong. In much Japanese folklore? Bad things just happen. It is no fault of the characters or their family or anything. It just... happens. It's honestly more terrifying to me that way.
We do know he get a lot of it from his own fears and other things he have seen or heard.
@@fluffyphoenix8082 And most of the time, no matter what they do, they're pretty much dead the second they encounter some entitiy...
There are tricks that can get them out of it, but a lot of the time, it's just an either or, and both options lead to death.
Ever read *Uzumaki* ?
this was the story that caused me to buy all his books and as much junji stuff as possible, i came across it one day while at an overnight shift as a carer on a digital manga site, idk what site it was but im grateful, this story was and still is amazing and is a very strong story to start on for the junjiverse.
11:56 the way he said ''the transformation'' sent shivers down my spine, just like the entire story.
Breaking down manga storylines too???? This is OFFICIALLY my most favorite channel ever. Thank you guys, everyone that works on these. I cannot express how much I appreciate the content and this community. Thank you so much 🙏🏼
I love coming to these videos and getting genuinely good writing and personal advice. I find myself writing not for the love of it but for money and it's been killing my mood. It wasn't until I saw this video that I could put something like that into words.
I was trapped in my own little enclosure that was shaping me and I didn't even know it.
When it showed the warped human shapes, knowing that transformation is what awaited all those unknowing poor souls who entered their holes, I literally felt the fear squirming in me for a moment.
That moment made me literally pause the video for some good minutes, minutes that felt horrible
When I read it I felt the cold breeze she talks about when she was in the hole, that feeling didn't disappear after some days and I'm from a tropical country
somehow this feels like a metaphor for depression. shutting yourself off and coming out of it, you're no longer like who you were before
discovering this story and reading it online in sixth grade was my first introduction to junji itos existence and it truly affected me sm back then, i love it. its also shamefully the only junji ito work ive actually read in full
I was NOT prepared for the analization that this is a metaphor for childhood molds.
I have always loved animals, biology is my favorite subject and I'd love to have a positive impact on the world. Growing up I always said I wanted to be a vet. My family ran with that, because it makes a lot of money. Older realitives still ask me about it, and I've been out of high-school for over 5 years, and I had learned in high-school that I didn't want to go through that. The schooling, the hard decisions to make with a creatures life, the fact that you have to put down animals and euthanize them.
They so desperately want me to fit their mold. Be more feminine. Get a better job. Lose weight. Get a tan. Make more money. Get this job. Be pretty in the way we want you to be pretty.
This video was haunting for me. I felt my chest get tight. They so desperately want me to fit their mold of what they want me to be, and they don't really care about how it mangles me. My whole life it's been a up hill battle and fight to simply be myself and do things I enjoy and want to do. My grandmother has given me a complex about cutting my hair, as each time as a child I'd come home with a trim and she'd whine "ohhhh! You cut your hair! Mawmaw wishes you hadn't!"
You be your individual self.
In this modern day it's hard to not fall in line with the views and desires of our peers, because it's just... easier to do that.
But to be who YOU want to be, to be the person YOU want to be, takes a lot of will and courage, because people will always criticize you for it.
You can't make everyone happy, but in the end, it's your life and you should pursue what makes you happy, not what makes others happy because they said so.
Define who you are, and love yourself and seek happiness. These aren't simple steps for many, for sure. But they're worth pursuing.
Who knew the real monster all along was capitalism
OH..
The same reason I wanted to and then didn't become a vet.
This hit me in the gut. Because your entire first paragraph is literally ME. From 2nd grade I’ve said I wanted to be a vet. By 10th grade id realized school was too stressful for me. Having to do surgery or put down a pet would be even more stressful. I decided against it.
11th grade, i showed interest in doing my hair. My mom wanted to be a cosmetologist but never pursued her dream. I graduated high-school at 16. She told me i wasn’t allowed to go to college… she had no issue putting me in cosmetology school though. I didn’t even get to choose the school. I was left money to do what i wanted with…. I had to use that money to pay for schooling that i didn’t want. Now my mom will make comments like “why did I send you to cosmetology school if you won’t even do my hair.”
I literally just hate my life
"What do you want to be when you grow up?"
Me, age 10: I want to be a writer.
My mom, my uncles, my teachers, pretty much every single adult in my life at that point except for one: But how are you going to make money?
My grandmother: Go for it. Here's a pen, here's a notebook, we'll go get some more books on the weekend.
Twenty-five years later, I've yet to realize that dream outside the odd magazine publication, anthology colaboration, and a live literary broadcast project we've been building up for some time now, but thanks to that one push from that one person, though I have to work a job I don't much care for, at least I didn't throw my dream away and forgot about it completely. It's still there, periodically being woken up whenever inspiration or a chance to dust it off hit, which is more than many of my friends from back then who also wanted to be something else can say. Grandma isn't here anymore, I didn't get a chance to show her how much her encouragement meant, but someday I'm still hoping she'll look down from wherever and approve.
What's your name?
Go for it! I wish you good luck in your endeavors!
Your grandmother was based.
Gotta love grandma ❗️🙏🏽 my condolences
Should’ve dreamt to become a doctor bro
I adore how everyone has a different most disturbing story from Ito
This was an amazing take on the story! Made me think of how we do get twisted into unrecognisable forms if we don't think and mold our thoughts on a conscious level.
The Enigma is something I always interpreted as the Grottos or Tunnels of Time, and how the entropy of life mutates, deforms and twists humans with experience that overwhelms them greatly. Where the evolution is discomforting and grotesque through the grottos of time.
i read this manga waaay way too young. im not ready to revisit it, honestly just thinking about it makes me feel genuinely nauseous. but its still a masterpiece of storytelling that it created that effect in the first place. i already had a fear of tight spaces, tunnels especially, and this was the perfect cocktail to get under my skin. a very well crafted story. i think its about a loss of control - once you've been broken down enough, a fixation that has presented itself to you will seem like a fantastic idea, no matter what it is, it transcends logic. it's your hole - it was made for you. so you step in, and immediately the consequences are ahead of you. there is no choice except to go forward to meet them.
This... was one of the most comforting videos I have ever watched...
I did let the fault decide what my hole was once... then I stepped back out seeing that it wasn't going to be me on the other side... only to step right into another hole the fault had chosen for me... after stepping out the second time I decided to really look at myself an then the exit holes. It was those that I should define my way with and I am now traveling through the hole I chose for myself. I may be shaped to fit into a mold, but a mold I chose knowing that I could be me still. And now I don't feel like I have to be ashamed of how long it took me... that I never knew who I was, because you're right. You are not, you become. Ever and always. And if you're lucky you become something that makes you happy.
Nicely put!
You will suffer. But the beauty of consciousness is that you may choose your suffering and the purpose of that suffering.
Very proud of you. Good job.
This story for me too has been the most disturbing and spine chilling from Junji Ito, it truly shocked me as a teenager many years ago.
the thing about junji ito's work is that his work is not really 'horror'.
i will never call his work 'horror'. his work is 'disturbing'. my first manga was tomie, because it was kinda like a trend. moreover, my friend recommended it to me. i thought that damn tomie is a badass character. but then i started reading his other mangas. my whole perspective towards his work changed. first i thought that his work is horror but it not really horror, it is something really messed up. he makes us feel like such accidents are happening to us in real life. which makes his work even more creepy.
So, what is horror?
I would definitely call it horror. Horror isn't extreme fear in an of itself, though fear is definitely part of it. Horror is more a sense of profound wrongness. The feeling that whatever is happening right now, simply shouldn't be.
I understand where you're coming from but it's disturbing because it's horrific in a way that's more subtle than what we think about when we mention "horror" as a genre. So it's horror, just a different kind of horror
It's called psychological horror.
Yes exactly, his works make me confused and shock, they disturb my life and my vision to life, my vision to reality and everything around me.. Not necessarly made me panic.. But it is like i am entering a new phase of awakening in my life
This story encapsulates everything that’s so terrifying about the body horror subgenre, as well as the idea of the death of one’s humanity and identity in general. It also is a masterclass in the existential horror subgenre.
this, you put it the best way, ever since i finished the first season of the anime "Made in abyss" ive though of the fact that for me, one of the biggest fears, one that creeps me up not in night only but also in day is fearing loosing your humanity, im still not quite sure why, theres obvious reasons but i feel like theres more to it than the combination of the reasons i think theres something so interesting about fearing loosing your humanity that makes me so terrified, more than death itself really, its just soo terrifyig seeing what a person used to be, to then see what they stopped being
@@marmolejomartinezjoseemili9043 the more disturbing aspect is how the viewer is tasked with determining when humanity ends and the other creature’s existence begins.
@@Tarnished-bn5gq that is disturbing, the transformation itself, youre defenely right, but i still think its more disturbing to think about the concept of loosing your humanity itself so like the broader concept but you are very right in that the transformation itself is important and where one thing starts and the other ends is sometimes dificult to really know and understand
defenetly a very underated topic which more horror should use and for us to understand it more
@@marmolejomartinezjoseemili9043 I don’t think it’s very hard to determine when identity death occurs, as it visibly happens when the front head/brain does.
However you’re right about how the very concept of such a scenario makes body horror so disturbing.
@@Tarnished-bn5gq i mean, fisically yeah, its easy, but sort of "philosofically" or from the perspective of the person who goes through that process its diferent, because as this video implies, when does anyone stop being who they are and more importantly:
who are we? what determines who we are?our identity... and individuality...? the concept of "i"
also, in real life people havent quite "lost" their humanity, but they have been robed of some of it, especially people who went through "lobotomy" the worse surgery in history
I used to be deathly afraid of this story. It messed with me when I was younger. Junji Ito in general, I had the opportunity to read Gyo book form and this story was at the end. I reread it, the metaphor of compulsion speaks to me.
This was my first Junji Ito Manga, and I simply couldn't had a better introduction into Junji Ito's work
It was also my first story by him. I personally loved Black Bird and A Town Without Streets. I also enjoyed Travelogue of a Succubus.
Same, just read it today which is why I'm here! Can't wait to get into the others!
The horror of compulsion and body horror are my two favorite flavors of horror, so I absolutely love Junji Ito
Thank you for covering this, my whole life so far has been about self discovery, and this helped.
*Me seeing video*: “Neat! A perfect listen while I do chores”
*Proceeds to get slapped with a call out of existential proportions*
This isn't going to be something a lot of you can relate to, but I vividly remember reading the Fault as a teenager and relating it to my experience going through puberty. Due to a defect, my testosterone was too high in puberty, and so for me it was like hell. I came out of it infertile, tall, wide, my voice was all messed up, I had hair on my face. I felt like I was dying. It took years to fix my body afterwards, and there's a lot I can't fix, ever, no matter what I do.
For me, the Fault is about how puberty destroyed my body, and the horror of being unable to run from what it turned me into.
The commentary on predetermination is also what gets me. Since there is a hole shaped like a kid it's safe to assume that the whole also predicts exactly when you will go inside of it. As kids can grow half a centimeter in some days. So the whole perfectly predicted when you will come to see it, and when exactly you will be undeniably compulsed to enter in.
That just struck another chord of horror inside me.
If you have a hole, you *WILL* go in it.
This is a fascinating take. I’d like to just make space and acknowledge that adults come in all sizes too. Especially considering how certain disabilities effect growth.
Its cosmic horror at such a brilliantly small scale. The void compels them, it draws them inward. It calls to them on a visceral level. Then it twists and contorts them. The void swallowing all they were and contorting them into unrecognizable forms. You can see it as a metaphor for our own inner desires to see things we were not meant to see. Love this work, so many ways to look at it.
His short story about the long night is relatable to me as sometimes, outside of my control, I have dreams spanning days, weeks, months and even years. They’re not terribly common but nevertheless the confusion from the detachment is always there.
I feel like a key wording (in english anyway) was each of them saying “it IS me, it’s shaped just like me, this is MY hole” etc. the concept of self is so strong here, it’s almost unnerving that these younger folks have that strong of a sense of self at their age… and i feel like a lot of that plays into the horror of the story also: To be so sure (and so compulsive) at the early to mid 20s age, and to have yourself mangled by the one decision to slide into the unknown.
But as someone with body dysmorphia it definitely terrified me to see these people so sure of themselves become mangled and twisted to the point of unrecognizable.
I’d also be curious to see what the id ego and superego in such a story would be, I’m not as prolific of a writer to be able to do the deep dive in as cohesive a way as Tale Foundry
Now I think about it "it is ME, it's my hole" and the story, and the video, screams so loudly about "individuality". This endless pursuit of "being yourself" and ignoring everything around you. The illusion of having found a truly unique and unique path, and this path is only yours......
Also, as somebody else pointed out, there are child-sized holes in Amigara Fault. The inexorable and compulsive meat grinder disguised as a rock eats children.
I would love to buy his manga for Christmas. The Spiral, Tomie, The Enigma, etc. His artwork and other horror artists inspire me to want to draw horror too. Psychological and body horror is my thing.
It's just Spiral, there's more than one spiral, and it's the Enigma of Amigara Fault.
Uzumaki aka Spiral is my personal favorite, right next to this one. I’m so glad its getting an anime adaption.
@@prof.laytonfan764 I've been so excited since it was announced. I can only hope they include the most iconic scene with the spiral girl. Since some adaptions left it out
just read online. why waste money on buying manga when you can read for free?
if you buy the gyo hardcover edition it comes with the enigma of amigara fault in it as a side story
I love this video! I would've never drawn this from the original short manga, and I am glad I get to see a variety of perspectives on Ito's (as well as many others) work! All your videos are excellent too, btw...
This channel is giving me existential dread, but it's so good I can't stop watching
Junji-san: Bruh, I was just drawing a story about human shaped holes.
The path already traveled might be safe, but is it fulfilling? Does it really let you be your best self? Does it let you truly live? My answer is no, no it doesn't.
Amarga Fault will always be horrific to me not because of the human extrusion mold but because it's so unapologetic about showing the horror of being trapped on a path you never wanted to be on. It's too easy to throw away your passions, throw away your humanity, to take the safe path, that's what the world expects from you after all.
People let themselves be molded into husks of themselves out of fear, too scared of the future to pursue what they truly care about. It takes a tremendous amount of strength to resist the holes but giving into them will only lead to a shallow, sad, hollow life where you've sacrificed yourself to be in society's rigged system.
+Hop the Scorbunny That was brilliant. O.O
Brilliantly articulated
This sums up my experience with gender dysphoria with an eerie exactitude. Living to painfully fit inside a hole that its mysterious safety appeals to you, made _specifically_ for you, tailored to the uncanny similarity of your silhouette, the well-known path to adulthood - where you will also be painfully warped into a shape you would barely even be able to recognize yourself in. I feel this dissonant disconnection every time I look at old pictures of me, and this somehow nails to describe this familiar feeling. To stay in this claustrophobic hole is to lose authenticity, to throw away any other possibility of what you could've become, to abandon passions and everything that is really meaningful in order to fit a hole made "for you" by others who have no idea of who you actually are. To carve your own figure is to be familiarized with the scary dark side of the moon, with the unknown territory of self, and this beautiful venture is worth every painful step taken. If you managed to reach this far, thank you for reading, I appreciate your attention, and have a nice day.
Society and rules have their purpose, though. I'd be a hypocrite to suggest that trying to "be yourself" is a bad or wrong way of going about - I naturally lean a lot closer toward my own interests than anyone else's. But I think society and peer review are just as important - and just as dangerous in excess - as individuality and true freedom. To add my personal testimony to it, I think I'd be a conventionally better person if I let peer pressure and fear do their magic.
@@pomelo9518 What is?
This story made me a Junji Ito fan. I was horrified by it, and absolutely love it. Junji Ito makes such horrifying environments and sets and I'm living for it.
Junji Ito never disappoints
This is also the first Junji Ito story I read and it still remains one of my favorites. Your channel has such a unique aesthetic and this video has really changed my perspective about things. I'm clicking the subscribe button. This was really good and I thank the TH-cam algorithm for bringing me this video
Goth is not sadness. Goth is art and beauty in black with a love for fantasy.
This was the first of his short stories I read after reading Uzumaki, and it TRAUMATIZED me for years. It took me 10 years to reread it, even as he quickly became one of my favorite authors. I would always have to skip or avoid this one story.
I still hate the Jack In the Box chapter of Uzumaki
Is there something wrong with me? I just laughed at the disfigured bodies.. ;-;
@@emptyallen3334 is a fine reaction. The line between fear and funny is very thin
It’s fascinating to hear this interpretation. I had always been a little jealous of people whom I thought knew what they wanted to do from a young age. I usually get bored of whatever field of interest I explore rather quickly, usually somewhere around 4-8 years. Music, building, art, writing, video games, sewing, fashion, etc., no matter what I will eventually stop enjoying it and move on to something new. It’s always been a source of frustration for me, and makes me seriously worry about my future and whether I would be able to hold a stable job for more than 3 years.
But listening to this reminds me that honestly wouldn’t have it any other way. The knowledge that I acquire during those brief stints of interest often help me with future interests, especially writing (that and art are the two interests that haven’t left, although they have diminished somewhat). I can take the knowledge I’ve accumulated and put it into my writing so that I may create unique and fascinating stories, if not simply more realistic ones.
Thank you for the encouragement, Tale Foundry. I will continue to strive toward improvement and keep learning so I may expand my stories even further.
That was the first story I read from Junji Ito before I fell into the rabbit hole of his mysterious and disturbing stories. That might also be that one story I could never forget from him. But weirdly enough, I discovered this story from a Markiplier video where he referenced a human shaped hole in one of his endings from "A Heist with Markiplier". Junji Ito is truly a chilling experience. How can a human being think about such disturbing possibilities?
I just found this story from that same video!
It’s crazy how junji ito you’re such a wholesome looking man goodbye his brain can create stories is so horrifying that they can even freak out adults and teens. Some of these are scarier than most horror movies or gore videos.
I can foggily remember reading this years ago as a kid, I don't remember how or exactly when, early internet days for sure. I guess it was a stumble in the night while trying to spook myself. I rediscovered it recently and it was so odd, the imagery felt like a dream my brain had made up manifesting into reality. I was finally able to dive into this dude's works and dig into the beautiful horror. This is my favorite due to that rare fever dream moment, he is such a fantastic artist.
This reminds me of the concept of Neti Neti, which in Sanskrit means “not this, nor that”. It’s used as a meditation focus to help people understand that the true self is beyond concepts like profession, personality, role in society, etc. It’s hard to condense it all here but meditating on the idea does help unravel the conditioning that things we perceive to be identity are predetermined or templated. HealthyGamerGG talks about the concept better than I ever could in “Why do I get so mad when others are wrong”. I watched that video yesterday and now watching this and feeling the horrors of how we accept external influences to define us is definitely an experience.
Love me some Dr. K. :)
-Benji, showrunner
The fact that you so accurately rendered the carving of the hole to such an extent during the “what do you want to be “ segment is seriously impressive. I immediately got the unsettling realization you must have reading the enigma.
Also it’s impressive because most people don’t capture the horror and sheer dread when trying to recreate that
this story is also something that really disturbed me as someone with ocd. I'm not saying that was the intent of the story, but the compulsive aspect just reminded me so much of the fears my intrusive thoughts have instilled in me, the paranoia that I could "give into them" and be some kind of monster
That's why I'm not disturbed by the story, because I know my identity will never be fixed, it changes throughout life and I constantly learn every day
"They found their hole"
THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID
My first Junji Ito work was Gyo, and though I do really appreciate the story, I couldn't help but finding myself preferring TEOAF, which came as a bonus in the hardback copy.
Usually I don't recognise the stories spoken about on this channel, and just like to hear someone passionately speaking about art and philosophy, but it was a pleasant surprise to see the thumbnail and instantly know where it was from.
A lot of the later points/ideas in this video are actually surprisingly similar to a realization I came to about my life recently. For a long time I was putting a lot of pressure on myself to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, to set an end point so that I could actually figure out what I needed to do to get there. And that'd be fine if it worked, but that mentality was really only resulting in me being paralyzed with fear of picking the wrong thing or something happening along the way that i could never have planned for, the whole thing is about worrying about what to do with my life after all, a lot changes over time like that, and in unpreictable ways. What I realized recently was that I don't have to figure the whole thing out now, if I do a bit more work I can put together what I would need to do any of the things that i could want to, and figure the rest out when I get there. It's less about identity here, I've never wanted to compress my identity down to one thing, I've pretty much always known that's a bad idea, but with my understanding of the world, the best chance someone has to succeed is to focus on one thing and do it well. And that likely is still true. But I don't necessarily have to take the best path overall, if it is not the best for me and my life personally.
Junji Ito is a really interesting guy, I'd love to meet him.
Some people see their life as a book, others - as a library
I remember coming across this story as a kid and now that I’m older it still makes me uneasy
Enigma is by far my favorite of Ito's works because you can interpret it in so many ways and it would all make sense. The story can be a direct interpretation of the "Call of the Void", it can also be interpreted as a social commentary on "wanting to conform to everyone else and losing yourself because of it", it can also be a commentary on "drug addiction and how an irrational addiction to something may lead to drastic and disastrous changes to oneself", there's also a religious undertone of "humans are all devoid of free will and inevitably fall under the false sense of security that they are in control when metaphysical forces are the ones pulling the strings", and many more. There's even the moral implication of "predetermination", wherein something else has already predetermined a child's future since birth, and they become distorted and shackled because of it, unable to escape. The concept of "losing oneself" to become a mere cog in the never ending machine. Ito blends all those things seamlessly it appears. And that's why his brand of horror is so striking and compelling, but most importantly, *HORRIFYING*
Oh man. This was my first junji ito story. As much as I love his work, none of them creeped me out as much as this. Great video!
Looks like we both went straight for the deep end lmao
I’m 18 and, lately, I’ve felt bad that I still have no idea what I want to do for a living. I’m not in college, I’m not looking for a job, I’m just living at home with my parents while cycling through more hobbies than I can list off the top of my head. Meanwhile, my friends already have a career path chosen and the next several years of their lives planned. However, watching this video comforted me. Perhaps, instead of feeling guilty for having no plans for my future, I should feel glad.
You gave me the final push to finally subscribe to Nebula and Curiosity stream. And I'm not disappointed. Thank you mate!
When I was younger, an old man had said to me " to be young again," and I responded with " to be old having a life". As I looked to the future with unknowing, he looked at his past with experience. Both of us blind to the present. Love your work. Thank you for your time.
I ran into this story on tumblr not knowing anything about Junji Ito and I swear I was traumatized by it. That final frame is a nightmare fuel and I had to work for such a long time to stop it from haunting me. Thank you for bringing up those repressed memories.. lol Great vid though
Much of Junji Ito's work is centered around things that are particularly frightening in a Japanese cultural context. This story is actually a commentary on the collectivist nature of Japanese society, a collectivism that even many Japanese find stifling. Yet the group pressure forces people to fit into the molds that Japanese society permits. To refuse to conform is to be excluded.
i honestly love his works so much. i hate horror movies but his "horror" is so fascinating, its too good to missed out on.
i picked up this story from the back end from my auntie's bookshelf, at the time I was between the ages of 7 till 9. Once Ive finished reading the book, there was a lingering sensation in my grandma's home, I didnt know it until years later that I was paranoid, crazy how much of a toll that book took on me, I even had several nightmares and sometimes stood awake. It was either sleep or staying awake, both of which were terrifying to me. I read the manga again recently, and it was still unnerving and freaky till this day
The most inspiring Tale Foundry video I’ve seen. Wonderful work, makes me feel a lot better.
This story terrified me too when I read it years ago. I felt a similar (less severe?) kind of horror going into college and choosing a major. I switched so many times because choosing just one path, that I didn't even know if I would like, was so terrifyingly uncertain. Everyone around me said that the things I was truly cared about - art, writing, theatre, could never make a profitable career. I ended up leaving because to choose anything else felt like a trap.
Thank you for this video and the comforting message!
This is by far my favorite video from this channel, really puts things into perspective.
I always lamented not being where/who I wanted to be at this point in my life, but the thought that maybe even if I was I'd still wouldn't be happy or content did cross my mind, only for me to dismiss it, this makes me think that maybe I should be thankful for where/who I am currently, while never giving up on my dream and never forgetting what actually matters.
There was an Easter egg of this in one of the endings of ”Heist with Markiplier”. I had never heard of The Enigma before, and I was instantly captivated by the idea
I doubt I can really add more to the already overwhelming positive feedback, but I thought I'd add my two-cents regardless.
Not only do I enjoy your narration, but I, too, desire to be a writer. I had been forced to try the infamous college route, but after 7 years and being told I have to do more, I decided enough was enough. My mother was not happy I dropped out, and she still isn't, but what bothers me nowadays isn't the whole "what are you going to be" question, but rather "why don't you go back? You're so intelligent!"
My one high school English teacher made a statement to me that has really stuck with me for all these years: "You are more than capable of being placed in AP English next year, but your lack of dedication to homework disappointments me." So for him, the reason I could not be placed in an advanced, college-level English course was because "I didn't do my homework good enough" despite me "having a talent".
So I guess it goes to show that even talent, intelligence, or even choice alone don't mean a damn thing unless it conforms to everything else, because the world itself is horrifically stifling.
As a side note: I only needed 2 required classes to graduate as a double major in Japanese and English. But I required another 1+ years to "fulfill time requirements" and could even add 3 more minors in that duration. Bullshit, if you ask me.
really well-done and thoughtful video! i definitely never would have thought of it that way. unfortunately, whenever i'm confronted with this story, my thoughts sort of begin and end with "just don't go in the hole? who cares if it was made for you. just don't go in there. just Don't. walk away and do not approach the hole." so it ends up being very difficult for me to really understand why other people find it scary. this helps me understand! i remember a friend of mine a long time ago also compared the holes to addiction.
goddamn, that "I'm a broken doll and I'll never be fixed" got to me. I know it's about the character but I realized how many times I've said something similar about myself....this is a bit of a wake up call