Title: SensorAuthor: Junji Ito
First Published: November 7, 2019
Publisher: VIZ Media
Pages: 240
Genre: Horror, Shojo
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased
Rating:
Synopsis:
Horror master Junji Ito explores a new frontier with a grand cosmic horror tale in which a mysterious woman has her way with the world!
Did she wander in? Or was she drawn in…?
A woman walks alone at the foot of Mount Sengoku. A man appears, saying he’s been waiting for her, and invites her to a nearby village. Surprisingly, the village is covered in hairlike volcanic glass fibers, and all of it shines a bright gold. At night, when the villagers perform their custom of gazing up at the starry sky, countless unidentified flying objects come raining down on them, the opening act for the terror about to occur.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Cosmic horror and cults, two of some of my favorite themes of Junji Ito’s work. Sensor, originally titled Travelogue of the Succubus is a mish-mash of ideas that tie together into a bizarre story. The first story starts with a beautiful young woman who stumbles upon a haunted town that venerates the “angel hair” that falls from a nearby volcano, this story was wild but interesting.
This manga started off as an idea that gradually evolved farther and farther away from its premise. Ito himself writes in his epilogue that the story was originally envisioned to be about the travels of this mysterious young woman, but it never fully comes to fruition. The second chapter had cult-like religious imagery and the fervent obsession with this singular girl was reminiscent of Remina so it was difficult not to draw parallels. There are some story beats that are good, I particularly enjoyed the chapter with the leaping bugs, but as a whole I had lukewarm feelings about the collection.
It goes without saying that Ito’s artwork is phenomenal, he creates wild imagery that is as fantastical as it is gross, that will always be the strongest part of his work. This wasn’t one of his strongest works in terms of the narrative, and I found myself feeling conflicted overall. As a piece of cosmic horror it was pretty cool, but never reaches the heights of his earlier works. Not bad and I would still recommend it to Ito fans, but would not recommend it as a starting point for his work.
Quote
“We must view the universe, appreciate it, sate ourselves on it.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Junji Ito
Junji Ito is a Japanese horror manga artist. He was inspired from a young age by his older sister’s drawing and Kazuo Umezu’s comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. Nevertheless, upon graduation, he trained as a dental technician, and until the early 1990s, he juggled his dental career with his increasingly successful hobby — even after being selected as the winner of the prestigious Umezu prize for horror manga.
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