Junji Ito's Tomie: The Role of the Monster

Horror has been a staple genre within manga, with women being at the forefront (Dollase, 2010).

“...At least half of Japanese horror stories and films deal with female ghosts and their vengeance. Traditionally in Japanese culture, women who are wronged by men go through a symbolic transformation- beauty into ugliness and cultured into wild. They take revenge upon men, and give a warning to the male-centered culture” -- Dollase (2010)

Outside of the supernatural and vengeance, another common Japanese horror trope is for a woman to be aesthetically pleasing but then be monster-ized upon being wronged (Dollase, 2010). Most times this is done to warn against patriarchal power but it could also be giving a message of powerful women coming off as undesirable (Dollase, 2010). This reasoning could hold up when looking at the short lived progress of the femme fatale trope within Japan (Ima-Izumi, 1998).

However, the relationship between women and horror manga in Japan does not end at tropes. Women of all ages are known to be one of most active demographics of horror manga readers and there has even been a genre created towards women horror manga readers known as: shojo manga (Dollase, 2010).

Shojo manga specifically caters to an all-women audience and discusses themes based around common fears and concerns of women within Japan (Dollase, 2010). Literature explains how themes such as academic competitiveness and women being pitted against one another are common themes within shojo manga (Dollase, 2010).

Tomie (1987) can be considered a shojo horror manga from its first function when Ito submitted it to a contest within the magazine Gekkan Halloween (K & Nobushi, 2019).

Image source: https://blog.worldswithoutend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ring13.jpg

Femme fatale: an attractive and seductive woman, especially one who is likely to cause distress or disaster to a man who becomes involved with her. (Tromly, 2009)

The femme fatale trope on first glance is considered to be a Western trope rooted in the genre of film noir, exhibiting sultry women with conniving intentions (Ima-Izumi, 1998). While this broad glance does fit the base definition of a femme fatale, there are other ways baseline femme fatales have been expressed across cultures. Japan has often been a culture to express vengeful women across genres, but specifically in horror (Dollase, 2018). However, Japanese media within the past has not taken well to the idea of beauty still being present within an 'immoral' woman (Ima-Izumi, 1998).

"In the late forties and fifties...femmes fatales began to appear on the Japanese screen. But not for long. Patriarchal power soon eliminated this phenomenon from the screen." -- Ima-Izumi (1998)

Looking at Ito's work, Tomie (1987), Tomie maintains her beauty even though she exhibits completely undesirable traits such as being insensitively blunt. However, Tomie never drives anyone directly to their demise, which brings the idea of femme fatale into question. Ito brings an uniqueness, to not only revive the femme fatale archetype within Japan; but, to also experiment with it in a new fashion (Ima-Izumi, 1998).

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Junji Ito is a 57 year old horror manga artist known for his bizarre imagery and psychological themes within his works (Lambiek: Comiclopedia, 2020). Over time, Ito has become one of the horror manga industry's most renown artists with famous works such as: Tomie (1987),  Uzimaki (1998) , and  The Engima of Amigara Fault  (2001; Lambiek: Comiclopedia, 2020).

Before becoming a full-time manga artist, Ito was a dental technician, even though he had been illustrating since childhood (K & Nobushi, 2019; Lambiek: Comiclopedia, 2020). Within the late 1980's Ito had illustrated the beginnings of some his most famous works including Tomie (1987). The first inter-workings of Tomie was published to what could be a considered a shojo horror magazine: Gekkan Halloween (K & Nobushi, 2019). Moving forward, the Tomie series was known to be one of Ito's longest tracking works starting in 1987 and having a new release within 2018 (Ito, 1987; Ito, 2018).

Overtime, Ito's works have been brought to other visual mediums such as film (Lambiek: Comiclopedia, 2020). Within the late 1990s Tomie was produced into a  film  and there as even been an  anime adaption of Ito's work based off of one the first manga volumes he released: "The Junji Ito Collection" .

Addressing McCloud's (1993) analysis of comic art style, Junji Ito's Tomie (1987) could be classified as balanced realistic and abstract. Realism can be observed in the anatomically correct figures and correct perspective of the environment (McCloud, 1993). Page 7 [displayed on right] exhibits this with accurately displayed school desks and the anatomically correct figure of Tomie and the students (Ito, p. 7 pn. 3-4; McCloud, 1993).

However, there is still a lacking amount of detail to match McCloud's description of a realistic art style. In place, abstractism steps in to explain the suggestion of detail. An example of this could be the faces displayed throughout each panel on page 7 (Ito, 1987). The curved lines on the lower portion of the face suggest a nose, mouth and lips. Even the block of black within panel 2 suggests Tomie's hair.

Other notable aspects of Ito's art within Tomie is sketchy, lined, shading, and minimal expression lines. This could be considered out of character for manga which is known for using both lines and backgrounds to express psychological reactions. Ito could be making up for this within the shape of word balloons. This can be observed on page 7 panel 4 in which the student's shock in seeing Tomie is characterized by facial expressions and spiked word balloons (Ito, 1987).

image source: Junji Ito - Tomie (1987) p. 7 p. 1-4

The original release of Tomie is a 33 page manga from the perspective of a male student, Yamamoto, in which he is in the same classroom that a student named Tomie who died a horrific death. Specifically, she was cut to pieces. However, after a day or so, Tomie arrives back in the classroom as if nothing had happened. After a mysterious lack of details surrounding the death and investigation of Tomie, we as the reader, are taken back to the lead up and death of Tomie.

The death of Tomie was rooted in an ongoing inappropriate relationship her teacher had with Tomie. One day Tomie decided to try and speak against her teacher about their inappropriate relationship. This caused her teacher and classmates to harass her, ultimately making her stumble off a bridge. After this fall, Tomie did not die but also could not move. Taking this opportunity, the teacher gathered the male students and made them cut Tomie into pieces with him, all while she is still alive.

After the murder was committed, the teacher demanded the students to wrap a piece of Tomie in a cloth and hide it where it could not be found. The new presence of Tomie was a catalyst for both the teacher and students to express the extreme psychological distress caused from the guilt of brutally killing Tomie. The manga ends on the beach where a piece of Tomie is located. Upon observation a new Tomie is growing from the severed piece.

image: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0d/1b/ac/0d1bac339acdea25ab4ab9a9c60a41ec.jpg

Junji Ito uses his original release of Tomie (1987) to twist the femme fatale archetype and to create complex messages regarding victim-blaming, violence, and physical appearance, through descriptive word balloons, and word to picture usage.

image source: https://i.gr-assets.com/image /S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1449586629l/2209458._SX318_.jpg

Tomie could seem like a femme fatale when first reading through (Tromly, 2009). However, when reading closely one begins to observe that it is the people around Tomie that are attempting to push her into the femme fatale role (Tromly, 2009). When on further inspection, she doesn't fit the role at all outside of being perceived as attractive.

By breaking down the definition of femme fatale this is what can be observed:

"A seductive and attractive woman..." -- Tromly (2009)

Tomie does not directly attempt to seduce any characters through word usage or appearance. The closest that is observed is when she lowers her eyes while trying to convince the teacher to come clean to his family about their inappropriate relationship (p. 16 pn. 2; p. 17 pn. 1-3). This action both scares and angers the teacher (p. 17 pn. 1-3).

When addressing attractiveness and age, throughout the manga Tomie is complimented on her physical appearance, even after her murder (Ito, p. 8 pn. 3-4). Tomie herself never talks about her physical appearance but is instead told by others how beautiful she is. It is important to remember that while Tomie's age is not disclosed, she is of school age which can indicate that she is possibly not even an adult.

...especially one who is likely to cause distress or disaster to a man who becomes involved with her." - Tromly (2009)

Tomie was ultimately not the cause of the distress or disaster to others involved with her. Tomie did not trick or entice anyone intentionally. Instead, the people who acted in violence are the cause for their own actions committed against Tomie. Tomie slowly became the scapegoat of the decisions made by others. Decisions that brought both Tomie and others to their own demise. However, several times, characters blame Tomie for their guilt and are convinced that their actions were committed because of Tomie (p. 14 pn. 9). As a reader, one can begin to become suspicious of Tomie just on words alone. If one leans into the characters' reasoning then Tomie begins to look like the vindictive enemy when in reality the characters surrounding were the ones who brutally murdered her (Ito, 1987).

Looking just at Tomie's character, the audience observes a school-aged individual who was groomed into an inappropriate relationship with her teacher, was gossiped about by others in her class, and then was brutally tortured and murdered by her abuser and classmates. And even when she comes back as a supernatural being, she does not enact any form of violence or immorality on those around her. Instead the only people who are causing pain are the people around her. But by addressing several characters' (i.e. the teacher, classmates, Yamamoto) logic, one would assume quite the opposite (Ito, p. 20 pn. 4 p. 14 pn. 9).

Ultimately, Ito paints a terrifyingly sad narrative in which a person is deemed as a monster by the very monsters themselves. Tomie (1987) causes viewers to take a second look at the femme fatale and vengeful woman archetype within manga. This is mostly seen through making the reader question the validity of character perspectives and through determining the situation for oneself.

image source: Junji Ito - Tomie (1987) p. 1 pn. 1

Tomie (1987) causes viewers to take an introspective view on how they are influenced by others' perspectives and the perception of one's situation through the lens of victim blaming.

"Victim blaming: devaluing act that occurs when the victim(s) of a crime or an accident is held responsible — in whole or in part — for the crimes that have been committed against them." -- The Canadian Resource Center for Victims of Crime (2009)

To the characters around Tomie, Tomie was the cause of her own demise and others'. This can be observed when Tomie was directly blamed for her own death by others and was even blamed for the guilt others felt after her death (p. 20 pn. 4 p. 14 pn. 9). Unfortunately, this was not an unusual occurrence for characters to act cruel to Tomie or blame Tomie, on the account of students gossiping about Tomie's life and even proclaiming that she deserved to die (p. 16 pn. 6-7 p. 20 pn. 5).

Giving more focus into the artwork, victim-blaming is mostly seen in moments of panic or stress. This can be observed through spiked word balloons throughout the manga (Ito, 1987, p. 20 pn. 4, p. 14 pn. 9; McCloud, 1993).

In regard to how victim-blaming functions within Ito’s Tomie (1987), Ito could be expressing that on first instinct, blame and guilt is redirected towards Tomie. This first instinct could work to expose the true perception of the surrounding characters. None of the characters stop to question if Tomie deserves or is even guilty of all the blame she receives. She is automatically ridden off as a vindictive individual who has no other motive than to hurt others. As a reader, this mindset can become extremely compelling as characters throughout the story repeatedly express this rhectoric of demonizing Tomie (Ito, 1987, p. 16 pn. 6-7). However, once stepping back and observing the given evidence, the reader can begin to realize that Tomie was not responsible for her own death.

Image source [L-to-R]: Junji Ito - Tomie (1987) p. 16 pn. 6-7; p. 20 pn. 4; p. 28 pn. 5-6

When observing how Ito lets violence function within Tomie (1987), there is a strange absence of  gore and intense body horror that is usually present within his other works  [warning: link contains graphic violence]. Instead, Ito hides Tomie's actual body in whole and focuses on the faces of Tomie and the teacher. McCloud (1993) discusses this expert use of spacing between panels in the sense that the reader will now assume the extent of the violence within Tomie's death. Regardless of death details, readers will also vividly remember the expressions on both the teacher's and Tomie's face during her murder (Ito, p. 22 pn. 5-6; McCloud, 1993).

Ito also strikes an interesting similarity between Tomie's direct murderer and people who only focus on Tomie's appearance. Both individuals wear an insidious expression of knitted eyebrows, a deep shadow cast around the eyes, and a smile. In both of these moments, neither of these individuals show a sense of guilt but instead are aware of their nefarious instincts entirely.

The men and women in this story come across as not being able to help themselves in regard to hurting and even sexualizing Tomie. It almost seems instinctual to individuals to not see her as a whole person anymore but as a punching bag for intrusive, destructive, actions (p. 20 pn. 5-6; p. 8 pn. 4). It is no wonder that Tomie was cast in a certain light of blame by her classmates and teacher. It seems as if they were waiting for their opportunity to do so. Just so they could act selfishly and not confront the consequences.

Ito often reported how women deeply related to Tomie even after the original release (K & Nobushi, 2019). To have what is seen as the monster of the story go through hurt perpetually can begin to shift one's view in who is truly the monster. This messaging of violence and focus on appearance could also reflect the  sorrowing culture surrounding sex-related crimes in Japan that as of 2020, has finally received larger government intervention.  

Image source [L-to-R]: Junji Ito - Tomie (1987) p. 22, pn. 5-6; p. 8 pn. 4

There are only a handful of locations within Ito's Tomie (1987), including the school, Inariyama Mt., and the warehouses.

The school is only observed in brief moments such as when Tomie comes back after her death. While school environments are suggested, with the main example being when Yamamoto and Tomie's class visited the bridge. Ito could have chosen a school environment because of its extreme popularity within shojo horror manga. Another reason could be to convey Tomie's age and the teacher's inappropriate relationship. While we are never told Tomie's age outright, the presence of a school environment can convey the inappropriate power dynamics between the teacher and Tomie. There are also environmental aspects could point to Tomie's age such as showing students playing with a ball while the teacher supervises, and the students having to travel in a group (p. 15 pn. 3; p. 16 pn 1.).

 Inariyama Mountain  holds significance within Ito's Tomie (1987) for being the site of the torture and murder of Tomie (p. 15, pn. 4).  Inariyama Mountain is located in Kyoto, Japan and is a part of the Higashiyama Moutain range. Inariyama Mountain is specifically known for being a holy site within Japan.  Ito's choice to have such a heinous act committed at a holy site could intensify the act of violence itself. It could also help contribute to the theme of supernatural entities such as Tomie. In which she could've gained her ability to duplicate when murdered at this holy site (p. 15, pn. 4).

The warehouses could be present to represent the guilt and fear both the students and teacher fall into after Tomie's death (p. 27 pn. 4). Running from different warehouses to the next, running towards people or running way from authorities (Ito, p. 25 pn. 8, p. 27 pn. 2). The warehouses show the pandemonium-like struggle Tomie's classmates and Tomie's teacher have when attempting to move past the unchecked guilt of their crimes. Compared to other Tomie books, this form of pandemonium-like struggle usually happens before Tomie and others are hurt. An example of this being Ito's Tomie work,  'The Painter'  in which an artist overworks himself into a pandemonium in an attempt to capture Tomie's beauty within a painting (Ito, 1987; Ito, 1996).

Unfortunately, as the Tomie stories have progressed, Tomie herself has lost the role of the anti-femme fatale. As of the third set of chapters (the third volume) Tomie was deemed as a full-on femme fatale when using her physical appearance to purposefully lure men and women alike to their demise. On occasion, Tomie would even lure individuals to  her own demise  [warning: link contains graphic violence] with the goal of growing multiples of herself (Ito, 1996).

There is the question of why Ito would reverse such an provoking twist on a very common trope. While there is no straight forward answer, there could be some information based on Ito's writing preferences. Ito states in a  VizMedia interview  how he has always enjoyed "...classic horror" or having a main monster to fear within his stories. By making Tomie completely immoral and purposeful in her actions, Tomie herself becomes the monster she was predicted to be within the original release.

Another reason why Ito could have changed this theme overtime could be from the newfound consistent popularity of the femme fatale trope. Ito mentions in an interview how oftentimes he had received fanmail from women readers claiming to like Tomie and wanting to be like her (K & Nobushi, 2019). Ito's reasoning as to why his women readers would want such a thing could be sourced in the freedom from expectation, and truly being able to do however one pleases.

One of the most prominent reasons for such a change could be in Ito's overall development as a manga artist, and writer. It is important to remember that Tomie (1987) was one of Ito's first ever manga (K & Nobushi, 2019). Ito's Tomie series has taken several questionable turns regarding writing. Examples include looking into aspects such as human experimentation and even body swapping. As seen in books such as Tomie Again: Tomie Part 3 (2001) and the Ito story arc Tomie: Takeover (2018).

image sources (in order from left to right):

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/gtcAAOSw2s1cvU82/s-l400.jpg http://amandakoyuki.blogspot.com/2009/11/tomie-kawakami.html https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/3180863.jpg https://cdn.junjiitomanga.com/2018/05/Tomie-part-1-cover.jpg https://cdn.junjiitomanga.com/2018/05/Tomie-part-1-cover.jpg https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.co /images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcSX dw6PbruBWDEC5YNNJoNAXubuwSS4Nzm0Xw&usqp=CAU https://cdn.junjiitomanga.com/2018/07/Mansion-Tomie-part-6-cover.jpg

Junji Ito's Tomie (1987) exhibits the ability to portray complex, uncomfortable, themes (e.g. victim blaming, violence) while still having the ability to experiment with common tropes such as the femme fatale or the vengeful woman. In terms of future horror manga, Ito has continually inspired a generation of horror manga artists and readers alike through complex works such as Tomie. Specifically, Ito's work Tomie (1987-2000) inspires unfiltered and unlimited creativity that inspires the average artist to not be afraid to aim for multiple messages within a story. Ito's work is also a testament to the growing artist whose messaging can shift over time and still have past works hold up to scrutiny.

When looking at how women are portrayed in horror manga and media, Ito creates an interesting message to show society's ability to project tropes or archetypes onto women characters in horror. At the end of the day, Tomie never truly fit any popular archetype regarding women in horror (Dollase, 2010). She was portrayed as a victim, a monster, a beauty, and a mystery. To break away from this popular mold of archetypes within a genre can encourage readers and artists to consider their own thought process when analyzing characters within horror manga.

Ito's contribution to the shojo horror genre and women's studies, provides an interesting view on modern issues that can target the average individual, but have also been historically viewed as women's issues. Examples of this being the psychological concept of  victim-blaming  and  reducing an individual to one's appearance . Which both have been absorbed into what can be deemed as modern  rape culture .  Targeting both men and women alike. 

Image source: Junji Ito - Tomie (1987) p. 32 pn. 1