The Horror of Junji Ito's Tomie

[@cloversonthehill]

she could literally take over the world if she started streaming on twitch

[@adam.n-steve]

Junji Ito: Write that down. Write that down!

[@cloak69]

Yep interesting but not possible at the same time cuz camera should reveal her true self at the same time it is possible maybe she could pull it off as some snapchat filter

[@Donjonneau]

I would rater looking for the impopular gems of womankind.

[@vvbeanie]

@@Donjonneau uhh okay

[@Donjonneau]

@@vvbeanie Do you really think I'm wrong for writing that? And you, would you think to get irresistibly killed by her? It sounds like you fear to get triggered from mistakes you did with women.. Unless you needed attention? Well, you got it. Have a good time, now.

[@crypty4074]

I feel like she kind of lost her humanity with each regeneration, as if every time the piece of the original girl became smaller and smaller

[@陳潔明-w6y]

Yep... In her first incarnation in the first chapter, she was... Normal... Her bitchy attitude wasn't out of the ordinary...

[@Stitchlii]

Spot on

[@mbunnyj7051]

That piece of her in The Boy must have been from like, a clipped fingernail. Something so small that almost none of the original girl made it in.

[@chipsahoy6289]

How much do you want to bet that the tomie from the boy is actually the tomie that you see at the end of the very first story? The tomie that grew from her heart. They look very similar to eachother and they both grew at a beach.

[@hynoto6494]

Well, I've never thought that. But yeah, sometimes she is just scary and does not care about anything

[@qliphalpuzzle5453]

It’s also interesting because her personality changes overtime

[@qliphalpuzzle5453]

That and each Tomie has a slight difference in personality as a result

[@emmyallen4582]

It's like she's a traumatised survivor of repeated violent sexual abuse or something

[@nickdonaldson466]

@@emmyallen4582 it's almost like shes a character that has been developed

[@laniakeas92]

@@emmyallen4582 woah, true.

[@Sm0k3turt]

Fucking terrifying

[@saikanzen1762]

I'm a simple man. I see Junji Ito, I click, I like, I turn into an eldritch horror.

[@raidennaz1590]

Good. Good. Let the spirals flow through you...

[@ireallyneedtherapy1126]

@@raidennaz1590 They already are, if you check your ear...

[@funkyweapon1981]

@@raidennaz1590 Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru Kuru.......

[@vibespidersstudios8895]

Well you're not wrong when he using the hunter's dream music from bloodborne.

[@propsmovv9299]

Oh shit let the jesus be with you

[@JohnDoe-xf8ew]

There's not much evidence to support this, but the thought of Tomie once being a totally normal teenager only to live through constant violence and find herself slowly transform into something less and less human is pretty terrifying to imagine. I like to think she was seriously confused and scared in the beginning while trying to maintain normalcy, only to give up hope and relinquish her humanity.

[@emmyallen4582]

In the very first episode, she's kinda promiscuous but otherwise a normal teenage girl who's horribly victimised. Stuff happens *to* her, not *because of* her.

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

Though I wouldn't put it the same way, you're actually spot-on. She was seduced because of the power that would eventually be overwhelmingly evident in her, and led to her death by her naivety. As time goes on she becomes more aware of the scope and force of the power she wields, and views her effect on men in more mechanical way. She loses the naivety of thinking that she can feel a certain way and that will change how others act, instead she knows how others are made to feel around her and she acts on them.

[@emmyallen4582]

@@THEFRISKIESTDINGO its a pretty clear trauma response.

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

@@emmyallen4582 Interpretation is up to the reader, but (paraphrasing) Ito said she represents the power that women wield, and she's terrifying because she has no constraints on using it to destroy anyone around her. I would only gently push back on your interpretation because it seems like you're reading her as a regular girl and a passive character with no agency that gets acted on. If you give her agency and responsibility, and read her as a force of (super)nature you might see a different character than before. You might see a powerful, conflicted, broken, deep, and terrible character, she's a tragic villain.

[@moii5534]

Yes..its like the new joker movie with regeneration powers.

[@Ichithix]

I've always found Tomie fascinating as a character. She's nasty, vicious, and malicious; but at the same time there are these poignant moments when she seems wounded, self-loathing, and pitiable.

[@uncharacteristic_invalid2679]

Tomie simp.

[@yystez]

@@uncharacteristic_invalid2679 they're also right tho

[@judgeprime3730]

100% simp, she is irredeemable, gross simps

[@rewerstfd]

Its called borderline personality disorder.

[@safiyyahsilvera9931]

@@rewerstfd said the psychiatrist

[@AN-tn8nw]

I believe the molestation implication in “Boy” is intended. The horror of child abuse is something Junji Ito has delved into before, namely in his short story “Bully”. Great video, I love seeing videos on Ito’s work!

[@funkyweapon1981]

Tomie was an evil bitch in that story.

[@THExRISER]

Bully didn't seem about molestation as much as it was about (physical) child abuse.

[@od3910]

@@THExRISER think that's the point.

[@THExRISER]

@@od3910 Which makes it the most terrifying of Ito's work because of how real it is.

[@ashleyking1146]

Bully is the story that sticks with me the most because of the realistic nature that some children are abused bc they remind the parent of something/someone they hate. Truly terrifying.

[@JudgementalBudgie]

I think the classmates cutting her up has a deeper meaning. In the end, she was completely cut off from the society, dismembered and abandoned, so she could become something else. The monster with unknown purpose. OR it's just some BS like you said

[@BriarPatchNyra]

I think Ito confirmed she was already inhuman? She didn’t become inhuman because of that.

[@JudgementalBudgie]

@@BriarPatchNyra human but flawed, so they got rid of her

[@BriarPatchNyra]

@@JudgementalBudgie No not human at all, she was never human in the series.

[@JudgementalBudgie]

@@BriarPatchNyra ooh ok I didn't know that. Thought you meant she was just cruel. So it's a load of bs after all

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

I think it's a, sadly too often accurate, condemnation of men's one-sided relation to women they idolize. She is singular. There are a lot of them. She will never be just "his". The only solution is to destroy her before they kill each other for the chance to be destroyed by her. In other words: They went Elliott Roger 2.0

[@chrisossu2070]

Considering Tomie's ability to multiply, it is possible that the odd divergences in her behavior from story arc to story arc could possibly be a result of each copy developing in a different way partially as a result of the environment they end up in. After all, it's never established if they share some kind of mental link to dictate how they should behave, just that they share the same base personality and abilities.

[@duyas1628]

I think there is a shared, passed on memories. There are some stories where she knows what she is and what has happened before.

[@raidennaz1590]

You're right. And considering that Tomie may lived on earth for millenia, perhaps she got nurtured into several different version of Tomie who's upbringing was deeply affected by her surrounding (the lynching, spoiled by rich adoptive parents etc). *Maybe there is indeed a "good" Tomie* However, this typical neurotic and insufferable person she often potrayed, regardless of how many times she got killed or died horribly into bits are the BEST method to ensure the survival objective as a whole. Tomie's causality only catalyze her clones faster to infect mankind, and all it needs were one mere strain of her DNA falling into organic or inorganic object to thrive (remember the waterfall chapter?) No wonder she's insane to the core

[@leroidethunes3913]

that's what i was thinking, it's never the same Tomie twice, trying to stablish a behavioral pattern and expect It to be met every time would be like expecting 2 twins to always act in the exact same ways

[@ravengreenwold3258]

I think it is established in the most recent tomie (Tomie Takeover) that they do appear to have a mental link?

[@uwu1234-i6j]

All of them share the same memories, but I agree that each one does develop differently.

[@lastexilegaming]

Tomie is similar to the short story The enigma of a amagari fault. The horror of compulsion. The horror of doing things without knowing why.

[@lastexilegaming]

@@BOOFIRE191 I'm a big fan of juji itos work, have his entire manga collection Tomie is definitely a strange read but the ending to her story was left to ambiguous for my taste.

[@MuseOfTheMoose]

I agree on the ambiguous ending. So that Tomie got old, so what? What of the countless other Tomies?

[@mearafoster277]

My favorite of his short stories 💜

[@lastexilegaming]

@@MuseOfTheMoose exactly, especially since many were born from parts of her

[@someasiankid6323]

yo

[@NightEyeStudio1995]

One thing that I like about the Umihara arc is that is shows one of Tomies weaknesses: true love. While Umihara is affected by her, getting those sunken eyes. But he didn’t lose his mind, and the only think she could replace in his dream was his late wife’s face.

[@Ynio_N4]

In the chapter "basement" a boy named Fumihito Sato fell in love with Yukiko Mio [ who received a transplant from Tomie without her knowing ]..... just as everything seemed to become a couple something changed in Yukiko but it was too late : she became an exact copy of Tomie

[@NightEyeStudio1995]

@@Ynio_N4 Holy shit, so Tomie's parts can grow into and take over like a parasite?... well there was that one chapter with the two girls who became obsessed with her and attached her hair to thrit heads... that didn't end well. There was also that chapter where a guy brewed her into a vat of sake...

[@maximumcola9424]

That dude is a chad

[@IronicCliche]

Tomie is a pretty obvious allegory. She's representative of men who blame women for their actions. The stories where she is resisted show that these men are still responsible. The reason why the story of the boy is last, is because it's the completion of her as a monster after constant abuse. She, like many abused women, pushes her abuse onto her "child".

[@ervinpucchi6951]

Or nowadays onto younger men and their fellow peers, unfortunately.

[@alexandresobreiramartins9461]

That doesn't fit her original personality, which was crap to begin with. This is more likely steeped in Japanese mythology and folklore about grudge spirits and also the bullying culture that's an integral part of Japanese school life. Saying the women are just victims here disregards Tomie's personality and also, for instance, what happens to Photo Girl.

[@IronicCliche]

@Pengui01 Using established myth as allegory is a staple of horror. Her previous personality also doesn't negate this reading, as you can be blamed for other's wrong doing even if you aren't a good person. Like, blaming the girl when she gets pregnant. Photo girl is the one I do feel is a bit of a reach but it can still fit. Men blaming women for violence against a third party is nothing New, as you can see it pretty prominently in Helen of Troy

[@BriarPatchNyra]

Ito has explained she came from his fear of women

[@IronicCliche]

@@BriarPatchNyra interesting. Thanks for the context

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

I think the story is about a cycle of abusive and toxic relationships. Tomie started off as being sexually involved with her teacher (which, by the way, is not acceptable in Japan, despite what anime fans might tell you), who then proceeds to murder her and cover it up. Every incarnation of Tomie is a bit different, since they are affected by the environment they “grow” in. The bad thing is that every version of Tomie that comes to life isn’t necessarily in the best situation; sometimes she’s isolated, sometimes she’s stalked, she’s murdered constantly, tortured, and attracts all manner of crazy men (although whether they were always crazy or Tomie causes them to be is something else). Plus, every version of Tomie remembers what’s happened to her, so they carry that baggage with them forever. Of course, she doesn’t do much to make herself look like a good person, since she’s rude, conceited and generally a bully. But even though Tomie is a terrible person, she rarely actually does anything violent herself, tbh. She’s not even really good at manipulating people, since anyone not under her spell gets suspicious. The only times she does anything terrible herself, it’s usually because she doesn’t have any guys available that can do it for her, or she’s backed into a corner, or she has a clear power and experience advantage over someone (like the kid in “Boy”). She’s better at convincing others to do harm than putting in the labor to do so; whether it’s out of laziness or just enjoying the turmoil between others is up for debate. Is Tomie naturally cruel and uses some powers to manipulate men into doing horrific things? Or is Tomie’s cruelty the result of mistreatment by the hands of others? Are the men brainwashed by her and is she doing it on purpose, or were they already mentally vulnerable to crazy actions and Tomie just hit the right buttons? A lot of the guys in the story who fall victim often have something about them that she can exploit; sometimes their reclusive, or objectify women already and react violently when she rejects them, or feel entitled to her feelings, or are already lonely and just want ANYONE’s companionship, or, in the case of “Boy”, are too young and naive to understand that she shouldn’t be trusted. One of the biggest ones that made me think about this was the story with the painter. Tomie criticizes his artwork, calls his model ugly, and straight up insults him to his face, and yet, the root of his obsession with her is in part because she isn’t impressed and he wants to show off his skills by capturing her beauty. Instead she literally convinced him that his insanely accurate painting of her is somehow incorrect, and no matter how he paints her, it’s never right. As an artist, I’ve seen plenty of artists get very uppity about perfecting their work, and it’s likely Ito has too. It’s possible that his actions are not entirely due to Tomie, but his own insecurities leaking to the surface. Compare this to Umehara, who, by all means, should be another victim, but somehow isn’t. There’s nothing really special or supernatural about him that should allow him to resist Tomie, he’s just a dude with no time for BS lmao. This kinda reflects how real abuse works; people are more likely to be abusers if they themselves have suffered from it, and are more likely to be victims because abusers pick out their insecurities. As Tomie evolves, she becomes more jaded, more cruel, and less of the person she once was, and every version of her birthed from the violence of her past relationship goes on to repeat the same behavior, until eventually, she takes it out on a child, in the same way her teacher did to her. Of course, I’m not defending Tomie, just pointing out a theory. Edit: someone mentioned that later on it’s revealed Tomie existed long before the first story, but I think my other points about cyclic abuse still stand. Tomie’s stories exist as a cycle; she finds a guy, treats him like garbage, and he either gets fed up and kills her, she ditches him, or he stays her willing but mistreated partner indefinitely. Whether Tomie’s true origins involve her being the victim of abuse is true or not, I still think her constantly being in violent and destructive “relationships” still has clear symbolism.

[@zaberfang]

Nah, she's already no longer human before the story began.

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

@@zaberfang i mean, there’s no real proof that that’s the case. It could go either way. Is there any confirmation that she was a monster before the first story, or that the first story was the turning point towards her becoming something else?

[@courtneygardner6334]

first time i liked a comment more than the video. Your comment really opens up a lot of different possibilities.

[@nischal711]

@@gregjayonnaise8314 actually in the later chapters it is said she existed way before the original story.

[@kneeofjustice9619]

I’d like to add on to learning from her environment, every Tomie shares a hive mind so every Tomie is always experiencing each other’s life.

[@kirbymarchbarcena]

Tomie can regenerate her body parts? So when God said "Go forth and multiply", this is not what he really meant.

[@MIKE-xb9po]

Maybe we’re just doing it wrong. after all, lust is a sin lol,

[@winderia860]

FHJSGJEFKEKFK DONT DO HER LIKE THAT

[@brinst_ar]

M I T O S I S

[@LaughingGemini]

We can regenerate also.

[@witchking008]

@kirby yes! if i remember there is tomie chapter where the boy after the ordeal with her he was put in hospital and the next page pans out to tomies regeneration on dumpster outside the window

[@jeremyalgood7230]

To me Tomie represents the most terrifying kind of monster; One that’s told over and over that she is despite her intentions, and ultimately becoming what people claim. With Ito I have learned that what you see is what you get.

[@mat7083]

@man with a username You should read the essay I came across on another video.

[@mat7083]

@man with a username Others say it’s good, but I didn’t bother to read everything. It was too damn long.

[@xyz7572]

I feel like you missed the point of the story - it’s about the excuses abusers make to justify their actions. “She made me so it, it was she who wanted it and invited me in. She forced me to do it.” Tomie is the personification of the way they describe their victims. “She was the one who started trying to seduce me. I had no choice but to kill her. She made me.” It’s why the “honest” and “not interested” men are “safe” from her “power to make them lust after her and want to kill her”. In fact, it is that since they aren’t interested in molesting her or hurting her that they are “safe” - in reality, it is she who is safe from them, as they don’t attack her, and thus, they don’t need to make excuses for why they hurt her. And “the boy” is about abuse being cyclical. She was a child when she was abused and exploited. And in the end, people who have been abused themselves can become so scarred that they inflict the same kind of pain into others.

[@PS1Fan1991]

I have read enough of the story that I can say that I disagree and I don't think that I have missed the point of the story. Tomie plenty of times targeted people who were honest people. People being attracted to people doesn't mean that people want to rape that person. Plenty of people are attracted to others and are honest people. Tomie didn't just target the child. She targeted an elderly woman, an innocent girl, a guy who was just looking for his brother and didn't go her way at all. These people were normal people before they met her. There are examples of people making excuses for their crimes, which of course it could be interpreted that way for the story of Tomie, but it is one interpretation.

[@Art-zp1qg]

Zachary Essey I think that she does influence people into becoming worse versions of themselves, but in the end it is up to them, at least to some extent. There is merit to how Tomie does become the described victim in a sense, when she was that baby, that’s exactly how an overworked nanny would describe a “demon child”. There’s also the little finger where a certain type of victim was needed. I do think that the lines tend to blur with the symbolic and the supernatural, such as with the Sake chapter. Tomie does seem like a rumor, where it is warped by how people tell of it, but Tomie is exactly how people would tell of it afterwards; it makes sense in my head. The perfect victim, but it’s subverted.

[@PS1Fan1991]

@@Art-zp1qg I get what you mean. I think that part of what makes Tomie an amazing manga is that there are different ways to interpret it.

[@zoinks6142]

you're actually right, I never realized how she's basically projecting at certain parts of the story.

[@bawrf]

thank you for saying this i really feel like some of these people seriously missed the point

[@snotbot3384]

God, I checked Tomie out from the public library when I was 11 years old. It was one of my first manga after... Kitchen Princess. It fundamentally changed me as a human.

[@aaaaaahhh9537]

lmao holy shit

[@waywardson7295]

at least i had some priming after reading chino wadachi .....holy shit

[@Section8dc]

Jesus you couldn't pick up DBZ instead lol?

[@beautyandtheoffbeats]

@@Section8dc Or Sailor moon or tu love ru

[@noregrets5258]

dam bro, I sure hope you are doing better now.

[@cnhnx]

I think that in the first chapter, Tomie's teacher and classmates were already influenced by Tomie's power. That's why they made absurd decision of mutilating her, because Tomie's power made them to be bloodlust or something. Madness seeped in resulting in illogical action without them realizing it.

[@陳潔明-w6y]

However, based on the protagonist's narration and Tomie's reaction to the entire incident, maybe this is Tomie's "first" life (She wasn't even aware that she died and "came back"), maybe she had an actually normal life, and maybe it wasn't impossible for her to have normal relationship with ordinary people.

[@BagelBagelB1]

is it unrealistic writing or commentary on japanese politeness? the world may never know

[@cnhnx]

@@陳潔明-w6y Maybe at that time Tomie's power to attract men and drive them insane already awakened but she didn't realize it then

[@陳潔明-w6y]

@@cnhnx Perhaps... And that aspect of her is actually intriguing... Think about it: Most supernatural entities in fiction, especially the villains, are aware of how and why their powers work, but Tomie is completely clueless about why she is like that. She even needed someone else to help her find out the reason behind her power, and judging by the later chapters, it seems that those researches were ultimately futile. When asked about why she could regenerate and why other versions of her wants to kill her, instead of instantly telling another terrible lie, she was surprisingly honest about her own obliviousness about her situation. This makes me feel that, while irredeemably diabolical, Tomie was often not in full control of all her doings, which tended to backfire. Everyone that she tried to manipulate thanks to her "gift" all tried to kill her in the end, and though she could always live on, those experiences were not pleasant to her. Ultimately, she is also a victim of the nightmares she wrought. Though, from another angle, she's kinda dumb... 1. She knows that, for whatever reason, people around her would want her dead. 2. Her own antagonising personality often fuels people's desire to murder her. 3. She knows dying sucks, even for her... So to avoid this fate, she... Repeats all her mistakes... Colossal Facepalm...

[@flamingwheel9926]

I mean, who can say that Tomie was the first ? That could have easily been another clone of her

[@shumeiyang1024]

Tomie regenerating from chunks of her corpse always, always reminds me of succulents as someone who has a borderline hoarding problem with succulents and is awfully clumsy. Succulents can grow plantlets from almost any part you break off of it, I've chopped off the top of multiple and smaller plants grow out from the stump if you leave it in the pot. So I always saw tomie as a kind of organism that reproduces by compelling people to kill her lol.

[@Nightwalker-zk6ce]

@Shu This is what I’ve always though about her too!! I’ve just literally never seen anyone else mention it!! There’s this parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, it infects rats and makes them unafraid of cats so that they’ll get eaten. The parasite does this because it needs the conditions in the cat’s guts in order to reproduce. It puts the host in dangerous situations so that it can multiply. I think somethings taken over Tomie and made her seek out men who can easily be driven to kill her because whatever this thing is needs her to get hacked up in order to spread.

[@aaronrichardsoong4110]

So basically she has master the art of getting people to simp for her?

[@artoriapendragonidilfitri7414]

Goodness, could you imagine if she a twitch streamer.

[@0nullnil]

@@artoriapendragonidilfitri7414 That’s a horrifying thought indeed

[@Piaapo]

She's Dark Belle Delphine

[@ichihimefan91]

Something like that

[@zcgamerandreacts2762]

@@Piaapo yea but as her sister.

[@TheGoldenKing20]

Such a shame Junji Ito himself doesn't seem to like Tomie - she's by far the best character he's ever created.

[@mjm3091]

I don't blame him, she is a bitch and her stories aren't really satisfying.

[@archivehans]

man artist's don't like thier old work.

[@TheLyingFigure]

Tomie? That's a weird way to spell Souichi

[@janier.5674]

I can see how he wouldn't like it. Plus, it's older artwork. Most artists hate their older work.

[@alexlun4464]

Tomie is by far Junji Ito's worst work... and ironically the work that launched him into fame in the first place.

[@rimjhimkhandaker9832]

Tomie was underage and pretty. Her pedo teacher groomed her. The boys liked her for her beauty only. Girls didn't like that. Tomie wanted her teacher to divorce his wife which made him furious and he started to hate her. The boys of the school started hating her too because they can't have a chance with her anymore. And altogether everyone thought tomie was the villan when actually she was the victim. Someone said this series wasn't good because Tomie was just dying and coming back again, there's no end to her and all that. I think as long as misogyny and sexism exists in this world, Tomie will continue to exist as well.

[@user-us1ce9cs3s]

The thing is, it's not "hate". It's tomie's powers that makes them feel this way and eventually wanting to get rid of her. That's what she needs to multiply and that's the goal. Every man that met her will be lovestruck at first and it'll always turn to hate later. But I like the last part of your comment

[@JBSBemome]

@@user-us1ce9cs3s I feel that her "powers" are just a representation of what happens to some beautiful girls/women, like some men will just go after women like that and it's not because those girls have "powers", just because they are reasonably pretty and some men can't control their own actions. I think that Rimjhim is correct in saying that it's linked to misogyny and sexism and that Tomie's "powers" are more metaphorical than actual

[@user-us1ce9cs3s]

@@JBSBemome yeah I agree with that comment. I also think tomie is just a representation of what happens to women in real life. It's more tragic than horror to me

[@blaqwabbit]

​@@user-us1ce9cs3sit wasn't powers at first though right? She didn't have powers until she was killed but she was still hated at school. Then her teacher killed her on a field trip when she told him she was pregnant by him and in an effort to get away with it, he manipulated the entire class to chop up and hide her body. I'm not getting that confused with a different manga am I?

[@user-us1ce9cs3s]

@@blaqwabbit I'm not sure myself but I think that's how she started. You're not confused btw, that's the same manga

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

Tomie's behavior toward those that don't fall under her spell epitomizes the assertion that "everything is about sex--except sex. Sex is about power." A man that is not drawn to her by lust is exciting or interesting because he is powerful, but frightening because he exposes her weakness.

[@jeniamanning8621]

Hey where is this quote from? I want to look into this cause it's an interesting concept

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

@@jeniamanning8621 Retroactively attributed to Oscar Wilde in the early 1900's but I think it was used first in the 1980's? Forgive me I'm a little busy right now but one of the stackOverflow type sites has a good answer if you search up the quote

[@fumomofumosarum5893]

either I don't get it or it's a very dumb assertion....

[@kyle4563]

It took me a few minutes to understand but I got the message. To make it simpler, I'd type, "Lust grants power. Love is more powerful than Lust." Men who are not drawn by lust and have genuine love eliminates her power.

[@bendover9813]

@@jeniamanning8621 lmaooo, Robert California from the Office 😂😂😂

[@awesomedude2556]

In the beginning, Tomie was underaged and was engaged with an adult In the end, Tomie ends up being the one taking advantage of a young boy Before then, I thought she might’ve been a sympathetic villain, but that all ended when she did those wretched things, to a young boy no less, at that point I knew she was irredeemable

[@pofi1957]

Yeah, the crazy serial killer witch who uses unnatural powers to make hundreds of people ruthlessly murder and commit horrible acts was pretty sympathetic at first, but then she did it to a little kid and that's where i had to draw the line.

[@thebeetleball]

@@pofi1957 im not defending tomie here, but I don't think you know what psychosis is, tomie doesn't have symptoms of it

[@pofi1957]

@@thebeetleball People use "psychotic" as a way to say "crazy". I thought it was obvious that i wasnt diagnosing her mental ilnesses with my youtube comment.

[@pofi1957]

@@thebeetleball but hey, I'll fix it for you

[@franckensteine]

she's still a sympathetic villain at the end when you consider that victims of grooming and sexual abuse usually become abusers themselves later in life due to trauma

[@Emma88178]

I do understand Ito’s use of the misogynistic trope of “girls hating other girls when they’re pretty and popular”. He wasn’t trying to be sexist, he was basically mocking the trope with what kind of a character she is.

[@danielshore1457]

I think the point is that it also plays on the trope (and societal norm) of sexualising a woman for no reason what so ever. But then to other woman who aren't in the eyes of all men the one being sexualised is seen as a slut or temptress

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

Maybe he's mocking women like that rather than the idea that some women are like that. If you didn't know, a lot of women wrote to Ito that they aspired to be like Tomie. Unfortunately for men, she represents a certain female fantasy.

[@greatpower6063]

i take it as him saying everyone's judging her for how she looks; especially since we don't see her before that moment and only framed through how the others see and treat her. Hence we are part of the crows ourselves. So we have no special insight into who she really is, just what fits the narrative crafted by these people around her.

[@donnadong5837]

I think he said in the interview he created tomie during the part of his life when he lost hope in the opposite sex

[@MargaretS-e1g]

@@donnadong5837 This is an interesting thought because so many women view as a feminist icon. Ito focuses on the character while feminists focus on the everything else.

[@mickymcbryan4814]

Okay, so I want to add something to the topic of the chapter "Boy." That is, I don't think your interpretation of the story being about child abuse to be too far off, I do think you're missing a piece: the cyclical nature of abuse. Tomie was, before she was anything else, a school girl who was having sex with a teacher. We can debate Japan's age of consent laws and the supposed desire she had for said teacher up the ying yang but the result remains fixed; an adult man had sex with someone who is neurologically underdeveloped and a child, in the biological, mental and neurological sense of the word. Not to mention that, from the reports of young boys and girls who have survived such abusove relationships, we know that their supposed desire usually is the result of psychological grooming by an adult to trick them into thinking that their abuse is a good, desirable thing. Add to that the fact that, although most abuse victims do not become abusers, almost all abusers have been abused and... Tomie, as a monster, is reliving her grooming and sexual abuse at the hands of her teacher from the position of the powerful adult to make herself feel secure and in control. Cyclical abuse.

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

There is no "before she was anything else". Tomie is a vicious monster with a fake appearance of a cute young girl. Tomie has no regard for human lives even shown in the first "chapter" (Each 'chapter' in Tomie is just an individual story about her -- though they are connected, they aren't necessarily chronological) and it's even been said the first chapter isn't her origin story. She was never human -- we just got to read a glimpse into the cycle of Tomie.

[@MordredMS]

I really don't see how Tomie would be a normal girl getting progressively "more evil" regeneration after regeneration, or how Tomie would be an allegory of the cyclical nature of abuse etc. Tomie was clearly a monster or demon from the start: the boys acting so abnormally are already under her "magic". The idea I got was that, in a way, she WANTS to be murdered and butchered... because that's how she replicates and "reproduces". A sort of parasitic creature, perhaps. Even in the very first chapter, she wasn't just a girl named Tomie... she was A Tomie. Who knows how far back in time she actually goes? In fact, AFAIK it has long been the main theory in the Ito fandom that the boy that Tomie molests in the chapter "Boy" is actually the same Satoru who will become her teacher in the first chapter!

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

@@MordredMS exactly

[@avajarvis2588]

@@MordredMS that doesn’t hold up with him being executed at the end though

[@MordredMS]

@@avajarvis2588 I guess it could be argued that it happened after the events of the first chapter. After setting fire to that hospital basement, for example.

[@user-rc3cm1zv4j]

I really like how in each chapter the art style gets better and better

[@jayd.9714]

I think the story "Painter" is a good example of Tomie as a whole. She wants to preserve her beauty and power, but obviously cant in pictures, so seeks after male artists to manipulate. Junji Ito says that Painter was intended to be about Tomie, but not focus on all of the previous stories about her. It was meant to be self contained and has a lot of her personality, as well as Junji saying he tried to make her as beautiful as possible.

[@harryt7363]

Though I don’t know the age of Tomei so this may be wrong, but seeing that she was sleeping with her teacher the story could partially be exploring the cycle of abuse. As by the boy she is the one know abusing a child

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

No the boy is Satoru Takagi.

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

No, Tomie is just a vicious monster with a fake appearance of a cute young girl. Tomie has no regard for human lives even shown in the first "chapter" (Each 'chapter' in Tomie is just an individual story about her -- though they are connected, they aren't necessarily chronological) and it's even been said the first chapter isn't her origin story. She was never human -- we just got to read a glimpse into the cycle of Tomie.

[@Kimmichan36]

The difference between then is that a Femme Fatale is ultimately a male fantasy while Tomie is a villain that is subverts what it really means to scare the male audience. Femme Fatales are sexy and seductive that uses her sexuality to make good men do bad things. But she is still a male fantasy and is subjected to the male gaze ( meaning created, albeit villainous, to male pleasure). The men who do bad things have their guilts removed cuz they have "no control" over their sexuality. This is why Tomie is a male horror in my opnion. Tomie's power actually uses Male Gaze as the weakness to exploit men. She does not give sexual favors and doesnt give anyshit towards male pleasure, and YET men who only see women as sex objects ARE the very ones who are under her control. The men who does evil things for her becomes crazy BECAUSE their guilt isnt absorbed by Tomie, instead they are haunted by their OWN conscience. And so driven mad the ultimate choice for these men is to kill tomie, as violence is the male tool for dominating women in films. AND still Tomie grows back from the remains, the embodiment of a man's worst nightmare.

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

In a sense, this is very true. For being a seductive manipulator, Tomie is both very conservative (she’s never specified to have sex with anyone really) and not even very good at lying, and yet, men still fall under her spell. When I think of Femme Fatales, I immediately have the image of a scantily dressed woman who looks very clearly sexy and tries to act sweet to trick people. But Tomie is rather normal looking and doesn’t even bother acting nice. I think she’s a Femme Fatale in the most horrifying conclusion; she’s not a goddess like figure, and men’s attraction, and in a few cases, loneliness, naivety or entitlement, is what makes them either kill her, get themselves killed, or become traumatized for life. Tomie, ultimately, likes to take advantage of people for the hell of it, (like with the boy, or the old rich couple) but very rarely does anything violent on her own. Instead she uses people to do awful things for her. She’s not really supposed to be jaw-droppingly hot because she doesn’t need to be; her manipution isn’t with her body, or even her words, but with the coercion of others‘ mental states and egos, which is arguably even more twisted.

[@roserose109]

all those points are good, but I only have a problem with one thing. Fictional media made for "male pleasure" isn't "villainous". Females have unordinary "sexy" fantasies catered to them also and people don't seem to give a crap about that, so that just seems like a double standard. People just like what they like and there's nothing "villainous" about it as long as toxicity from media doesn't seep into real-life actions. Just wanted to add that

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

@@roserose109 I don’t think they are describing a male fantasy as villainous, but that the Femme Fatale is usually a villainous *character* that caters to a male fantasy. In other words, the fantasy itself isn’t bad, but Tomie takes the role of a Femme Fatale with all of the pleasantries removed (sex appeal, seductive personality, at least being pleasant to speak to) turning what would be a sexy smooth-talking seductress into a manipulative serial abuser that you can’t get away from.

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

That's your very contemporary westernized reading, can't assume a man from Japan three decades ago was trying to make such a point.

[@Kimmichan36]

@@ThatMans-anAnimal not me literally a girl from the philippines getting mansplained by a yt

[@sosukeaizen7028]

Men who would do anything just to get with her? Ito knows the horror of simping.

[@jasperreyes5174]

And then you realize this was made by Junji Ito around 30 years ago...

[@od3910]

It's still a "pretty women are scary" story but a couple of nuances in it like the boy showing she is a truly awful person compared with how little control she has over her own life when the men she enchants try to kill her. It's like a cycle of abuse

[@Sk8r_boi42]

We’re looking at a different Tomie every time

[@Ynio_N4]

Usually all Tomie's are looking for the same targets: * Be the center of attention about all things ( she won't tolerate rejection ) * Get massive wealth at any cost * They hate to be taken pictures * Preferably the handsome guys are their « guilty pleasure » * Revenge on who betrayed her

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

They are all exactly the same. They possess a shared pool of memories.

[@nicholasdonaghe1979]

A good thing to keep in mind is Tomie’s human personality and Tomie’s monster personality are completely different entities.

[@0nullnil]

Huh? Really.. Interesting.

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

No they aren't. They're two sides of the same coin. She's literally two-faced; the symbolism couldn't be any clearer. The fact that so many try to rationalize her character's behavior this way, as not a monster but a victim, is simply grotesque to witness.

[@GoticoArrombado]

@@ThatMans-anAnimal honestely she's both, sometimes victims become abusers. It's a never ending cicle of violence that targets not just her but everyone that wants to take revenge on her.

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

@@GoticoArrombado the important thing to remember here is that she reproduces (asexually) through violence and that she is the one seeking out these inappropriate relationships, forcibly breaking up marriages, etc., in the process

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

No, she was never human. Tomie is just a vicious monster with a fake appearance of a cute young girl. Tomie has no regard for human lives even shown in the first "chapter" (Each 'chapter' in Tomie is just an individual story about her -- though they are connected, they aren't necessarily chronological) and it's even been said the first chapter isn't her origin story. She was never human -- we just got to read a glimpse into the cycle of Tomie.

[@BimmerBros]

Tomie is the embodiment of the phrase "Hurt people, hurt people" taken to the extreme of course.

[@crispyein8601]

Even though it's just Junji Ito's art style getting better over time, I kinda like imagining that Tomie became more and more beautiful the more she embraced her new abilities, even if it is tragic.

[@xinyib5763]

I think there’s multiple Tomies from her scattered pieces with different vices. The one that manipulated the boy is not the same one who died by her enraged cultists. All of them share original Tomie’s drive to be loved and cared for and search for it differently, and never handles it well. At the end of the day, she really was just a teenager who was manipulated and mistreated until she died.

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

No, she was never human -- part of Tomie's allure is that she curses people with an urge to murder and chop her up. Tomie is just a vicious monster with a fake appearance of a cute young girl. Tomie has no regard for human lives even shown in the first "chapter" (Each 'chapter' in Tomie is just an individual story about her -- though they are connected, they aren't necessarily chronological) and it's even been said the first chapter isn't her origin story. She was never human -- we just got to read a glimpse into the cycle of Tomie.

[@greatpower6063]

is the girl from sensor also a copy of tomie?

[@johnxina5126]

@@greatpower6063 no jist similae chracter designs. A lot of Ito chracters in various stories look alike

[@jadespaceoracle]

My theory for her classmates to end up participating in a class murder is that everyone just purely despises her. She's hated by every girl (except her friend) in her class for being all high and mighty along side her beauty that guys find attractive. It's been portrayed in a few japanese media that girls can be hella vindictive over pretty co-workers or classmates. The only difference is, Tomie can fight back hence many choose to keep their mouth shut. Next is that they found out how she was seducing their 'beloved' homeroom teacher and cheating on her boyfriend. Once they caught wind of how she's willing to blackmail him, everyone chalked her up as 'scum' and someone who doesn't deserve redemption. Keep in mind that their teacher is also pretty hot and can sway their reasoning. He can score a chalk ton of sympathy points from very naive teenagers who has yet to even mature into full adulthood to realize that 'oh, this shit is wrong'. He also needs to dispose of her asap before anyone finds out he knocked her up. Whether it was true or not, Tomie would definitely end his career if she lived. Guys who might've been ridiculed or rejected (maybe even ignored) by Tomie finally can get their revenge. Some of them might've thought things like 'Who's laughing now? You're not hot after all lol.' By the time they even realize she was alive, the damage was far too gone. What were they supposed to do? Let her live? Have the cops arrest the class for attempted murder? Nope, it's all or nothing at that point.

[@stellarkat4657]

This is all compelling, but I do have one question: that boy in Tomie's class was her boyfriend?

[@amandadane868]

There’s also the fact that teachers and other authority figures are given absolute deference by youths. This is why the students didn’t defy his orders and cut Tomie up into small pieces.

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

No, part of Tomie's allure is that she curses people with an urge to murder and chop her up. Tomie is just a vicious monster with a fake appearance of a cute young girl. Tomie has no regard for human lives even shown in the first "chapter" (Each 'chapter' in Tomie is just an individual story about her -- though they are connected, they aren't necessarily chronological) and it's even been said the first chapter isn't her origin story. She was never human -- we just got to read a glimpse into the cycle of Tomie.

[@user-ir4oz8cf3e]

@@amandadane868 No, they cut her up because her presence causes men to go mad and want to murder her. Did you even read the book?

[@amandadane868]

@@user-ir4oz8cf3e Let me clarify. In the first chapter written by Junji Ito, dealing with the original Tomoe, before she’s turned into the monster with all of the powers, Tomoe is in a relationship with an adult school teacher (which is highly inappropriate and is sexual abuse. Because Tomoe got pregnant from this relationship, but the teacher has a wife, the teacher decides to kill her on the school trip and gets the students to help him. The students would not have done so if 1. Tomoe was already hated by a few of the more popular students, including her ex-boyfriend and was on her way to becoming the classroom outcast. Japan severely mistreats outcasts because they don’t belong in thier uniform society. 2. The teacher would have faced a tremendous amount of scandal from Tomoe being pregnant with his baby, including having his wife leaving him and being shamed by his peers. This teacher, so far as I can tell, was well liked by the students, which is really rare to find. 3. Teachers and authority figures are much more greatly obeyed in Japan than in a lot of Western countries. As a result, the students that didn’t want to harm Tomoe felt a lot more pressure and would have been punished if they didn’t take part or openly defied the teacher. To sum up, human Tomoe (the Tomoe before she became a monster) was punished for her sexuality and behavior by the male teacher that clearly took advantage of her and by the students that hated Tomoe. These greatly cruel and unusual acts turned the murdered Tomoe into a yokai or demon with all of the aforementioned powers and traits shown in later chapters.

[@iris4028]

Although some of the comments mention this, I feel like each time she dies and regenerates, she loses more of her humanity, almost like a monster is slowly taking over her. And ik that over this manga it shows junji ito's progression of art style, but in terms of how the characters view her, she gets more and more seductive. (for example, in the first chapter everyone just was baffled by how she was alive and didn't pay as much attention to her beauty compared to gathering)

[@Bernkastel1983]

When hunters Dreams theme started playing i knew imma love this video.

[@thesaviorofsouls5210]

Hard same, a hoonter must hoont.

[@ghostwolfdeclassified6399]

She sounds like she could be a SCP

[@ichihimefan91]

Exactly

[@queenonika4015]

Wtf is that

[@coffeewolf5789]

@@queenonika4015 Its a video game series that is basically "Naughty cryptids get put in the government box"

[@chitchut]

there is an scp that makes men desire for her as soon as they see her, scp 166

[@rubentherascal7360]

She's like scp 053

[@ProtonCannon]

I still maintain the theory that Tomie is still actually a ghost of somesort. Simply because she never actually directly killed or harmed anyone by her own hands everything she had done she had done through manipulating others. This is supported by the ending of the final chapter and... ***SPOILERS*** You have been warned ok? When there is an old man who remembers Tomie from long ago that Tomie was entombed in a concrete slab and couldn't resist picking the slab apart to see if she is there. And when it is finally opened he is there with another character too accompany him. Once the slab is opened the old many is horrified that Tomie is there but the other character and the reader sees nothing but a plain and ordinary concrete slab Tomie is not there. The old man can see her but nobod yelse can.

[@jasperreyes5174]

What chapter is this... I don't remember reading this...?

[@ProtonCannon]

@@jasperreyes5174 Chapter 20: Old and ugly

[@jasperreyes5174]

@@ProtonCannon Thanks...

[@ProtonCannon]

@@jasperreyes5174 Then again what I referred to could have simply all been just the hallucination of a crazy senile old man.

[@florencebutterfly]

Yeah, the old man must be hallucinating. Because that old woman couldn't see anything. It was the old man who was obsessed with Tomie in getting his revenge. They spent so many years to guard the cement. I don't really understand the ending because I believe that Tomie escaped somehow. It was really confusing.

[@brunobucciaratiswife]

The chapter “Boy” hits close to home. A lot of the people who hurt me groomed me also. They’d tell me they’d be my new “mom” or “dad”, and give me “rewards”. I became enthralled with these people because I thought they were the only ones who truly wanted me. Ugh

[@ultrabumblebee]

I can't watch or read anything from him anymore because his stuff literally keeps me awake at night. Undoubtedly, he is an amazing storyteller and artist but, this is not for me. 😂👏 I remember losing my appetite after the mountain holes chapter! (If you know, you KNOW) 😰

[@dirtwagon9041]

Oh dear god you had to remind me about it I had gone so long without thinking about it and then you had to remind me about that horrific short story in the back of Gyo

[@ultrabumblebee]

@@dirtwagon9041 I'm sorry 😭😂 I thought about not name dropping the chapter, but I had to~~ Sweet dreams btw, I know I won't be having any ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ

[@kingkilla777]

I read all the one that disturbed me the most was he hanging balloons it was creepy af

[@zacbendable6346]

DUUURRRRR DUUURRRR DUUURRRR But seriously, this was my first Ito story, and I've been having nightmares ever since

[@Emperor_Palpatine_66]

*”This is my hole!! It was made for me!!!”*

[@Scarletcroft]

Mmh I feel Tomie in general is about Narcissism and codependency. Both the Narcisist and codependent lose their sense of selves to eachother. The Narcisist wants to be pleased and tolerates nothing else and the codepended wants to please and is manipulated into doing anything the Narcisist wants. When the codependent sees through the facade (mask) of the narcisist and finds the monster insided they might attempt to escape or destroy the Narcisist in some manner and fail, because to a narcisist even negative attention grows their ego. Others will simply be used up and discarded. The Narcisist will also simply find a new codepented to leech attention from in a never ending cycle. People who are not codependent will often see through the mask much faster and will have the sense to not give the Narcisist attention at all though gray slating. Narcisists are confidant, manipulative and often liars and do everything to make themselvse the center of everyones attention. And to preserve their self image of perfection. They are incredibly two-faced and will ruin peoples lives. Anyone that has dealt with a narcisist will be able to attest to this.

[@novry6458]

Wow I agree about this one

[@oxfordcommaisthegreatest]

nah bro

[@dominodamsel]

i always thought she was kind of a metaphor for all young women. sexuality is ascribed to her by men; even though they despise the way she acts, can't or won't understand her, they see her beauty and desire her, and that desire always turns into violence against her. in our world, desire for and violence against women often aren't that easy to distinguish. in the end, tomie's "power" isn't one she chose or even really wants. she's beautiful, and men can't help but want to kill her. her existence is suffering. and, every time she tries to reach out to a female character, instead of helping her the relationship quickly turns manipulative, jealous, and pointlessly bad for both of them. idk, i always found her pretty apt. just the teenage girl experience, junji ito'd.

[@joshs.5384]

> i always found her pretty apt. just the teenage girl experience, junji ito'd. That's sort of what Junji Ito does - Mundane Horror. He takes some part of life, or some trope, and he just cranks the knob up to 1,000, turning it into horror. Like, fish smell bad, especially when they rot. What if fish smelled so bad they drove you insane, and they were literally using rotting gasses to propel themselves around? Okay, that's Gyo. Spirals make people sort of uncomfortable when they look at them for too long. What if they drove you insane, and made you want to mutilate yourself and become a spiral? That's Uzamaki. Etc. Tomie is the same, just with the sexual/romantic interactions between young, pretty women, and men. Some pretty women use their looks to influence others, or to get validation (or they're believed to do this, even if they aren't trying to). And some men lash out because of insecurity, jealousy, or perceived indifference from a woman (see every guy who gets rejected on Tinder and flips out). Tomie just takes that and cranks the knob up to 1,000. The pretty young woman can influence men to do anything to anybody, with zero effort. A few words and they're willing to murder each other. And being invalidated (called ugly or a monster) causes her to physically mutate in horrifying ways. And the rejected men aren't assholes who flip out for a second and send some mean texts, they turn into raving psychopaths and dismember her.

[@brigade7678]

@@joshs.5384 i adore how you explained each of his works, amazing comment to stumble upon years later! ^^

[@wrath2501]

Tomie: SCP 6211 Class: Keter.

[@deldarma4509]

Yeah, she cant be contained, even when cement is poured around her so... she's a keter class objet more than an euclid!

[@joeschmo4646]

I would say she's pretty similar to SCP-166.

[@wrath2501]

@@joeschmo4646 166 isn't a heinous bitch though.

[@joeschmo4646]

@@wrath2501 True. She's too pure to be living in the SCP universe..

[@diatractedone9797]

I was thinking like the movie The Thing, IF it was civil.

[@tonygriego6382]

This reminded me of an old short comic book story that appeared in Eerie magazine back in the 70s which was later adapted into an episode of Showtime's masters of horror called Jennifer. I believe Bernie wrightson Illustrated it.

[@thegreattotemaster]

19:14 - "Let's talk about... Boy" *Happy Kratos noises*

[@jung.o.2080]

Interestingly, Junji Ito based Tomie on the concept of beheading snakes and their bodies wiggling as if still alive. So he combined really well both her being a "snake" and that of being undying.

[@danielpoirier868]

So in short, get the Flamer. The HEAVY Flamer.

[@aaronrichardsoong4110]

Brother we will stand against this slanneshi demon in the name of the emperor!

[@0nullnil]

Hehe gay guys are immune.

[@PIMKAMINA2]

Tomie feels like the entire story of how an ito monster is born whereas usually we see only the end result like ribs woman or the birdwoman, how someone that used to be human slowly becomes less and less so until they lose any and all motivation and simply begin acting out in nearly mindless evil.

[@Queen_Of_Discord]

I feel like this whole story is about the cycle of abuse considering she was in a sexual relationship with her teacher (which may or may not be a result of grooming on the teacher’s end) and was literally torn apart by men over and over again until she was such a shadow of her former self that she took out her pain and hatred on an innocent child.

[@789syrus789]

She does had supernatural powers over women, its just not the same as the men. I see it this way, Men want to be with her, women want to BE her.

[@browniebubs]

i am almost done reading the full collection on her stories- she is my most favorite villain i love her so much

[@gobbo1917]

You're probably as bad as her then

[@anyhow.anyway]

​@@gobbo1917💀

[@nknae3115]

I love her too!

[@Enyoiyourself]

The Boy and the Little Finger story for me are peak Tomie as she is pure evil there, even I wanted to tear her apart at the end of those chapters.

[@emapelikanova478]

Well, she's an example that abuse goes both ways. At first she's a victim, then she's the abuser gradually getting worse.

[@00vie80]

Tomie: *exists* Asexuals: you have no power here

[@shadowangel6359]

Her kyrptonite reveals itself!

[@Kiki-xs1iw]

U mean aromantics

[@667nine]

@@Kiki-xs1iw Aromantics are people who experience little to no romantic attraction to other people, for asexuals it's sexual attraction and since this is mostly about desire and lust, I think asexuals make more sense

[@Kiki-xs1iw]

@@667nine Yh ik what one is but they also like her romantically don’t they?

[@667nine]

@@Kiki-xs1iw We don't really know, at least I don't know. But what I do know is that it's mostly about lust. But I guess it would make sense to add in Aromantics as well and aroaces

[@pastelsploosh8914]

I would think that tomie fell in love with the guy who never really had an interest in her was because she didnt expect it. I mean, she can manipulate her looks and make men do whatever she pleases, whether its her curse or not. Im guessing it has been a while since her *real* death, so she doesnt expect much from her followers. But ill take this as the same way Junji Ito took it in his other book, uzumaki. Uzumaki's Chapter 3, the scar, details the main character, Kirie makes a friend with another girl, azami, who people fall in love with. Unlike tomie, Azami has simply no interest, blaming it on the scar on her forehead that "makes people fall for her." Soon she meets kirie's boyfriend, who is very unhinged, and he simply runs away from her since she displays in aura that is connected to the spiral. Azami falls in love with kirie's boyfriend, gets consumed with the spiral and she just disappears. Like tomie, Azami manipulates guys so she can get what she wants, and with her scar, she goes away and is never seen throughout the whole book. I think Azami and Tomie have the same blueprint when it comes to falling in love with the man that wants NOTHING to do with them, and i can see why. Just like any person with low self esteem, They would be surprised that people fall for them, then fall in love and there goes a relationship, a person who had been fallen for countless times again and again, they would be surprised when a person does NOT display any attraction to them at all, and soon wonder why. Being "different" from the rest gives you a position where you are "special" and "real", therefore being cherished and sought after. These people never felt rejection, and because of that they feel they are in a lower standard than you and want to be at the same level as you, they want that validation from you because YOU are different and YOU dont fall into their hands like the others. Just like a person with low self esteem, being rejected however many times, when a person displays interest, they feel a need to be with them because they are different. And that concludes why Tomie is a nicegirl/r

[@xineraliouse9848]

My friends find Tomie really annoying and honestly I also find her annoying but for me she is also a very interesting character.I mean, I have never read or saw a ghost\character like her before,she is really intriguing.

[@anastasiaulyanova7406]

Great video, but I have one thing I disagree with. You've said that Junji Ito's work is straightforward, and that's simply not true. His work was always deeply tied with social, psychological and mental problems, usually describing issues in Japan society. Army of one, for example. That story follows one boy, who alienated himself from society and social interactions, and thus been able to survive the longest. Because in nowadays Japan you just have to belong, and if you don't, you can feel like others are going to try to "fix" you. The enigma of Amigara fault is about fitting in. You've got your role in a society and no matter what, you've got to take that path. Even if you know that this ain't right. Again, that hit very close to Japan traditions. For this two I'm positively sure of what they represent, but Tomie - I still can't figure her out yet. On one hand you've got an obsession about young girls, oversextualization of teenagers and pervert culture, on another - she represents sometimes old demons of Japan, centuries described in folklore. She is a mix of all: she is a ghost, a victim, a malicious evil, an abused child and a girl, who's been taken advantage of. It was said in the comments that she evolves, and after one sadistic act after another she becomes less and less human, losing parts of her psychie. And it is indeed, quite sad. Anyway, amazing video, thank you so much for your work!

[@JohnWilliams-wl9px]

By straightforward I think he means in that the plot’s themselves are actually simple. I doubt he meant the actual meanings behind the stories. Compared to a film series such as Phantasm which plots are by design might to be complicated. But the common message of those films is overcoming grief.

[@HolyknightVader999]

So basically, she's got the Jedi mind trick, and she uses it to ruin people.

[@biocaster777]

And she doesn't know how to control it and fell to the darkside.

[@TheScorpion0081]

"The dark side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."

[@THEFRISKIESTDINGO]

@@TheScorpion0081 Did you ever hear the tragedy of Darth Plagueis The Wise?

[@johans3164]

@@THEFRISKIESTDINGO is this a story that the Jedi would tell me tho?

[@mrm0nty550]

You can't believe how much I missed your videos

[@dordly]

Junji Ito is a breath of fresh air. when the entire horror genre is just rehashing the same old ideas, he's bringing in so many new concepts for a kind of horror not many pursue in media.

[@JordChase999]

She’s influential and gives birth to other shows’ characters such like Nanno

[@Kaylakaze]

I first learned of Tomie through the movies. I watched the first four (I say "first" in case they've made more since then) before I'd ever read the manga or anything by Junji Ito for that matter. I don't remember the manga version of her too much, but I remember the movie version being a somewhat pitiable character. She couldn't help that men became obsessed with her and eventually they'd kill her. It's only natural she'd treat them terribly as she does. What really disappointed me was the fourth movie, Forbidden Fruit. I had seen the trailer for it and from the trailer, the story looked interesting. My hopes were that the story would go like this (based on the trailer). Tomie finds a girl that she likes and can become close to, since her powers don't affect women, they can have a normal friendship (and maybe more). Then some guy or guys "imprint" on her and they do their normal thing of going nuts and killing her. She comes back as the weird head form that she comes back as and her friend takes care of her, hunting down the men that killed her, and feeding them to her so she could regenerate. Would have been a nice story, really working up the sympathetic angle of Tomie that they'd seemed to have been working towards in the movies. Unfortunately, IIRC, it was just like all the other Tomie movies except with a girl taking care of her instead of a guy, with Tomie acting the same as always. I was quite sad about that. They had the chance to do something different and interesting and chose mediocrity instead.

[@EdMcStinko]

I'll never forget the one where she lives in a lake and eats people, then makes copies of herself

[@patricksmith6334]

Some people have taken to the interpretation that Tomie (as a narrative and character) is a metaphor for sexual abuse. If her claim of pregnancy is to be believed then she was in fact statutorily raped by her teacher. Her post-mortem return is often seen as the spread of abuse from one person to another and how sometimes the victim themselves becomes corrupted and turns into the abuser. Because of the sporadic nature of the stories being told it falls apart in some instances (The final chapters with the Tomie clone children) or exemplified in others (as mentioned Boy but also the story with the old couple and the maid). Whether intentional or not, I love Juni's work here and look forward to reading more...when I'm less afraid.

[@mimimadd]

The classmates felt that she fell off the cliff because of them, the teacher also said that they would be in trouble too, when they see her alive they realised they had gone too far and she had already seen them in a compromised position trying to hack her up. So they finished the job.

[@Necromaira]

I personally think that her changing personalities and behaviors are results from different sort of personalities of her being in individual bodies

[@MordredMS]

I always thought it was simply her various incarnations adapting their "tactics" in order to target different men.

[@Necromaira]

@@MordredMS yesss

[@toxoplasmagondi]

there is something about the way tomie has an influence over some men that it makes them kill her. it almost reminds me of the way abusers talk about their victims as provoking them into doing harm instead of just admitting they're awful people and the only ones to blame. like i know there are chapters where that allegory doesn't apply (like the one with the little boy, maybe the one with the two girls too), but for the ones in which it applies, it fits pretty well.

[@PS1Fan1991]

I find Tomie to be a really interesting character for a few reasons. Her powers can affect anyone and she is mean spirited. I do see her ways of talking as the soothing voice trying to wear down a person, but I think that her being attractive just like everything else about her is a tool to wear down someone. I think that it is great that Ito didn't show whether she always had these powers or not and leaves it up to the imagination of the audience. People did terrible things to Tomie, but they never seemed like the actions of humans. There were plenty of people that respected Tomie and just mysteriously got homicidal; so I definitely think that it is her power over people. No one would do to people what Tomie did. Her control is quite evident. She may be a created evil as with Ju-On where because of the original event, she became an evil entity, but the thing is that with her personality, it seems the same as before she died. This is why I love how Ito wrote her. We really don't know if Tomie was always this way or not. It is either a tragedy or Tomie being Tomie. She is actually frightening in the sense that she can pretend to be to whatever person what she knows hits them hard. Whether they are a lonely old couple, a child, the rejected, the perfectionists, she knows their vulnerabilities and doesn't hold back. I think that if she was a victim in the opening, then it is sad, but it is no excuse for what she became. If she has always been this way, then she is a demon. I think that she is meant to be 17/18 in the first part which is common for manga characters. I have heard theories such as people in Japan seeing that time of youth as the prime time of someones life as it all goes downhill in adulthood. I don't know if Ito was trying to talk about the abuse of children specifically. I do think that it is possible, but I don't see it with her character. I do think that in Japan that there is an oversexualisation of teenagers under the age of 18 which I have always found disturbing, but Ito doesn't seem to try and make Tomie some anime girl. It is like he is showing her to be the girl next door in appearance; so her demonic actions are more shocking. Ito is a fan of Lovecraft; so it wouldn't shock me if Tomie is actually on another level in terms of power and that people do unspeakable things because they are confronted by a power that is beyond anything that they could imagine. There could be other reasons as other commenters have mentioned, but the beauty of what Ito has written is that there is no set explanation for any of the events. I have seen comments saying that it is this and it is that, but it actually isn't. There are plenty of plausible ways to look at it including everything in this comment section as how to look at it. It is great to see all kinds of comments about it and see what different people think about the story of Tomie.

[@delio2681]

"A beauty to die for"

[@willmiddleton7932]

The Gathering chapter was just depressing to me. He gets away but the memories of his wife, the woman he loved so much that it kept him from being manipulated by Tomie, are forever corrupted with her. The last thing this man had of the love of his life forever ruined.

[@Shanethefilmmaker]

Most people love what they can't have. It's why Azami was so obsessed with Shuichi in Uzumaki. In Tomie's case, she never encountered a person like this before, a man who has the will and common sense to reject her. Before she met this guy, she seemed to see herself as a superior being with no equal to her own and while she's satisfied with the toys she plays with, until she gets bored of them, the toys she can't have give her a challenge. In all essence, that man became her equal and she felt he completed her. She was an unstoppable force and he was an immovable object. Like Batman and The Joker.

[@16ieebet]

you missed the point, its about tomie's beauty and men wanting to own that beauty, i think it's clearly to highlight men's extremely superficial attraction to women, the complete objectification and therefore dehuminization of women that is often mistaken as 'love', which ironically leads to brutality, violence and murder. Also, she was not having an 'affair' with her teacher, she was taken advantage of, manipulated,groomed, raped, murdered and mutilated. A child cannot give consent to an adult, especially in a position of power. The real horror is that all that it takes is for a woman to be unlikeable in order to justify and accept extreme, unspeakable brutality done against her by men.

[@ovrlk811]

Words taken right out my mouth, well said

[@kiro8720]

thank you, i'm gad you've said it.

[@dmaa88]

Tomie was never human, ever, the other students joined in on the slaughter for the same reason the rest of the supporting cast end up killing her, they were compelled to do it, they had an urge to do so, it is suggested later on that she's been around for a while now, long before the events of the manga. She didn't become a monster, she was always a monster.

[@safesam6256]

I wonder, if she was not human in the first chapter, in which she was pregnant by the teacher, would she have been able to give birth to a baby?

[@zycane]

Tomie is Junji Ito's best work, for me. Since it's where you see the largest improvements in art. And how everything is corruptible, by Tomie. Best Girl BTW. Boofire. I think you missed the part, where many of the chapters, Tomie takes the form of folklore horror beings, inheriting their 'powers'. Also her schtick is that, once seen, you can never unsee her. She's a curse. A Pure Evil, which can not be defeated, other than your own death. The curse robs the persons innermost sanctum place, or their Ego, and replaces it with her own image. Once touched, you're fugged. You may "defeat" the one image before you, but she's like a hivemind of individuals spreading across the land/world, each time she dies, she reproduces uncountable times. And sooner or later, as some of the beginning of another chapter implies. Those who "defeated her" are often missing, or become a vessel to transport a part of Tomie around. Or are seen later, killed off by a thrall of madness.

[@kneeofjustice9619]

Ah so Tomie is just Sephiroth?

[@cocacola37281]

bs she was just a teenaged mean girl. that's it.

[@anyhow.anyway]

​@@cocacola37281Ridiculous

[@cocacola37281]

@@anyhow.anyway right? it's crazy how people want to paint her as a villainess

[@anyhow.anyway]

@@cocacola37281 I truly agree.

[@Kainlarsen]

It's a great example of how those with influence can turn everyone against anyone they deem a threat; The way social media has seen certain figures marshall their followers to dogpile, dox, harass and in every way attempt to ruin or destroy their critics or rivals mirrors this very closely.

[@yanyyyy]

This kind of reminds me of the series "the girl from nowhere". Like the episode where she was in a relationship with the teacher, or the episode where her new "friends" killed her, buried her, and then the next day just casually attended class like nothing happened. I think Nanno and Tomie kind of has a similar look, too. I think The girl from nowhere was inspired by this comic.

[@blisterwort]

yeah the actor of Nanno said her character was inspired by Tomie

[@smilemorecrylater47]

There’s a Netflix show that’s literally “Tomie” it’s called Girl From Nowhere I think I’m serious if you watch it it’s literally this character. It’s an anthology of the same girl with different stories

[@ohshanana2397]

Oh you mean nanno

[@ra6262]

Kitty Chicha actually confirmed on one of her Instagram stories that she used Tomies character for Nanno. ( not fully character, as in traits of Tomie )

[@grannyj482]

yep, nanno. kitty chicha (actor of nanno) said that nanno was based off of tomie.

[@persona7506]

Nanno right? Also i love that show too

[@grannyj482]

@@persona7506 yep

[@lystanson1983]

I’ve never really been interested in manga or anime but I’ve always been a horror “fanatic” and Junji Ito’s work seems promising.

[@sornkpop7244]

"She lacks any of the personality traits....she may have it on the surface but falls apart" all that line describes me

[@Donjonneau]

Having a sense of introspection is a way to have a “personality”. Depth, when driven by your awareness of what you lack and what you have, gives you a purpose. With a purpose, you can become an hero of many book tales, which can multiply your probabilities to show yourself in an interesting way. Mob Psycho 100 had a good second season when the main protagonist started to show his introspection.

[@NuclearPoppi]

With the first chapter, I always thought it was unrealistic as well. But as I personally thought about it, It wasn't that Tomie had BECOME a monster before then, but more so that she was revealed to be one. Just like in the following chapters, everyone is willing to go along because, while the teacher was the one directly involved, they're all compelled by what Tomie is to dismember her. She already ISN'T human, so her classmates are fine with dismembering here much like how one wouldn't bat an eye at a pig getting slaughtered.

[@izzyjamm4]

I think Tomie was inspired by/partly based on the real-life BRUTAL kidnapping, torture and murder of Junko Furuta. Don't look into it if you're squeamish, but know that many of the details are similar or identical to the story of Tomie outside of the supernatural elements, and it received a lot of media coverage. A Japanese reader would have a hard time not thinking of Junko Furuta when reading Ito's story.

[@lainiwakura1776]

He has never mentioned that being inspiration for Tomie and Tomie wasn't held captive and tortured to death.

[@izzyjamm4]

@@lainiwakura1776 Although, Tomie was dismembered alive while being held against her will, so it's not strictly true to say that she wasn't held captive and tortured to death.

[@yeahok6240]

@@izzyjamm4 can you give me a synopsis on what happened? Details if you wish but I'm pretty squeamish.

[@izzyjamm4]

@@yeahok6240 sure basically junko furuta was kidnapped by these high school kids affiliated with the yakuza because she rejected one of them. They tied her upside down and tortured her for days in various horrific ways before killing her. There’s Wikipedia if you’re still curious, and it’s also discussed on the comedy podcast “Last Podcast on the Left” on the episode called “Worst Ways to Die” that talks about it in more detail.

[@yeahok6240]

@@izzyjamm4 thanks mate

[@felipe21279]

I must say that in chapter 19 ("Top Model"), Tomie did nothing wrong. That Ryo dude was a jerk and deserved everything that happened to him.

[@ThatMans-anAnimal]

Ryo and Tomie were a perfect match.

[@jeliyahbieber6854]

But she did keep on telling him that he is ugly

[@user-us1ce9cs3s]

Yeah

[@Mikkaray014]

@@Duckyletsplay exactly lol! Dude was a jerk but she wasn't any better.

[@cocacola37281]

@@jeliyahbieber6854 he is

[@redv.402]

i think another interesting additive is that junji ito used to exclusively draw for shoujo/girls magazines before he got into horror, so it's an interesting between the dichotomy of drawing good girls who do good & get only good things to tomie, who is the complete opposite

[@matiasluukkanen7718]

Considering her pieces can regenerate into complete human beings, it would be interesting to see two Tomies squaring it off. Perhaps, as her personality possibly differs after every "reincarnation", there possibly could be a very corrupt, malicious Tomie and a "good" Tomie, exploring themes how different experiences shape people.

[@Endymion766]

if you think Tomie's hold on men is supernatural, you haven't met the thirsty boys of the internet yet. IMO she doesn't have supernatural powers other than her regeneration, she's just extremely beautiful and makes weaker men go simp-town with just a glance to the point of becoming an instant cult leader.

[@gregjayonnaise8314]

It takes so astronomically little to get a bunch of guys thirsting after a girl, even if she’s fictional. One anime, Darling In The Franxx, has 02 as one of the main characters, and some of her fans were so obsessive that they harassed and sent death threats to the voice actress of Ichigo (02’s rival in love). All that for a girl whose not even REAL. All Tomie needs to do is set up a Twitch and the world would end.

[@Soapmink]

It’s actually because she’s considered a succubus

[@PS1Fan1991]

I don't think that is the case. Most people aren't like that. Yes, people have done terrible things, but the things people do in the Tomie manga aren't normal for anyone. People don't do these things for any reason unless they are actually insane which these guys were clearly not.

[@Endymion766]

@@PS1Fan1991 correct. There are tons of very lonely depressed men out there that would maybe probably kill for someone like Tomie. That's where the horror part comes in.

[@PS1Fan1991]

@@Endymion766 I agree. I am just saying that I didn't see it in these men, but yes it is very disturbing that there is anyone at all like that.

[@freieLilith]

I really like the theory, that Tomie (or her unborn baby) is actually a weird supernatural kind of fungus, that multiplies by beeing cut to pieces. Ever since i read it, it always kinda stuck around with me, because it just makes (weird) sense. Why she is so unnatural, how she grew so weirdly into a monster in one Chapter, how the people around her get crazy and obsessed over her (poisenous/hallucinating and addictiv spores). Also she evolves very rapidly. In the beginning, she is a regular, avarage girl, then dies and returns significantly more beautiful (maybe unnoticed by the other people, but not the reader). She remembers her own past expieriences to some degree and uses that knowlage to quicker seduce and manipulate people. That also explains her hostal behaviour against "herself" (see the "old and ugly chapter" where three tomies send assassins to each other), because they are more or less other members of her kind, so she tries to get rid of her rivals, so her own "spores" have a higher chance of survival. Its a bit convoluted, but in my opinion fits very very neatly into the story. Also that would not be junjis weirdest narrativ

[@_frail_wingz_]

My favourite chapter, like you, was boy. It is probably the best representation of grooming I’ve ever seen , for many reasons. Not only was it showing how women can groom boys, but it wasn’t romanticising it or making it seem less bad; it was shown as horrible because it is. It also showed the cycle of abuse perfectly, not exaggerating or downplaying what happens. All in all, boy was the best tomie chapter and the best representation of grooming I’ve ever seen in media.

[@baulzzzzzzz2278]

Tomie is a story about the how blinded men can be I really feel like it’s more fo a warning than anything else idk Tomie has a lot more cohesiveness than normal anthologies have and I think that’s because there’s more of a thru line from story to story than we would tropically think/expect

[@matthewlugo2417]

I thought about this alot but it seems the men are usually head over heels for tomie even before she becomes a monster. Its why i think he curse works on boys. The boys in school whether they admit or not liked tomie so when the men chopped her up into pieces, that became a part of her curse. For the men to fall in love/lust so bad that they want help but cut her up and kill her. Its a cycle that is forced to repeat until tomie stops multiplying by burning them all. There are some times when it seems like she really does want to be loved and be happy. But we all know its not possible

[@flamingwheel9926]

Everything made by Junji Ito can easily fit into the SCP Foundation, specially this one since its memetically hazardous

[@prehistoricgmanbirb]

Awesome video and mad props for using the Bloodborne theme in the video.

[@ryushogun9890]

It's quite simple, she is a teen, not the best person in the world who finds herself in a painful emotionally and physically condition of death and immortality and.. also loneliness. She changes her behavior when she finds a person treating her different cause at the end she is a girl, a "human", she has ego. Sometimes she wants to cure herself, but she doesn't know what for since the little life she had wasn't meaningful, and being immortal sometimes she just forgets that she wants to be helped and see people going against her as part of the curse.

[@autumnlotus6250]

I do find it funny how people try to justify tomie's actions because of her original self's abuse and murder, when most of the stories have Tomie being the instigator of all the issues being present. Her not involving herself in drama would lead her to being happy. The "stabby" moods men seem to get are usually after she manipulates the men around her, and her interactions with women are almost entirely vile and malicious. She is a Demon in a girls skin, metaphorically and likely literally.

[@mareczek00713]

What's scariest about Tomie is succumbing to evil - for me it seems kinda like Ajin thing where you regenerate and stuff (except here you multiply, in Ajin only the biggest part of the body regenerate remaining parts) but effectively what gives you this power is something else and while Tomie seems to not be malicious that thing which takes over while she is heavily wounded seems to be and with every chapter she dies more and more and becomes more like that thing. Basically from episode to episode we see a flawed girl going through gradual loss of humanity.

[@jorgem.1024]

the Hunters Dream song 💕 and i also love Tomie so much, great video!

[@spiderdude2099]

The most disturbing part of tomie is how she starts out trying to escape her eldritch nature, but gradually....stops trying to fix it and becomes less and less human. With her even saying herself that she can feel herself being corrupted every time she regenerates.