Junji Ito's Remina depicts the story of a planet heading towards a collision with the Earth. The scientist who discovered the planet names it Remina, after his sixteen year old daughter, Remina. After the planet is named Remina, the girl Remina begins to garner a celebrity status. As the planet Remina gets closer to Earth, terror starts to spread. People begin to suspect that both Reminas are linked which leads to an unnerving course of events. Ito's illustrations perfectly captures the fear and angst of the frightened masses. Most of the characters are male, females are almost entirely absent from the story with the exception of Remina and the mother of another character. Remina moves at a frenzied pace readers may find a little wonky, but works for the novel's theme and plot.

Remina is a six-chapter manga that illustrates some of the worst aspects of human nature.

Remina
Written by: Junji Ito
Publisher: Shogakukan
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: December 15, 2020

Unlike the previous Junji Ito release that I read (Venus in the Blind Spot), this volume tells a complete story in its 256 pages rather than presenting a collection of short stories. At the beginning of the story, Professor Oguro has won the Nobel Peace Prize. During an interview, a reporter mentions a planet emerging from a wormhole that the professor had discovered 30 years earlier. The professor has named the planet after his daughter, Remina, because it appeared on her 16th birthday.

Having a planet named after her and having it announced at a major press conference throws the shy Remina into the spotlight overnight. At first, Remina turns down offers to go into show business. However, she finally breaks down and accepts an offer because she feels it’s just not possible to hide from people forever. Right around the same time, though, Professor Oguro and his assistant are noticing that the planet Remina is acting mysteriously.

For a while, though, the manga focuses on Remina’s rise to stardom, which includes getting a fan club and becoming the face for Mineishi Construction. When Remina has dinner Mr. Mineishi and his family, she meets his son, Kunihiro, who is a big fan of Remina. It becomes clear that Kunihiro is interested in Remina.

But as Remina’s popularity soars, it’s discovered that the planet Remina is headed toward the Earth. As word gets out to people through the media, and people begin panicking. The panic only gets worse when it’s discovered that Remina is destroying the planets along its path.

And this is when Junji Ito’s ability to write horror really comes into play. The people decide that since the planet was discovered by Professor Oguro and named after his daughter, that they are somehow calling the planet to the Earth. They decide that the way to save the Earth is to kill both the professor and Remina. The lengths that these scared and panicked people are willing to go to are truly terrifying. And the way that Kunihiro and his family turn on Remina is also disgusting. She was wonderful as long as she was making money for them. But now they’re panicked and wanting to blame someone, and she’s the perfect target. It’s disgusting behavior, but sadly, it’s realistic. But let’s just say that with something that the Mineishi family experiences through their own selfish actions is almost poetic justice. While I wasn’t necessarily rooting for this outcome, it was pretty obvious that this was going to happen to them thanks to their arrogance.

Remina ends up on a wild chase, accompanied by a mysterious homeless man she encounters when she’s trying to hide from an angry mob that’s wanting to kill her. The man’s identity becomes important when they’re trying to figure out how to save those who have supported Remina throughout this whole ordeal.

Remina ends up being a wild ride, and the stakes keep getting higher and higher right until the end. Sadly, though, we don’t know the ultimate outcome for the characters that survive this ordeal, especially since there was a time limit thrown out there. But with the story that Ito is trying to tell, that detail isn’t important. It’s just, as a reader, it’s a loose end that’s left hanging out there.

It’s interesting to note how Ito’s art is very detailed early on in the volume, especially during Remina’s rise in fame. But as the panic and chaos ensures, the art starts having less and less detail to it. I like to think that this was done intentionally, as a way to highlight how bad things get for Remina and the other characters after the chaos ensues. One of the main exceptions to this is when the planet makes it to Earth… the eye on the planet is very detailed, which helps to make it “pop out” from the page.

I was impressed with the storytelling and the art in Remina. While there are horror aspects to this story, it didn’t quite have the same horror feel that many of the stories in Venus in the Blind Spot had. The more I’m starting to read to Ito’s work, the more impressed I’ve become with it. I’m usually not a fan of horror, but Ito has a style to his storytelling that helps to raise his stories above the baseline level of horror.

Junji Ito meets Armageddon. In his latest book, Ito tells the story of an astronomer who discovers a new planet and names it after his daughter, Remina. Everything is fine until the planet begins absorbing the galaxy and threatens to destroy Earth itself. As the planet looms closer, people get more desperate and start resorting to violence, which means Remina is in great danger.

I'm a fan of Ito's work for its surreal horror. He dreams up things I could never even imagine. While this book had some great creepy moments, it was kind of a letdown. As always, the art was excellent and is the highlight. But the story itself is just okay. It feels like similar apocalyptic tales we've heard before. There are moments of great tension, but very little of it felt scary. And it seems you're just waiting for this great crash to happen throughout the entire book. It's something that should've happened in the first act, yet it's stretched out for 200 pages. It keeps building up to this climax that's ultimately underwhelming. Junji Ito has far better books out there. This book is a disservice to his horror reign.

Weird. Creepy. Great art. Sci-fi. Strange story. Not bad just not my kind of thing. I thought it would be scary as I've heard people call the creator a 'horror master'. Not quite right in my opinion.

Will go live 12/23/2020

The story is about a rogue extra-dimensional planet and the girl the planet is named after by her astronomer father. The overall theme of the book is humanity pushed to the brink and that bringing out the worst in humanity. When the rogue planet defies all the laws of physics to head towards Earth, a pseudo-cult rises to blame Remina and her father for the planet's actions, and demands that they be sacrificed to placate the rogue planet. A massive chase/hunt for Remina begins that spans the majority of the book. Most of the characters are one dimensional representations of architypes, with Remina being the worst as just a victim of the action of all the men in, and intruding on, her life. She is overly flaccid for being really the only female character of any significance in the entire book, which is disappointing to say the least. However, visually, the book has Ito's signature flare for the bizarre on a grand scale, especially when the rogue planet reaches Earth. His play with the physics of the situation is interesting if not very realistic, though yes, realism, in this case, needs to be somewhat sacrificed for the intersestingness of it all. Overall, what it lacks in characters, it only somewhat makes up with a thought experiment of a story, and is fully supported by Junji Ito's interestingly-bizarre/bizarrely-interesting art style.

This is Junji Ito’s action movie. This is Armageddon with the blistering ferocity of Mad Max: Fury Road. Remina reveals the fragility of humanity in the midst of planetary peril. Remina, the titular character, becomes the most beloved then reviled being on Earth for an event outside of her and her father’s control – despite what others may believe. The immaculate and macabre art (showing us why Junji Ito remains one of the greats), the various themes, motifs, and symbols that can be extrapolated whether it be from the crucifixion of the aforementioned father and daughter or the planet Remina itself mercilessly consuming all that comes to its path, and the breakneck pace this work relentlessly takes the reader into – there is so much to enjoy and appreciate. While my enjoyment may not be as visceral upon repeat reads, there is no denying the artistry and intensity in Remina.

Hit it home for the Junji Ito fans of his take on the end of the world. Highlight how widespread panic and paranoia can accelerate the death and destruction of a world. This is an invigorating work of art for Junji Ito fans and the wider horror community

another gorgeously horrific tale from the great Ito. I can't help smiling from cover to cover, knowing that the graphics and text are only going to grow more harrowing with each page. Remina proves once again that you really don't want to be a beautiful girl in Ito's hands.
(posted to Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3654746024)

This is the first graphic novel that I've ever read, so perhaps my thoughts should be taken with a grain of salt. I love reading anything about horror, space, and other cultures. I was very impressed with both the illustrations and the originality of the storyline. The only critique I would possibly give is that the dialogue is somewhat elementary; however, I'm not sure who the target audience is meant to be. In my opinion, this would be a good YA read.

This title wasn’t as good as some of his other works like Uzumaki. I still like his horror style of writing. It always brings out the worst in humanity during crisis. Hope for humanity rests on just a small group of survivors seeking a new home after Earth.

Holy crap. Ito is a force of nature. To say that Junji Ito is the "Japanese Stephen King" doesn't give Ito his full justice. The layers of horror in Remina are breathtaking to experience. The story is disturbing. The people are disturbing. The visuals are out of this world. The book itself being its tale in media res, then jumps backwards and proceeds to catch back up to itself. In some books or movies, I find this style sloppy or formulaic. Here, it isn't. Ito uses it brilliantly to shock and pull you into the story and its world. Absolutely fantastic.

The only criticism I can level against the book is that the main character, Remina, is underdeveloped. She is subjugated to a series of trying ordeals, but her personality is minimally shown or investigated. This is not a huge knock against the book as a whole as she is set up more of a foil against whom all of the other characters are measured and contrasted.

I've been saving Junji Ito's books to read down the road so that I know I have something good and truly scary to anticipate. This book proves that I was right...but also wrong to wait so long. I'll be starting in on his other works a lot sooner than I had planned. Goodbye sleep ever again.

Disclaimer: I received a free digital copy of this title from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I received the ARC of this graphic novel from Netgally in exchange for an honest review.

(Please check the blurb of the book as here I'm only giving my opinions)

Absolutely brilliant cosmic horror story. This is the first Junji Ito book I ever read, and won't be the last.
Images are so well drawn and you can feel the movement and action through out the whole story, some frames are really well detailed that are still hunting me. I have to stop the book last night as I was getting a little bit dizzy with the whole world going around and around.
I didn't like that the main character Remina, needs to be saved all the time, there was always a guy grabbing her hand and taking her out of trouble, I would've like to see strong female leads. In contrast most men are a bunch of idiots. Which made it hard to relate to the characters,s but I still loved the story.
I highly recommend this book as a "palette cleanser" by that I mean,a book you can read in between books or when you aren't sure what to read next.

Very disturbing with graphic images of death and torture. Very fast read for a book that is over 200 pages. Good for YA horror fans.

Remina is what you'd get if Fletcher Hanks wrote horror Manga. Deeply bonkers from one panel to the next and a book you'll either fall in love with or just throw across the room depending on your tastes.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. I love Junji Ito’s work, but this one just didn’t keep my interest like his others have. I didn’t really feel satisfied with the conclusion of the story, and I found the fact that we don’t learn anything about The planet Remina a little off putting. Was it creepy? Yes. Well drawn? Yes. Did I love it? No, sadly. I’ll still end up purchasing it for our library, I’ll probably recommend it to my horror loving patrons that also read manga. But I’ll likely leave this one at being read once, because I don’t think I need to read it again.

Over the years, I have heard rave reviews of Junji Ito's body of work. Every time I've looked into one of his stories, I fail to see what is so impressive. The same holds true for Remina. While an over-the-top, Lovecraftian chase story seems like a fantastic concept, I was once again left feeling unimpressed by the alleged master of horror manga. Perhaps Ito's style of storytelling loses a lot of subtlety in translation.

While I am certain that existing fans of Ito's work will enjoy this, I did not.

Originally published at: https://frekingsmithbooks.com/2020/10/31/remina/

Junji Ito either needed more hugs as a child or he’s just good at this. I’m not sure which is more worrying.

CW: Death, spirals, graphic images, language

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Junji Ito is the eminent horror mangaka. Uzumaki is genuinely the only manga or comic or book that made my skin crawl. If you haven’t picked that up, DO IT.

Everyone talks about Uzumaki when they bring up Junji Ito, but he is a prolific writer. He has tons of short stories and novels (all manga, of course) that have been translated. If you are into short horror stories but don’t have access to the manga, Funimation Now has the Junji Ito Collection for streaming. I just started watching it a few nights ago to get in the mood for this review and it is SPOOKY.

Remina is the most recent translation and, boy, does it deliver the spook factor. But in a more Lovecraftian, Cosmic Horror kind of way.

The year is 20XX. There are flying cars and space travel.

Professor Oguro is becoming a celebrity all around the world due to his discovery of a new planet, which he names Remina. The planet’s namesake, his daughter Remina, becomes an instant icon. Fan clubs, debuts, all sorts of stuff. Soon, though, one of the lead researchers discovers that the planet is moving towards Earth… and leaving nothing in its wake.

The people of Japan are terrified and restless, looking for someone to blame. The brunt of the anger is directed at Remina (the girl) and her father. The mob believes the only way to prevent the planet from being swallowed by Remina (the planet) is to kill the Oguros.

However, when Remina (the planet) is within Earth’s orbit, it stops. A crew is sent from the moon to investigate the planet. What the crew discovers on the planet is worse than what anyone could have imagined. I don’t want to get into spoiler territory and this book truly needs to be read to get the full experience.

Ito is just an incredible artist and writer. The way he shows how people descend (spiral) into madness and chaos is nothing short of masterful. In light of all of the things happening in the world, there are definitely parallels we can draw from Remina’s story to our current events. There is a pandemic ongoing that has claimed over 200,000 Americans, a presidential election next week that will most likely lead to unavoidable civil unrest, and we are all looking for someone to blame. Granted, I have a tiny bit more faith in our world than Ito does, I don’t think we will try to sacrifice at 16 year old girl… Hopefully.

As for the book itself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love horror manga so I was surprised when I saw that this was a translation/reprint that I already hadn’t read it. What I love about this is that the horror doesn’t come from the Remina (the planet), although you do get some really unsettling imagery. It comes from how people react to Remina (the girl). Immediately, people fawn all over her, but turn on a dime when she is considered a witch. People who she considered allies were only in it for their selfish desires. Even at the end of the world, people have an angle. You can’t depend on people you thought were there for you. And that’s what’s scary.

I’m going to give this a 5/5, 9/10.

If you need a bit of a palette cleanser, I get it. Here’s a video of Junji Ito reacting to people’s cats. Enjoy.

This Digital ARC was provided by VIZ Media and NetGalley. Thanks so much for letting me terrify myself!

An apocalyptic nightmare comes out of space and causes the people of earth to panic. Of course the men decide to sacrifice a female and her lovers try to save her from the mob. I liked the obsession and creepy tones, but the damsel in distress was just pathetic and unrealistic.

A longer review is forthcoming on review sites, but this was another excellent work by Junji Ito. A gripping page turner in every sense.

3.5, rounded up because even if it's a bit too on the nose it's still very effective. The story blends science fiction and horror to show how quickly people can turn into monsters when a scientist names an evil sentient planet after his daughter. It's really a statement on idol culture in a lot of ways, with Remina the Girl being regarded as everyone's property, including Remina the Planet's, and her life very quickly slipping out of her control because of it. What was meant to be an honor invites disaster as the planet charges towards its namesake and four very different men try to protect the girl from the literal pitchfork-waving mobs (led by guys in pointy hoods; very subtle) but three of them succumb to their need to own Remina the Girl in some way. It's scary on a social level, and while the lack of subtlety does hurt the book, it still works as a reminder that humans are only one good scare away from the least intelligent animal, ruled by their fear and superstitions.

A sci-fi horror manga set in Japan in the near future. An astrophysicist discovers a new planet, whose existence seems to prove the reality of wormholes to other dimensions. A pretty significant discovery! And one that wins the scientist both the Nobel Prize and naming rights to the new planet, which he calls after his teenage daughter, Remina. Remina herself is soon a media sensation, becoming a pop star and advertising celebrity. Of course, this is a horror story, so things begin to go wrong: the planet Remina turns and somehow heads towards Earth at nearly the speed of light, and other planets and stars in its path disappear. As Remina comes closer, it becomes clear that it's not quite a planet, given that it has a massive eye and tongue; that it's eating everything it passes; and that Earth is its target. People unsurprisingly panic, and a cult suddenly arises, playing on these new fears to put the blame on Remina and her father. The cult argues that the Oguros have somehow summoned the planet, and the only way to save humanity is to sacrifice them.

The middle and late section of the book get a bit repetitive as the same plot plays out over and over again: the cult finds Remina, attempts to kill and/or torture her, a man saves her, she escapes. The only change from one round to another is that Remina's clothing becomes ever more tattered and scanty. That said, there are some fantastically creepy images throughout: Remina tied to a cross as a massive eye opens in the sky behind her; a nuclear-blasted corpse, its skull grinning through heat-tightened skin; a body melting into goo when exposed to the toxic atmosphere on the planet Remina; the constant mob of screaming mouths and reaching hands, shouting "Kill Remina!" and "Remina the witch!".

Overall, it doesn't reach the heights of terror Ito is capable of in stories like 'The Enigma of Amigara Fault' or 'Uzumaki', but it's nicely scary little story about cosmic horrors and why the brutality of man is scarier than anything out of space.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3617756085