In this day and age, Junji Ito has made himself as a legend when it comes to horror manga. His works have expanded and extended its goosebump-inducing reach to anime and film. As eerie as the manga are, the animated adaptations have their own unique eerie vibes about them. The fandom may be divided as to whether one medium is superior to the other, but everybody will unanimously agree that Junji Ito is a master of his craft. That said, yet another of his great works, Sensor, hits the English limelight.

Discussion Time

Unlike most of Junji Ito’s works, Sensor is a standalone series that is contained within a few chapters. The series follows a certain girl that’s been attracted by an inexplicable power to go to Mount Sengoku. There, the girl meets a peculiar village worshipping strands of golden hair that came from a volcano. With Junji Ito’s signature storytelling, it obviously didn’t end there. After the volcano erupted and covered her in a golden hair cocoon, one weird thing after another started to occur.

1. Just as What We Expect

As we've already stated, Junji Ito is a master of his craft. Just knowing that Sensor is a work of his already elicits a set of expectations, albeit voluntarily or involuntarily. Sensor meets those expectations and did Junji Ito justice. Sensor is exactly what you will think of yet another Junji Ito story. Unlike other horror manga that focus on demons and whatnot, Junji Ito uses disturbing concepts that are borderline creepy and humane.

2. Surprisingly Grotesque

With a Junji Ito story, we just don’t know what could possibly happen next. After all, Junji Ito is known for his unique way of thinking. In this aspect, Sensor has shocked us in various scenarios. For one, the moment the hypnotherapist became obsessed with the female lead and his transformation to a terrifyingly enlarged facial organ or to the point of him exploding into thousands or even millions of neurons in outer space.

3. Great Story

As great as Junji Ito is, it doesn’t mean that he never commits mistakes or that his works are flawless. Being perfectly honest, some of his short stories just fall flat. For Sensor, however, things are quite different. Sensor is very neatly paced and is overall interesting. It doesn’t waste space from including unnecessary bits, and the premise itself is quite fascinating. The plot is quite simple and linear, but the mystery of not knowing what possible monstrosity Junji Ito can come up with manages to maintain that sort of horror.

Final Thoughts

There really isn’t much to say. The bane of a famous individual is his own fame. The higher the threads, the higher the expectations of people are also. Sensor has definitely reached the standard of other Junji Ito series. That being said, Sensor is a creepy but really interesting series.

Writer

Author: Christian Markle

I am a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. I love watching anime, reading manga, and writing my own stories. Watch out in the future as you may see one of my works one day. Manga and anime were big parts of my childhood. I grew up watching Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, One Piece, and Dragon Ball Z. Those were probably one of the happiest and most carefree days of my life. In fact, most of my values are probably molded by manga. No, that's not an exaggeration.

Previous Articles

Top 5 Anime by Christian Markle

Recommended Post

Unexpected Junji Ito Ending In Remina

Recommended Post

[Honey's Anime Interview] Horror Mangaka Genius Junji Ito at Crunchyroll Expo 2019