Junji Ito’s most popular works tend to focus on a kind of darkness that lives in obsession and obsession. In Uzumaki, this is expressed through spirals and the way people twist and distort themselves to become who they are. In Tomie, it takes the form of a girl, as the title suggests, a mysterious figure that men fall in love with at first sight, but whose charm ends in physical terror. In Gyo, a man commits himself to caring for his partner beyond the point of no return after a dead fish with mechanical legs begins to terrorize people. In these stories, obsession leads to self-destruction or the collapse of society. What is less commented on about these stories is how aggressively satirical they are.
When you’re intimidated by great storytellers, it can be hard to see what’s going on behind the scenes. I think when I read these books for the first time, I was too busy and scared to understand them. However, Ito’s 2005 science fiction horror novel Remina is perhaps the most obviously satirical of the author’s works, making it very easy to understand what the intentions behind its hellish depictions are. can be understood. And it’s a hellish image.
Remina centers on a demonic planet that is making its way towards Earth, swallowing up stars and planets along the way. A Japanese scientist discovered this planet and named it Remina after his daughter. Human Remina becomes a star overnight, and fan clubs and talent agencies begin to follow her. As a demonic object approaches Earth, humanity realizes that this object is driven by an insidious hunger that doesn’t just fly over us. This is where the satirical elements start to creep in. The public automatically comes to the conclusion that this planet is ruled by the scientist’s daughter because they have the same name. From there, fame shows how badly it can hurt those under its light.
Things go off the rails pretty quickly, which is alarming for the characters involved. Mr. Ito points out how ridiculous the roots of fear often are, using the association theory of popular names to explain the apocalyptic famine on the planet Remina. Mob rule quickly became the norm, and the first order of the day was to crucify the scientist and his daughter to see if it would appease the demon planet. It is as if the cross had been made in advance, kept nearby in case of a global crisis, and brought out when needed.
It’s all absurd and darkly funny, but it’s also horrifying because it shows how quickly people can rally behind a painstaking explanation and go from fear to mob violence in the blink of an eye. Still, Ito satirizes the human Remina’s rapid rise to pop icon status, leading the mob not only to possess the object of their desire, but to find in it the source of all their problems. It is depicted as a group of enthusiastic fans who are obsessed with something. .
This is a smart approach that makes a real point to the fandom as a big question regarding the possibilities of real-life horror. Things grow from that core idea and tie into fandom issues in many ways. For example, the planet Remina has a giant eye that opens as soon as it reaches Earth, allowing you to better see the ridiculous events happening below and how you can’t stop the inevitable. In a way, it becomes an audience, something like Big Brother, who temporarily joins the fandom before eventually getting bored and eating it up. Remina does not judge humanity. It captivates in its absurdity (a sentiment those on the other side of the fandom are familiar with).
That idea extends to the human Remina’s pitiful guardians, including the representative of her agency, the president of her fan club, and the man who wants to marry her. And this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Ito found even more ways to complicate and extend the concept. Of particular note is the homeless man, who, due to life circumstances, doesn’t have much up-to-date information on who is who in this scenario. We also see a group of hooded figures pushing the case about the crucifixion even harder and claiming to have the planet’s best interests at heart. As it progresses, it becomes more and more absurd (to the extent that only the book “Low” may come close to it).
Remina is the most satirical Ito. Dissatisfaction with fan culture and crowd ideology is evident here. The demonic planet at the center of the story is a reflection of the people who have lost themselves in their environment, sick and ever-hungry beings who decide to forego feeding in order to cling to human drama. After all, Remina is us and we are Remina. We stop what we are doing to indulge in our obsession, and only when we get tired of it do we turn away and drive it into oblivion.
Something like this:
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