Ito’s polarizing manga can be viewed from two different angles.
Manipulative, vain, and destructive, the main heroine of Junji Ito’s chilling horror manga series Tomie is not your average shoujo protagonist. And yes, the manga was originally published in a shoujo magazine. Reactions to Ito’s portrayal of a malevolent entity hiding behind the facade of an eternally young and beautiful woman have always been ambivalent. So, what makes Tomie so controversial?
The basic premise of the manga is simple: a mysterious high school-aged girl has the ability to regenerate after death. She inserts herself into the lives of random people, mostly men, causing them to become infatuated with her and eventually driving them to insanity. The series consists of interconnected stories, each featuring encounters with Tomie and the horrific consequences that follow.
The question is: does the manga justify and even glorify the violence inflicted on her by men?
The male characters in the stories always end up killing Tomie for one of two reasons: because they can’t have her or because they feel betrayed by her “failure” to be perfect. In both cases, their misguided reasoning stems from the feeling of entitlement and inability to control her. She makes men feel powerless, and so she gets punished in the most gruesome manner.
Thus, while Tomie herself has very few redeeming qualities, the men are not much better. In fact, most of the horror scenes in the pages depict not Tomie's evil doings, but the ways in which men murder her.
At the same time, we know something the male characters don’t: Tomie is no ordinary woman. She’s a demon, a succubus, and they are helpless under her spell. She lures them in, and they fall for her magic every time – hook, line, and sinker. Tomie is cruel and cunning; she’s a reflection of men’s deepest desires and object of women’s envy. The more the story progresses, the less humanity she has left.
Tomie’s actions really blur the lines between villain and victim, and the ambiguity of her situation is what leads some to conclude that the series has misogynistic, victim-blamey undertones.
In the end, it’s up to the reader to decide whether the manga sides with the abuser or the abused. As the author never explicitly stated the intention behind his creation, your interpretation of Tomie depends on how much faith you have in Ito to tackle the heavy subject of gender violence and do it justice through horror.
Ito’s polarizing manga can be viewed from two different angles.
Manipulative, vain, and destructive, the main heroine of Junji Ito’s chilling horror manga series Tomie is not your average shoujo protagonist. And yes, the manga was originally published in a shoujo magazine. Reactions to Ito’s portrayal of a malevolent entity hiding behind the facade of an eternally young and beautiful woman have always been ambivalent. So, what makes Tomie so controversial?
The basic premise of the manga is simple: a mysterious high school-aged girl has the ability to regenerate after death. She inserts herself into the lives of random people, mostly men, causing them to become infatuated with her and eventually driving them to insanity. The series consists of interconnected stories, each featuring encounters with Tomie and the horrific consequences that follow.
The question is: does the manga justify and even glorify the violence inflicted on her by men?
The male characters in the stories always end up killing Tomie for one of two reasons: because they can’t have her or because they feel betrayed by her “failure” to be perfect. In both cases, their misguided reasoning stems from the feeling of entitlement and inability to control her. She makes men feel powerless, and so she gets punished in the most gruesome manner.
Thus, while Tomie herself has very few redeeming qualities, the men are not much better. In fact, most of the horror scenes in the pages depict not Tomie's evil doings, but the ways in which men murder her.
At the same time, we know something the male characters don’t: Tomie is no ordinary woman. She’s a demon, a succubus, and they are helpless under her spell. She lures them in, and they fall for her magic every time – hook, line, and sinker. Tomie is cruel and cunning; she’s a reflection of men’s deepest desires and object of women’s envy. The more the story progresses, the less humanity she has left.
Tomie’s actions really blur the lines between villain and victim, and the ambiguity of her situation is what leads some to conclude that the series has misogynistic, victim-blamey undertones.
In the end, it’s up to the reader to decide whether the manga sides with the abuser or the abused. As the author never explicitly stated the intention behind his creation, your interpretation of Tomie depends on how much faith you have in Ito to tackle the heavy subject of gender violence and do it justice through horror.
