'Itou Junji: Maniac' Anime Series Announced for 2023

Streaming platform Netflix announced a new anime project based on titles by horror manga creator Junji Itou on Wednesday, scheduled for a 2023 debut. The anime series, Itou Junji: Maniac (Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre), will adapt 20 stories from a number of Itou's manga for the first time, including Tomie, Souichi, and Kubitsuri Kikyuu (The Hanging Balloons).

The Itou Junji: Collection (The Junji Ito Collection) television anime adapted stories from the Itou Junji Kessaku-shuu (Junji Ito Masterpiece Collection) and Ma no Kakera (Fragments of Horror) manga in Winter 2018. The anime series covered stories from Tomie and Souichi no Kattena Noroi (Souichi's Selfish Curse).

Itou's Uzumaki (Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror) manga also has an anime in production, scheduled for an October 2022 debut after two prior delays. The four-episode series is being directed by Hiroshi Nagahama (Mushishi) at animation studio Drive, with Aki Itami (Aku no Hana) handling the series composition.

Tomie
In a high school classroom, students mourn the loss of one of their own: Tomie Kawakami, who has been murdered and dismembered. Shocked by the announcement of her death, the class is puzzled by the cruel fate that has befallen someone so dear to them; such a radiant and beautiful girl did not deserve such a hideous demise. However, a strikingly familiar student suddenly appears at the classroom's entrance. Gorgeous, slender, and with a beauty mark under her left eye, Tomie smiles and apologizes for being late.

But this is just the beginning of the mysteries surrounding this seemingly inhuman woman. The men unlucky enough to catch her eye become smitten with her instantly, but also become driven by a dark impulse to dismember her, one they often succumb to. And each time, Tomie returns from the dead to continue her favorite pastime: toying with men. [Written by MAL Rewrite]

Souichi Series
Souichi Tsujii, lover of all things wicked and occult, returns to do what he does best: casting mischief and curses on those around him. This time, he attempts to capitalize on his mystic powers, play his hand at popularity, pester his grandfather into building him a coffin, and as usual, torment his elder brother Kouchi. And like always, his shenanigans tend to backfire on him, though this time they may have a more lasting effect...

Kubitsuri Kikyuu
Kazuko's friend, the popular idol Fujino Terumi, has committed suicide by hanging herself in public. As the news of her death spreads around, so does a wave of copycat suicides, giving rise to rumors of Terumi's ghost. With these rumors come strange but detailed reports that Terumi's ghost has manifested as her giant, floating head. As Kazuko starts to investigate, she realizes that these strange incidents are merely the beginning of the end.

Announcement


Source: Comic Natalie

Itou Junji: Maniac on MAL