Black Paradox (Junji Ito)

Product Information

Ito: Yes. The manga I was reading wasn't that scary. On the other hand, TV shows where they went into haunted houses or had a medium who could summon spirits, I thought those were scary. Interesting, but scary. I couldn't go to the bathroom by myself. Especially since the bathroom in my house was at the end of an underground tunnel. When they showed photos with ghostly apparitions on those shows, that was scary. I was scared by things that seemed real to me. As for manga, of course, some of it was scary but for the most part, I found it interesting and intriguing. I loved Kazuo Umezu's drawings. Strange creatures, the grotesque. They fascinated me, so I enjoyed reading his manga. But that bathroom was scary...

Black Paradox | Book by Junji Ito | Official Publisher Page

Living Shadow: Taburo is haunted by his own shadow. When he turns especially paranoid, he hides in complete darkness so his shadow can not exist. As such, the shadow starts to glow and becomes his door into the other world.The Leader: Dr. Suga. While arriving in the plot later than the other 4, he nevertheless has the most contribution toward the plot, finding the function of paradonite, making the gateway toward the spirit plane, and being the public face about the matter. It's exactly because he's the most conspicuous that humanity will hate him immensely when they realize the effect of using paradonite as an energy source. Foreshadowing: After being exposed to the power released by paradonite, the unconscious Baracchi dreams of numerous alternate lives. This foreshadows the fact that paradonite isn't just some stone that shows up in the spirit world—it's human souls in physical form. Balloon Belly: When the jewels build up in Pii-tan's stomach faster than he can vomit them up, his stomach distends grotesquely, which is played for horror rather than laughs. Especially when he explodes. Hoist by His Own Petard: It is predicted by Maruso that Suga will at first be deemed as a revolutionary figure for discovering the uses for paradonite...only to then be shunned and tortured for leading humanity on a road to extiction.

Black Paradox | Manga - MyAnimeList.net

commit suicide. It’s hard to fully give in to the reasons they reached the conclusion to take this terrible decision, since the character development is pretty unique and strongly attached to the plot and how the story will progress. Without giving too much, each one of these characters have an unique situation that brought them to want to quit life. What their own reasons have in common is self-image, being it physical or mentally, their self-image affects them as in making them highly insecure and even neurotic to the point of wanting to die. Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Marisou attempts to flee from Dr. Suga after realizing his intentions to harvest the paradoxical orbs by recreating Pii-tan's stomach in his underground lab, making a break for it the moment she heard someone ringing the doorbell outside Suga's mansion. Alas, that someone happens to be Barrachi, whose face is currently expelling large quantities of paradoxical orbs. Cue Marisou fainting on the spot. The story starts pretty straight to the point; four different individuals find themselves together, each one having a reason to Ito: No, I’m afraid there wasn’t a beautiful woman who was the model. When I was in junior high school, a boy in my class died in a traffic accident. It just felt so odd to me that a classmate who was so full of life should suddenly disappear from the world, and I had the strange feeling that he would show up again innocently. Ever since then, I wanted to give expression to that feeling in my manga. That’s how I came up with the idea of a girl who is supposed to have died but then just shows up as if nothing had happened. In real life, it was a boy who died, but I turned her into a girl in the manga. Team Power Walk: At the ending. The four main characters, after witnessing personally the spirit plane and gaining understanding of the paradonite's true nature, listening to Maruso's foresight of humanity's destruction and Dr. Suga's inevitable bad reputation in the future. They're then called to do their job of taking more paradonite. Keeping the knowledge to themselves, they stoically walk out of their room to exact their revenge by proxy toward Dr. Suga.

The Big Guy: Pii-tan. His contribution to the plot is being the gateway and continuing to enlarge it. He's the go-to guy to throw into something strange or unknown to see what's happening, and he's the main guy to get the stones for most of the story. Being a robot is a plus. Ben K: I'm sure fans will be pleased... Mr. Ito, your works have been adapted to live action film before by Japanese directors. If you were able to work with a foreign film director on a future project, do you have any names that come to mind?

Black Paradox | Junji Ito Wiki | Fandom

A melancholy young man who was used as the model for a perfect humanoid robot. He could not compare to its perfection and thus felt that there was no reason for him to continue to exist. After taking an overdose of sleeping pills and his heart stopping, he witnesses the spirit world and begins to produce spirit jewels from his stomach via the pylorus - a word which, in Japanese, is written with the characters for "spirit" and "door." Nobushi: Would you say that most of your works are based on experiences you had and information you learned in your childhood?Ben K: I see. Thank you. Now, I'd like to ask you about this beautiful art book. This is your first one. Was there a reason behind the timing of its publication? A greedy man who became suicidal after meeting his doppelganger which he believed to be an omen of his forthcoming death, thus would rather take his own life than wait for death to claim him. He later becomes rich by exploiting Paradoxical Night. Now, I'd like to ask you a different question. Going forward, is there a kind of manga you'd like to create, or, not limited to manga, something new you'd like to try? Necessarily Evil: Paradonite will cause a massive energy and technological revolution that will aid humanity, yet will also slowly drive humanity extinct due to being their souls. When the others suggest simply not harvesting the stones, Maruso explains that if they do so, Suga will simply find/make more openings to Paradise. But, she notes, Suga will eventually be destroyed by his own breakthrough and they can protect their own souls (and implicitly enough to keep humanity extant as well), as long as they're the ones doing the harvesting. Nobushi: I have a question I'd personally like to ask you, if I may. What is it about the grotesque that appeals to you?

Black Paradox…Weird, Sort of Fast Paced - Reddit Review: Black Paradox…Weird, Sort of Fast Paced - Reddit

Marusou" had a premonition that dreadful things would happen to her, and she would rather die than face them. "Taburou" met his doppelganger and, believing it to be an omen of death, has chosen to take his own life rather than wait for death to catch up to him. "Piitan" works in a robotics lab and was chosen to be the model for a superior humanoid robot. Since he can't compete with its perfection, he feels there is no longer any point in his existence. "Baracchi" believes that her own reflection has given her a death sentence and that the severe disfigurement affecting the left side of her face is a life of its own growing out of her. She, Piitan and Taburou all believe that another version of themselves has condemned them to die. An attractive actor of whom Baracchi was a fan. She sent him one of the spirit jewels, which he wanted to share with his fans; unable to break the jewel apart, he fired at it with a gun, causing an explosion of energy which killed him and everyone present. Existential Horror: The manga's horror mostly comes from this. It comes from the horror of merely existing at all. Ito: "Long Dream," "The Hanging Balloons" and " The Enigma of Amigara Fault." I would say those are my favorites. I don't think I'm very good at long stories, so I don't have any which I'm personally satisfied with. Short stories are easier to write well, and I’m happy with those three. Creo que no puedo decir mucho más, porque es una historia para descubrir poco a poco y madurar, pero sin duda me parece una obra más que recomendable.

Discussions

the four main characters. Marusou, Taburo, Piitan, and Barachii are quite tense yet comical at certain points. They all have their moments and each of the characters is fleshed out and played out their roles perfectly.