I don't know where to begin . . .

I love Junji Ito's twisted mind, and his writing is classic horror. His work is becoming a hit and a miss with me these days. I do enjoy his short stories a lot more than the completed manga. Soichi became like Tomie - when does it stop because it gets repetitive.

Soichi is a weird kid who spews curses at anyone mean to him. His brother bullies him to apologise with minor violence. His whole family thinks he is weird, and they often ignore him, which leads to him cursing them or playing pranks. He also sucks on nails, and he likes to spit nails at people. (This happens in all of the chapters.)

I . . . just didn't get excited to finish this book quickly. I silently wished it ended sooner. ( )

Soichi Tsujii is the ultimate bratty cousin, only exponentially worse than you can imagine because he can basically use voodoo dolls to curse those who offend or humiliate him. He also keeps nails in his mouth, ostensibly as a treatment for his iron deficiency but mostly to spit as missiles at those he hates or to use as vampiric fangs. He's an all around repulsive jerk.

And yet, somehow, watching his successes and failures became a bit addictive as i made my way through the book, sort of like watching Wile E. Coyote or the black and white spies from Mad magazine.

If you find yourself wanting more Soichi, the Junji Ito collection Smashed has three stories featuring him that are not collected here.

UPDATE December 13, 2023:

After reading this, I revisited the Smashed collection and found that the Soichi stories there sort of resolve the cliffhanger ending here. So be sure to check that out.

And the bizarre model who appears in a couple of the stories here and there will make more a little more sense if you first read the Fuchi stories in Ito's Shiver collection.

FOR REFERENCE:

Contents: A Happy Summer Vacation -- A Happy Winter Vacation -- Soichi's Happy Diary -- Soichi's Home Visit -- Teacher of Cloth -- Soichi's Birthday -- Soichi's Petty Curses -- Four-Layered Room -- Coffin -- Rumors ( )

Rather than the usual collection of unrelated short stories, this volume focuses on one main character and repeating secondary ones. It reads as an episodic novel rather than short stories. The artwork is gorgeous as usual but there is nothing particularly gruesome or unsettling. It felt like a much more minor horror than Ito's usual creepy fair. That said the character of Soichi was definitely creepy. He is an evil character but one feels a degree of sympathy for him by the end. It is an engrossing story and a good addition to my collection of this author's books. ( )