Four additional cast members have been revealed forJunji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. The new members have previous credits ranging from popular shonen series likeBleachto prominent horror serieslikeAttack on Titan, and more.
It’s nearly impossible to visit an anime store without seeing several “featured” Junji Ito manga volumes andJunji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabrewill mark a second attempt to adapt some of those works into an anime. Announced last month by Junji Ito himself, the series will feature 20 stories from hisshort horror story volumes, including stories fromSouchi,Hanging Balloons, and his debut volumeTomie.
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This previous Monday, the official website forJunji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabrerevealed that four new voice actors have joined the cast. Risa Shimizu, Ayaka Asai, Hajime Iijima, and Tomoko Kaneda are all joining the cast as a part of the anime’s adaptation of “The Strange Hikizuri Siblings: The Seance”. They will join Romi Park and Takahiro Sakurai, two previously revealed cast members, voicing Kiko and Kazuya Hikizuri, respectively. The story will be one of 20 Junji Ito stories being animated for the first time and released on Netflix in 2023.
While the previous adaptation of Junji Ito’s work,The Junji Ito Collection, failed to impress viewers, the year after its release saw a rise in Junji Ito merchandise, from manga lining store shelves to the exclusive merch collection revealed at Crunchyroll Expo 2019. With more Junji Ito merchandise available now than when the previous series was released, it’s easy to imagine Junji will have more fans tuning in this time around. Hopefully, more details will be revealed in the coming months regarding the other stories in the upcoming series, including those fromTomie.
Tomieis Junji Ito’s second highest-rated volume on Myanimelist, which bodes well for the upcoming adaptation. Junji Ito’s work excels in conveying a sense of dread and eeriness, usually in a world that’s familiar, but just a little bizarre. If done well, it’ll make a great addition to thehorror anime genre.
Viewers may recognize Romi Park as the voice actor forAttack on Titan’s Hange Zoe. The new cast members have a long list of previous roles in popular series as well, but their big roles are few and far between. Additionally, with how poorlyThe Junji Ito Collectionwas received,Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabrecould easily be just as disappointing, but only time will tell.
