Deserter by Junji Ito

An ever-increasing malice. A mind-numbing terror. The seeds of horror are sown in this collection of Junji Ito’s earliest works. A vengeful family hides an army deserter for eight years after the end of World War II, cocooning him in a false reality where the war never ended. A pair of girls look alike, but they aren’t twins. And a boy’s nightmare threatens to spill out into the real world… This hauntingly strange story collection showcases a dozen of Junji Ito’s earliest works from when he burst onto the horror scene, sowing fresh seeds of terror.

Was not my cup of tea. I like the visuals but not so much the stories.

Deserter is a series of manga short stories written early on in Junji Ito's career.
Junji Ito would go on to become one of the most famous and celebrated manga authors of all time, and it's clear why he became a legend from the very start.
While most of the anthology is relatively weak with dull, boring concepts and pretty bad pacing, the entire anthology is thoroughly enjoyable with Junji Ito's
superb artwork. And when Deserter works, it really works, with the titular “Deserter” short story being an all time great.

A couple of good ones, and a few that didn't work for me. Generally I enjoyed reading some of his early stuff though!

Most of the stories in this collection ranged from just fine to really good, with a few falling into the range of being downright boring or unenjoyable. I wish I'd written down ratings for each piece of the collection individually as I was reading through it, but this was one of those times where I was more in the mood to just zone out with the manga rather than take notes, and it wasn't good enough to want to re-read it for more thorough reviewing purposes (sorry!). That said, this would probably be a good intro collection for someone brand new to Junji Ito's works because it covers a wide range of his storytelling styles - some more fantastical, some bizarro, and some downright sad and scary - and would give a new reader a really good idea of what to expect.It's more of a 3.5-star read for me, but I don't feel right about rounding the rating down.✨ Content warnings for: violence, murder, mental illness, suicide, infanticide, child abuse———twitter booktok bookstagram blog