Horror manga artist Junji Ito, known for creating memorable antagonists such as Tomie and Souichi and terrifying stories such as Hanging Balloons, has revealed his most embarrassing story.
Ito’s works have captured the fears of readers worldwide and are so popular that they have been adapted into two series, with the latest one being Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre on Netflix.
Despite having an impressive collection of works, Ito has his favorites and least favorites. In a recent interview, he surprised fans by sharing one of his least favorite stories, which he finds embarrassing.
In a recent interview clip on the Netflix Anime YouTube channel, Junji Ito talks about one of his stories, The Sandman’s Lair (previously titled Den of the Sleep Demon), which features in the Netflix series, Junji Ito: Maniac. Episode 4 of the series is based on The Sandman’s Lair.
The story follows an artist who is plagued by terrifying nightmares involving a Sandman, and when his girlfriend stays over, she realizes that the nightmares are, in fact a reality.
This disturbing moment of body horror is considered one of the most twisted sequences in Junji Ito: Maniac. However, despite its popularity, Ito himself doesn’t have fond memories about the creation of this story.
According to Ito, Sandman’s Lair is one of his earliest stories, and as such, he has identified some significant flaws with it. He recognizes that he was still honing his craft when he wrote the story, and the dialogue in particular is a source of embarrassment for him.
He describes the character’s lines as pretentious and immature and acknowledges that it doesn’t fit well with the tone of his other terrifying works. It’s a common experience for writers to look back on their early work and cringe at how their writing has evolved over time. Despite feeling a little embarrassed by it, Ito is not completely ashamed of Sandman’s Lair.
What’s unexpected about Ito’s revelation is that despite his negative feelings towards Sandman’s Lair, he approves of its adaptation in the anime series. He even goes as far as to say that the anime improved upon the story, even though the dialogue he finds immature is still present.
He compliments the series for its “great pieces of animation,” which allow the scariest elements of the bizarre and fantastic story to stand out. Ito believes that bringing the story to animation was a success as it allowed the medium to enhance it, much like how sound was used to great effect in Hanging Balloons.
It’s not uncommon for artists to have mixed feelings about their work, as they often spend years perfecting their craft and may encounter failures along the way. Junji Ito is no exception, as he has expressed why The Sandman’s Lair falls short for him.
However, he doesn’t believe that the story is beyond improvement, as evident by his reaction when the anime adaptation turned out to be one of the best in Maniac.
Although Sandman’s Lair is the story that makes Ito most embarrassed, he was pleasantly surprised with the final cut of the anime adaptation and felt a mixture of pride and embarrassment upon seeing it.
About Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre is a Japanese original net animation series produced by Studio Deen and directed by Shinobu Tagashira. It adapts various stories from popular horror manga artist Junji Ito, including The Hanging Balloons, Sōichi, and Tomie. It was released on Netflix in January 2023.
Each episode in the series adapts a single story by Junji Eto. One of the stories (adapted in episode 4 of the show) is called Sandman’s Lair or Den of the Sleep Demon. The story features an artist who is tired of having nightmares about a Sandman.
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