This is my first Junji Ito title that I've ever read. While I quite like horror graphic novels and comics, this one verged a little too on the religious zealotry end of the spectrum for my personal tastes. The art was great. And it really did a great job of giving those unnerving feelings that we all read horror titles for. I would check out other titles, but this one was just a little too intense for me.

I enjoyed this graphic novel, I have read some of Mr. Ito's work before and enjoy his psychological horror. I look forward to seeing more of his translated work here in America. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a translation from spanish of my Goodread's review:

Score: 4.8 Stars

What the heck did I just read?! I think this expression can perfectly describe how I'm feeling right now.
This is my first time reading a book by Junji Ito and I'm stunned, I needed a reminder to close my mouth every five minutes. I've heard about Junji Ito's disturbing stories and illustrations before but I have to admit that I wasn´t expecting what I found here.

In Remina, Ito presents an apocalyptic story in which the Earth will live its last days because a recently discovered and destructive planet is heading our way. And, of course, people goes madly crazy about it. This planet has been discovered by a scientist who has decided to name it after his daughter, Remina, which makes her a celebrity in Japan since this has been one of the most outstanding scientific discoveries of recent history.

Evidently everything changes when Remina starts heading to the Earth, provoking chaos within the human kind. This is a tough, strong, and raw story that also entertains and shocks the reader. I'm totally amazed with the content of this book and, without any doubt, I want to read more from this author.

Thanks Viz Media for this e-galley!

When people talk about Ito's work, they generally describe his out there premises, the bloody psychological horror, and the artistry of his deranged facial expressions. This volume had all of those tied to the story of the mass breakdown of society due to the arrival in the solar system of a plant-eating malevolent entity. But this focuses more on the derangement of people who look for any and all coincidental explanations to stave off bad events, no matter how unlikely or insane. There are some great set pieces (the round the world chase in lower gravity is really interesting) and while the characters are a bit cardboard and the plot a tad predictable, the sheer overwhelmingness of the art and plot beats makes this a very compelling and disturbing read.

Another seriously weird title from Junji Ito! I really enjoy his work and I think that his distinct art style helps emphasize the creep factor in all of his work - he is always drawing disgusting men and deeply beautiful (but maybe dangerous) women, which is great. I like this story because it hinges on hysteria in the face of a natural disaster and human hibris - also the fact that sometimes people make horrible, selfish choices because they can't handle their own feelings is a great addition.

Remina marks an interesting new convergence of Junji Ito's realm of horror with speculative fiction. The volume begins with the inauguration of a new planet named Remina for the daughter of the scientist who discovered it. The media and public's interest in the human Remina propels her into the entertainment industry where she finds success as a celebrity. Yet, this success coincides with the planet Remina itself propelling closer and closer to the planet Earth. As fear of a collision of both planets takes over Earthlings a prophecy insisting that sacrificing the human Remina will save Earth finds ground. The volume follows her as she attempts to evade death and fight to survive.

As per usual, Ito's art is exceptional. There are some moments of body horror that really chill and inspire awe. However, I found the story and even more so, the character development in this volume a little lacking. There are some obvious allusion in the imagery here that point to the story being more allegorical than character-driven but that it was so on the nose almost hindered my willingness to accept the flaws of this story. That said, I think it's worth the read for any Ito completionist and I'd be happy to see more sci-fi work from him published in English.

Another horrifying classic from the undisputed king of Japanese horror manga, Junji Ito.

Ito's grotesque imagery may be what puts him on many people's radar to begin with, but personally I keep coming back for his strange and unique plotlines. I don't know how he manages to come up with the ideas for this stories, but I love it.

I am a huge fan of Junji Ito, and "Remina" is a great addition to the Ito-verse! I love how Ito uses female characters to bring about some kind of destruction of humanity, and often these characters are seemingly "weak" and beautiful sorts of girls. Our heroine, whose namesake is this graphic novel, Remina, never asked for the newly discovered planet to be named after her. She didn't ask for a fan club of zealots. Nevertheless, she is blamed for the murderous planet's tirade against Earth and becomes the hunted. As always, the art is amazing; the landscape of Remina as well as the facial depictions found in the planet's surface really drive the terror home. "Remina" is everything I hoped it would be, and my only gripe would have been that I wanted more of an ending, or an epilogue, but I am not surprised that Ito left it open-ended. Perhaps we will get a sequel. Thanks to NetGalley for ARC!

This was my first Junji Ito book, and I have to say that I found it quite underwhelming.

I think my big issue with this book is that Remina has absolutely no agency and doesn't do anything except cry -- I'm not even exaggerating. I like my characters -- female or otherwise -- to actually DO things. The story is really interesting and I loved the exploration of mass hysteria and mob mentality, but I couldn't get behind this one. Having now read more of his work, I know Ito can do much, much better than this.

An incredible new book from Junji Ito that once again explores the unsettling aspects of Science Fiction universes. I like this cosmic horror title that really bends the edge of its characters' sanity. It is both uncomfortable and incredible at the same time. It is a literal cases of worlds colliding. In this case, the planet of destruction is coming to give humans in a way that mixes body horror, mass hysteria/psychosis around apocalypses, and grotesque parodies of reality.

In a timely reflection of our contemporary millionaire space race, the rich who "escape" get their just desserts in classic horror comic fashion. The layers of social commentary on idol culture paired with the underbelly of sexual assault/abuse present in Japan. The horrible things that happen are not specifically caused by the evils of space and the unknown, but the known world of man and its sins (from greed to lust).

Thank you for the review copy.

Remina is another true Junji Ito. You'll find the same beautiful, creepy, impressive, disgusting art. The plot is absolutely rocambolesque, taking you from fear and horror to laughter when some elements kinda become so absurd they're nonsensical and hilarious.

I did not really connect with the characters, because they were too close to being caricatures, but I think it's probably kinda intentional from the author. It makes the story more universal and more focused on the plot. Hence why the rythm of the story, that doesn't stop to analyze human interactions, is absolutely frenetic.

However, I did disliked the way women are portraid in the book. Except for Remina, every woman has a minor role, like an after thought. And Remina had no will of her own. She'd rather just let herself die than take control. Even though she's in almost every scenes, she spends all of the book being dragged or unconscious. I just wish we had better female representation.

In the end, I thought Remina was the right amount of horror. It was really creepy, but it also didn't turn my stomach like other Junji Ito has in the past (thinking of Gyo). I think that if I have a line of what is "too far", it wasn't crossed and you can see me happy about that !

In true Junji Ito style, this was definitely full of the dark and twisted. It really delved into the side of human nature most people would prefer to believe didn't exist.
Even though it was set against a futuristic back drop, you still saw the same mob mentality to the people and how quickly they formed a shared obsession.
Was also quite a quick read and I thought the ending fit the tone of the overall story. Bleak as that might be.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viz for the ARC of Remina by Junji Ito.

This manga is about a killer planet / alien / living planet comes through a wormhole. The planet gets named ‘Remina’ after the names young daughter, and when the planet is discovered as hostile, mankind direct their blame on the little girl who is the planet’s namesake.
The people of earth believe that the little girl brings to planet through the wormhole, so they try to kill her.
This was a bit ridiculous to me. I don’t feel like humankind would do that kind of culty thing now, let along]e in a future where we have discovered and understand wormholes.

I also unfortunately wasn’t a fan of the illustrations. I’m not sure if it was just the copy given to me, but the black and white was inverted which just resulted in a headache when viewing it on the screen.

Junji Ito is a master of horror, and this manga further proves that point. This delve into the realm of cosmic horror is sure to delight all of your horror readers!

Remina was one of the last books I read in 2020 as I wanted to end the year on a few high notes. As a long time Junji Ito fan I was sure this would help the streak, however, that wasn’t really the case.

First, I’ll talk about the positives which as usual Ito executed both the macabre and beauty within this manga as great as always. I was intrigued to keep reading to see what other horrors he would throw in our path.

But, what I didn’t really care for in Remina was the story.

I feel like I’ve just kind of hit a point where I don’t really care for the fact the only female character had the weight of the world on her shoulders to live up to something impossible. And had literally everyone trying to sacrifice her. I guess we can just say I’m over this type of narrative in any form of storytelling these days.

Due to my lack of interest in this one, I opted to not review it at the time as I don’t think it accurately showcased my actual love for Ito’s work. Even with this being low on the enjoyment scale for me, I didn’t cancel the pre-order I had because I knew I’d be sad to not hold a full collection on my shelf. Plus, maybe it was just a bad day and a reread will be better for me?

My thanks to NetGalley and Viz Media for an advanced copy of this graphic novel.

A rare sci-fi outing for the artist Junji Ito, Remina is a mix of great artwork, but a story that seems very familiar, and not new. A unknown planet emerges from a wormhole, the scientist who spotted it first calls it Remina after his daughter. Soon the planet has picked up speed and wiping out planets and stars on the way to Earth.
The art is very good, the story not so much. However it is unsettling and there are some legitimate scary scenes. Fans of Junji Ito should enjoy it, new fans might have a harder time, but is still worth the read.

Remina is the tale of a star on course to destroy earth, and the girl who's its namesake. Is she the true cause of the destruction? Ito's distinctive style and nihilism blend well with body horror and cosmic agony to make a page-turning, stomach-churning story. Not to be missed by Ito fans.

Remina finds Junji Ito stretching (and stretching) a plot that honestly should have been half the length. I love Junji Ito but it was just too long for the premise. Suitably bizarre, it does capture the fear that a cosmic-type horror would unleash on the world. I just wish it was shorter. I'll still recommend it at my library and still enjoyed reading it because of the dynamic artwork.

Junji Ito is a phenomenal and compelling artist. "Remina" I feel is one of his more concentrated stories with a different sense of itself, as in it moves within Junji Ito rules of decent into a spiralling wildness but is motivated by a more interstellar commotion, cosmic force outside of earthly textures and tales. It's always fun to see a story he writes that maintains that terrifying body horror, that excited anxiety of hyperfixations pulled by anomalous connections. Ito pulls you into his narration with the way he moves the beings in and out of focus and the objectification of a force projected onto a singular person and intity not necessarily connected by crossed by imagination and the sudden happenings. Its all kind of abrupt too. One minute a person is just living their life the next they are an unrequated and imparted diety then they still that diety but now they must die for something out of their control.

ARC from Netgalley.
OH WOW.... Ito strikes the fear button again.

Playing on the insanity of fake news, mob mentality, and hysterical fear, Remina is apocalyptic in nature. The twist is that the apocalyptic device (in this case the arrival of the planet killing planetoid named Remina) is less terrifying then the way the humans react to it. Ito assumes that the human race would come to the conclusion that the death of both the scientist who discovered it AND the daughter he named it after, would drive it away... and he's right. People will do anything to avoid destruction, right or wrong though it may be.

Another masterpiece from the manga horror master who, when reading these books past the insanity of the surface of them, helps us realize that the true horrors might just be us.

Recommend.