Junji Ito's No Longer Human
Anything in the shape of a man that isn’t human is a monster.
Although, the human condition can be desolating and horrifying enough by itself. Alienation is no stranger to our lives, mostly to Osamu Dazai, author of the second best-selling book of Japan, No Longer Human. In 2017, Junji Ito, a worldwide famous horror mangaka, adapted this novel into a 616 pages manga.
The plot follow Yozo Oba, a handsome young boy who was born to a wealthy family, during the early Showa period in Japan. Oba is a typical jokester, but his jovial facade is only meant to cover up his profound dread towards society and feeling detached from the world. Distanced from his parents during his childhood, he is brought up by servants who scar him psychologically and physically at a young age.
His only friend, Takeichi, sees through his mask and encourages him to pursue a career as a manga artist and try to have a fulfilling adult life. However, Yozo Oba is not one to uplift the people around him. Because of his relentless misery and pent-up isolation, he becomes a resentful, twisted womanizer, an alcoholic, and a sly companion for death. Like a festering wound, Oba’s life slowly but surely slips out of his grip and torments the people who try to save him. He doesn’t understand what it means to be human, and it drives him away from his own humanity.
The original story is thought to be autobiographical, and fans of Osamu Dazai can agree. Although Ito changes up the plot and characters of the book subtly to fit his macabre, violent art style, he makes sure to add in elements from Dazai’s life, like the late author’s sketches from his diaries. The manga takes a more philosophical turn compared to Ito’s other works but nevertheless does not lack his characteristic horrific, wide-eyed expressions and disturbing monstrous apparitions.
Oba’s obsession with death quickly escalates and Ito was far from offering him a happy ending. A disturbing manga on loneliness and apathy, No Longer Human dives into the dark, fleeting survival of a man who edges on being an abomination.
