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No Longer Human
by
Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.
Plagued by a maddening anxiety, the terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and the joy of the rest of the world, Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward, locked arm-in-ar ...more
Plagued by a maddening anxiety, the terrible disconnect between his own concept of happiness and the joy of the rest of the world, Yozo Oba plays the clown in his dissolute life, holding up a mask for those around him as he spirals ever downward, locked arm-in-ar ...more
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Hardcover, 616 pages
Published
December 17th 2019
by VIZ Media
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What a bizarre and boring book! Horror manga artist Junji Ito adapts Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel No Longer Human into comic form with mixed results. Ito’s art is fantastic as always but the story, etc.? Yeah, all of that is utter rubbish!
Apparently Dazai’s style was autobiographical fiction and I’ve never read the original book (nor ever will) so I can’t say how much of this is directly taken from the book or whether Ito added in biographical elements from Dazai’s life. But the book opens with an ...more
Apparently Dazai’s style was autobiographical fiction and I’ve never read the original book (nor ever will) so I can’t say how much of this is directly taken from the book or whether Ito added in biographical elements from Dazai’s life. But the book opens with an ...more

"Hell is other people"--Sartre
I just happened to read this profound and depressing book during the Covid 19 crisis, with tens of thousands of people already dead. What is sometimes described as Osamu Dazai's suicide note, this autobiographical novel, seen as one of the great Japanese literary feats, No Longer Human (1948) is the story of Oba Yozo, a literary doppleganger of the author; the manga, over 600 pages long, is a terrific feat in itself, what I have read to be a pretty faithful adaptati ...more
I just happened to read this profound and depressing book during the Covid 19 crisis, with tens of thousands of people already dead. What is sometimes described as Osamu Dazai's suicide note, this autobiographical novel, seen as one of the great Japanese literary feats, No Longer Human (1948) is the story of Oba Yozo, a literary doppleganger of the author; the manga, over 600 pages long, is a terrific feat in itself, what I have read to be a pretty faithful adaptati ...more

Jan 19, 2020
The Artisan Geek
added it
------------------VIDEO REVIEW------------------
12/2/20
Did a video on Osamu Dazai, the novel and the manga adaptation :)

20/1/20
This manga was a great adaptation of the novel. It's clear that Ito took some risks here. Where Dazai was more elusive, Ito chose to be more explicit. I personally am not a fan of sexual depictions, but thankfully this wasn't the focus of the story - and keeping in mind his usual demographic and the one targeted with this adaptation I do get the choices he made. I was re ...more
12/2/20
Did a video on Osamu Dazai, the novel and the manga adaptation :)

20/1/20
This manga was a great adaptation of the novel. It's clear that Ito took some risks here. Where Dazai was more elusive, Ito chose to be more explicit. I personally am not a fan of sexual depictions, but thankfully this wasn't the focus of the story - and keeping in mind his usual demographic and the one targeted with this adaptation I do get the choices he made. I was re ...more

Oddly, this is not the only manga adaptation of Osamu Dazai's novel. It is the only adaptation you will need, but it is not necessarily easier to read than the original. It is 600 pages of interrelated scenes, and masterful, atmospheric artwork, which require just as much concentration as any piece of Japanese literature. Junji Ito tackled heavy, mature themes for this one, and departed from his usual scare tactics to introduce us to the deep storytelling and psychological strain characteristic
...more

4/5stars
Same rating as I gave the original novel, but for VERY different reasons.
This was an incredibly interesting adaptation, where Ito was not only transforming the original literature into a new medium (manga aka a visual medium) but also into a new literary genre (from lit fic to horror). I thought Ito did a wonderful job of both adaptations, EXCEPT that I found the pacing very odd. The entirety of the novel was almost completely done in the first half of this manga, and then Ito zeroed in ...more
Same rating as I gave the original novel, but for VERY different reasons.
This was an incredibly interesting adaptation, where Ito was not only transforming the original literature into a new medium (manga aka a visual medium) but also into a new literary genre (from lit fic to horror). I thought Ito did a wonderful job of both adaptations, EXCEPT that I found the pacing very odd. The entirety of the novel was almost completely done in the first half of this manga, and then Ito zeroed in ...more

I feel like you could teach an entire college course on this book. This was...good. Good and sad and horrifying and terrible and just so damn good. I want to make this a book club pick just so I can have a group to discuss it with. I loved the rawness of this book, the unforgiving sharp edges of it. Highly recommend.

2.5 Stars
It kills me to rate a Junji Ito book this low, but I really disliked the story that he adapted. His artwork was strong, but the story didn’t lend itself well to his weird style. This is a story of depressed, mentally ill man with a troubled past full of sexual abuse. Sadly, I cannot recommend it.
It kills me to rate a Junji Ito book this low, but I really disliked the story that he adapted. His artwork was strong, but the story didn’t lend itself well to his weird style. This is a story of depressed, mentally ill man with a troubled past full of sexual abuse. Sadly, I cannot recommend it.

This was my first experience with Osamu Dazai's novel No Longer Human, which has been considered his suicide note and which is, at least in this form, a haunting and painful tale of, well, lots of things, but perhaps mostly misery and the ways in which our own misery leads us to inflict misery on others.
This is not a pleasant story. It is about heartbreak and depression, sexual abuse and addiction, and a whole range of topics that are more raw and human and, sometimes, more grotesque than the te ...more
This is not a pleasant story. It is about heartbreak and depression, sexual abuse and addiction, and a whole range of topics that are more raw and human and, sometimes, more grotesque than the te ...more

Well then.
Once there was a horrible man. Growing up in an oppressive household, experiencing sexual trauma at a young age, a boy becomes a clown as a means of hiding all that is within him. This becomes a shield but a sword too, for his incessant hiding evolves into compulsive lying. He never wants to rock the boat, but he instead punctures the hull. This trait, this defense mechanism becomes his driving force, leading to a life of choiceless indecision. There is a purpose inside him, but he nev ...more
Once there was a horrible man. Growing up in an oppressive household, experiencing sexual trauma at a young age, a boy becomes a clown as a means of hiding all that is within him. This becomes a shield but a sword too, for his incessant hiding evolves into compulsive lying. He never wants to rock the boat, but he instead punctures the hull. This trait, this defense mechanism becomes his driving force, leading to a life of choiceless indecision. There is a purpose inside him, but he nev ...more

This was a very dark, very hard read. Junji Ito's illustrations are brilliant as always. This is going to be another one that I have trouble recommending but it really is great.
...more

This graphic novel is a departure from Ito's trademark narratives, interpreting as it does a Dazai classic that stands as one of the best-ever selling books in Japan. While the original seems to have focused on the sadness and pathos that marked the existential crisis that our lead (who seems to have been patterned after Dazai himself) labored under, true to Ito's style this book lets the horrors and absurdities of his experiences take the limelight.
I can't help but feel for Yozo. As a kid, he h ...more
I can't help but feel for Yozo. As a kid, he h ...more

I'm a fan of Ito's previous works but this adaption just felt so obtuse and strange for him. The content was completely gross sometimes (and not in his usual horror way!). It prominently features child sexual abuse. The main character is an awful person who made me want to shut the book and walk away from it. I would not suggest this work to others.
...more

Well, I had the same reaction to this as I do to all Ito: why the fuck did I read that, NEVER AGAIN, thank god it's over and simultaneously omg I love it I cannot WAIT to reread I need to own this and put it on a very tall shelf jk my Ito collection is front and center OMG it's brilliant MOAR PLZ.
However! Let the record show that this is a book that demands some form of self-blitzing (read: weed) to be even bearable, especially if you're a queerdo with complicated lady feelings, because Ito lov ...more
However! Let the record show that this is a book that demands some form of self-blitzing (read: weed) to be even bearable, especially if you're a queerdo with complicated lady feelings, because Ito lov ...more

While I appreciated Ito's ability to make this spooky without any monsters, I found that this reflected the source material a little too closely, so to speak - my god, the misogyny! Why take responsibility when you can blame a woman, right?
On top of that, I couldn't help but have flashbacks to the first time I read The Great Gatsby and reeled at how deeply unlikable the main character was, how little I could identify with his struggles when most of them were made by his own hand and were easily ...more
On top of that, I couldn't help but have flashbacks to the first time I read The Great Gatsby and reeled at how deeply unlikable the main character was, how little I could identify with his struggles when most of them were made by his own hand and were easily ...more

This is my first encounter with Junji Ito and Osamu Dazai. I have not read Dazai's
No Longer Human
prior to this, but it is still on my list to read after completing this adaptation.
What I appreciated:
- The full circle with the Tamagawa Canal
- Artwork
What I disliked:
- Fairly pornographic (not sure if the original is written this way)
- Repetitive
The beginning and most of the end were very good, but pieces that I would believe to be important to understanding someone's anxiety, depression, ...more
What I appreciated:
- The full circle with the Tamagawa Canal
- Artwork
What I disliked:
- Fairly pornographic (not sure if the original is written this way)
- Repetitive
The beginning and most of the end were very good, but pieces that I would believe to be important to understanding someone's anxiety, depression, ...more

3.5/5 ⭐️
•
I have recently started loving Junji Ito’s works starting with Gyo and then Frankenstein. This one confused me a bit. His art style is so beautiful and horrifying that it is great. And I generally love his storytelling but this one didn’t do the same for me. I was often very confused and it didn’t help when another character came in that looked similar to the main character. Another problem was that this book was that this book was a wild ride for so much happened, it was almost nonstop ...more
•
I have recently started loving Junji Ito’s works starting with Gyo and then Frankenstein. This one confused me a bit. His art style is so beautiful and horrifying that it is great. And I generally love his storytelling but this one didn’t do the same for me. I was often very confused and it didn’t help when another character came in that looked similar to the main character. Another problem was that this book was that this book was a wild ride for so much happened, it was almost nonstop ...more

A manga adaptation/expansion of a classic Japanese novel in the "diseased liver" genre [to riff upon Dostoevsky's Notes from the Undeground], perhaps best associated with A Catcher in the Rye or The Bell-Jar here in the States, though neither of those really hit upon the degree of depression and depravity suffered here in this take on the tale. Think more Hubert Selby Jr, maybe, only moreso, since Ito takes Osamu Dazai's fairly short novel and dives deeper and further into diseased livers than D
...more

Note: I haven't read the original 1948 novel by Osamu Dazai. Therefore, I cannot draw any comparisons between it and this manga adaptation.
Synopsis: No Longer Human is a semi-autobiographical work chronicling the harrowing life and times of Oba Yozo, a literary facsimile of the author himself.
My Thoughts: Well plowing through this book was an uncanny experience which I would consider similar to riding on a train derailing into a deep abyss where everything seems to keep getting worse for our mai ...more
Synopsis: No Longer Human is a semi-autobiographical work chronicling the harrowing life and times of Oba Yozo, a literary facsimile of the author himself.
My Thoughts: Well plowing through this book was an uncanny experience which I would consider similar to riding on a train derailing into a deep abyss where everything seems to keep getting worse for our mai ...more

Though it doesn't position itself as such, I would still love to describe No Longer Human as a moral tale of some sorts. The work here lays bare some of the less-trodden (at least in fiction) paths on the nature of human interaction - with the world and within ourselves.
Not many fictional works espoused the demerits of self-subjugation and false humility. No Longer Human, through its protagonist, lays bare the downfall of raising other people's opinions above yours, not following your own intui ...more
Not many fictional works espoused the demerits of self-subjugation and false humility. No Longer Human, through its protagonist, lays bare the downfall of raising other people's opinions above yours, not following your own intui ...more

Some of Dazai’s subtler neurotic shadings morph, as one might expect, into grotesque phantasms in Ito’s adaptation. But for the most part the images lend a welcome visceral quality to the narrator’s spiraling spiritual crisis. The central idea—that one can, despite wealth, looks, and talent, nonetheless feel like an imposter; that “being human” isn’t at all a natural or spontaneous act, but something learned and mimicked; that failing to properly perform one’s role effectively disqualifies one a
...more

So, I am just going to say it, I love this manga...well I love this in a way that you can when the main topic of the book is about how depression can destroy you and leave you with nothing but misery and death.......but other than that, love this book.
Now this is a perfect example of a literary manga and I would have to say is the best literary manga I have read. This is also not a good example of a Junji Ito manga. If you are a Junji Ito fan you will most likely hate this book, and it has noth ...more
Now this is a perfect example of a literary manga and I would have to say is the best literary manga I have read. This is also not a good example of a Junji Ito manga. If you are a Junji Ito fan you will most likely hate this book, and it has noth ...more

Can't go wrong with Junji Ito. This had some good creepiness to it, and although it wasn't as horrific as some of his other disturbing works, it definitely pulls the reader into the darkness and devastation of a brutal true story.
...more

The latest manga from Junji Ito is somewhat different from his usual fare. No Longer Human by Junji Ito is Ito’s take on Osamu Dazai’s novel of the same title. A character study more than true horror, this story is filled more with commentary on the human psyche than the monsters and ghosts that frequent Ito’s pages.
The story centers around a character named Yozo Oba, following him from childhood throughout his life. A man of many anxieties, terrible things always happen to him, most often as a ...more
The story centers around a character named Yozo Oba, following him from childhood throughout his life. A man of many anxieties, terrible things always happen to him, most often as a ...more

This was definitely difficult for me to get to, and not just because it's Ito and his art can be very disturbing, but this one dealt with a lot of difficult subjects.
I enjoyed it over all, and the art style will always be one of my favorites. ...more
I enjoyed it over all, and the art style will always be one of my favorites. ...more

This exceptionally bleak work, adapted from Osamu Dazai’s 1948 novel-cum-suicide-note (which I am now dying to read), marks a change in subject for Itō, best known for his phenomenally grotesque and lurid horror manga. Upon its announcement, the book elicited much chatter: why this sudden shift at this stage in his career? Was the master of gruesome fantasy really up to adapting a notoriously depressing psychological I-novel ?
Well, I can say I loved it. I think it’s one of his best works—maybe e ...more
Well, I can say I loved it. I think it’s one of his best works—maybe e ...more
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Download PDF/ePub eBook No Longer Human by Junji Ito | 2 | 170 | Dec 06, 2020 02:40AM |
Junji Itō (伊藤潤二) Born in Gifu Prefecture in 1963, he was inspired from a young age by his older sister's drawing and Kazuo Umezu's comics and thus took an interest in drawing horror comics himself. Nevertheless, upon graduation he trained as a dental technician, and until the early 1990s he juggled his dental career with his increasingly successful hobby — even after being selected as the winner o
...more
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“I drew with extremely excessively depressed emotions, deliberately penning each line, only to earn money for drink.”
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“Los débiles temen la felicidad misma. Pueden hacerse daño en el algodón. A veces son heridos incluso por la felicidad”
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