Shin Yami no Koe: Kaidan

So given, that I recently read Ito's Voices in the Dark, I was compelled to also check out its successor; the New Voices in the Dark. Considering most of Ito's work being short stories and the previous part being an anthology of those, I wasn't expecting much of continuity, but it turned out, that the very first segment of the book was in fact a direct sequel to the "Haunted House"-segment of the previous book. Unfortunately, I may add, because while the story in the previous volume had a bit of an anti-climactic-fan-service kind of ending, I was still satisfied with it, this first segment, howeverleft me completely disappointed in almost every aspect (other than some good art, of course). Knowing the story from the previous book, there is no mystery to be cleared up and even for a going-in-blind reader, everything is probably happening way too fast to get immersed into... and not to spoil anything; but the pay off of the story is awful and completely negates whatever satisfaction you might have gotten from the first part of the story in Voices in the Dark. Realizing that the next segment would once again be about Ito's comic relief character Soichi, who while likeable just doesn't have particularly interesting stories to work with, I almost thought, that the bad track record of the volume would continue, but was pleased to find out, that this might just be my favourite Soichi story I watched/read. In it Soichi is trying to prove to his family, that he is not an animal-abusing soon-to-be psychopath by bonding with the family's new cat ultimately resulting in some enjoyable and quite funny twists. With the third segment Ito moves into mystery and ghost-story territory again; "In the Valley of the Mirrors" tells the story of a mysterious abandoned village, that was once inhabited by 2 feuding halves, that for some reason ended up setting up mirrors all around their village; it's another example of Ito's interesting spins on ghost mystery stories... and speaking of ghost stories; in "Anything but a Ghost", we get Ito's spin on the ghost on the side of the road story. I guess the mystery and pay-off aren't as good as the mirror valley story, but it's another decent addition to Ito's library. "Library" is also the keyword for the next segment; "Library of Illusions" was probably my favourite segment out of this book. A young man inherits his family's vast library and develops quite a passion for keeping it well organized and tidy, his loving care for the books however slowly starts to bother his wife. I guess I especially liked it for it's psychological elements. Story #6 is "Songs in the Dark", where a young woman develops an especially undying earworm after hearing a street musician singing away her blues. It's another stellar output, that with it's premise and more down to earth "villain" works much better than /for example) the comedian duo segment in the previous book or the circus segment, that was adapted into anime, which also focus on supernatural spins on the entertainment industry. Last but not least is a short story by the name of "Splatter Film". In the segment an adventurer returning from his journey brings along a nectar with an otherworldly taste. Soon his friend, who was given a sneak peak of that taste, becomes infatuated with the nectar and informs his friends about it, completely neglecting the adventurer's warning, that eating from the nectar jar comes with a price. The segment again features an interesting concept and some great detailed artwork. Story (☆): It's a mixed bag, but one with some genuinely good stuff. The first story culminates in a pretty terrible throwaway joke, but other than that all the other stories range from decent to good. Characters (☆): Like it's predecessor, there isn't much room to have deeply characterized characters with a ton of development, but in all fairness, it doesn't have to. It's purpose is to schock and chill. So giving us characters, that are just relatable enough for us to understand the horror of the situation will do. A special honourable mention goes to the "Library"-segment for the interesting psychology of the husband character. Art (☆☆☆): The artwork was definetly more satisfying in this, than in "Voices in the Dark". Not necessarily for it's quality, but while there was no crater-face kid, there were quantitatively more chilling panels to look at in this one. Additionally, the placement of the various panels is well-thought out and does good to a reader's immersion. I guess if I had to compare it to it's predeccesor, I'd say it's on pair. The very first segment definetly bummed me out, but it slowly grows better. Once the good stories start, it definetly keeps being consistently more entertaining than the first book, but while all the stories are good, they also don't quite reach the same high points as the predecessor either, but even with that, it's still a good addition to Ito's collection of horror stories. Rating system: As seen above, I use a star system (symbols I have stolen from Yu-Gi-Oh!'s entries here on MAL) to rate the series/movies in terms of the significant categories, which can indicate its quality. Those ratings do affect the final score I give the series/movie, but I do not use a strict mathematical method to assign the final score. Ultimately I weigh the final ratings by considering the stars given. I do not consider the categories to be equivalent and value a good story and characters over good art or a cathcy soundtrack. As far as the stars given go, I use a four stage scale: (-) - bad, a series/movie is terrible in this category (☆) - okay, it's fine, tolerable, but likely nothing special (☆☆) - good, it's good, but may have flaws or isn't quite among the best I've seen in the category (☆☆☆) - great, the best rating I can give, when it's truely remarkable in the category Final score: 6/10

My first Junji Itou Book. I got the hardcover "smashed" version that contains this one + 5 more extra short tales. I had heard nothing but good things about Itou but I just wasn't ready for this level of art and storytelling. Some were just plain weird, others strange, all amazing and entertaining. Since it's a short story collection I think it's a decent entry book into Junji Itou's body of work. Earthbound in particular is very memorable and there are a few Soichi tales in here for anyone familiar with the anime. My personal favorite tale is (Blood sucking darkness) which, again, is in the smashedversion of this. I just loved the how the eating disorder was portrayed here. It's far more realistic than anything in mainstream media down to things progressing to the level of physically not desiring food anymore, you know you should eat but can't. The horror element was actually secondary to the that which is saying something.

8.5/10 An equally good sequel to the previous Ito collection by the same name. 1. *The Soichi Front*: 6.5/10 This short is a continuation of ‘Secret of the Haunted Mansion’ from the predecessor of this collection, the original ‘Voices in the Dark’, and it’s not that good of a story. It’s starts off with a promising premise but it’s clear that Ito has different intentions with Soichi’s character and I respect that. I think that this is an interesting arena for Ito to explore. The ending seems like something that I feel I would have hated butI think it’s forgivable given that Ito just wanted to do something different with Soichi and his supporting characters. 2. *Soichi’s Beloved Pet*: 7/10 The third Soichi story is saved only by it’s creepiness and ability to disturb. It’s nothing remarkable story-wise, nor is there any commendable atmosphere or concept or mystery, just a bunch of random unsettling events made effective by the art and nothing more. Still a lot better than the Hikizuri Siblings stories tho, I do understand why Soichi is a mildly popular but the stories he is a part of could certainly be better. 3. *In The Valley Of Mirrors*: 10/10 Wow, this is maybe the best Junji Ito short story I’ve read. It’s got it all, a great atmosphere and art style along with the supernatural plot and all. And the best part, it doesn’t stop there, ‘In The Valley of Mirrors’ also works as a story about communal hatred as a concept and examines it with an undeniably novel eye. It’s like a very twisted Romeo & Juliet retelling. Bonus- Ito uses one of my favourite horror motifs- Mirrors. Highly recommended. 4. *Anything But A Ghost*: 6.5/10 Nothing really remarkable here. The story does have an interesting premise and it maintains the consistency in it’s pace but it never ‘delivers’ and just ends as it started. It’s not bad per se, it just doesn’t do much for me. 5. *Library Of Illusions*: 8.5/10 From it’s title, I felt that this story is going to be just up my alley. However, it does not delve into the horror of infinity as the first page promised, and neither does it provide terrifying Piranesi-esque visuals. Ito takes a different route and it’s respectable too. ‘Library of Illusions’ is a story about obsession and childhood trauma and it’s damn good at being what it is. 6. *Songs In The Dark*: 6.5/10 A pretty good story but it could have been better if the pace wasn’t so rushed. It’s still worth a read, there are great ideas here and the art complements the story and amplifies it’s effect too (pun not intended). Just wish that Ito would have taken time to reveal the plot a bit slower. 7. *Splatter Film*: 6/10 Just like ‘Songs in the Dark’ this story too is ruined by it’s fast pacing, but that’s not the only thing the dialogue is atrocious because of the weird exposition, making this the first Ito story where the dialogue is such a big problem for me. Also, the central story is too silly to be taken seriously, it could have been a good tale about addiction and all but Ito does nothing to help the reader take the premise seriously.