Hellstar Remina, Ch. 1-3 - Atop the Fourth Wall
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Welcome to Atop the Fourth Wall, where bad comics burn. In this Patreon-sponsored episode, Linkara looks at the first three chapters of a Junji Ito manga!
atopthefourthwa...
Originally released March 25th, 2019.
ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION: So for a hellstar, do you use sunglasses or bibles against it?
#manga #junjiito #atopthefourthwall
Renima may have no agency in the story, but that's the whole point in lovecraftian stories. You're powerless to do anything. The protagonists of lovecraft's tales has some manner of defense, they're usually professors or detectives, professionals. Junji basically went what if this happens to ordinary people. Renima is basically the most ordinary person there. Both her stardom and Apocalypse parallels.
It'd just be a waste of time in story and in real life for her to truly struggle. Ito focuses on what's important and trims the fat. I'd liken his work to a tall, chiseled man, with a horribly monstrous face, but a devilish charisma to convince you to walk down a dark alley alone.
Even with that as the point, I personally feel that still gives makes the character's lack of agency a weak point in the story. Sure it makes sense that if you're powerless to do anything you'd probably not try and do anything at all(I mean hell, that's probably what I'd do too), but still, I feel the idea of the character still struggling, fighting for some way they can get out that situation but still fall at the end is not only a more bleak outcome, but personally I feel like that's even scarier.
This is not a Lovecraftian story. Instead, this story is driven primarily by human characters trying desperately to survive. Lovecraft's stories rarely have that human survival element. And in the end, the humans DO survive, thanks to some quick thinking from a homeless man.
The notable exception though is human Remina, who doesn't seem to have a strong survival instinct and instead seems content to just go with the flow. While this type of character might be fine in a typical Lovecraftian story, it doesn't work here because everyone else is so driven.
I think Remina's lack of agency is more satire of the idol industry.
Sure nice of Remina to take the scenic route and circle the solar system multiple times to get *every* planet. I'm now imagining Remina as Pac-Man running through the asteroid belt.
I was just thinking about that in the shower. I tend to think about stuff I watch in there. ...but anyway, I realized that too. I don't even wanna try to figure out how fast that thing must have been going.
@@Igarappappa Well it was approaching at at least lightspeed, so it was probably still moving at close to that until it passed the asteroids.
Probably. @@lynngreen7978
She likes to savor that flavor so she marinated earth with a blend of herbs, spices, cosmic dread, and Armageddon levels of paranoid delusions. That look in her eye at the end of the story says it all, "Mmm, tasty..."
mercury and venus got lucky enough that the story ended before they were eaten
Oh God! The president of Ramina's fanclub is Sinestro!
That explains nothing and too much at the same time
*Remina
BigK13372 Fan fiction writers get on it
Hmm... Mogo VS Remina...
I kind of want to see that.
@@Mask0fFate Remina is basically the Anti-Matter/Sinestro Corps equivalent of Mogo.
Ah, Junji Ito. The mangaka that makes even spirals scary.
Seriously, his artwork is nightmare inducing.
Imagine a collaboration between him and Stephen King.
@@Regal99 Or Clive Barker.
So he is the cause behind Spiromainia!
Along with ice cream,pretty girls,grease,mountains,and apologizes
@@redrasegarden and mirrors and vomiting orbs and bullying and peeling off your skin and glycerin...
My guess is that Ramina's passivity and treatment is a direct analogy to what happens to real young girls who become a star, like idols. They are deified to the point of losing all agency or ability to fend for themselves.
Yup, especially in Japanese culture where their entire social life is structured to appease their fanbase.
I understand what you're saying about Remina being a passive character, but I think it's trying to play into the Lovecraftian thing. In Lovecraft's stories, the main characters tend to be more observers of the insanity around them, before finally succumbing themselves in the end.
That said, Lovecraft's characters do seems to have a little more agency than this at least.
Yeah, I think it's that...plus she's a shy teenage girl, with absolutely no idea of anything she could possibly do.
Unrelasted note: If this thing can travel at near light speed, how did they think it was a planet? I guess they could judge from the size of it. It's too small to be a star, unless it's a neutron star. But could you even get a good size estimate for an object traveling that fast? Also, how does this thing, rather it's a living organism or a planet, hold together moving that fast? E=mc^2 means that if it truly travels at light speed, it would just turn into pure energy
Prince Aligorna you don’t get lovecraftian horror do you? the entire point of cosmic horror is that we can’t understand it, it’s very existence shatters everything we know about science, and everything we thought about how the universe worked was all completely false. Trying to apply logic to these creatures would be pointless as they are living proof that out form of logic is false.
Actually it's more likely the reason for her acting like this is because of Japanese culture itself, where women are usually more shy and seen as needing to be protected, or at least that's usually what the more ideal Japanese woman is seen as.
So in reality this sort of makes more sense for why she is always reacting to things, because she is a shy teenage girl who got famus through others rather than herself. It probably doesn't do any favors for the story though, but to be fair horror protagonists are hard to write being proactive (Especially in a story like this. ) instead of reactive when the whole point of things is that monsters come to try and kill them and they run away from that and react to all of the horrible things around them.
@@Gorypaladin346 I take it this is in reply to my other note. It's not that I don't understand, but that I'm thinking about if something like this (minus the whole planet be an inter-universal living entity that's basically a cross between Galactus and Nemesis from Sailor Moon) happening in our reality. Would we be able to even recognize it as...anything, really? What physics would even apply if something slipped into our universe from another traveling at that kind of speed?
honestly, doing nothing...no not nothing, just observing the situation is the best way you can survive in itou junji's world
Having the Keeper of the Secrets NOT make you roll is the only way to survive.
All of Junji Ito' main characters are passive, male or female, is one of this author's tropes
And slightly cultural.
Because if you get involved, you will die
BigK13372 so my best bet for survival in a junji ito manga is be to be handsome...well guess I’m gonna be the first to die
@@Gorypaladin346 not even that, is just luck
@@BigK13372 Ehh not all of the time, sometimes you get fates worse than death and people just keep you around because what the fuck else are they going to do with students that turn into giant snails.
I thought that Remina's passive reactions were meant to mirror the inescapable threat of the planet; just as everyone is victim to the threat of Remina the planet, Remina the girl is made a whipping post by everyone around her. Putting her suffering under a very human threat she can't out run alongside a cosmic and unthinkable one to put us further into the helpless mode of the story
I need to see the reaction of every first time AT4W watcher to the statement "What will replace the Lady Raisens in my nightmares".
Its for the benefit of humanity.
It appears linkara has found an unremitting horror.
Also if you want her dead quickly crucifixion is probably the worst way to do it
And some of the other guys had some time to sing about looking on the bright side of life.
I detect the faintest whiff of a reference, well played.
Also, i think scaphism would be a bit worse in terms of time efficiency. It is also less immediately recognizable and dramatic in terms of imagery, but i think we should probably be happy about that considering the grossness of the act.
Well, presumably the stabbing helps.
Yeah, I think I read somewhere that stabbing can act as a death accelerant.
Hawkatana always look on the bright side of life, until a giant planet eats the sun
21:29 Hey, Hellplanet! Let go of the frikkin' MOON already, Will ya!!!
I loved that review
A hellstar sounds like a good name for an opponent to the Sailor Scouts
Honestly sounds like a good villain name to... anybody.
Or this.
+
JG Showtime beats evil star or star guy
I'm a simple gal, I see a thumbnail of a disgruntled Linkara tied to a cross with tentacles surrounding him, I click.
........oddly specific...
I mean, doesn't everyone?
@@flyingfist4203 well obviously. I'm mean who in their right mind would turn it down?
I would, crosses are so passé, now tie him to a equilateral triangle that's good.
Vekh Gaming the future is now old man
Meanwhile, at Site [REDACTED]:
Dr. Clef: "Bring in SCP 343. Call in the Nine Foxes, the Red Right Hand, Last Hope, Eta-10, and The Bibliographers."
Dr. McCool: "Release SCP 076-2. ...Call the Gate Guardian."
Dr. Bright: "I'll contact my sister, and get her crew in the Serpent's Hand to find us. They won't attack. Humanity's at stake, after all."
05 01: "Then after all of that...Initate SCP 2000. We shall make a move for evacuation to the Wanderer's Library within the following hours. Hour, if we're short on time. Access to their knowledge will grant us access to other worlds. ...Perhaps we will not fail the next one like our own."
Just foudn this comment today. Brilliant
Okay ngl I would actually read the hell out of that
@@elenakufta3236 You could even make it a Series. Multiversal Moses (Universal Ark?).
SCP-2399: Reevaluating original directives.
Planetary devourer determined higher priority.
Alerting all repair drones to accelerate damage restorations.
Recalibrating weapon systems to accommodate new targeting parameters.
Compiling report on new situational development to send back to homeworld.
Weapon recalibrations: complete.
Situational report: complete and sent.
Preparing to resume course and engage new target.
I’m afraid you be too late to save earth after it gets devoured
You know in any other story if Remina went near Mars; Dr Manhattan would have taken care of this in a literal snap.
You’ve met with a terrible fate, haven’t you?
Well, I was about to go to sleep ... this is probably not the best video to watch before bed though...
Wuss.
@@funkyweapon1981 Eh, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was.
@@funkyweapon1981 Muss.
Finally! Linkara's true show, of which Atop The 4th Wall was spun off of, returns! Atop The Lightbulb! Time to remind everyone why you're THE premiere and greatest lamp reviewer of all time!!!
So someone finally Patreon'd him to review that $20 lamp, huh? Took long enough for the slot to open up.
"Expect things to get squicky."
Well, *I* sure picked a good video to watch while eating lunch.
I love Linkara and I never doubted him, but I never would have guessed that the surreal comics of Ito would blend so beautifully with Linkara's signature unrelenting snark. The joke about Amigara Fault and having a big lunch isn't the funniest thing I've ever heard or anything, but it's just the combo of the actual story being so tense and dour with the silly benign observation made the joke so much better. This is going to be a great review.
After having read the whole thing... yeah, this is one of those books that really sticks in the mind. And not just because of the scary imagery, but also because the ending is indeed surprisingly uplifting, essentially saying there is always hope for things to get better until the _very_ moment you die. Hell, I even ended up writing a song _called_ “HELLSTAR REMINA!” relating my own personal struggles with the central theme of this story and incorporating imagery from Majora’s Mask as well. So this book has really left an impact on me.
Story features a lead who's strapped to a cross? Climax involves a big evil planet trying to destroy us while a weird cult forms on Earth regarding the planet?
It's Smallville!!!
Don't you mean Marville for that fits better to be a Cthulian horror
SUPERMEDIABROTHERS6 if that's true we may have been to hard on man of steel
It’s past 11 at night. I have school in the morning. Linkara uploads new video.
Looks like I’m sleeping through my first hour because it’s time for some bad comics!!
Let's roll.
@@ZoanBlade90 Same here!
Alex Severinski Yep. Was up for like another 2 hours. WORTH IT.
Here is a concept. Junji Ito does Mr. Computer.
Letrune Inedil AAAAAHHHHHHH
..... If that happens, I WELCOME Planet Remira.
@@sailoritaly Sorry for the nightmare fuel... :/
@@mr_lrb6879 I think only one eldritch abomination will escape that conflict, and it is not the bigger one...
@Linkara
You're actually not too off-base at all. Junji Ito's an incredibly good writer, but he's also a really weird person who, from what I heard, spends a lot of his time at a cabin in the woods away from the rest of society, which means that because of his isolation, a lot of his work is still extremely invicotive of 60s-80s manga and other older works. Which I think is really cool because he's still essentially pumping out things in a really classic style that you really don't see anymore, but, at the same time, that comes with a fair share of pitfalls too, specifically with how he handles female characters in a much older sort-of mindset. Heck, one of his most well-known manga, Tomie, is almost entirely based around a supernatural woman passively bringing men to be obsessed with her until they eventually go mad and try to cut her apart, which is.... Yeeeaahhhhh........... Lets just say it's not exactly the most progressive series in the world........
Still, though, I genuinely love his works and I'd recommend anyone interested should check them out because he really is one of the best horror artists alive today.
And Unicron is just chilling on the right.
Meh. He's too busy being a giant head floating around cybertron right now
I absolutely love your humor bro X’D
Junji Ito comics are the Silent Hill comics that we wanted, but not the ones that we deserve.
He’s not late posting this video, you’re late watching this.
Well I am, about half an hour late actually.
A wizard is never late
I never thought about the planets themselves being the speakers of horoscopes, that's adorable!...Too bad about most of them being absorbed into an endless maw of hunger and apathy though.
I’m glad you covered the tamer parts. My stomach thanks you. ^.^ Also, in real life, a lot of people are passive. This was really creepy since eyes are my fear thing.
Sheesh and I thought that giant monster planet alien in Megas XLR was horrifying.
@Alex Kogan Are talking about the episode "TV Dinner"?
@@kidprime6863 Bingo!
Ok so what kind of dad with a successful business and the money to pay for the schooling wouldn't want their son to be an astronaut?
Right, even the most selfish and greediest dad would get in on that as fast as possible. Just through a business mans eyes having an astronaut for a son would get him so much publicity, Astronaut is like the highest level of career any one could get other than say president
The one who wants his son to have a safe work and/or to have a heir to their business?
@@ОлегЕршов-м3с giving Japan culture makes sense
Joker said it best. When the chips are down, civilized people will eat each other
Admittedly, Ito's "The Hanging Balloons" freaked me out a lot.
Army of one with the stitched bodies made me feel it all on my face.
Same. It's such an inherently goofy premise and visual but for some reason it awoke something in my subconscious to the point it invaded my nightmare the night after reading it. That is solid horror.
Oh hey, Silent Hill finally rose up as it's own planet and started carousing around the multiverse. ...good for it, it needed a new local.
3:31 AAAAAAAAAAND I start geeking out after hearing the Unicron Medley over the title card.
In that demon planet gets a movie or animated series, NOT having it be voiced by Kurt Russel would be a missed opportunity of the AGES. XD
Perhaps the main cultist
It does make me wonder though...is "Ramina's World" actually just Ego the Living Planet's creepier, twisted twin sister? The manga DID say it came from another universe. Who's to saw it wasn't the Marvel Universe it came from? Heck, maybe it even came from the Marvel Zombies universe! XD
What’s more terrifying, the unholy abomination of the Hellstar, or the Lady Raisins from last week?
Dynaman21 yes.
Where do you think those raisins came from?
Both!
Raisans
N.obody Sevenhundred Hell
Also yeah, Remina not pushing the story forward as a "main protagonist" is a common thing with all of Junji Ito's stories. The main characters aren't these big heroes or exceptional people or even basic protagonists. They're ordinary people. The main thing driving readers forward with these stories is the investigative spectacle of the horror befalling these people.
Gotta say, in a story about a monster bigger than the Earth devouring planets, the use of the Unicron Medley is brilliant.
The reason why Remina is so passive and does not progress the plot is because she is not the "main character". She is a "perspective character" and so are most Junji Itos characters. They existe so we can experience the horroific world unfold trough their eyes. They are simple and bland for it is what they are made for. They are not the protagonist of the story, they are just a tool
I’m definitely subscribing and gonna watch rest of the series
I saw the Megaman joke coming from a mile away and I still laughed.
To be fair about the "cultists hellbent on scapegoating Remina even after her dad's death showed nothing changed" thing…
Post-COVID 2021 has brought us Ivermectin woo. I am no longer considering that plot device "unrealistic" after that.
The only reason Planet Remina came to Earth is because Unicron called dibs on Cybertron.
My eternal thanks to you and your Patron for not doing one of the major body horror comics from him. I had to give up on the Longbox of the Damned episodes featuring Uzumaki because they were just too disturbing. This is definitely horrifying, but it's not something GUARANTEED to give me nightmares. (Yes, even with the Lovecraftian hell-planet.) And the jokes help a lot too -- a touch of humor takes the sting out of any horror-themed property. Man, though, poor Remina! I'd love to know how she's going to get something resembling a happy ending out of this. . . *goes to Google a plot summary*
Nice use of Unicron's theme.
Now you will watch your world destroyed
So good to see more Junji Ito reviews
I've heard that name before somewhere...
@@JaelinBezel That's the guy who made the manga Uzumaki, he made Gyo, Tomie, this, and several other horror manga. They even made an anime in the style of the Twilight Zone based off of his works.
@@skylermaves7272 I don't know any of those titles.
Yeah, Diamanda Hagen did a really good review on the Gyo anime.
03:30 IT'S UNICRON! GET TO THE SHIPS!
Nice use of the Unicron theme.
Nice use of the Unicron theme music, and bonus points for having Unicron himself on your shelf.
"Oh great, looks like they only discovered Galactus!" Would of been funny if that was the case. Or if it was Unicron they discovered.
"Linkara? And he's reviewing my favourite Ito Manga?" *click click click click click*
Aw Sweet! The 2019 lamps are in and Linkara is gonna review them!
Ghidorah: HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY! WHO SAID YOU COULD GO AND JUST OM-NOM THE WHOLE PLANET?!
Dammit linkara I just managed to forget the lady raisins where a thing. Well back to the bar for me
This reboot of Majora’s Mask is weird
I know right!
Cult of the Unwritten Book is at it again with the Eye of the Destroyer. Better go find a dog and ring a bell to summon the ReCreator.
Yes, but first we need a person with multiple personalities, each one with superpowers, working in an insane asylum and starting the Re-creator cult .......... ok Doom Patrol is weird
@@BigK13372 I know right? Grant Morrison leadies and gentleman, maiking your mind feel like mash potatos..
“Lamp review” and I’m sure that next Monday being April Fools has nooooothing to do with this lol
Oh crap, it's finally here. I haven't even re-read this since covering it years ago... now I'm ashamed. It's a classic.
Junji Ito, a horror writer that actually how to perform lovecraftian!
That's right, next week's Monday will be April Fool's day
*THIS IS GONNA BE GOOD!!!!*
*sees the thumbnail*
I've seen enough hen ties to know where this is going!
*headbuts the video play it*
... I didn't know where this was going.
I know he's kidding since the next episode is on April 1st. But I'm wondering what he's gonna do.
Man, I wish you coulda reviewed the whole thing, lol. Including the supplementary story on Planet Remina. And I kinda think the ending was the scariest thing of all.
Not gonna lie. I was in a really depressed mood after getting off work. Then I watched this, and now I feel a bit better.
I got not only Majora’s Mask vibes from this manga but also Local 58 vibes.
after all this years, he will finally do proper lamp review!
Lamp review huh, well it's April's Fools Day next week so let's see what's in store.
Ugh, Junji Ito is truely the Japanese Stephen King because he's determined to make non scary things scary. I think the one that scared me the most was the giant balloon head story
@@AlucardNoir hey now, at least Stephen King books have actual characters that contribute to the plot. Junji Ito's work is only scary because of the pacing and visuals
I don't see what you were replying to, deleted comment I guess, but pacing and visuals are valid ways to make something scary, they aren't less so just because characters are more controlled by the story then story being controlled by the characters. It's just his writing style
Plot Twist: Planet Remina is actually The Agent of Destruction and this is an alternate version of Final Fantasy 7.
The Unicron toy in the shelf is the perfect cherry on top of this tasty video. x)
This story reminds me of the story of Komus, the Tyrant Star, from Warhammer 40k lore. It's pretty cool. Thank you for reviewing this, Linkara. I had no idea about this story despite having read a fair bit of Junji Ito. Will check it out.
I love how the guy at the party immediately assumed that the doctor and his daughter were somehow controlling a whole planet instead of... you know, literally anything that doesn't sound like coke ravings. 0.o
They actually made an official release of Remina in English recently and I actually bought it because of this review. This is the kind dark story I like.
Finished the manga. That, that thing shouldn't be called Remina, it needs the most reviled name possible from the Lovecraftian mythos.
Holy shit, I picked up his Frankenstein manga the other day, and yea the Body Horror is something else. And no, you are not a fairy, I won't let you in.
Remina looks like what would happen if cthulhu and Unicron did things that made priests cry
So... Did you recently wake up screaming, and when Vega asked you what was wrong you said, "The lady raisins..."
I want this to be real.
9:30 Good Lord, that's a good crazy laugh.
I never thought I would giggle at Uranus again, but you presented it in a whole new way!
14:52 o.o That was just chapter 1 !?! Holy crap, man !
SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!
MeliesCinemagician aww get swiffy!! Everybody Get Swifty!
How did you not use a Majora's Mask reference in this entire episode?!
I'm more impressed that he only had the *one* Technis Imperative reference. I was waiting for the "Let go of the frickin moon already" quote and it never came.
Heavenlyhounds96 he did, it was just subtle and you missed it
The only Zelda game he's ever played is Link's Awakening.
Thank you, linkara, for reminding me to move my tablet further away
i read this manga like two years ago, the panel were the planet finally opens his mouth his nightmare fuel.
0:44- As well as the live show that featured the image of a comic relief getting brutally and graphicly killed in a car wreck (Thanks, Lewis).
According to the music with the titlecard, you're gonna reference Unicron in this review, right? I mean besides you having the toy version of him on the selves.
6:16- Not the devourer of worlds I was expecting here.
8:12- Reminds me of the bunker from 10 Cloverfield Lane.
13:21- "You magnificent bastard, I READ YOUR BOOK!"
16:48- With Trump's saggy orange ass still in office, I wouldn't be surprised.
21:32- (As Galvatron) How dare, Unicron! Earth and its moon belong to ME!
25:25- ua-cam.com/video/6HG2HKj9Scc/v-deo.html
So looking forward to what you have in store for this year's April Fool's video.
Thank you for making me not being able to sleep tonight!
This story sounds like it would make for an amazingly brutal death metal concept album
Hang on, this isn't HorrorShow channel.
"The Enigma Of Amigara Fault" was the inspiration for design the Kindergarten holes of the Gem race in "Steven Universe"! #themoreyouknow
A-are you serious?!?!
@@00KingKiller yep the creators have said as much and Ame's line when she goes into the hole is a direct homage. Which makes the idea even more unsettling and also interesting for Amethyst character-wise. That she finds so much comfort in something that seems so horrific to human sensibilities.
@@BigK13372 I'd argue that it doesn't actually change much. At least where humans are concerned. The horror of that story isn't just the body horror aspect, but also the idea of being called to by something and being powerless to resist. Its having your choice taken away from you and then being changed horrifically against your will. Even if humans could shapeshift, all the rest of it is still terrifying.
I already knew this so heehee
......... but...... but WHY though?
Hey Linkara, when is you next Contest of Champions match scheduled?
When you hear Unicron's movie theme you know it is going to be big.
Are you going to continue on this manga?
Even if the cosmic horror is good there are a couple of parts that are really confusing.
I was hoping he got to the part when the Planet Remina makes Earth Spin at super speed and everyone starts flying XD
HELLSTAR REMINA!!!!!! JUNJI ITO!!!!!!! I LOVE HIM SO MUCH SO SO MUCH, AND I ADORE HELLSTAR REMINA! It's so…
I don’t know if this is the kind of manga I’d want to read, cause hearing about the first 3 chapters made me so angry with these people that I’m rooting for the planet to eat Earth and everyone that’s left in it suffers. That and put poor Remina out of her misery.
Seriously, screw that stupid cult, screw that @$$hole rich boy who tried to rape Remina, screw his family, and screw everyone else! Except the fan club president, who seems like the only decent person left alive (even though he’s a creep, but he did save her).
I know what you mean but at least the ending was good. The Mineishis' and the mob got what they deserved, Remina and the other people who hadn't lost their souls made it through and had a hopeful ending.
The Unicron theme was a nice touch.
In a story in which an exoplanet is speeding towards Earth at light speed at what appears to be a collision course I find that to be one of the less interesting details. It is also destroying other planets on the way - Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn is predicted to be next.
So are the planets lined up? That kind of coincidence seems to be something that takes at least a few hundred years. Or is it going from planet to planet in a strange back and forth (or huge rotational) course just to get them first?
There are so many questions that I have!
It did mention early in the review that the manga said that Planet Remina's orbit (before it broke off and started zooming towards earth) was "erratic," complete with a squiggly line drawing and numbers/fractions, so, it's probably the second one, it's pinballing around as it gobbles up planets.
Welcome to cosmic horror