Slug Girl for me is an allegory for depression, particularly teenage depression. Those not going through it are confused, disgusted and generally freaked out. Completely alienating. The Big clue is the sloven slimy creature of the slug/snail girl reduced to something lesser and dragged around by her condition as she hapless and helplessly looks on with an air of weary resignation. Her friend and her parents extreme and clueless reaction is on point. Using over simplistic " treatments" and compounding her symptoms and Indeed accelerating them. They reject her yet also keeping her close by allowing her to reside in the garden. But there is barely nothing recognisable of the chatty vibrant girl they once knew and loved and her helpless to save.
I interpret Amigara Fault to be a very gut level exploration of intrusive self destructive thoughts, like looking out over a cliff and feeling an almost irresistible impulse to jump, despite knowing you will go splat. The protagonist dreams about his hole waiting for him and how it will claustrophobicly deform him as it pulls him deeper into the mountain, the walls grooved to render retreat impossible, forcing his body into grotesque shapes..Despite knowing the awful fate that awaits him, he cannot stop himself.
The Enigma of Amigara Fault is pretty straight forward. We are desperate to find our purpose and place in society even to the point where we are presented with a niche ( from parents, caregivers , teachers and career advisors) who through a tenious and surface level grasp will shoehorn you into it. Even if you lo 18:44 se your core self and become warped out of shape by it and " become" your job and career that it defines you as a person. Who you were before is now nothing more than a distant memory.
Well, it is straight forward to you. I agree with your interpretation but without, and arguably even with, author input or clarification it really is just subjective. Viewing it as just a weird story with no meaning is just as valid as any other interpretation.
@@alfredandersson875 absolutely. That's the beauty of it. Was just giving my take. " The Place and Purpose In Society" trope though a universal one in particularly potent in Japan. You are devalued and shamed relentlessly and are measured on what you can provide. Thar pressure, that fear is so strong that it can crush you so you yield to it to " fit in". We are all subject to it. That's the horror for me
Im pretty sure the "weak mental health" is referring to the fragility of it, like saying someone has poor mental or physical health. Its not used to denigrate or moralize but just to indicate that whatever condition she has is leaving her in a suboptimum state. Medical language is weird and I know it doesnt translate well.
I did think this, but even then the wording is just so odd. That's why I mentioned wanting to be able to understand it as it was originally written, because the translation seems off.
I took it as a translation issue with weak and fragile having such similar meanings. It could be like the last lines from Asuka in End of Evangelion where there are several possible English translations for her words and there are various interpretations depending on how people believe Asuka feels or what they believe Anno was intending.
@@ShinigamisBlade I completely agree. In fact in a strange kind of way horror can be chilling and compassionate. Bitter sweet somewhat. It's one of the ultimate symbolic tools. Beautifully done. To shy away from the dark subject matter only serves it to increase the power of stigma through fearful ignorance . Psychoanalysis through art be it consious, subconsious or somewhere in between can be cathartic to some, just to compartmentalise things and recognise it as part of the Human Condition.
Body horror is one of my favorite types of horror because it’s just… inescapable. Even cosmic horror has a possible escape, however slim that chance may be (see Ito’s ‘Hellstar Remina’ for example) but you can never escape your own body. Also I agree that having a body is very weird. Sometimes when I pass a mirror, I look at myself and the overwhelming feeling of “oh god that’s ME” hits and I just have to sit there for a moment. It’s also now my new quest to find that Beatles image if it exists, I love that band so much and I need to know as well XDXD Keep up the dope video essays!! 😤
I think the first story is about any mental or medical condition that makes the person "waste away". Some people have mentioned depression, and that fits, but it also fits for anything that slowly takes over your life and controls you cuz of it. Like cancer Enigma (on top of poking my primal ape fear brain with a stick) seems to be about The Call of the Void, which is the intruisive thoughts you have when looking over cliffs and stuff. Your theory can also work, but i think it would be on a per person basis
I'm about 9 minutes in, but I gotta say I really like how you mix humor and horror I'm squeamish about horror, even though I write it often, so I love your analyses
I think amigara fault is about addiction. Like some people are just curious about it, some people see how destructive it is, and still cant help themselves. Addiction doesnt have to be drugs, and could definitely apply to your main character syndrome theory.
For the Beatles poster, it was a most likely from 1965 promo photo. It came from a promotion of the album "Help!" Page 6 of the December 4, 1965 copy of _Music Echo,_ there is a photo from the same photography session where John, Ringo, and George are facing the camera while Paul is looking out of frame in the same pose, the three above chins line up on a nearly level plane with a slight incline. However, the 1963 "with the beatles" album cover was widespread as promotional material in Japan, they were hung as sales promos with release date text along with singles titles and prices. It was also used to advertise the 1966 concert on July 1. This photo features Paul in the top row swapped with, if I remember, Ringo alone on the bottom facing the camera. I'd say it was likely that the release from 1965 was used as an inspiration for the poster, while the 1963 album cover would have been in shop windows advertising the album/concert and that memory would inspire in Manga poster. My guess is Junji associated that art with that message and was used to show the added desperation of the situation in the apartment. However, I cannot be certain, the photographer for the session is unknown to me so I don't have access to the full portfolio from that session and this is just my educated guess that makes me feel beyond old.
The Japanese 'Help!' vinyl single cover (images.eil.com/large_image/THE_BEATLES_YESTERDAY-706519.jpg) does seem to match the arrangement of the Beatles, so thanks for starting me down that rabbit hole. I like your theory about the 'Help!' era fitting with the messages contained within the text. The main thing that throws me off on that is that the four are drawn as how they appear around the time of the Magical Mystery Tour movie/the singles released after that like Lady Madonna. Appreciate the help in sourcing the image though, I recon you're probably right, but I can't find the exact image. Whilst looking up what you've mentioned, I found a picture in Forbes India (weirdly) that fits how the four are drawn, but not quite same arrangement: encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRysSB2549mHTVulAe3vN0XqVT6t6zN4X0OvNjFV4qYJEC9lePfGNMHJlHp3TM0-GfW6BM&usqp=CAU.
i feel like a lot of junji ito's horror is about losing control of your mind or body to the point you cannot recognize yourself anymore. like the whole section about the snail people in uzumaki lmao. really all of uzumaki is about something compelling everyone to distort themselves to the point of unrecognizability. so i feel like your analysis of amigara fault makes sense like the amount of people who dedicate themselves to their jobs so fully that decades go by and when they look back at their life they cant recognize who they are anymore
Yeah, the concept of 'horror within' does seem to pervade a lot of his work. Uzumakis snail people definitely tie into this, with the bully ending up mating with the kid he bullied when he's a snail. Whole section gross though, I hate snails..
1:42 ok your description is one of my deepest fear, since I watch 16teen Halloween episode with zombies. Knowing your body is condemned to rot on you, to know that you won’t be yourself, that your time is slowly running out
What is 16teen? I tried looking it up and only found a show called 6teen. I would assume that’s what you mean, but having never seen or heard about the show before I’m kinda lost. Genuine question, hopefully I don’t come off as rude to you.
@@alfredandersson875 yeah that’s it. I’m sorry I was around 7-8 yo when I was watching it. I’m from Quebec in Canada, it might be why you never heard of it 🙂. And the title was in French, since I’m French Canadian 😅
@@alfredandersson875 that’s the link of the episode I was talking about! If I remember correctly, Julie was bitten and that’s what scared me ua-cam.com/video/ILK1MD7OWYs/v-deo.htmlsi=mxYwtD69R1bB45Ny
My fave Junji Ito body horror story is Bloodsucking Darkness. I think there's something so horrifying about give yourself to someone not only metaphorically, but literally
slug girl ahh earlyest childhood trama that make me scare of slug more than happy tree friend make me fear of gore thank junji ito for make me have snailphobia and having graphic nightmare about them when i was a child
The Beatles poster seems like a picture from the Our World broadcast. And now I won't sleep until I will find the exact reference, and maybe this is the meaning of that story.
I can get behind the interpretation of Amigara Fault being an allegory for MCS. Unfortunately, "Go find your hole, Karen," would be wildly misinterpreted, as much as it would be fitting in context.
I was really tempted to put a 'hole' counter in the top corner of the video, very difficult story to discuss for the amount of times I had to say it...
Main character syndrome? Gender identity? Bro. These mangas were made decades before those terms or concepts entered the lexicon. The one about the holes is easily about conformity, not about main character syndrome
Slug Girl for me is an allegory for depression, particularly teenage depression. Those not going through it are confused, disgusted and generally freaked out. Completely alienating. The Big clue is the sloven slimy creature of the slug/snail girl reduced to something lesser and dragged around by her condition as she hapless and helplessly looks on with an air of weary resignation. Her friend and her parents extreme and clueless reaction is on point. Using over simplistic " treatments" and compounding her symptoms and Indeed accelerating them. They reject her yet also keeping her close by allowing her to reside in the garden. But there is barely nothing recognisable of the chatty vibrant girl they once knew and loved and her helpless to save.
Yeah, that's what my interpretation was. I might be biased from lived experiences with a similar situation though.
I interpret Amigara Fault to be a very gut level exploration of intrusive self destructive thoughts, like looking out over a cliff and feeling an almost irresistible impulse to jump, despite knowing you will go splat.
The protagonist dreams about his hole waiting for him and how it will claustrophobicly deform him as it pulls him deeper into the mountain, the walls grooved to render retreat impossible, forcing his body into grotesque shapes..Despite knowing the awful fate that awaits him, he cannot stop himself.
That makes a lot more sense than whatever I was thinking ngl
@@RatatTalks wow, really?
@@daniellewillis2767 yeah, it’s got less flaws hahaha
Call of the void. It’s why I hate being near a precipice especially when it’s a high fall like the Grand Canyon or a high balcony.
The Enigma of Amigara Fault is pretty straight forward. We are desperate to find our purpose and place in society even to the point where we are presented with a niche ( from parents, caregivers , teachers and career advisors) who through a tenious and surface level grasp will shoehorn you into it. Even if you lo 18:44 se your core self and become warped out of shape by it and " become" your job and career that it defines you as a person. Who you were before is now nothing more than a distant memory.
I see that, good interpretation.
Well, it is straight forward to you. I agree with your interpretation but without, and arguably even with, author input or clarification it really is just subjective. Viewing it as just a weird story with no meaning is just as valid as any other interpretation.
@@alfredandersson875 absolutely. That's the beauty of it. Was just giving my take. " The Place and Purpose In Society" trope though a universal one in particularly potent in Japan. You are devalued and shamed relentlessly and are measured on what you can provide. Thar pressure, that fear is so strong that it can crush you so you yield to it to " fit in". We are all subject to it. That's the horror for me
Another great video, Ratat. Body horror is Junji Ito’s bread and butter. He does it so elegantly with his drawing style.
Yeah I love his art style, how insanely visceral it gets really sticks with you. I love the first few chapters of Uzumaki especially for this.
Im pretty sure the "weak mental health" is referring to the fragility of it, like saying someone has poor mental or physical health. Its not used to denigrate or moralize but just to indicate that whatever condition she has is leaving her in a suboptimum state. Medical language is weird and I know it doesnt translate well.
I did think this, but even then the wording is just so odd. That's why I mentioned wanting to be able to understand it as it was originally written, because the translation seems off.
I took it as a translation issue with weak and fragile having such similar meanings. It could be like the last lines from Asuka in End of Evangelion where there are several possible English translations for her words and there are various interpretations depending on how people believe Asuka feels or what they believe Anno was intending.
@@ShinigamisBlade I completely agree. In fact in a strange kind of way horror can be chilling and compassionate. Bitter sweet somewhat. It's one of the ultimate symbolic tools. Beautifully done. To shy away from the dark subject matter only serves it to increase the power of stigma through fearful ignorance . Psychoanalysis through art be it consious, subconsious or somewhere in between can be cathartic to some, just to compartmentalise things and recognise it as part of the Human Condition.
“I don’t like anything slug or snail-like” YOU MONSTER
I just don’t like the vibes of Gastropods
Body horror is one of my favorite types of horror because it’s just… inescapable. Even cosmic horror has a possible escape, however slim that chance may be (see Ito’s ‘Hellstar Remina’ for example) but you can never escape your own body.
Also I agree that having a body is very weird. Sometimes when I pass a mirror, I look at myself and the overwhelming feeling of “oh god that’s ME” hits and I just have to sit there for a moment.
It’s also now my new quest to find that Beatles image if it exists, I love that band so much and I need to know as well XDXD
Keep up the dope video essays!! 😤
Yeah, I've always found horror from within to be way scarier than any external thing.
Let me know if you find the image!
I think the first story is about any mental or medical condition that makes the person "waste away". Some people have mentioned depression, and that fits, but it also fits for anything that slowly takes over your life and controls you cuz of it. Like cancer
Enigma (on top of poking my primal ape fear brain with a stick) seems to be about The Call of the Void, which is the intruisive thoughts you have when looking over cliffs and stuff. Your theory can also work, but i think it would be on a per person basis
Thanks for the takes, both make lots of sense
I'm about 9 minutes in, but I gotta say I really like how you mix humor and horror
I'm squeamish about horror, even though I write it often, so I love your analyses
Thanks haha, trying to keep things light
I really love your take on Amigara Fault it's really compelling
Thank you!!
I think amigara fault is about addiction. Like some people are just curious about it, some people see how destructive it is, and still cant help themselves.
Addiction doesnt have to be drugs, and could definitely apply to your main character syndrome theory.
I like that interpretation, thanks for the comment
For the Beatles poster, it was a most likely from 1965 promo photo. It came from a promotion of the album "Help!" Page 6 of the December 4, 1965 copy of _Music Echo,_ there is a photo from the same photography session where John, Ringo, and George are facing the camera while Paul is looking out of frame in the same pose, the three above chins line up on a nearly level plane with a slight incline.
However, the 1963 "with the beatles" album cover was widespread as promotional material in Japan, they were hung as sales promos with release date text along with singles titles and prices. It was also used to advertise the 1966 concert on July 1. This photo features Paul in the top row swapped with, if I remember, Ringo alone on the bottom facing the camera.
I'd say it was likely that the release from 1965 was used as an inspiration for the poster, while the 1963 album cover would have been in shop windows advertising the album/concert and that memory would inspire in Manga poster. My guess is Junji associated that art with that message and was used to show the added desperation of the situation in the apartment.
However, I cannot be certain, the photographer for the session is unknown to me so I don't have access to the full portfolio from that session and this is just my educated guess that makes me feel beyond old.
The Japanese 'Help!' vinyl single cover (images.eil.com/large_image/THE_BEATLES_YESTERDAY-706519.jpg) does seem to match the arrangement of the Beatles, so thanks for starting me down that rabbit hole.
I like your theory about the 'Help!' era fitting with the messages contained within the text.
The main thing that throws me off on that is that the four are drawn as how they appear around the time of the Magical Mystery Tour movie/the singles released after that like Lady Madonna.
Appreciate the help in sourcing the image though, I recon you're probably right, but I can't find the exact image. Whilst looking up what you've mentioned, I found a picture in Forbes India (weirdly) that fits how the four are drawn, but not quite same arrangement:
encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRysSB2549mHTVulAe3vN0XqVT6t6zN4X0OvNjFV4qYJEC9lePfGNMHJlHp3TM0-GfW6BM&usqp=CAU.
@@RatatTalks sorry to create a new distraction. Good luck
i feel like a lot of junji ito's horror is about losing control of your mind or body to the point you cannot recognize yourself anymore. like the whole section about the snail people in uzumaki lmao. really all of uzumaki is about something compelling everyone to distort themselves to the point of unrecognizability. so i feel like your analysis of amigara fault makes sense like the amount of people who dedicate themselves to their jobs so fully that decades go by and when they look back at their life they cant recognize who they are anymore
Yeah, the concept of 'horror within' does seem to pervade a lot of his work. Uzumakis snail people definitely tie into this, with the bully ending up mating with the kid he bullied when he's a snail. Whole section gross though, I hate snails..
1:42 ok your description is one of my deepest fear, since I watch 16teen Halloween episode with zombies. Knowing your body is condemned to rot on you, to know that you won’t be yourself, that your time is slowly running out
The scariest part of being a zombie to me was always the idea that you are captive in your own body yeah, a conscious mind within a shell of instinct.
@@RatatTalks haha yeah something like that, it makes my skin crawl just thinking about it 😅 really like your until dawn video too btw
What is 16teen? I tried looking it up and only found a show called 6teen. I would assume that’s what you mean, but having never seen or heard about the show before I’m kinda lost. Genuine question, hopefully I don’t come off as rude to you.
@@alfredandersson875 yeah that’s it. I’m sorry I was around 7-8 yo when I was watching it. I’m from Quebec in Canada, it might be why you never heard of it 🙂. And the title was in French, since I’m French Canadian 😅
@@alfredandersson875 that’s the link of the episode I was talking about! If I remember correctly, Julie was bitten and that’s what scared me
ua-cam.com/video/ILK1MD7OWYs/v-deo.htmlsi=mxYwtD69R1bB45Ny
You are a ball of spaghetti protected by bones and piloting a meat suit, and that ball of spaghetti runs on electricity
yeah, that's life I guess
My fave Junji Ito body horror story is Bloodsucking Darkness. I think there's something so horrifying about give yourself to someone not only metaphorically, but literally
14:34 btw the idea of the nightmare is a demon is not new, there’s paintings about it
i'm always here not just for the unique takes and commentary, but also for the s tier editing and humour. much love and support!
I was thinking it had to be 66-67, because of the hairstyles/facial hair, but I was so sure I'd seen the image before...
@@RatatTalks haha close enough x)
Dang, didn't know you would put a new one out that quick lol. Thanks for more Junji Ito!
churning through my collection and coming up with hot takes daily
very nice video, definitely deserving of more views. interested in seeing more from you!
Thanks for the kind words!
My over-simplistic interpretation of Slug Girl is about someone turning into the thing they hate/fear the most.
Hmm it seems like everyone has their own meaning taken away from Amigara fault. Almost like everyone has their own hole to fill *badum pshhh*
slug girl ahh earlyest childhood trama that make me scare of slug more than happy tree friend make me fear of gore thank junji ito for make me have snailphobia and having graphic nightmare about them when i was a child
haha yep I had both experiences too
Oh man the timing of this vid w the cody ko situation
i like how everyone in the comments interprets amigara fault in completely different ways lol
Good art is divisive I guess
The Beatles poster seems like a picture from the Our World broadcast. And now I won't sleep until I will find the exact reference, and maybe this is the meaning of that story.
In a response to another comment I found and linked a very similar picture from around that time, it may be a good play to start.
@@RatatTalks Just saw the picture you linked. It's definitely from that era.
2:37 you keep enlarging it 😭😭😭😭😭😭
The gastropods are approaching.
Slug girl is giving big "NOPE" energy, ngl
Yeah it's a freaky short story, unless you mean the movie 'Nope', in which case I have completely misunderstood this comment
@@RatatTalks Nah, you got it right the first time. I haven't seen the "Nope" movie
@@miguelthedrawtist oh sweet I was worried I'd completely lost the ability to understand comments hahah
You seem like such a fun person!!
I actually developed a mild phobia for slugs and snails after reading the snail chapter of Uzumaki, which was also the last chapter I managed to read
Japanese Horror is just something else
Agreed, across the board it hits
Omg ratat look out there's a slug right there!!!
nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Excellent
Thanks!
I’m so sorry that you have to have a body
I thought Amigara Fault was about gambling, loans, and financial debt 🤷🏽♀️
Interesting, why's that?
I can get behind the interpretation of Amigara Fault being an allegory for MCS. Unfortunately, "Go find your hole, Karen," would be wildly misinterpreted, as much as it would be fitting in context.
I was really tempted to put a 'hole' counter in the top corner of the video, very difficult story to discuss for the amount of times I had to say it...
Lez be honest we all wish we are gods
I dunno sounds like a lot of responsibility
slugma balls
ya got me...
Main character syndrome? Gender identity? Bro. These mangas were made decades before those terms or concepts entered the lexicon. The one about the holes is easily about conformity, not about main character syndrome
That's indeed a very western take.
It's very western and very Gen Z. That's why I prefaced it with all the disclaimers haha
it's a small thing but thank you for normalising "cisgender" as a term with male youtubers