Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition by Junji Ito

Viz Media, 2016

ISBN: 9781421590561

Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

Femme fatale Tomie Kawakami, with long dark hair, hypnotic eyes, and a signature mole under her left eye, makes men love her, regardless of their age. She drives them to madness and sometimes murder, whether the target is a rival or herself. Dismemberment is the common treatment of her corpse, which comes with unexpected results. Her body has the ability to regenerate, multiply, and animate.

Chapter 1 opens with Reiko, Tomie’s classmate and best friend, discussing the titular character’s death. However, Tomie returns during the middle of a classroom lecture, much to the shock of everyone. Tomie’s death is told in a flashback. When the class heads out for a field trip, Tomie and the teacher are having a conversation where it is revealed they are involved in an affair. This turns into an argument and Tomie falls off the cliffside. The teacher and students agree to dispose of the body by dismembering and passing all 42 pieces out to everyone with instructions to dump the pieces in different places. Tomie’s heart is given to Reiko for disposal. Upon Tomie’s return, Reiko and another classmate want to turn themselves in for what happened, but the rest of the class gives chase, only to be rescued, in a way, by Tomie. At the end of the chapter, Reiko has moved and wonders about her mysterious friend. The last panel reveals a heart regenerating limbs and a face that has the same mole and telltale beauty in a cave near the beach.

This first chapter sets the tone for the entire manga. Ultimately, the reader is left with more questions than answers, but Ito still manages to tell a compelling story. Is Tomie a monster, or is it possible that depending on the chapter she is the reflection of humanity’s fears and obsessions? She can dig into the minds of the men she attracts, often by a mere glance. She’s often sweet to her victims (or targets} one minute, and insufferably cruel the next. Tomie is adept at gaslighting anyone she interacts with. In one chapter, a piece of her is kept in a vat in the basement of Morita Hospital. When Tomie fully regenerates, the doctor responsible for the experiment attempts to take ownership of her, which goes badly for him and those involved. In another chapter, two men are obsessed with Tomie, both convinced that their rival’s’ version is the false Tomie and needs to be murdered.

That is not to say that everyone that comes into Tomie’s crosshairs is an appropriate target. A young woman babysits for a deranged couple who found a swaddled baby Tomie on their property one night. The infant is obsessed with anything red, and the parents are driven to do everything they can to accommodate their new child. Another chapter, which is rather disturbing, reveals that Tomie affects the mind of a child so much that he becomes obsessed with her to the point of denying his real mother and starts calling Tomie by that title. Her tendencies to seduce men are leveled at this young boy and can be considered grooming behavior.

This volume is more than the story of Tomie. It is the evolution of Ito in his storytelling and his artwork. With over 700 pages, the omnibus is massive. The first installment of the Tomie series was published in 1987 and the last in 2000. Ito’s artwork and storytelling becomes more detailed over time, so the volume not only provides a great story but also a kind of archive of Ito’s work. This was not the last appearance of Tomie, as there was a series of films produced between 1998 and 2011. This was my first exposure to Tomie, which ultimately led me to the manga. These are worth a look if you are so inclined. Highly recommended.

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker