Jigokusei Remina

Here is my take after reading 6 chapters of the world eating Jigokusei Remina (Hellstar Remina) by Junji Itou.

Everytime I want to read something to refresh myself from reading heavy manga titles, I always end up picking a Junji Itou story. But you may ask, how does reading a horror manga in any way refreshing?

Well that's where I start talking about his short manga Jigokusei Remina... A story about an astronomer who discover a new star which shows fascinating characteristics out of the ordinary, being that it literally devours nearby stars.

That particular star was named Remina, which was her daughter's name. The start and her daughter showed uncanny similarities that are beyond the realm of coincidence.

After naming the star Remina, strange things started to happen for both the star and Remina that eventually causes chaos in the universe.

As always, the art of Junji Itou is definitely tailor made for the horror genre which holds all the craziness that his story tells to us readers.

Although this time, the characters are not that strong and memorable for me unlike his popular works: Gyo, Uzumaki and Tomie. But they are enough to move the narrative forward.

And this is where the refreshing part comes, each of Junji Itou's works keeps you unaware and clueless of each phenomenon that happens to the characters of his story which make it really interesting to read.

With that said, I would give Jigokusei Remina 8 stars out of 10.

well, this is one of manga will always be my reminder, to be cautious when press random when searching manga, as i thought nothing could be any better than this, this is pure nightmare, mate.

so the story is kinda random stuff, well what can you expect , this story is mixing whatever human will be,if they're in the face of great unknown, because of that, it led to despair, that always occuring in this plot, until the end, that certainly nightmare.

Cthulu monster certainly interesting stuff.

character is kinda your usual , but the art to symbolize the nightmare, well,..

But overall, it's worth to read.

Minor spoilers ahead.

I used to be a huge fan of Junji Ito's work - I sang his praises constantly on Tumblr and recommended him to many of my friends. Now, I see the fault in my actions.

Jigokusei Remina - Hellstar Remina - is a work that feels ultimately pointless.

Hellstar fits quite nicely into the Junji Ito mold - the female heroine watches the world collapse around her, and nearly everyone in the story dies. The work is so full of violence and death that I nearly felt sick reading it - not because I can't stand violence or death (hell, one of my favorite movies is End of Evangelion) - but because everything in it feels pointless.

There is virtually no explanation for WHY the things in the story happen. They just happen, seemingly without any sort of reason. At least in Ito's other works - Uzumaki, for example - there is a REASON for what happens and the death that it entails. This reason is nowhere to be found in Hellstar. The planet Remina just comes and destroys everything for no reason. Millions, if not billions, of innocent people die for no reason. You watch them die - not only die, but struggle to live by doing everything they can, and then still die. The death in the story is dealt with so objectively that it is not fun to read. You feel nothing towards these people killed en masse; they are simply plot devices. Not only is it uncomfortable, but it is flat-out boring.

This kind of voyeurism can be enjoyable sometimes, sure, but in this work I found it totally off-putting and uncomfortable. Like I said, I felt that it was handled in a miserable way compared to usual Ito.

The main characters don't have enough time for real development - Remina stays the absolute same throughout the story, and every other twist can be seen from a mile away. The story feels so forced through these characters, your level of psychic distance from the fiction is astronomical.

The work is just boring, with its only redeeming qualities coming from Ito's art. The man has a real talent for drawing grotesque landscapes, may they be on Earth or on foreign locales, and his characters are expressive physically if not emotionally.

Pass on this and read Uzumaki instead, or some of his shorter-form collections. They have much more impact and depth than this misfire.

Ahhh...another classic by Junji Ito himself. I've been waiting to read Jigokusei Remina when I was in a definite mood for some good gore/horror, and Junji can always satisfy my appetite for that. The story leans a lot toward syfy though, with flying cars, cell phone watches and such, which I've never been into that genre, but it being a piece by Junji Ito, I knew he would combine his usual grotesque style and syfy-ish feel into one perfectly.

!!!!SPOILERS AHEAD!!!! DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER!!!!! I'M SORRY BUT I FELT THE NEED TO SAY A FEW THINGS...

I read a few discussions at the end and was glad to realize I wasn't the only one who felt the same way about Remina the girl and Remina the planet - like there was a deep connection between the two and Planet Remina was either helping or saving her at times when she needed it. For example, the mob tied Remina to a crucifix and was just about to kill her when missiles were launched at Planet Remina and something backfired to cause hundreds of explosions only to upset Planet Remina to create an earthquake. like Remina was there the whole time, tied to the crucifix and still alive??? You can't tell me there was no connection between the two!! There were a few more scenes like that in the story so I think this was a sneaky move on Junji's part making us identify the correlation between Oguro Remina and Planet Remina without having to say it.

"Army of One" oneshot at the end was perfect. It tied into Jigokusei Remina's theme extremely well. I actually read it a long time ago not realizing it was a chapter in Remina until now and thought all this time that Natsuko was behind all the murders, (lol ya I know...) but after reading people's comments I think it was a sick, never-ending cycle of mass hysteria. How could one 20-something year-old-girl do all of that in one night without going unnoticed? And then the song. It was some hypnosis tool used to influence people to kill.

Ah well anyway, I definitely recommend Jigokusei Remina to anyone definitely into gore meets syfy! And the oneshot at the end has always been my favorite, so look forward to that, too!

WARNING: This review contains spoilers for Hellstar Remina and Uzumaki. You have been warned.

Ito Junji is one of my favorite mangakas. His creative, fascinating, and horrifying drawings he painstakingly creates never fail to impress me. But Hellstar Remina is not one of his better works. In fact, it’s probably the worst out of all his manga that I’ve read.

Story: Hellstar has a very simple premise we’ve all probably seen before. Humanity observes an imminent threat to their existence and everyone goes completely bonkers. Hellstar doesn’t have one of the more creative ideas though. I’ve read several stories about “living” planets or mystery planets crashing into Earth. But if an unoriginal premise is executed well enough, it can still be good, right? Not in this case. I believe that a good cosmic horror story needs time to develop. It may be boring for some but for me, cosmic horror doesn’t have much of an impact unless I can see subtle growing unrest and terror, a strong sense of paranoia, and progressively worse things happening. Hellstar starts off with “haha we’ll be fine” and immediately jumps to “TIME TO BECOME A CULT AND SACRIFICE THE CHILDREN AAAHHHHH”. Because one guy suggested the planet Remina wouldn’t crash if they killed the person Remina. And apparently all of Japan heard and believed him. After that, the story is just Remina running away from the people that want to kill her until the story ends with Remina, some kids, and her new hobo friend in a bomb shelter where they have a year to live. The buildup was far too fast, nothing was scary, and the ending was underwhelming. Speaking of the ending, it was surprisingly lighthearted given the manga’s dark content. And that’s part of what frustrates me. Hellstar reminds me a lot of another of Ito’s works, Uzumaki. Unlike Uzumaki however, Hellstar doesn’t make “the end” seem believable and horrifying. The ones living in the bomb shelter will live a peaceful year and die in a comfortable place among people they care about. In Uzumaki, the town gets swallowed up into the spiral and it’s heavily implied that they’re still conscious. Even after all that suffering, the grand cosmic force wins in the end. Giving Hellstar a somewhat happy ending negates any fear that was built up in previous chapters because we know our leads are okay for now. Ultimately, Hellstar has no impact and is merely a weak imitation of Uzumaki.

Art: Of course, Remina the planet is extremely detailed and terrifying. The rest of the art is very solid too and as usual, all of Ito’s characters look “off”. However, there is very little truly disturbing imagery. Ito’s greatest strength is in drawing grotesque, immaculately detailed body horror and there is very little to found here. Remina is well drawn and closeups of them (as well as the pilot with the melted face) are impressive but none of the art is something I’d consider very scary.

Characters: None of the characters stand out. Remina is a pretty plain and average character, her father is a nice scientist, Remina has a lot of fans that claim they want to protect her but we all know they just want to get her in bed, and the evil cult members are evil cult members. That’s as far as any of them go. A good horror doesn’t necessarily need good characters depending on the type of story and if it carry the lack of good characters with other aspects but Hellstar is just further dragged down by characters with little to no personality. One thing I would like to mention is the leader of Remina’s fan club being revealed as one of the cultists in the masks. This is baffling. I suppose it’s done to show that anyone can be corrupted into thinking Remina is bad but the fact that there’s no further explanation just makes this seem like a confusing “twist” used purely for shock value.

Enjoyment: Hellstar was pretty short so I didn’t suffer much. And there was some ironic enjoyment to be found. “IT ATE THE FUCKING MOON!” comes to mind. For the most part, I was just bored and couldn’t get invested at all.

Final Verdict: Don’t waste your time. Just read Uzumaki instead. 4/10

Extra Note: The oneshot that came with this, Okuman Bocchi or Army of One, was actually really good and significantly better paced, better written, and scarier than Hellstar Remina. I'd suggest giving it a try.

TL;DR - Hellstar Remina is a good manga. Just know that it has some pretty gross imagery and a disturbing plot. Squeamish readers beware.

If you've read an Itou Junji manga before, you know shit is getting real real up in here. Let me just state this: Hellstar Remina includes some crazy imagery that is not suited for everyone. Eldrich abominations and locations are in there. With that, let's go. There'll be some very slight spoilers in this text. You have been warned.

Hellstar Remina's premise is incredibly simple. A professor predicts a wormhole to be present in the Hydra constellation. One day a planet is witnessed passing through it, into our dimension. The professor receives the Nobel prize. He decides to name the star after his daughter, who is instantly propelled into a global celebrity. Some time after this, it's noticed that the planet is constantly moving - at times at the speed of light - and that stars around it seems to just disappear. Scientists are befuddled, especially when they notice that the star has changed its trajectory and is now headed towards Earth. Then shit gets crazy. The following panic makes some people just lay down and cry and some go on a wild chase after the people they hold responsible: Professor Oguro and his daughter Remina. All while the planet slows its pace and seems to now be slowly approaching our blue planet. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention: The planet has eyes and mouths, and devours the damn moon in a quick bite.

It's an interesting notion that Itou puts out about celebrity: We're rather quick as a people to shine the spotlight on things we find curious and then put it on a pedestal. Remina has done nothing apparent to validate the gigantic fanbase and general following she gets and her decision to "enter the world of entertainment" is incredibly bizarre from our viewpoint, but is widely celebrated in the manga. Maybe the people are so starved for enjoyment that they cling on to anything new, or maybe its a symbol for the sheep we all become to the organisations that produce the products we consume. It's an interesting point to make.

Let me just restate: This manga is bonkers. Absolutely crazy. It's a look deep into the human psyche. How far will you go to save yourself with apocalypse knocking at the door? How far can people be driven by insane ideas, when reality is insane enough that they seem plausible? As much as Hellstar Remina is about a monster-planet from another dimension coming to Earth and killing the fuck out of everything in its way, it's also about people losing their morale values and becoming driven by mad ideas and basic needs. In the middle of global panic, a cult steps up and takes control of the numerous mobs in Japan. Their Mission? To kill the professor and his daughter. People follow these zealots with a burning passion and a wild hunt is on. It features some commentary on people using religion to get other people to follow their lead. It's also not pointed out as an evil, because hey, what if they're right? As crazy as it sounds, reality is more crazy now than ever before, so it's not plausibility isn't naught. People basically revert back to the dark ages and witch hunting. At times they even stop to find enjoyment in what they're doing, which is when they're seemingly pointed out as being of lesser morality than us readers. That said, they could also be so relieved at the ordeal soon being over and just letting go. However, not only religious craze is spotlighted when people lose their shit with apocalypse on the doorstep. There's a scene where a man tries to rape Remina, and she fights back. The scene is discovered and the man says "she was asking for it." Surely we're all shaking our heads at that comment, but it's accepted in the manga, because, hell, she's the cause of the apocalypse. If she can bring a killer-planet to us, why can't she ensnare men by sheer will? It's a different kind of horror to the jump-scares us horror fans find in most horror flicks nowadays. It's the realisation that anything goes when it comes to killing this girl when it's about staving off all our deaths. And we don't even know that her death will save us.

All this while the monstrous planet above is just looking on. Maybe approvingly. Maybe it's just observing us to see what happens when it shakes the world. By all accounts, it appears no more intelligent than a small child, poking our planet to see what happens. The few times we do get a peek at Remina's surface, it's terrifying beyond words.

The art is really good. It's not the best I've seen, but it's highly realistic most of the time, and very confusing at other times.

As for the characters, there's really only one to talk about, and there's not much to say. Remina is a young, shy and modest girl who is propelled into super-stardom just by existing and having a planet named after her. She seems to have difficulty with handling the attention given to her, and then the apocalypse happens. Her desperate struggle is certainly one you feel sympathy for, but there's not much exploring as far as character development goes. Remina is just another person. She just happens to be in the middle of a global witch hunt when mind-boggling coincidence has it a planet named after her arrives to kill Earth.

I highly enjoyed Hellstar Remina, and recommend it to people who enjoy horror and chaotic stories. As far as the ending goes - without spoiling it - I wasn't a big fan of it. The story feels unresolved to me.

To finish, let me just say again that this manga is not for everyone. It features very graphic violence, like torture and (attempted) rape, which could be a trigger for some. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it. Just know what madness you're opening yourself to.

Well, what the hell can I even say about "Hellstar Remina"?

It destroyed me. It absolutely destroyed me. I can safely say that, with all kinds of horror stuff I've read, with all the Junji Ito mangas I've read (counting his cat diary, cuz jees that's got some very creepy faces), this one will haunt me the most.

The thought of the end of the world already scared me. Thanks to this manga, now it's paranoia. It takes the fear of the world ending and expands it. It's creepy, unsettling, scary, it's everything.

Although the plot twists could be somewhat obvious, they still managed to get me. Especially the leader one.

Throughout the entire manga, you'll feel sorry for Remina. You'll feel really, really sorry. Thinking "Oh God, is she dead? Please don't let her be dead." and wishing everyone who's being mean to her would just die (well, at least one did, hint hint). There was never, not a single moment, in which I thought "Well Remina, you sure did eff up, didn't ya." or anything of the sort. It's heartbreaking to see her suffer for something she didn't do. Throughout the entire manga, You will. Feel sorry. For Remina.

It's also interesting the way the planet Remina was portrayed - almost if it's got a life of it's own and, the way I interpret it (probably spoilers ahead?), is trying to actually save Remina. It knows she's not responsible for any of this and, even with it's slightly-very-bloodthirsty "personality", it still wants to protect her. Thanks, Remina!


Also it's Junji Ito, the art is incredibly scary, oh God oh God.