Dissolving Classroom | |
![]() Cover of the volume | |
溶解教室 (Yōkai Kyōshitsu) | |
---|---|
Genre | Horror [1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Junji Ito |
Published by | Akita Shoten |
English publisher | |
Magazine | Comic Motto! |
Demographic | Josei |
Original run | March 18, 2013 – October 1, 2014 |
Volumes | 1 |
Dissolving Classroom ( Japanese: 溶解教室, Hepburn: Yōkai Kyōshitsu) is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. It was serialized in Comic Motto! from March 2013 to October 2014 and published in a single volume in December 2014. [2] [3] [4]
Dissolving Classroom follows Yuuma Azawa, a teen obsessed with worshipping the devil, and his younger sister, Chizumi, as they cause problems everywhere they go. The work contains 5 main chapters as well as two unrelated bonus short stories and a brief comedic afterword. [5]
Dissolving Classroom is told through a series of connected short stories that follow Yuuma and Chizumi Azawa. Each story revolves around the tragedies Yuuma and Chizumi cause, mainly through Yuuma's apologies, which he is actually using to connect with the Devil. [5] Due to the "evil electromagnetic waves between him and the Devil," [6] Yuuma's apologies, which are usually a result of Chizumi's behavior, make people's brains melt and his compliments cause people to become permanently and horrifically disfigured. Drawn in a Baphomet-esque style, the Devil is repeatedly brought up and is the main source of evil and horror in the manga. [7]
Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of how Yuuma and Chizumi interact with the world, featuring them in various settings including Yuuma's high school, Yuuma's dating life, an apartment complex, Chizumi's first experience with love, and on the run from reporters and police. In each chapter, Yuuma melts people with his apologies, or, in the case of the second chapter, causes them to become disfigured, and Chizumi terrorizes everyone she interacts with. The story culminates in a live broadcast apology from Yuuma which results in everyone who watches it to melt, and the final page of the story shows the cityscape of Tokyo flooded by melted humans, a dripping sky, and a shadowed outline of the Devil [5]
Through Dissolving Classroom, Junji Ito develops a commentary on public apologies as a feature of modern Japanese society which questions the purpose and intent of these public apologies. [7]
Source: [5]
Source: [5]
Only six pages, "The Return" is a very brief story about a man named Mitsuo searching for his wife, Yuka, after she dies, her final words being a promise to return to him. Mitsuo is able to feel Yuka's presence and is confused to realize her presence seems to follow the rotation of the Earth. Eventually, he hears Yuka's voice, and follows it to watch a meteorite land nearby. Charred human bones are found at the site of impact, and Mitsuo knows that Yuka was alive inside the meteorite up until she entered the atmosphere. Ending the short story, Mitsuo finds a charred hand with Yuka's engagement ring and welcomes her back.
Also six pages, "Children of the Earth" is about a group of kindergarten students that go missing. Their families search for them and end up finding them stuck in the ground. When they try to pull the silent children out of the ground, their torsos extend into a long trunk, so they do not come out of the holes. After being pulled partially out of the ground, they are then rapidly dragged back into the holes until they disappear entirely, and the children are never found again.
In an amusing one-page comic, Juunji Ito draws Yuuma, though this time he is presented as the actor, Jirou Yamada, who played Yuuma. He brings up the recent trend of public apologies and invites the reader to start doing their own public apology for whatever reason they think of. Chizumi is also drawn, although she only says that she is Chizumi and acted as Chizumi.
Source: [5]
Beginning release in 2013, [2] Dissolving Classroom is greatly different to many of Junji Ito's previous works, departing from Junji Ito's more frequent style of Lovecraftian horror. [7] However other aspects of his general process can be seen in Dissolving Classroom. For instance, Junji Ito mentions in an interview that mood and atmosphere are what he considers most important to writing horror stories, [9] which can be seen in this manga as he develops the characters feelings and interactions with Yuuma and Chizumi. In another interview, Junji Ito talks about his interest as rumors as part of spreading horror, [10] which can also be seen in Dissolving Classroom with Tomohito who is afraid due to the rumors about Yuuma and Chizumi that he has heard.
Written and illustrated by Junji Ito, Dissolving Classroom began serialization in Comic Motto! on March 18, 2013. [2] The series completed its serialization on October 1, 2014, the same day Comic Motto! published its final issue. [3] The publishing company Akita Shoten collected the individual chapters into a single tankōbon volume, which was released on December 19, 2014. [4]
In February 2016, Vertical announced they licensed the series for English publication, [11] and the volume was released on January 31, 2017. [12] [13]
Dissolving Classroom has received mostly positive praise since its release; however, it has also received some negative reviews.
Several sources felt Dissolving Classroom was a unique and interesting read. Danica Davidson from Otaku USA praised the manga due to what Davidson felt was unique horror, especially when compared to previous works by Ito. [1] Nathan Wilson from ICv2 had a similar opinion, praising the series as a good introduction into works by Ito. [14] Katherine Dacey from Manga Critic praised the artwork and plot as coherent and provocative. [15] Ricardo Serrano Denis from Comics Beat praised the horror in the story as unique and unusual among horror works. [16]
In contrast, some sources have felt that Dissolving Classroom did not live up to their standards. In a review on World Literature Today, the manga was described as subpar in the horror development as compared to Junji Ito's other work. [7] At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, a "Best and Worst Manga" panel included the series in their "Worst Manga for Anyone, Any Age" picks of the year. [17]
Dissolving Classroom | |
![]() Cover of the volume | |
溶解教室 (Yōkai Kyōshitsu) | |
---|---|
Genre | Horror [1] |
Manga | |
Written by | Junji Ito |
Published by | Akita Shoten |
English publisher | |
Magazine | Comic Motto! |
Demographic | Josei |
Original run | March 18, 2013 – October 1, 2014 |
Volumes | 1 |
Dissolving Classroom ( Japanese: 溶解教室, Hepburn: Yōkai Kyōshitsu) is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. It was serialized in Comic Motto! from March 2013 to October 2014 and published in a single volume in December 2014. [2] [3] [4]
Dissolving Classroom follows Yuuma Azawa, a teen obsessed with worshipping the devil, and his younger sister, Chizumi, as they cause problems everywhere they go. The work contains 5 main chapters as well as two unrelated bonus short stories and a brief comedic afterword. [5]
Dissolving Classroom is told through a series of connected short stories that follow Yuuma and Chizumi Azawa. Each story revolves around the tragedies Yuuma and Chizumi cause, mainly through Yuuma's apologies, which he is actually using to connect with the Devil. [5] Due to the "evil electromagnetic waves between him and the Devil," [6] Yuuma's apologies, which are usually a result of Chizumi's behavior, make people's brains melt and his compliments cause people to become permanently and horrifically disfigured. Drawn in a Baphomet-esque style, the Devil is repeatedly brought up and is the main source of evil and horror in the manga. [7]
Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of how Yuuma and Chizumi interact with the world, featuring them in various settings including Yuuma's high school, Yuuma's dating life, an apartment complex, Chizumi's first experience with love, and on the run from reporters and police. In each chapter, Yuuma melts people with his apologies, or, in the case of the second chapter, causes them to become disfigured, and Chizumi terrorizes everyone she interacts with. The story culminates in a live broadcast apology from Yuuma which results in everyone who watches it to melt, and the final page of the story shows the cityscape of Tokyo flooded by melted humans, a dripping sky, and a shadowed outline of the Devil [5]
Through Dissolving Classroom, Junji Ito develops a commentary on public apologies as a feature of modern Japanese society which questions the purpose and intent of these public apologies. [7]
Source: [5]
Source: [5]
Only six pages, "The Return" is a very brief story about a man named Mitsuo searching for his wife, Yuka, after she dies, her final words being a promise to return to him. Mitsuo is able to feel Yuka's presence and is confused to realize her presence seems to follow the rotation of the Earth. Eventually, he hears Yuka's voice, and follows it to watch a meteorite land nearby. Charred human bones are found at the site of impact, and Mitsuo knows that Yuka was alive inside the meteorite up until she entered the atmosphere. Ending the short story, Mitsuo finds a charred hand with Yuka's engagement ring and welcomes her back.
Also six pages, "Children of the Earth" is about a group of kindergarten students that go missing. Their families search for them and end up finding them stuck in the ground. When they try to pull the silent children out of the ground, their torsos extend into a long trunk, so they do not come out of the holes. After being pulled partially out of the ground, they are then rapidly dragged back into the holes until they disappear entirely, and the children are never found again.
In an amusing one-page comic, Juunji Ito draws Yuuma, though this time he is presented as the actor, Jirou Yamada, who played Yuuma. He brings up the recent trend of public apologies and invites the reader to start doing their own public apology for whatever reason they think of. Chizumi is also drawn, although she only says that she is Chizumi and acted as Chizumi.
Source: [5]
Beginning release in 2013, [2] Dissolving Classroom is greatly different to many of Junji Ito's previous works, departing from Junji Ito's more frequent style of Lovecraftian horror. [7] However other aspects of his general process can be seen in Dissolving Classroom. For instance, Junji Ito mentions in an interview that mood and atmosphere are what he considers most important to writing horror stories, [9] which can be seen in this manga as he develops the characters feelings and interactions with Yuuma and Chizumi. In another interview, Junji Ito talks about his interest as rumors as part of spreading horror, [10] which can also be seen in Dissolving Classroom with Tomohito who is afraid due to the rumors about Yuuma and Chizumi that he has heard.
Written and illustrated by Junji Ito, Dissolving Classroom began serialization in Comic Motto! on March 18, 2013. [2] The series completed its serialization on October 1, 2014, the same day Comic Motto! published its final issue. [3] The publishing company Akita Shoten collected the individual chapters into a single tankōbon volume, which was released on December 19, 2014. [4]
In February 2016, Vertical announced they licensed the series for English publication, [11] and the volume was released on January 31, 2017. [12] [13]
Dissolving Classroom has received mostly positive praise since its release; however, it has also received some negative reviews.
Several sources felt Dissolving Classroom was a unique and interesting read. Danica Davidson from Otaku USA praised the manga due to what Davidson felt was unique horror, especially when compared to previous works by Ito. [1] Nathan Wilson from ICv2 had a similar opinion, praising the series as a good introduction into works by Ito. [14] Katherine Dacey from Manga Critic praised the artwork and plot as coherent and provocative. [15] Ricardo Serrano Denis from Comics Beat praised the horror in the story as unique and unusual among horror works. [16]
In contrast, some sources have felt that Dissolving Classroom did not live up to their standards. In a review on World Literature Today, the manga was described as subpar in the horror development as compared to Junji Ito's other work. [7] At San Diego Comic-Con 2018, a "Best and Worst Manga" panel included the series in their "Worst Manga for Anyone, Any Age" picks of the year. [17]