Contains Discussions of Suicide that May Upset Some Readers
The newest anime adaptation of Junji Ito's stories just made his scariest story even more horrifying with sound. Netflix's Junji Ito Maniac has finally arrived and given fans twelve new adaptations of Ito's timeless horror stories. While the series has included plenty of famous stories, most fans' attention has been squarely placed on one story that is arguably the scariest that Ito has ever created.
Hanging Balloon is the third episode in the collection and is based upon Hanging Blimp. It follows a small town in Japan who are reeling from the death of a popular idol after discovering her dead from apparent suicide outside her home. Things become odd though when claims are made that her head floats around the park at night. To the horror of protagonist Kazuko, it turns out to be the beginning of an invasion of balloons with nooses hanging from them. Each balloon shares the appearance of different people and snatches their look-alikes with the noose to kill them, leaving them dangling in the air. It's undoubtedly one of Junji Ito's most unsettling and disturbing stories with Ito implying a dark hidden meaning exploring suicide, but the anime actually manages to one-up its source material and make it even more horrific with sound.
Hanging Balloon's Sound & Animation Add to the Fear Factor
What makes Hanging Balloon stand out as a great adaptation is how it uses sound to enhance the story. The balloon incident can now be explored to its fullest potential, and it's best shown whenever the balloons are able to snatch their victims. The sound of the necks snapping whenever they're carried away is unsettling. It's crystal clear and sharp enough to make viewers wince as the bones break and leave a dangling person on the end of the balloon. Not even the original manga explored this as in detail as much as the anime. The onomatopoeia used in these same scenes just features the sound of a yank or the screams made by people taken away. Junji Ito Maniac breaks the barrier that can be made between manga and reader by translating it to television in this unsettling way that makes it absolute nightmare fuel.
What Hanging Balloon also excels at is how it animates certain key segments. Many of Ito's stories rely on the shock factor between s to deliver its scares, and it's been successful for his craft. However, the introduction of animation for this story actually adds a new layer. The best example is when Kazuko's friend Chiharu dies after her balloon is shot down. Her face is shown in the process of deflating just as Kazuko turns to her. However, in the anime it's a gruesome process as first a hole appears on her cheek and then slowly deflates to the grotesque image best known from the manga. It's a horrifying sight that's best shown through the anime because it allows the viewer to see this reveal happen in real time and makes this adaptation of the story live up to the hype.
The way that Netflix and the creators of Junji Ito Maniac adapted this classic story has made it arguably the definitive way to experience it. Not only is it incredibly faithful to the source material, but it also adds sound and fluid animation to emphasize the horror that made it so scary on the page. Hanging Balloon is undoubtedly Junji Ito's scariest story, and the new anime did an impressive job at not just bringing it to life but also making it even scarier.
Watch Junji Ito Maniac now on Netflix!
