| Title | : | Black Paradox; ブラックパラドクス; Burakku Paradokusu |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 409182532X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9784091825322 |
| Language | : | Japanese |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 234 |
| Publication | : | First published March 30, 2009 |
It follows four people who meet for a group suicide, but their attempt to die instead makes them aware of a bizarre phenomenon that could change the world.
Chapters
Group Suicide
A Strange Tale of the Pylorus
Paradoxical Night
Dr. Suka's Villa
The Spirit World Project
To The Dazzling Future
The Licking Woman (one-shot)
Mystery Pavillion (one-shot)
Black Paradox; ブラックパラドクス; Burakku Paradokusu Reviews
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Here's to another cycle of sleepless nights and nightmares!!!
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Como la mayoría de las obras de Ito, una locura total, pero de esas locuras fascinantes, morbosas, que te hacen sentir rara. La historia es muy original y retorcida, y a pesar de que me encantó, no lo considero este manga de mis favoritos del querido Junji.
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Another creepy-ass story from Junji Ito. This one seems to be a bit more polarizing than his others but I really enjoyed it. Bizarre as ever. (Also, all the trigger warnings are implied in any of his books but this one is a bit more suicidy than some of his others.)
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Four desperate people meet on a site called Black Paradox and arrange their group suicide. But their attempt takes an unexpected turn as they discover a gateway to the afterlife and a precious - but dangerous - resource called Paradonite that’s going to change the world…
Junji Ito’s 2009 manga Black Paradox, translated in English for the first time this year, starts off really well, in a incredibly barmy very Junji Ito-way, and then unfortunately becomes quite dull for the rest of the book.
The opening chapter is like a demented fever dream as the four main characters meet and, en route to their death site, they share their reasons for dying. I won’t give anything away here but it’s one bonkers horror twist after another. It’s not so much terrifying as it is hilariously mental and also undeniably enthralling.
The second chapter starts comedically too as the group convene to attempt suicide once more via pills this time before even that descends into weird farce. If the whole book had been this incompetent group trying, and failing, to off themselves, I would’ve been fine with it. Sadly, this is where the meat of the story begins as one of the group starts vomiting up glowing balls and we get into the whole spirit world/Paradonite nonsense for the rest of the narrative. (The one continuation of this opening act’s storyline is the robot repeatedly trying to kill itself for no reason throughout the book - it’s so funny!)
Without getting into spoilers, it’s just very repetitive as they set about trying to harvest these balls in a variety of different ways even though it’s not especially clear why they’re immediately identified as so valuable given how dangerous and strange their properties are. Things become even more convoluted when a mad doctor gets involved and the group - now bizarrely calling themselves Black Paradox like they’re a rock band/superhero team - “know” where it’s all headed, even though those revelations only throw up more questions.
So Junji Ito’s still not a great writer, but then he never really has been or seems likely to develop into one at this point, nor does it seem to matter to his ever-growing fanbase anyway. His narrative idiosyncrasies though are what make his comics so unique - I can’t say I’ve ever read a story like Black Paradox before.
Ito’s artwork is Ito’s artwork - it’s the same as it appears in most of his books, no better or worse, though it remains very high quality. Also included in this edition is a short, full colour story called Strange Pavilion that’s completely pointless. Set in 2105, cormorants are apparently extinct so future people bioengineer a way to bring them back - with kerazy results!
Junji Ito can write semi-interesting longform stories like Uzumaki and Gyo that are more successful than Black Paradox. I just found this book to be mostly uninteresting in the repetitive actions of mining this precious mineral. It’s got a cracking opening chapter though that might be worth checking the book out purely for that, and I’m sure Ito fans will pick this up regardless. Overall, Black Paradox didn’t do much for me and I found it mostly boring. -
Black Paradoz is s suicide website that brings four people together to kill themselves, but the story goes way off that course, finally. Maruso’s a nurse who is despondent about the future; Taburo is driven mad by his doppelganger; Pii-tan is an engineer with his own robot clone, and Baracchi is a girl with a strange birthmark on her face that she hates. Early on they all seem to take pills, but it turns out no one actually dies.
But that’s only the start of what is a typical, over-the-top Ito story. The horror story, with plenty of body horror, is also a sci-fi story with some kind of commentary (capitalism? Climate change--the need for new energy sources--on the production of some kind of energy gems called paradonite that is derived from. . ..uh, souls?!! . . . oh, well, it’s too crazy to get into it. It's all part of the fever dream that Ito's stories build to, the place of extreme fear and madness. But the final question is: Will these four save humanity?! And why would you trust these four sad-sack crazies to do anything? Maybe that's the point, that you wouldn't?
Oh, it’s paradoxical, all right. I would say to Ito, if I were his writing buddy or agent: Cut down on the number of aspects of the story, simplify. Cut the crazy let's say 30%. But who am I telling the mangaka Ito? This is what he does. -
I absolutely loved this! What a fun, unique story with some really gross elements. I think this is one of my favorite Junji Ito pieces (though I feel like I've said that about the last few of his books I reviewed!). The characters are three-dimensional, the twists are exciting, and the whole plot is that perfect blend of bizarre and delightful that Junji Ito is so well-known for. I highly recommend this for any horror manga lovers!
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy! All thoughts are honest and my own.
✨ Content warnings for:
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¡Qué locurón! Veamos. Cuatro jóvenes, que se han conocido a través de Internet, deciden reunirse para suicidarse juntos, algo que parece demasiado habitual en Japón. Sin embargo, no resultará tan sencillo, ya que enseguida empezarán a suceder hechos extraños a su alrededor. Y es tal la locura que se alcanza en ‘Black Paradox’ (Black Paradox, 2009), de Junji Ito, que me niego a contar nada más. El manga se completa con dos relatos cortos, ‘El pabellón de lo paranormal‘ y ‘La Lamedora’. Inquietante, perturbador y surrealista. Hay que leer a Junji Ito.
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3.5 stars
As always, the artwork is brilliant. The setup book was fantastic but I will admit that I did not completely love the execution of the idea. The narrative was just a little unwieldy for my tastes. -
Another Saturday afternoon pleasantly spent viewing Ito’s visual abominations.
One of the things I enjoy about Ito’s stories is that outrageous statements like this make sense in context: “Kikuchi, who is he? This man with the stomach leading to another world.”
So:
- Great art (it's Junji Ito)
- Fun story (one of the stronger book-length narratives from Ito, in my opinion)
- Time well spent (as always with the horror manga master)
Plus, I love how the characters look at the end:
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Clubs de suicidio; doppelgänger, sombras y dobles que viven al otro lado del espejo; portales al mundo de los espíritus en el píloro (me encanta decir «píloro»); esferas de minerales misteriosos que albergan almas y que podrían ser la solución energética para el futuro de Japón (o no); mucha gente deshaciéndose, deforme y asquerosa... vamos, todo lo que os podáis imaginar que puede salir del pozo de locura y horror que es la mente de Junji Ito. Tiene momentos maravillosos, aunque el final me parece un poco flojo. Eso sí, la historia extra de «La lamedora» es una delicia de principio a fin.
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This is by the far the best Junji Ito novel I have ever read. What starts out as a bizarre suicide story on a micro level expands as the plot progresses, ending up with a macro sci-fi story reminiscent of a warped, dark and twisted version of the X-Men. Some images were absolutely nauseating and have been burned into my retinas. Pure brilliance.
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Lo que más me ha gustado ha sido ver como la sinopsis se desvanecía en una nebulosa desde el primer capítulo y todo se iba volviendo cada vez más y más extraña, pero finalmente, conseguía engarzarse y tener cierto sentido.
No es lo mejor que he leído de Ito, pero aún así, sus ideas, giros y situaciones alocadas siguen situándolo como el maestro que es.
Pronto, reseña más extensa por el blog :) -
Black Paradox - 3/5
Strange Pavilion - 2/5 -
I tried to hold back. I tried to savour it as I'm running out of unread Junji Ito stuff. Then I gobbled it up in like an hour or so. Damn.
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"Every time I see my face in the mirror, I lose the desire to live. I just know… the me in the mirror is saying Die. Die."
The master of horror manga is back with his strangest tale yet. He uses Japanese history to create a story we haven't seen before. It's a wild one about making a suicide pact with strangers. What could possibly go wrong?
Ito amazes me every single damn time. I always think that he can never outdo his last book and I'm wrong. His stories get even more bizarre as time goes on and I love it. The art is amazing and so is the story. This is one that I'll be recommending to everyone. -
I am not really disappointed but I am surely as hell not to be pleased with how the concept ends. I got really bored after Pitan's robot came back etc but the whole gemstone's idea isn't so bad. I just wish the story ends with even a better conclusion/plot twist.
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Ágil y entretenido este manga, espera terror duro y gore y me gustó que fuera más intriga y un terror suave, con unas criaturas fanásticas.
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Terror japonés con toques lovecraftianos. Eso es lo que te espera si vas a leer Black Paradox. Hay gente que dice que le ha dado miedo; a mí no. En mi caso no lo describiría como miedo, sino más bien como cierta inquietud: algunas escenas son repugnantemente impactantes, tanto de forma visual como moral.
La historia no se parece a nada que haya leído con anterioridad y me ha dejado con ganas de leer más cosas de Junji Ito. La propuesta es interesante, el desarrollo sorprendente y en definitiva es un manga que he disfrutado mucho. Una de sus grandes ventajas es que se trata de un tomo único, porque últimamente las colecciones de manga me dan mucha pereza (algunas son interminables).
Creo que no puedo decir mucho más, porque es una historia para descubrir poco a poco y madurar, pero sin duda me parece una obra más que recomendable.
Al final se incluye una historia corta extra, que no tiene nada que ver con Black Paradox, y que también es muy inquietante y me ha gustado mucho. Se trata de La Lamedora, donde una siniestra mujer con una descomunal lengua envenenada se dedica a sembrar el caos en una pequeña población japonesa, asesinando con sus lametazos a todo el que se le pone por delante. La atmósfera es realmente opresiva, y el diseño de la mujer da bastante grima.
Un saludo,
Carol Rodríguez -
3.5
This one starts off with four characters driving off to commit suicide...
The fact that it's more than 10 pages long should tell you it's not quite that straightforward..
From there it moves into very strange choices and becomes very bizarre
Better than some recent offerings...which seemed like fleshed out stories from years ago -
[Tenemos que contar que es el primer manga que leo (si no pasa nada el último también), que no soy especial admiradora, que como mucho me he leído alguna novela gráfica o comic y que los libros de "terror" no son mi fuerte]
Empezamos:
-¿Este manga tiene restricción de edad o algo? Es que madre mía, se juntan cuatro de internet para suicidarse. Para esto que no vengan los profesionales que vienen a los centros educativos ha dar diversas charlas sobre las redes sociales, el quedar con desconocidos y por supuesto el querer irse de la vida. Ya ves tú qué cada uno tiene un motivo para irse a cual más tonto...
-Me ha parecido asqueroso en diversas escenas, claro, es un manga de terror, pero una cosas es tener miedo y otra muy diferente asco. Es que haber visto a una cabra dar a luz es más agradable joder.
-En resumen, no estaba yo muy convencida de los mangas y ahora menos. Desde aquí apelo a la vida y al querer vivirla. -
Esto es lo más puto raro que he leído en mi vida. No es que sea un manga de terror, sino que es algo absolutamente grotesco, absurdo y exagerado pero de la mejor manera posible. Refleja perfectamente esa faceta de la cultura japonesa que es raruna pero que es muy atractiva, al menos yo lo he disfrutado mucho. Es puro rarismo extravagante en toda su gloria. Cuando lo terminas te quedas pensando wtf acabas de leer. Pero también tiene una crítica muy válida de la sociedad, la avaricia, el suicidio...
Ahora voy hacer un SPOILER de la mitad del tomo, para el que quiera hacerse una idea del tipo de cosas que puede encontrar:
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Un buzo entra por una compuerta a un estómago gigante que está dentro de una piscina y que comunica con el mundo de los espíritus. Ahí te lo dejo. Y esto ni siquiera es lo más wtf que pasa. -
A suicide pact amongst four people twists and warps into a bizarre and heavy-handed parable about humanity's greed and its self-destructive pursuit of energy sources. It's all a little dumb and a little dull though, with wooden and shallow characters whose terrible fates could barely stir a shrug in me.
The ratio of panels with body horror to those with people just talking was way too low, and the gore -- while it had a couple moments -- wasn't on par with what you'd expect from Junji Ito.
FOR REFERENCE:
Contents: Chapter 1. Group Suicide -- Chapter 2. A Peculiar Pylorus -- Chapter 3. Pardonite -- Chapter 4. Dr. Suga's Cottage -- Chapter 5. The Spirit World Project -- Final Chapter. Toward a Dazzling Future -- Bonus Story: Strange Pavilion -
Definitely another great, but odd story written by Junji Ito. The reasoning behind my rating is that I expected it to have a different turn, that didn't sprout into pure – but fascinating – science fiction. I found the whole concept a little concerning, to be quite honest.
I think many people get puzzled along the way because the story derails pretty fastly from its beginning. The debut of the volume is quite unusual as well, presenting the readers with a group of four people that share a single wish – to end their lives. Connected through a website called Black Paradox , our protagonists plan to drive to a quiet place and end their lives all together. But with every story written by Junji Ito, comes a twist just as odd. It seems that not everyone is what they claim to be, and their original mission fails as a peculiar element enters their lives and threatens to change it drastically. -
Tengo que confesar que empecé a leer este manga con mucho escepticismo de que realmente me fuera a gustar. Lo único que había leído hasta ahora de Junji Ito había sido Uzumaki, y me pareció dificil que esta obra pudiera acercársele, por lo extraña y lo creativa que es.
Es por eso que fue una muy grata sorpresa ver que otras obras de Ito pueden mantener su estilo y a la vez ser muy originales. Claro que mi miedo era un poco infundado, porque es obvio que un autor puede ser creativo de muchas formas, pero no soy muy fan del terror y quizá por eso mi mala predisposición.
Lo único que me pareció un poco flojo fue el dibujo, ojalá hubiera sido tan preciso y detallado como el de Uzumaki. Así y todo, es efectivo con todas las cosas típicas del autor como los cuerpos deformes y asquerosidades varias. Me gustó mucho y lo recomendaría, más que nada para los fans del terror. -
Una puta MARAVILLA. El guión es muy original y, por supuesto, perturbador de cojones. El dibujo es excelente. La historia mezcla todo tipo de referencias, sobretodo Lovecraft, consiguiendo un relato completamente único. Muy recomendable.
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Sorprendentemente GENIALE.
É la prima opera che leggo di Junji Ito e mamma mia che spettacolo.
Una storia che partendo dall'incontro di quattro sconosciuti sfocia in un opera fantascientifica che critica la nostra società odierna.
Davvero bella! Non vedo l'ora di leggere altro di questo autore!!! -
Increíble!!! Me gustó muchísimo la trama, aparte de las ilustraciones y lo Gore de la historia. Seguiré leyendo a junji ito
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4 personas en un club de suicidio. Unas esferas de un material raro, un portal a otro mundo.
Raro, y muy del estilo de Ito, que más que miedo, a veces da asquito.
Menos impactante que otros mangas que le he leido. -
A little too sci-fi for me & not as many shocking moments as usual. Not my fave of his by any means, but I still absolutely love his work ♡
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3.5/5
