Something that people don't seem to get about my occasional critiques about Junji Ito stories - in particular Uzumaki and Hellstar Remina - is the concept of agency, when a character is more proactive than reactive.
They seem to think I mean that the protagonists, in this...
They seem to think I mean that the protagonists, in this...
...case Kirie and Remina, should have a happy ending to their stories and everything is resolved. The response is that Lovecraftian fiction often has the main character be unable to alter the outcome because they are a small speck in an uncaring universe, but that's not what...
...I mean at all. Again, that concept of being proactive instead of reactive. Kirie, in some stories, actively attempts to investigate the strange things going on in her town or preserve the life of herself, her friends, and her family. She does not always succeed and, in the...
...end, she ultimately dies. I was disappointed with the ending of Uzumaki not because we never get a proper explanation for things, but rather because it feels like her agency just STOPS, that she is simply decides to die without the narrative explaining why at THIS point...
...she is decided to give up and not make any more proactive choices.
Remina is even worse in this regard, because she VERY rarely makes choices for herself during Hellstar Remina. She spends most of the story on the run even when she does not want to be on the run, accepting...
Remina is even worse in this regard, because she VERY rarely makes choices for herself during Hellstar Remina. She spends most of the story on the run even when she does not want to be on the run, accepting...
...her fate without objection but her antagonists continually drive her to do what THEY want. As a result, Remina, despite being the main character and even title character, is little more than a prop in the shape of a person. She does not make any defiant stands, she does not...
...choose to oppose anything - even me saying she "accepts what's going on" is a bit of an exaggeration, since she seems to merely stand around until shoved by others to do things THEY want her to do.
And while one could argue, again, the Lovecraftian themes of futility...
And while one could argue, again, the Lovecraftian themes of futility...
...against such forces, plenty of other Junji Ito characters are still PROACTIVE in their stories - investigating, taking action for their own wants and desires, doing things that advance their own stories. For instance, I'm currently rereading the Strange Tale of Oshikiri...
...and while the titular Oshikiri does not actively attempt to resolve the situation with his bizarre house and its bridge to evil alternate universes, when he comes across something that he sees is wrong - evil versions of himself murdering friends and classmates, he...
...repeatedly attempts to intervene, to stop something wrong. He is still proactive because he is making a choice that he feels is correct and driving the plot forward as a result. And even though he, a schoolboy, cannot fix a house that's bleeding into other dimensions in a...
...way that will permanently resolve it, he still a protagonist who has agency. And this is the same for Lovecraftian fiction - sure, the main character can still be forced to die or suffer or be unable to fix the overall problem, but they can still be active and possess agency.
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