“Lovesickness,” “The Mansion of Phantom Pain, “The Rib Woman,” more stores to be adapted
TV Tokyo announced on Friday that it is producing a live-action omnibus series based on 13 manga stories by Junji Ito. The series will premiere in the TV Tokyo channel’s “Drama 24” programming block on July 3 at 24:12 (effectively, July 4 at 12:12 a.m.), and on BS TV Tokyo on July 12. The Strange -Ito Junji no Yoru mo Nemurenu Kimyō na Hanashi- (Strange -Junji Ito’s Strange Stories for Sleepless Nights) series’ title is an apparent reference to the original name of Asahi Shimbun’s Nemuki+ magazine (Nemurenu Yoru no Kimyō Na Hanashi), where many of Ito’s works appeared.
Image via TV Tokyo
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The adapted stories include “Lovesickness,” “The Mansion of Phantom Pain,” “The Rib Woman,” “The Bully,” “Face Thief,” “A Father’s Love,” “Memory,” “In Old Records,” “Penpal,” “Further Tales of Oshikiri,” “Earthbound,” and “Tomio: Red Turtleneck.” All of these stories have been translated into English in various releases except for “In Old Records,” which is featured in the Junji Ito “Collection” anime.
Atsuhiro Yamada, Yūta Shimotsu, and Ryōta Kondō are directing the series, with scripts overseen by Daisuke Hosaka (Sadako 3D 2, BELA: Humanoid Monster). Tatsurō Inamoto (Trigun Stampede, Pluto, Supernatural: The Anime Series) is also a scriptwriter on the project.
South Korean group IVE is performing the series’ opening theme song “Jigsaw.”
The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards inducted Ito into the Will Eisner Comic Awards Hall of Fame in July 2025. Ito previously won Eisner Awards for Lovesickness, Remina, Venus In The Blind Spot, and “Frankenstein.” Comic-Con International in San Diego awarded its Inkpot Award to Ito 2023. The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards nominated Ito’s Black Paradox manga for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia in 2023 also.
Pan-Asian film and entertainment studio Through the Lens Entertainment and horror brand Fangoria Studios are collaborating to produce films based on Ito’s “The Mystery of the Haunted House” Parts 1 and 2, and “Bloodsucking Darkness.”
Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, a new anime based on 20 different Ito stories, debuted worldwide on Netflix in January 2024. Ito’s Uzumaki manga also inspired a four-episode anime mini-series that premiered on Toonami in September 2024.
Junji Ito “Collection”, a previous television anime of manga by Ito, also adapted stories from the Itō Junji Kessaku-shū collection, as well as the Fragments of Horror book. The anime premiered in January 2018 and had 12 episodes. Crunchyroll streamed the series with English subtitles as it aired in Japan, and Funimation streamed an English dub. The anime included an adaptation of Ito’s Tomie story on its second and third DVD sets.
Ito’s Uzumaki and Tomie manga have inspired live-action adaptations, and his GYO manga inspired an original video anime project.
Sources: TV Tokyo, Comic Natalie
