Orochi

Junji ito draws from kazuo umezu a lot

kazuo umezu is wildly talented for his time

People say that his works aren’t horror and i think they arent theyre above that because theyre so contemplative and theyre about people rather than scenarios

think about the name of any junji ito character (unlikely). You probably remember a scene more; the father who gets trapped under the house, the amigara fault

instead with umezu you remember how the people were because you view everything from orochi’s perspective who is very observant and reflective

She may be one of my favourite characters ever

despite being a narrator or vehicle for the story she feels realised and I love how she floats around but she is so goodhearted and it comes across authentically that she wants these people to succeed and her sense of justice is real

and even then umezu naturally creates room for these internal tensions where she struggles with immortality and there’s a beautiful moment with her and kazusa where shes almost communicating through the body of this other girl that she wants to belong somewhere and she finds a home with kazusa

and theres this lovely interplay with her being centuries old but also feeling so young and relatable because her heart is so open and she’s so passionate about making things right for these children

orochi is so succinct yet so rich… i wonder if there could have been more and I wish there was

and for some reason i like female characters with powers