Lovesick Dead/Undying Love
Lovesick Dead is probably my number one favorite of Ito’s works, and I’m surprised it doesn’t get more appreciation. That might be because it combines both psychological horror and graphic horror, but I think that only makes it stronger.The entire idea of “Intersection Fortune Telling” is one I’ve never heard of before, and the fog that encompasses the entire story is just such a chilling idea to me. It was also the scariest, in my opinion, and there were a lot of things that seemed to just pop out when I wasn’t expecting them to. Even rereading it now, the story seems entirely new, because it seems to me to be a bit more complicated than some of Ito’s one-shots. It really scared me the first time I read it, and manages to have that same effect now.
I think the main reason it’s the scariest is because of how realistic it seems. The classroom aura really brought on a sense of reality, which some of his other works are lacking. In some stories that’s good, but I find that a lot of the time it makes them less frightening. This one really hit home because of how oddly believable some of it was, and that juxtaposed with the ghosts and the true horror aspects of the other parts made it a really good read. Also, the main character seems to be actually human, and in a lot of his other works the characters aren’t as developed because he focuses more on the gore and what not. This time, the character had a past and a story to his name, as well as a conscience.
The translations found online aren’t the best, and there’s a lot to read on some of the pages. Also, some of the drawings can be more funny than scary, but that’s only a couple. If you can get past that, I’m sure you’ll like Lovesick Dead. It remains one of my very favorites.
