For much of the book, Soichi seems relatively harmless compared to some of Ito's other antagonists. He isn't a rogue planet hurtling through the galaxy. He isn't an undeniable call to wedge yourself into a crevice in a mountain. He's a younger brother who maybe doesn't get a lot of attention and is acting out. He is cruel and vindictive. He spits nails at people and creates life sized replicas. Part of me thought, well, when he gets to school and tries this, someone will sort him out.

Things get weirder at school. Soichi creates a host of dummies-of teachers, classmates, etc to dote on him and to harass those he doesn't like. Also the model from one of Ito's other books make an appearance.

I don't think this one is as strong as some of Ito's other books. However, I admire his willingness to follow his oddities wherever they take him.

Soichi is such an awful kid and the fact that he’s brushed off by most adults as just being “a weird kid” is honestly frightening. I hated him and that’s the point. While this didn’t have a ton of the pure existential dread and cosmic horror, the everyday horror of this still made my skin crawl. This manga has wonderful artwork that we’ve come to expect from Junji Ito and Viz did a great job with the translation and formatting.

Junji Ito is often referred to as the Stephen King of Japan, which is accurate as far as popularity and genre but also doesn't give Ito enough credit, as he has a style all his own! Soichi is one of his less disturbing creations, but there's still plenty of creepy, goofy fun to be had here.

This is one of Junji Ito's more silly-scary collections. I didn't know where the plot was going to go but I enjoyed it nonetheless. This Soichi kid is seriously creepy.