Tomie (Manga)

Aka: 富江
Writer: Ito Junji
Volumes: 2
Release date: 1987
Language: English
Genre: Horror, Mystery

Synopsis:
These rather disturbing tales tell the story of a high-school girl named Tomie, who can be seen as a living embodiment of lust and all the negative emotions that go along with it, such as jealousy. Tomie is the ultimate self-destructive entity, yet ironically she survives anything. She is identified by a mole under her left eye.
She possesses an undisclosed power to make anyone fall in love with her. Through sleight of hand, or emotional manipulation, she drives these men into jealous rages that inevitably lead to brutal acts of violence. Men kill each other over her; and girls are sometimes driven to jealous rages as well. Tomie is inevitably killed time and again, only to regenerate. Tomie is cursed to go on forever in this way.
In the first story "Tomie", she returns to school after an announcement that she had died, much to the horror of her friends and teachers. It transpires that during a school trip, her fellow students and favorite teacher murder her and dismember her body.
Each story tells a different viewpoint of how she lived and died, with some recurring characters. The teacher (Takagi) who murders her in the first story returns several times, and though clearly insane, he still is under Tomie's thrall (even though he has noted that he understands why people fall for her). Yet at the same time is hinted to have his own agenda, encouraging research into what makes Tomie tick.
Her hair is a major factor in the stories. It kills as well as possesses, such as in the story of a young girl (Chie) who steals the hair of her father's ex-lover (Tomie) and puts it in a box. The hair grows despite it not being attached to anything. Chie's best friend borrows the hair and discovers that it can be attached to her body, which then takes the place of her regular hair. But there is a price to pay for everything in these stories. The stories are gruesome but draw the reader in with horrors that hide just around the corner.
Later it was revealed there are several copies of Tomie roaming around the world, each with an individual mind. Sometimes the two Tomie copies would be jealous of each other and try to have each other killed.
When her body scattered into pieces, each fragment of her body is capable of regenerating into a complete and independent body. When her body is burnt to ash, the ash floats in air with life of its own. It is also shown that even if Tomie's body isn't injured, her body will attempt to sprout another Tomie through budding, a process usually begun if Tomie is emotionally stressed.
Although her body is mortal and weak against all assaults, her regenerative power makes her immortal. Sometimes it takes a lot of time to regenerate her body if it is greatly damaged.

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Volume 01
Volume 02

Curiosities:
Junji Ito won the 1987 Kazuo Umezu Prize for his work on Tomie
There are 8 movies based on Tomie's books:
Tomie
Tomie: Another Face
Tomie: Replay
Tomie: Re-birth
Tomie: Forbidden Fruit
Tomie: Beginning
Tomie: Revenge
Tomie vs. Tomie

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