Junji Ito: I Shall Smash Hellstar Remina

Dying and being reincarnated into the body of young Amamiya Rin in Japan felt like the perfect start to a new life. When the four beautiful girls who put me in a coma visited my hospital room to apologize, I even thought I had stumbled into the beginning of a rom-com. I couldn't have been more wrong. This reality follows the twisted worldview of Japanese horror. The patient in the bed next to me just "gave birth" to Tomie. My grand "reincarnation power" is actually the plot of The Long Dream—a curse that forces me to live through eons of brutal stress every time I fall asleep. In three months, tops, I will be reduced to ashes. To make matters worse, when I refused to give a "little discount" on the 30-million-yen accident settlement, the fake politeness of my debtors vanished. They stopped blinking, smiled in macabre synchronization, and revealed needle-filled tentacles lurking in their throats. Outside, a biological apocalypse is about to erupt: fish with legs are lurking about, Hanging Balloons are watching us, and Hellstar Remina is staring down at us, salivating. Compared to the approaching extinction-level disasters, entities like Kayako, Mimiko, and Sadako are nothing but small fry. Bedridden in a hospital while demanding debt from abominations disguised as girls... how do I beat this game without a cheat? Simple. A dream world a thousand or ten thousand times longer than an ordinary person's is still a kind of cheat. Is the flesh weak and ascension mechanical? Or is it mind over matter on the path to transcendental sainthood? Kids make choices; adults take it all! A physical body at its peak, perfect martial arts, and the ultimate light amidst the darkness. Starting by usurping the power of the "Group," I will link the brains of these freaks to create the Tomie Network. I, Amamiya Rin, will grow stronger through infinite nightmares. And, in the end, I will bring down Planet Remina with a single punch! ____ (P) Walnutchan