地獄星レミナ

JIGOKUSEI REMINA

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
1
RELEASE
July 24, 2005
CHAPTERS
7

DESCRIPTION

An unknown planet emerges from inside a wormhole, and its discoverer, Dr. Oguro, christens the body “Remina” after his own daughter. His finding is met with great fanfare, and Remina herself rises to fame. However, the object picks up speed as it moves along in its curious course, eliminating planets and stars one after another, until finally Earth itself faces extinction… Is the girl Remina the true cause of the catastrophe? A masterwork of horror from Junji Ito, unfolding on a universal scale.

(Source: Viz Media)

Note: Includes the one-shot Okumanbocchi

CAST

Remina Ooguro
Yasumi Mitsumura

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

TheGruesomeGoblin
75/100
From beginning to end, it's just beautiful nonsense. God bless you, Junji Ito.
Hellstar Remina is a sci-fi horror manga by none other than Junji Ito dealing with the dangers of facing the unknown and the all consuming descent into violence as humanity is pushed further and further into desperation in the face of certain death bearing down upon...

...bearing down upon... them.

...Guys. Guys, can we just drop the act? I'm sorry, but can we just drop the act? Okay? I'm gonna start over now. Now that we're dropping the act.

Glorious Schlock

Hellstar Remina is a schlocky over the top horror manga with some sci-fi elements by Junji Ito featuring a planet with a face that can apparently move faster than the speed of light and can travel the entire distance of the Solar System in like a day. This manga is honestly amazing. I thought I had read enough of Junji Ito to the point he couldn't surprise me anymore.

I've long since realized his stories are messy, various questions are usually never answered, and Junji Ito in general just does not give a flying fuck. Which to be quite honest, is a part of the reason why I love the man.

"I'm gonna do a manga about killer fish or something and farting blob monsters, fuck it, throw some weird supernatural shit in there and a RANDOM CIRCUS EVEN THOUGH THE WORLD IS IN ADMIST A FISH APOCALYPSE. SPIRALS ARE INFECTING THE WORLD! SATAN'S ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES TRANSMITTED VIA A TEENAGER APOLOGIZING WILL CAUSE PEOPLE'S FACES AND BODIES TO MELT INTO A GORY MESS."

But Hellstar Remina, takes it to a whole new level.

Okay first of all, there's flying cars. That's how you know this story is taking place in the future. There are flying cars. This story is centered around the discovery a brand new planet which the scientist who found it proceeds to name after his daughter, Remina. For some reason, the country proceeds to become obsessed with this completely normal girl who this planet has been named after, and some guy keeps hounding her about becoming an idol because a planet was named after her and eventually, she does.

However, that's not important. What IS important is the planet. It's after this that the scientists realize, oh shit. OH SHIT. THE PLANET IS MOVING AT AN INSANE PACE, AND IT'S HEADING TOWARDS US. And as it continues onward in its journey, it's proceeding to eat all of the other planets that are in its way.

PLUTO, NEPTUN--wait, Pluto??? Oh right, this manga was from 2005 which is a year before Pluto had its planet card taken away. BUT ANYWAYS, IT'S EATING THE ENTIRE SOLAR SYSTEM. IT'S EATEN MARS, AND NOW IT'S COME TO EARTH. OH NO!

...I've brought up the term schlock in numerous other reviews I've done, but look. There cannot be a more definitive example of schlock than a planet essentially eating the entire Solar System within the span of 24 hours. Remina (the planet) is apparently massive, massive enough to where it's weird tongue appendage is capable of pulling the entirety of Mars into it, but it's moving across the entire Solar System at the speed of light and...

Like I'm not even a science person but like I'm pretty sure if this object ate the rest of the Solar System, then proceeded to eat the Earth's Moon, and then just sat directly right over Earth in its orbit... any combination of any of these things would probably immediately just fucking kill us all? But if you're at all sane, your brain has already long since given up trying to make sense of anything before reaching this point.

It's just beautiful nonsense. Because after this point, the gravity on Earth is just completely and utterly fucked. Like there's a whole chase that goes on between the two surviving main characters and the mob of frenzied and panicked humans witnessing the APOCALYPSE and they are basically flying over entire countries. And apparently they're moving so fast or over so much distance that they actually at one point... like they start the chase in Japan but then they reach Japan again.

...DURING THIS CHASE, THEY LITERALLY COMPLETELY GO AROUND THE ENTIRE PLANET. AND AS THEY'RE PASSING BY OTHER COUNTRIES, PEOPLE FROM THOSE COUNTRIES ARE JOINING THE CHASE AND SCREAMING FOR REMINA'S DEATH.

Let's not even get into how the final surviving guy who escapes along with Remina (girl) is more or less a COMPLETELY RANDOM HOMELESS GUY she bumps into when hiding from the mob out for her blood. AND THE RANDOM HOMELESS GUY IS NOT ACTUALLY NAMED UNTIL THE FINAL COUPLE OF PAGES OF THE MANGA.

How and why. How and why.

Also, It's Actually Genuinely Pretty Okay

Putting the insanity of everything about this manga (there's more I didn't go into) aside, there actually is a lot of genuinely effective stuff in my opinion. Like the idea of this mob just descending into insanity as the apocalypse proceeds and becomes absolutely consumed by the idea that this girl who shares the name of their destroyer is to absolutely be blamed for their impending deaths...

It's great! Really great. Would probably be much, much better if things were extended so it's more of a gradual thing. As it stands, she basically becomes an idol, it's learned that Remina (the planet) is coming for Earth, and basically a random guy just throws out the idea that the scientist and his daughter is to be blamed for it or is directly causing the planet to come after them.

Yeah, that's a great plan. My Nobel prize and my daughter's status as a massively popular idol will do me a lot of good when the Hellstar EATS EARTH, THE VERY PLANET UPON WHICH I LIVE.

But you know, I feel like an asshole for even suggesting that he should have went a different direction with this. I absolutely loved how fucking ludicrously insane this became. Which may be seen as a bit hypocritical if you've read another one of my manga reviews, but the difference is that with this, Junji Ito never even attempts to put on airs. He goes from one weird story to the next and if he gets bored during it, he'll throw some weird new development in there because again, he does not give a fuck. Which I can absolutely respect.

Be as weird and absurd as you want to be, and I'll fucking happily marvel at your beautiful insanity. But the moment you apply a serious tone to it, and if that serious tone does not work, then it's just a bunch of random nonsense that you've made annoying. I don't hate random weird nonsense. I hate it when it's annoying. As this manga in my opinion proves, it CAN be fun.

Also, there was genuinely some actually creepy stuff. Like the whole part where they're exploring Remina (the planet) and the nightmarish landscape that turns out to be, and like when they force one of the injured passengers to take off their helmet to test and see if the air's breathable... but then their face just fucking melts and becomes a part of Remina itself.

Additionally, the mob showing Remina (the girl) her father's burned and crucified corpse and then proceeding to attach Remina to the cross but they just simply put her over her father's burned corpse... yeah, that's pretty fucked up. That scratches the horror itch nicely. Actually, I really fucking love the mob in GENERAL before the gravity button is just completely switched off... because as described before, that's just when it snowballs into complete and utter insanity.

Bonus: An Army of One

I would be remiss if I didn't at least mention the included extra Junji Ito short story. There's not a huge amount to discuss about it in comparison to the actual story of Hellstar Remina, because I'm pretty sure the reason for its existence is solely that Junji Ito just wanted to draw human corpses stitched together.

...Yeah that's pretty fucking weird, and disturbing. Like a bunch of different other Junji Ito short stories, the actual story leaves a lot to be desired because we're never shown this group that's doing this and hijacking radio stations and dropping happy appearing posters...

...But I can't say I've ever seen Christmas trees adorned with stitched together humans corpses. So once again, you win this round, Mr. Ito. You sick, sick bastard.

Conclusion

Hellstar Remina is really, really fucking entertaining overall. As much as I love Junji Ito's insanity which makes up a lot of the manga, there actually is also some good horror stuff in there. It's certainly not the best Junji Ito manga but I really actually loved this one. A 7.5 out of 10 or 75 out of 100.

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euIa
85/100
Not Junji Ito's best work, but an extremely entertaining story that has no shortage of insanity.
REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Remina (or Hellstar Remina) is a Junji Ito classic that explores some pretty interesting ideas- I mean come on there's a planet with fucking eyes and a toungue- that was super entertaining up until the end

LETS GET INTO IT

Remina is a normal girl who comes into fame after her father names a planet after her- she becomes an idol basically. ~~we're ignoring the fact that the only reason she's famous is because she's pretty~~ But it wouldn't be Junji Ito without chaos, so inevitably something batshit insane happens

^^bro you good

Apparently Remina is coming towards our solar system and is gonna crash right into us, a pretty common sci-fi plot EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT THE PLANET IS ALIVE SOMEHOW?? AND IS EATING OTHER PLANETS LIKE FUCKING JAWBREAKERS?? how tf does junji ito come up with shit like this my god

Chaos ensues, and some crazy fuck on the news announces that the only way to save the Earth is to kill Remina and her father.

Then they proceed to capture her and stab her father to death all while a giant fucking alien planet is right above them. holy shit that escalated fast.

One thing this manga does really well is demonstrate the absolute chaos that would (realistically) happen at a time like this, like while it makes no sense that killing Remina and her father would save the Earth, all these crazy bastards try to do it anyways because that's the only hope they really have. which honestly makes sense in a situation like this?

Also i feel like the everybody would immediately die if something like this happened- there's a planet with fucking eyes right above us and it just swallowed the entire solar system- wouldn't that fuck with gravity or some shit like that? Like if it ate the sun (which i'm assuming it did because it ate everything else) wouldn't the fact that the sun literally isn't there anymore along with the whole gravity situation immediately kill us

Anyways though Remina escapes and meets some random homeless guy and then gets captured AGAIN, where they put both of them on the same cross her father was on so that she's just laying on his dead body, which is pretty fucking horrifying if you ask me. But it wouldn't be a Junji Ito story without some gore i guess

Gravity starts being really fucking weird at this point-

(THIS GUY PICKS HER UP AND SWINGS HER LIKE A FUCKING RAGDOLL)

and then humans are literally flying around the earth and there's an army of random people chasing after Remina and that homeless guy.

Junji Ito i am speaking directly to you how the FUCK do you come up with shit like this

The story makes a LOT less sense at this point, like i'm failing science right now but i'm pretty sure that this is not how it works. But if you ignore that part (and honestly you should probably abandon all logic when reading ANY of Junji Ito's books) this story is SUPER entertaining

there's a lot i didn't go into, but this really wasn't that bad. all of the science problems aside, the idea of this is pretty fucking good. Just the idea of a flying mob of people after you is insane, and really entertaining to read. The pacing could have been better, the story escalates pretty quickly (which in some cases isn't a bad thing i would have just preferred it be a little slower) but it's probably always going to be one of my favorites, that's the whole reason I wanted to do this review.

OVERALL (TLDR)-

Remina is a must-read for fans of Junji Ito, but for people new to his work it may be better to start with the classics like Uzumaki and Tomie. Not that this was bad at all, in fact it's probably one of my favorite Junji Ito mangas to date, the ending just leaves a little to be desired.

and for those of you who scrolled to the bottom of this review just to see the score, i say 85/100
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heychrisfox
67/100
Unparalleled premise, miserable execution.
What a bizarre book. And not in the horrific way.

The one thing I've learned in reading more of Junji Ito is that he is sincerely not a very strong storyteller. He is an artist first and foremost, one who absolute nails horror in a way that basically no other creative person on the planet quite can. The visuals and the concept of Remina is unparalleled. Evil planet comes into existence, seemingly in tandem with the birth of a young and now budding pop-idol who is boosted to fame due to the planet being named after her. When the planet decides to destroy all of existence though, things don't go well for anyone involved.

Sounds awesome right? Here's the rub. Similar to Uzumaki, while Remina excels in concept and artistic representation, it completely flops in execution of its narrative. A lot of criticism I have seen of the novel is that there seems to be no purpose to any of the central premises of the story. The planet just exists, and it's doing all these terrible things? And why? No reason is given. I believe this is the strongest part of the story, however. Because it catches this intangible, Lovecraftian, nihilistic view of the world: sometimes horrific things happen for no reason, and there are no happy endings. That's the part I love about Remina.

The part I hate about Remina is literally all of the rest. Why does the entire global society suddenly become insane? Because plot! How does an evil cabal of witch hunters who seek Remina's death suddenly gain instant power over all humanity? Because someone needs to be the antagonist! Why do these people think that killing Remina will somehow stop the advance of the planet, with no evidence? Because it gives the main cast something to do! Why is Remina caught in a love triangle between the people trying to save her? Well, the story would be a lot shorter without that, and it gives a reason for people to betray her. So plot!

This is the issue: a concept is only good until the story gets rolling. If the concept is great, but the narrative is mediocre, then the entire story suffers. The most interesting parts - learning about the evil death planet, watching society collapse, empathizing with the protagonists - that falls to the wayside by brutalist depictions of random violence and basically people just acting kinda loopy.

This is compounded by the characterization of the central cast. The "damsel in distress" trope that many Ito stories rely on is back in full force. Remina is the main character, but lacks any agency in the story. She is thrust into pop-stardom against her will, even actively expressing she doesn't want this; she is targeted by literally the entire world for death; and for the majority of the plot, she is literally pulled around by the men in her life. At no point does Remina DO anything herself. She never has a heroic moment, she never fights back against the forces that intend to harm her; she's just kinda there, as the central protagonist, getting yanked around by literally everyone around her.

In a story about loss of control and agency, maybe you could rationalize that style of protagonist. Unfortunately, all the other characters are one-dimensional. Guess what the cowardly fanboy does? He acts cowardly and is a fanboy. Guess what the mature and brave guy does? He acts bravely and maturely. Guess what the defensive and obsessive guy does? Acts defensively and obsessively. If there were more nuance to the people surrounding Remina, maybe you could say that Remina lacking agency is fine. But the reality is that all the central characters in the story have no change throughout the story, and are little more than vehicles for Remina to get from one plot point to the next.

In short, man, Junji Ito is a very messy author. I can still sort of recommend this book, because at least it's short and to the point, rather than meandering and long such as Uzumaki. But I wish the story about an evil death planet had more to do with the evil death planet, rather than gratuitous violence of a helpless protagonist I can't relate to or empathize with.
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