In Tomie it is the men who are driven to insanity by Tomie’s beauty, whilst she never returns their affections. Usually, society scorns women for being too emotional, hysterical, and delirious. A man killing the woman he loves disturbs traditional gender roles. The theme of male violence is prominent in Tomie. Ito constructs the characters so intricately that many readers are empathetic towards them, and this is also why his storytelling is so compelling. In the first chapter, I remember feeling sorry for Tomie, I thought she was an outcast and a victim of bullying, but by the tenth chapter: “Assassins”, I wanted her to die. Ito’s story telling is masterful because the pace changes so quickly. Every time Tomie is murdered, she is reincarnated to haunt and destroy everything and anyone in her way. Each of her lovers gets the urge to murder her by chopping her into little pieces.
However, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that she thinks she is more beautiful than anyone else, lacks empathy for others, and like a succubus, she entices men to fall in love with her. The title character, Tomie Kawakami, at first appears to be a lovely, kind, sympathetic teenager who is hopelessly in love with her schoolteacher. Manga artist Junji Ito, one of the pioneers of modern horror in manga, kick started his career with Tomie.
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