The Firing Effect (Uzumaki part 4)

The Firing Effect — Synopsis

Kirie’s father, the pottery maker, has been producing some very strange pieces recently. What were once clean, solid pieces of hand-crafted clay, come out of his kiln all twisted and spiralled out of shape. They also bare strange markings — not only the hypnotic pattern of the spiral, but the faces of the recently deceased too.

After some investigation it is discovered that the father has recently been getting his clay from the neighbouring pond of water — Dragonfly Pond. This is the very same pond that seems to have been absorbing the smoke and the ashes of the dead on the day of their cremation. It looks like the spiral has found its next victim.

Kirie
Mr Goshima
Mrs Goshima
Mitsuo
Shuichi

Throughout The Firing Effect, Kirie’s father seems almost obsessed with his kiln and will not leave the cooking clay alone. He even panics when others try to go near it. Kirie decides to do some digging one evening to try and get to the bottom her father’s strange movements. However, nothing could have prepared her for what she finds inside her father’s kiln.

Like a phoenix from the flames

Just when we thought we’d heard the last of Shuichi’s parents, it seems they were never too far away after all. In any usual place the cremation of the deceased is a sure-fire way of disposing of the body. Whether they are human, vampire, zombie, whatever. Complete incineration normally does the trick. But this is Junji Ito we’re talking about.

With Dragonfly Pond seemingly sucking in the dust and smoke of the town’s cremations into its centre, it seems that the spiral is never really done with its victims. This made me think — perhaps Kurouzu-cho is a form of purgatory for the people who live there.

Shuichi knows that Dragonfly Pond is infected with spirals

When we finally get a glimpse inside the kiln we see, and later hear, Shuichi’s parents screaming in pain for help. They seem to be reliving their cremations only being fully aware of the heat and the pain it is causing. However, we had already seen their faces imprinted on pottery earlier in the chapter.

Maybe their souls are forever trapped in Dragonfly Pond. Are they destined to forever be burned again and again? Or are these just phantoms of the spiral simply using the images of the dead to torment those still living in mourning?

More drama for Shuichi

Although he hasn’t been a central character for the last couple of chapters, Shuichi’s presence is always felt. This is no doubt due to his seemingly mystical connection to the spiral. That shape seems to follow him everywhere and just wont leave him in peace. He also seems to be the one most in tune to its effects.

When it is later revealed that the father’s clay is being dredged out of Dragonfly Pond, Shuichi instinctively responds by stating that the pond is infested with spirals. He seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to this evil pattern, as demonstrated in the opening chapter. If this is some kind of purgatory for the folks in Kurouzu-cho, perhaps Shuichi is the one at its centre? Perhaps he is the key to unravelling this mystery?

Mr Goshima getting his clay from Dragonfly Pond
Kirie investigating into her fathers kiln barn
Shuichi and his spiral plate

It felt good to see him being able to fight back against this deadly shape as well. Although destroying the kiln is a small action on the grand scheme of things, a little destruction may be just what he needed. Perhaps that was what Shuichi needed in order to lay his demons to rest — both figuratively and literally. Hopefully his parents can now be free from their eternal flames and escape this cursed town. But something tells me this wont be the case.

In Conclusion

I started to feel Kurouzu-cho was a kind of twisted second home for me after reading this chapter. The characters were now firmly etched in my mind and I even felt like I knew them somewhat. I am really enjoying digging deeper into this town and getting to know these people as the time goes by.

One thing that stood out to me in The Firing Effect was the complete lack of violence. Despite the disturbing images that certain characters see inside the kiln, they are only really shown to us as ghostly apparitions and shadows.

Faces appear in the twisted pottery

As I have mentioned before, it is good to have these relatively calmer chapters as a kind of breathing space for us readers. If it was crazy body horror all the time, I think I would just get desensitised to the shock and maybe even a little bored.

What I am finding though, is I’m anticipating a crazy chapter very soon. Something to knock me out of my chair as the opening chapters did. I feel something dark and grotesque is coming soon, and I hope I’m not kept waiting too long. 🙂

Wooden Spirit

Wooden Spirit — Synopsis

In Wooden Spirit, we are introduced to Megumi and her father. They live together in an old wooden house that has recently gained cultural recognition. Despite them being the only ones who live there, the house has eleven rooms to its name. And they take very good care of each and every square inch.

In the story’s opening scene a woman knocks on their front door and asks to take a look inside the house. This woman, Manami Kino, immediately falls in love with this house. And when I say “falls in love with it”, I really mean it.

Before long, she and Megumi’s father become an item and she eventually moves in.

What is most strange here though, is Manami’s behaviour towards the house itself. This woman takes house proud to a whole new level. But just how far will she go with her strange antics?

Megumi
Megumi’s Father
Manami Kino

One with the elements

This is a house that has been given cultural status for its historic importance. And then when this mysterious woman comes by she remarks at the elegance of the wood work. She sees the walls; the floors; the joists and remarks at how “sexy” they are.

At first read of this story last year I took it at face value. I saw it simply as a woman who makes her home within this house, before beginning to make love to it. I enjoyed the read for how ludicrous it was and thought nothing more of it at the time. However, on revisiting it with my new appreciation for Junji Ito, I am seeing deeper into the material.

One wild theory

Later on when she reveals herself for the demon she is — with an almost wood-like appearance — I came to an interesting thought. What if she was some kind of tree spirit? Yes, I know the story is called “Wooden Spirit”, but I thought I’d dig a bit deeper. What if her love for this house is not as a result of the building, but of the materials instead? Could her love towards the walls and the beams come from them being made from a former partner of hers when they were once both trees?

Megumi and her Father’s house

My theory does take a few leaps in imagination, but that is precisely one of the biggest things I enjoy about Ito’s work: the new connections he helps to form in my brain. Yes, this is a bit of a crazy theory, but is it so unbelievable within the world of Junji Ito? I don’t think so.

I loved how the story ended too. It felt almost poetic for me after I’d been on this theoretical journey in my mind. Let’s think for a moment how the wood has been taken from its natural place: the forest, and forced to become something fit for humans: a house. From this idea we could suppose that what this demon / spirit woman is doing in the end, is herself turning the wood back into something that she could then love again — flesh and blood.

Manami arrives at the house
Manami really likes the flooring of the house
Megumi catches the strange woman in the act
Manami kisses the floor

In Conclusion

Wooden Spirit is one of Junji Ito’s strangest stories when taken at face value, as I once did. But when I began asking myself questions about its world, I managed to build up that world even more in my mind’s eye.

Whether Ito had any similar thoughts behind this story as the ones I have discussed here, I’ll probably never know. But what I do know is, is that no matter what physical images someone sees on this story’s pages, his stories have the power to create unique and interesting visions in the minds of those readers… if you’ll let them.

As the second story in his Fragments of Horror collection, Wooden Spirit will open you up to new experiences within Ito’s work. To a very unorthodox and, dare I say it, beautiful love.