Blank slate characters: Gateways to affect and emotion in Itō Junji’s manga

Jaramillo Chavez, Ivan Dario

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/132439 Copy

Description

Title

Blank slate characters: Gateways to affect and emotion in Itō Junji’s manga

Author(s)

Jaramillo Chavez, Ivan Dario

Issue Date

2025-12-16

Keyword(s)

• Itō Junji
• Horror Manga
• Blank Slate Character
• Character Identification
• Somatic Empathy
• Junji Itō

Abstract

This article explores the function of characters as emotional conduits in the horror manga of Itô Junji, defining and analyzing his use of what this paper terms the “Blank Slate Character.” Aligned with the realistic gekiga style that emerged as a counterpoint to mainstream manga, Itô’s aesthetic deliberately employs archetypal figures with generic features rather than psychologically complex protagonists. This article argues that these intentionally simple characters, serve as ideal vessels for reader projection, affective mimicry, and somatic empathy, precisely because of their visual and psychological neutrality. Drawing on philosophical frameworks from horror theory and film studies, this article analyzes how dynamics like asymmetrical identification and sympathy are amplified through such characterization. Through extensive close readings of extracts of Itô’s seminal works like Gyo and one of the stories from the series Tomie, this article demonstrates how specific visual strategies, particularly the cinematic use of extreme close-ups, transform these simplistic figures into a focal point of intense emotion, thereby heightening the reader’s immersion. This work further proves that somatic empathy is fundamental to Itô’s brand of horror, contending that the vulnerability of a deliberately underdeveloped protagonist makes the depiction of bodily harm more universally resonant. Ultimately, this character-building philosophy reflects Itô’s acknowledged focus on the central horror phenomenon over his protagonists. Consequently, what might be perceived as a narrative weakness—the lack of deep characterization—is actually strategic, repurposed to bypass complex psychological identification in order to instead forge a direct and powerful somatic engagement with the reader.

Series/Report Name or Number

The Journal of Anime and Manga Studies, volume 6 issue 2

Type of Resource

text

Genre of Resource

Articles

Language

eng

DOI

https://doi.org/10.21900/j.jams.v6.1881

Copyright and License Information

• Copyright 2025 Ivan Jaramillo
• This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).

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