Junji Ito’s influence on modern horror media is growing, and while the horror Manga icon has seen his own work spread to film and animation, games sadly don’t have the same joy, but he does have an amusingly macabre idea if one were made from a particular piece of his work.
Speaking to Grape in an extensive (and rather insightful) interview, Ito talks about many subjects, including his story influences, his own upbringing, the anime versions of his works, and yes, a bit about video games, which he is not exactly all that into.
”I really don’t know much about games. My nephew plays and sometimes I play with him but I’m just not good at it. But I am interested in VR. Holding a control pad with your hands doesn’t feel intuitive to me, so I’m not good at it, but if you could play by experiencing something the way you know it from reality, for example flying in a plane… That would be fun to try in VR.”
Asked if he thought his story The Hanging Balloons would make a good VR experience, Ito is struck with a novel way of making it interesting.
Ben K: The game would be you have to escape from the hanging balloons (laughs).
Ito: I like that (laughs). The player would wear a collar which would tighten a bit when you get caught (laughs).
Ben K: You mean it would have a sensor attached?
Ito: Yes, right. (laughs)
Is it weird that I’d like to play that?
