On June 21, Crunchyroll announced that they will launch an exclusive clothing line based on the works of Junji Ito. The collection, which will ship under the “CRX x Junji Ito Collection” label, will be available as convention exclusive items for this year’s Crunchyroll Expo.
Three designs, which will feature new art by Ito (designs below), will be sold exclusively during the convention, while supplies last.
In addition to the Crunchyroll Expo exclusives, the publisher is offering several pieces of Junji Ito merchandise through the Crunchyroll online store. Items include a skateboard, shirts, and hoodies, among other items.
Crunchyroll Expo will be held from August 30 through September 1 at the San Jose Convention Center. Junji Ito is confirmed to be attending this year’s con as a guest.
Junji Ito was born in Japan’s Gifu prefecture on July 31, 1963. Ito began drawing manga mainly as a hobby, while he was working as a dental technician. He submitted a short manga story to Gekkan Halloween magazine in 1986, which was awarded an honorable mention in the Kazuo Umezu Prize. The title would eventually be expanded to become seminal work Tomie.
Through his career, Ito has written numerous influential pieces of horror, including Tomie, Uzumaki, Gyo, The Town Without Streets, and the Soichi series of titles.
Nearly two dozen of his works have received adaptations since 1992, including Tomie, The Hanging Balloons, and Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack. In 2018, several of his short stories were adapted to animation in the Junji Ito Collection, which aired in the Fall broadcast season.
His latest work, titled Muma no Kikou (Travelogue of the Succubus), launched in the pages of Asahi Shimbunsha’s Nemuki+ magazine in 2018. Three chapters of the series have been released to date, with the most recent hitting Nemuki+ on December 12.
Source: Crunchyroll (Email Communication)
Crunchyroll Reveals “CRX x Junji Ito Collection” Merchandise Line – Samantha Ferreira
