How Faithful Is Frankenstein Junji Ito To Mary Shelley'S Novel?

I dove into Junji Ito's 'Frankenstein' expecting a faithful retelling and I got something that sits comfortably between reverent adaptation and full-on Ito-ized horror. The bones of Mary Shelley's novel are absolutely there: Victor Frankenstein's obsessive ambition, the creature's lonely intelligence, the tragic chain of deaths, and the moral questions about creation and responsibility. Junji Ito preserves the novel's structure enough that if you know the original you'll recognize the major beats — creation, rejection, the creature's education and pleas for companionship, Victor's promise and regret, and the final chase across frozen landscapes.

Where Ito departs, though, is how he translates prose into the visual language he's famous for. He leans hard into body horror and grotesque design in places where Shelley left room for imagination. Scenes that in the book are described with philosophical introspection become visceral panels that force you to stare at the physicality of the monster and the horror of what was done to — and by — him. That doesn't erase Shelley's themes; if anything, it amplifies them. The idea of responsibility for your creations, the moral loneliness of scientific pursuit, and the creature's heartbreaking plea for empathy are all emphasized, but through faces, contortions, and moments of dread that only manga can deliver.

Ito also rearranges pacing and adds visual flourishes that aren't in the novel. He compresses some internal monologues and expands certain encounters into extended, nightmarish sequences. The creature's eloquence and suffering remain, but Ito gives those emotional beats a different texture — less Romantic prose, more visual shock and prolonged silence. If you love Shelley's language, you might miss the lyrical passages, but if you appreciate how images can translate philosophical dread into immediate sensation, Ito's version is a powerful companion piece. I found myself thinking of 'Uzumaki' while reading: the cosmic weirdness is different in subject but similar in how it makes ordinary things (a body, a stitched face) into a symbol of existential terror. Read both versions if you can; they dialogue with each other in a way that deepens the story rather than just retelling it.

I binged Junji Ito's 'Frankenstein' over a rainy afternoon and it felt like two works in conversation: Mary Shelley's core plot and themes are there, but Ito reshapes them through his horror lens. The creature, Victor, and the tragic chain of events remain recognizable, so on a fidelity level the manga doesn't betray the original story's framework. However, Ito uses grotesque imagery, visual pacing, and extra scenes to heighten the physical and psychological horror, which makes the reading experience very different from Shelley's contemplative prose.

If you want the novel's philosophical voice, stick with the original; if you want to feel those themes viscerally — the disgust, the pity, the dread — Ito's version is brilliant. Personally I loved how his art forces you to confront the body and the consequences of playing god, even if some of the novel's subtler language gets traded for stark, unforgettable imagery.