Fire is the only known method to destroy a Tomie for good, though only if the flesh is completely carbonized. Some Tomie copies, however, cannot stand one another one is seen killing one personally, while others order it done through the boys they seduce/enslave. It is also shown that even if Tomie's body is not injured, her body will attempt to sprout another Tomie through tumorous growths, usually when she is emotionally stressed. Even locks of her hair are dangerous, burrowing into its victims' brain to possess them, and eventually killing them when it grows wildly within the body. Multiple characters are even driven to dismember her corpse, unwittingly allowing more Tomie copies to grow and spread throughout the world. Her cells are also capable of transforming a victim into a Tomie via an organ transplant. Radiation accelerates her healing/regeneration process. Tomie's regenerative abilities (partly fuelled by cannibalism and assimilation) are also showcased: aside from recovering quickly from gruesome and seemingly mortal wounds, she can also replicate herself by sprouting unnaturally from any part of her body, whether it be from severed limbs, organs, or even her spilled blood. Her origins are never explained, though it is suggested by some older men in the series that she has existed long before the events of the manga in Boy, she is revealed to have known her future teacher Satoru Takagi since he was a child.Įach story showcases various characters that encounter Tomie in her many (often hideous) forms, with some having their own arcs or returning in later chapters. Tomie is inevitably killed time and time again, only to regenerate and spread her curse to other victims, making her effectively immortal. Men kill each other over her, and women are driven to insanity as well -though there are some who are strong enough to resist her. Through her mere presence, or through psychological and emotional manipulation, she drives these people into jealous rages that often lead to brutal acts of violence. Tomie acts like a succubus, possessing an undisclosed power to make any man fall in love with her. The manga centers on the titular character: a mysterious, beautiful woman named Tomie Kawakami, identified by her sleek black hair and a beauty mark below her left eye. The manga has been adapted into a live-action film series with nine installments to date, an anthology television series released in 1999, and a streaming television series was in development for Quibi before the service was shut down.

Tomie was Ito's first published work he originally submitted to Monthly Halloween, a shōjo magazine in 1987, which led to him winning the Kazuo Umezu award. Tomie ( Japanese: 富江) is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito.

Gyo volume 1