Here's every appearance by Souichi Tsujii in the Junji Ito Collection anime series. Artist and writer Junji Ito has conjured some of the most nightmarish horror imagery of the last 30 years in his various manga tales, which include Uzumaki and Tomie. His work can be disturbing, sickening and oddly kind of beautiful at the same time, and most of his stories operate on a strange nightmare/dream logic that lets him get away with tales that don't always make much sense.
He's one of a kind, which has made it difficult to translate his work to another medium. While the movies or animes based on his mangas like Uzumaki or Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack have their fans, none have ever quite recreated the dread or atmosphere of the original stories either. The same can be said of 2018's Junji Ito Collection, which consisted of twelve episodes that adapt a bunch of the author's best-known stories. Some of these tales like "The Window Next Door" worked well, though the quality of the animation and some lackluster episodes saw it receive a lukewarm reception.
Still, Junji Ito Collection isn't without its merits and is worth a look for major fans of Ito's work. Some of his most famous creations, including creepy schoolboy Souichi Tsujii, appear. He's is a disturbed child into black magic and curses who has appeared in volumes like Souichi's Diary of Delights, but while he sees himself as superior to his family or schoolmates, he's a social outcast because of his oddball behavior. He's also always seen chewing on nails because he's anemic. Here's every episode of Junji Ito Collection he appears in.
"Souichi’s Convenient Curse"
Junji Ito Collection kicks off with episode 1's "Souichi’s Convenient Curse," which sees the title character uses voodoo to torment classmates he doesn't like. He's also shown trying to scare a classmate with a giant spider outfit, but this doesn't go well for the fifth-grader at all. Overall it's more of a silly, blacky comic sketch than a strict horror story.
"Cloth Teacher"
Souichi soon returned for episode 5's "Cloth Teacher," which is another dark comedy. This involves the little brat making creepy cloth replacements of teachers and a classmate, but despite his best efforts, he often ends getting embarrassed, which includes receiving nails to his butt. While this Junji Ito Collection short is supposed to be a goofy comedy, the real issue is it's not particularly funny, with Souichi himself proving quite irritating.
"Rumors"
Since Junji Ito Collection opened on Souichi, it makes sense the finale would feature him too. Episode 12's "Rumors" sees him become inexplicably popular with his school as rumors about him spread, including that he's related to a celebrity. A girl named Midori discovers he spread those rumors himself and he becomes an outcast again, and he plots a revenge that - once again - backfires when he comes face to face with another Ito monster. Of the three Souichi focused stories, "Rumors" is probably the best.