# Remina

Remina (Japanese: 地獄星レミナ, Hepburn: Jigokusei Remina, lit. 'Hellstar Remina') is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. It was serialized in Big Comic Spirits Zōkan Casual from September 2004 to July 2005, and published in one volume.

## Plot

In a futuristic Tokyo, Professor Oguro wins the Nobel Prize for his discovery of a wormhole within the Hydra constellation, from which an unknown rogue planet has emerged 16 light-years away from Earth. Oguro exercises his naming rights to christen the planet Remina after his daughter, whose birth coincided with the planet's appearance. The planet moves in an erratic trajectory and occasionally exceeds the speed of light, but the stars around it mysteriously disappear. Remina becomes famous following the planet's discovery, and although she is discomforted by her newfound status, she ultimately recognizes the futility of her insularity and signs onto a talent agency that consolidates her celebrity. After becoming the spokeswoman for the Mineishi Construction company, the company president's son Kunihiro grants Remina a tour of the family's home, which contains a secret underground bomb shelter. Kunihiro mentions having an older brother who left home following their father's objection to his ambition to become an astronaut.
Meanwhile, Professor Oguro learns from a terrified astronomer that Planet Remina has entered the Solar System and will reach Earth within a month. The astronomer claims that he "met its eye" before succumbing to a fit of madness. The rumor of an impending collision rouses great concern in the media, and the Earth's populace is driven into a panicked frenzy when Planet Remina begins destroying the Solar System's planets. The supposed relation between Planet Remina's approach, Professor Oguro's prediction of its appearance and the Oguros' fortune and fame creates a widespread paranoid belief that the Oguros somehow summoned the planet. Planet Remina begins its approach of Earth after devouring Mars with what appears to be a giant tongue. The people of Tokyo descend into a riotous and homicidal mania and storm the agency building in pursuit of Remina. As Remina, her agent Mitsumura, Kunihiro and fan club president Goda flee the mob, two wooden crosses are erected in a city plaza as Planet Remina appears in the Earth's sky.
A manned probe is sent from the Moon to orbit Planet Remina when it appears to decelerate. The crew is horrified to discover that what they assumed to be a massive volcano is actually an eye, and contact with the probe is soon lost following an emergency landing. A news station's broadcast is hijacked by a group of masked cult members who proclaim that the Oguros must be eliminated to save Earth. As Remina and her group flee from Mitsumura's condo, Professor Oguro's observatory receives a transmission from Remina's surface by one of the probe's astronauts; the footage reveals an abominable environment of completely unknown composition and atmosphere, and the video abruptly ends with the surviving astronauts approaching what appear to be waving human figures. Professor Oguro resolves to return to Tokyo for his daughter despite the crowd gathering around the observatory. While continuing to flee the mob, Kunihiro abandons the group and Mitsumura is fatally stabbed while shielding Remina, and the two confess their love for each other before his death, shocking Goda. The masked cult members appear and insist on a proper execution for Remina. She and Goda are led to the crosses in the plaza, where a bloodied and beaten Professor Oguro has already been crucified. Oguro pleads for Remina's forgiveness for their misfortune before he is fatally impaled.
When Remina is mounted on the other cross, Planet Remina devours the Moon and prepares to lay its tongue on the Earth. A sudden missile strike fends off Planet Remina's tongue, but inadvertently causes citywide destruction that disperses the mob. Goda takes the opportunity to free Remina, but Remina fails to recognize Goda's effort in her grief for her father and Mitsumura. The two encounter Kunihiro, whom Goda violently reprimands for his cowardice. Remina admonishes Goda for his brutality, pushing a disheartened Goda to leave. Kunihiro takes Remina to his family's home, where his parents reveal their plan to escape the Earth in a secret government rocket bound for Planet Remina. When Kunihiro's parents forbid him from taking Remina along, he and Remina shut themselves into the bomb shelter, where Kunihiro sexually assaults Remina. Kunihiro's parents happen upon the scene and immediately take their son's side when he claims that Remina seduced him. The Mineishis throw Remina to the mercy of a mob silently awaiting her at their doorstep. A whip-wielding cult member leading the mob pushes Remina to continue fleeing them alone.
The mob is stalled by an earthquake caused by Planet Remina's gravitational pull affecting the Earth's crust. Remina briefly evades the mob and meets a homeless man before they are both discovered and subject to torture at the cult member's bidding. When Planet Remina's tongue reemerges, Remina and the homeless man are brought back to the city plaza, where Oguro's charred and crucified remains stand. Remina and the homeless man are tied to the same cross, which the mob sets alight. The two are spared when Planet Remina licks Earth and sends it into a rapid rotation. The mob is once more dispersed, but the cult member clings onto the cross and lecherously licks Remina's cheek before he is thrown off by a tsunami. Meanwhile, the government rocket departs, taking the Mineishis and other VIPs to Remina's surface. The cult member reappears and cuts the homeless person and Remina free, taking Remina for himself. The centrifugal force of the Earth's spin lowers the planet's gravity, allowing the populace to make great bounds and fly across the planet. The homeless man takes Remina back in a struggle, but the cult member alerts the surviving humans to Remina's location, resulting in a massive airborne chase. The government rocket harshly lands on Remina's surface, killing the crew and seriously injuring a number of passengers. Attempting to assess the planet's atmosphere, the survivors remove an injured passenger's helmet, but the atmosphere causes the passenger to gruesomely decompose and merge with the planet. A large tongue from the former human's body captures and kills other survivors. The Mineishis flee, but are lured by an astronaut suit controlled by another tongue, which kills them as well.
When Earth's spin begins to slow, the airborne humans crash-land back in Japan, and the homeless man and Remina are cushioned by the pile of bodies. As Planet Remina begins pulling in the Earth, the homeless man, Remina and a small group of young and innocent survivors locate the intact Mineishi estate. During their attempt to enter the house, the cult member appears once more in a final assault on Remina. His whip gets caught around his mask and reveals him to be Goda, who voices his resentment of Remina's love for Mitsumura before being pulled away. The group enters the bomb shelter, which breaks free from Earth before Planet Remina finally devours it. When Remina awakens, the homeless man reveals himself to be the Mineishis' estranged son Daisuke, who failed in his goal to become an astronaut. He says that the shelter holds enough supplies to last a year, and optimistically concludes that since their escape was in itself a miracle, another such miracle may happen within that timespan. Remina gazes outside the shelter's window and reflects on the loss of her father and Mitsumura as the shelter drifts across the empty void of space.

## Publication

The series is written and illustrated by Junji Ito. It was serialized in Big Comic Spirits Zōkan Casual from September 16, 2004, to July 24, 2005. Shogakukan published the series in a single tankōbon volume, which was released in Japan on June 22, 2015.
In 2020, Viz Media announced they licensed the series for English publication. They released the volume on December 15, 2020.

## Reception

Nick Smith from ICv2 praised the series, stating it was "handled well". Helen Chazan from The Comics Journal also praised the series, calling it "immensely appealing" and "relatable". Ian Wolf from Anime UK News also praised the series, stating that it felt like something new from Ito, while also giving the horror he is known for. Michelle Smith from Manga Bookshelf was more critical, stating that she was intrigued by the premise, but found the series to be "unaffecting". As part of Anime News Network's Fall 2020 manga guide, Rebecca Silverman and Caitlin Moore reviewed the series. Silverman praised the series, calling it a "good, chilling story", while criticizing it for being "too on the nose with its imagery". Moore stated that she also enjoyed the series, but was left confused by the plot.
In December 2020, the series ranked in the top ten of the adult graphic novels in the United States list by The NPD Group. It also ranked on the top ten of The New York Times Best Sellers list in the graphic books and manga category in January 2021. In the same year, the series won the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia and was nominated for the Harvey Award. In 2022, it was ranked in the top ten graphic novels by the American Library Association's Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table.