Junji Ito’s horror stories have been adapted into live-action films and series before. Before the anime Uzumaki aired, a live-action movie was made in Japan, and his character Tomie has been featured in multiple films. Now, Netflix is preparing a new series based on several of Ito’s chilling tales, with one story, featuring the terrifying Hanging Balloons, expected to be particularly frightening. These creepy creatures, born from Ito’s imagination, will arrive on the streaming service in 2026. You can get a sneak peek at one of these live-action monsters right now.
Netflix recently announced a new series coming from Taiwan called “Bloody Smart.” The show, which is based on a popular anime and has been in the works for three years, used a Kickstarter campaign to fund its special effects. Given how terrifying the creatures, like the Hanging Balloons, look in the series, that funding was clearly put to good use! Instead of adapting one specific story, “Bloody Smart” seems to be blending characters and tales from various works by the original creator into a single, new series. You can get a sneak peek at one of those spooky Hanging Balloons in action below.
The Hanging Balloons’ Junji Ito History
Junji Ito introduced the terrifying Hanging Balloons in his manga collection, Horror World of Junji Ito Collection. The story features creepy, face-like balloons that roll into town, intent on hanging the frightened residents. Interestingly, this story was one of the few Ito wrote a sequel for, titled Return of the Hanging Balloons, which brought the creatures back for another appearance. Originally limited to manga, the Hanging Balloons later made their way to the screen in an anime adaptation.
The Netflix anime anthology, Junji Ito’s Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, adapted the ‘Hanging Balloons’ story for the first time in 2023. Studio DEEN animated this particular tale as one episode, but the manga’s continuation hasn’t been animated yet. The upcoming Bloody Smart will also feature the Hanging Balloons, though they’ll appear in a new and different story than the original.
The upcoming Netflix series, Bloody Smart, will combine characters and themes from the works of horror manga artist Junji Ito into a single, connected story. According to Netflix, the show is set in a strict school town where a mysterious Bloodfruit Tree begins to grow, producing red fruit delivered by a shadowy boy to those who supposedly need it most. As people consume the fruit, hidden desires and emotions are unleashed, gradually leading the town toward chaos. As of now, Netflix hasn’t announced when the series will be released.
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2026-01-31 20:10