Last summer, we brought you news of a live-action Tomie series that was supposed to make its way to us through the up and coming streaming service Quibi. However, just seven months into the streaming services’ lifespan, Quibi shut its doors for good earlier this October, without any news of the long-awaited Tomie adaptation.
For those unfamiliar with Tomie, the series was written by horror mangaka Junji Ito in 1987 and follows the aftermath of the murder of a high school girl named Tomie and the perseverance of her enduring spirit, to everyone else’s deficit. The original series ended in 2000, and the series’ popularity launched no more than eight live-action movies and a television series in Japan alone. Quibi’s project would have been the first live-adaptation of Tomie for Western audiences. Tomie did make an appearance in the animated Junji Ito anthology series, Junji Ito Collection back in 2018.
While there was no official notice of cancellation for the series, it looks doubtful that the platform will be able to revive the series in its current form. With any luck, the series can be shopped to other platforms, and find itself a more suitable home, as there were originally concerns that Quibi’s ten minutes per episode format would hamper the series’ ability to tell a cohesive story.
Along with the animated Uzumaki collaboration with Adult Swim being postponed till next year, it’s shaping up to be a disappointing time for fans, especially as the world’s current circumstances are constantly changing from day today. For those hunkering down at home, now would be a good time to catch up on the manga series, as the full collection was released in 2016. Aside from that, we can only wait, and rest assured that Tomie will do what she does best; keep coming back around.
Source: Comicbook
