Magic Meets Junji It⁠— Oh No… There Goes My Money

Coming as a skin-crawlingly luring surprise to manga fans, horror stans, and Magic the Gathering collectors alike, none other than Junji Ito (伊藤 潤二) and Yoji Shinkawa (新川洋司) will be collaborating with Magic the Gathering as guest illustrators for Secret Lair. While Yoji Shinkawa is known for his work on the Metal Gear franchise—not to mention his recent borderless alternate art of Satoru Umezawa—Junji Ito requires no introduction aside from the name itself. From Tomie (1987–2000) to The Liminal Zone (2020–present), his work has spanned over 35 years and can now even be enjoyed in animated formats, such as The Junji Ito Collection (2018), which you can check out over on Crunchyroll, and Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023), an anime adapting 20 Junji Ito tales, which will soon darken our screens over Netflix. Now, for the first time, we’re bewitched by the temptation of a collaboration that many of us may never have expected—but perhaps the pairing isn’t that unexpected given the recent rise in releases of Japanese alternate-artwork cards, including collections for War of the Spark, Strixhaven, and Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty. Could this be a promising sign of future Japanese illustrator and manga artist collaborations to come?

All the Junji Ito cards will be black mana cards, available in both Japanese and English regular ($29.99) and foil ($39.99) editions, and with only four cards in each, this will be a relatively short post, but also a pleasantly ghoulish one to look back on. That said, let’s take a look at a side by side of the cards in both languages.

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Carrion Feeder / 屍肉喰らい

First printed: Scourge, Onslaught set 3 (2003)
This printing: Special Guest: Junji Ito, Secret Lair (2023)

Doomsday / 最後の審判

First printed: Sixth Edition, Core Sets (1999)
This printing: Special Guest: Junji Ito, Secret Lair (2023)

* The Japanese preview is appearing less blue-tinted than any of the other cards, but I can’t imagine there’ll be much of a difference between them later on.

Plaguecrafter / 疫病造り師

First printed: Guilds of Ravnica (2018)
This printing: Special Guest: Junji Ito, Secret Lair (2023)

Thoughtseize / 思考囲い

First printed: Lorwyn, Lorwyn set 1 (2007)
This printing: Special Guest: Junji Ito, Secret Lair (2023)

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Pre-orders are already up, with the set set for release February 3rd, 2023. Better yet, they come with card sleeves to use in MTG Arena. I can’t be the only one tempted by them; well, what are you waiting for?