How many Junji Ito fans actually read his work?
This has happened to me 4 times now in person. Someone asks what manga/books I enjoy and I eventually bring up Junji Ito and they say they love Junji Ito. This always makes me happy so I ask what their favourite story of his is so we can talk about it and every time they say they haven't actually read any.....
There is nothing wrong with just appreciating the art and not getting into the stories but it does make me wonder how many fans have actually read his work. Has anyone else had this experience or something similar?
Edit: I am not trying to gatekeep Junji Ito I just noticed this and was wondering if other people had similar experiences. I do think it’s cool that his work has became so popular that people recognise it just from the art and I have no problems with that.