10 years ago, K-Pop group Zerobaseone. However, his best crossover work actually came ten years ago with spooky designs for iconic Pokémon.

In 2014, The Pokémon Company commissioned Junji Ito to design some horrifying artwork centered around the creepier side of their expansive roster of collectible monsters. This gave Ito a huge list to work with, given there are over 80 different ghost type Pokémon alone. After much deliberation, the two that he settled on were Gengar and Banette. The final result was a duo of artworks that perfectly added a horrific touch to these beloved Pokémon characters that must be seen to be believed.

Gengar Enters the World of Uzumaki

The Curse of the Spiral Plagues Junji Ito's Gengar Artwork

By far the most visually interesting of the two pieces, Ito's take on Gengar draws heavy inspiration from his most notable work, Uzumaki. This story sees a small town, Kurouzu-cho, descend into madness at the hands of a curse. Each strange event is tied to spirals as people begin to die and others become killers themselves. It's a story that has become known as Junji Ito's masterpiece, even going so far as to receive an acclaimed-yet-controversial anime on Adult Swim in 2024. What's interesting is how Junji Ito took the imagery from this manga and applied it to his Gengar artwork to create something incredibly unique.

This piece features Gengar grabbing a woman using his tongue, with her screaming in terror as she drops her belongings. However, this simple concept is expanded upon with a series of spirals shown in the background. Plus, to top it all off, Gengar's tongue is spiraling around his victim, tying together the imagery. It's a beautiful piece of artwork, but the decision to connect it to Uzumaki is brilliant. Gengar and his past evolutions, Ghastly and Haunter, are known for their massive tongues that can cause stun effects. Using this recurring image to connect to Uzumaki's spiraling story makes this a unique take on the Pokémon character.

Banette Becomes a Stalker in Junji Ito's World

Ito's Artwork Calls Back to His Creepier Short Stories

While Gengar's artwork is more bold with its use of color and clear inspiration from Uzumaki, Junji Ito's take on Banette is far more reserved. This simple black-and-white design features a girl holding a doll with her eyes closed. Little does she know, Banette is creeping up behind her, preparing to strike when she least expects it. This is undeniably the most faithful piece to Junji Ito's style as it highlights how the mangaka can make black-and-white comics so terrifying. The lack of color makes the monster stand out more, sending chills down the audience's spine when they see the horrific creature creeping up.

When it comes to inspiration, though, Banette's design is far less recognizable than Gengar's. It's a fairly simple drawing that doesn't make any obvious callbacks. However, what the piece does do well is subtly tie into Junji Ito's more stalker-like monsters. Creatures such as Fuchi from Fashion Model and Tomie from Ito's Tomie series thrive on hunting their prey in the shadows. They silently approach when the time is right, making their emergence even more terrifying. In a way, Banette is an amalgamation of these well-known creations, playing into a trope that is fairly common for some of Ito's most horrifying monsters.

Junji Ito Needs to Return for Another Round of Pokémon Designs

There Are So Many Pokémon that Would Benefit from His Artistic Touch

After ten years, it would be amazing to see Junji Ito return to The Pokémon Company with a fresh round of ideas for a collaboration. After all, with new generations introducing new Pokémon, there's bound to be a ton of cool designs that would work with his style. One of the coolest creations the series has made in years, the ghost type Pokémon Mimikyu, would be the best candidate because of how unsettling its design looks. The ratty Pikachu-inspired cloth covering the actual Pokémon is ripe for a Junji Ito-inspired horror rework.

Unfortunately, it seems like there are no plans in the works for Ito to come back and revisit his coolest crossover. However, that doesn't mean fans can't dream. The designs he crafted for Gengar and Banette are absolutely incredible as they seamlessly blend these two unlikely worlds together. Junji Ito's collaboration with Pokémon is still his best team-up, and ten years later, these crossover pieces still delight fans of both the franchise and the artist.