Exactly what it says on the tin. Like Seeds of Anxiety? You will like Seeds of Anxiety+. Perhaps not as much though, such as in my case. Seeds of Anxiety always had a lofty concept, but it seemed unlikely the author could carry it being the original series’ run. This superfluous sequel basically confirmed that, as it’s derivative of story structures in the first series without evolving the material in any way.

If anything, the initial goal to explore irrational fears and fantasies has waned this time around. The preludes to each section make less sense than before in their attempts to tie certain stories together thematically (though most in this series were unreadable because they were lazily left untranslated). The biggest change here is the infrequent attempts at longer stories. Typically, these still only last two or three additional chapters and don’t offer definitive conclusions like usual, but the sentiment is still nice to see. Your curiosity regarding certain tales is occasionally taken a little further.

Anyway, this is fine horror reading. Less bite all around than the first series: increasingly repetitive, weaker creature designs, and a decreasing lack of relevance to the core concept of Seeds of Anxiety. But despite all of that, this has enough creepy moments for J-horror fans.