Uzumaki
A small town spirals over spirals in this strange, supernatural mini-series
7.8
TV Show
Japan, United States of America
Japanese
Animation, Mystery
2019
Kōichi Tōchika, Mariya Ise, Mika Doi
24 min
7.8
The Staff
TLDR
Finally, a Western Junji Ito adaptation that isn’t allergic to black and white!
What it's about
The town of Kurouzu-cho slowly goes insane by obsession or by paranoia over a series of spiral shapes.
The take
The last time Junji Ito’s work was animated by a Western studio, it wasn't terrible, but it didn’t match up to the terror of his original stories. Nevertheless, animators persisted, and Production I.G. and Adult Swim’s attempt is a mini-series adaptation of the three volume manga Uzumaki. Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror is a peculiar horror series, one that may not be downright terrifying with its small-town tale, but it’s much scarier than other Western adaptations with its faithfulness to Ito’s black-and-white intricate line work. There’s probably no other way to depict this particular story– after all, it’s all about spirals– but director Hiroshi Nagahama adds dizzying movement and composer Colin Stetson adds eerie extended techniques that match the terror Kirie and Shuichi share as they struggle against the neverending spiral spell that takes over their town.
What stands out
I love how faithful the series is to the art because the contrast between the lines and space emphasizes the movement of the hair, shadows, and highlights, and always makes each item feel like it’s just ready to transform into a spiral.
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