Four episode anime adaptation of the Junji Ito manga.
Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the
withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a
pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small
ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on
people's bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi's father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner
ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurouzu-cho are pulled ever deeper, as if into a
whirlpool from which there is no return...
(Source: Viz Media)
~~~ #*Originally written for my YouTube channel. Abridged and edited for AniList.* ~~~ *** So, how ‘bout that new *Uzumaki* , huh? ~~~ img100%(https://lostinanime.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Uzumaki-01-28-1.jpg) ~~~ It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that the ‘24 adaptation of *Uzumaki* is a resounding flop. And we’re all really upset about it. At the time of writing, I can assure you that several AniList reviewers will make that very-justified anger known over the coming days. *Uzumaki* is a beloved modern horror classic from the mind of *mangaka* [Junji Ito](https://anilist.co/staff/97410/Junji-Itou), who was yet again done dirty by a comically bad adaptation of arguably his most beloved work. So if you’ve come here to hear some thorough thrashing of this disaster-class of an anime… Yeah, I’m not really interested in doing that. Sorry. You don’t need me to tell you that this adaptation is disappointing. I trust that your gut will tell ya’ how goofy some scenes are in this. What I’m curious about exploring isn’t the **how**, but **why**. Why did the people behind *Uzumaki* ‘24 make the decisions that they did? Unlike the show’s color palette, this situation isn’t exactly black-and-white. This isn’t just another tale of a soulless, profit-driven production. If anything, evidence suggests that *Uzumaki* was **anything but** , and that most signs point to this being a chaotic result of flying too close to the sun. I believe that there’s more to this story that plenty of people haven’t really considered, amidst collective rage and sensationalization in the anime community. For both present and future newcomers, I’m gonna give you a quick rundown of the bizarre circumstances surrounding *Uzumaki* ‘24. We’re going to go over what parts of the anime worked, what didn’t, and even make the (admittedly subjective) case for why this show *maybe* isn’t as godawful as the Internet has made it out to be. Finally, we’ll perform a thorough investigation on *Uzumaki* ‘s production, and attempt to identify the culprits behind one of the biggest disappointments of the year. So without further ado, I say it’s high time we descend into the downward spiral of *Uzumaki*. *** *Uzumaki* never really left. Junji Ito’s horror manga serial of three volumes, published back in 1998, is arguably his most famous work. It’s an account of events from a girl named Kirie Goshima, and her strange experiences in the small fictional town of Kurouzu-cho, told through mostly episodic short horror stories, each featuring the titular *Uzumaki* (“spirals” in English). In the same way that Ito’s classic manga captivated the public consciousness in the years since, the shape of the spiral took hold of Ito, when he first conceived the premise of *Uzumaki*. The mangaka drew from his lived experiences growing up in Nakatsugawa, a city in the Gifu prefecture. He was raised in a [machiya house](https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15363659): a traditional wooden accommodation built in a row. > “[I was really just interested in making a story about people who lived in a traditional Japanese row-house and seeing what happened. I lived in a crowded row-house myself a long time ago, you know. If you live there, it can be hard to get along with your neighbors, so I started by wanting to draw a bunch of wasted people living in that sort of place… I wanted to draw an incredibly long house and in trying to find a way to draw it that way, it became a spiral. Inspired by a mosquito coil.” — Junji Ito, “Ghost Story Roundtable,” 2003](https://teradyne-blog.tumblr.com/post/19774764781/an-interview-with-junji-ito-from-da-vinci-magazine) What started out as a journey to explore discontent and conflict in everyday life quickly morphed into a terrifying exhibition of the many unsettling ways Ito incorporates the spiral into his story. Ito’s more than ready to prove just how many spirals could fit in this bad boy. *Uzumaki*’s initial pages depict individual blades of grass and fauna coiling up, as clouds in the sky and lakes below swirl in like manner. Patterns emerge in everyday scenes. Etchings appear on the sides of buildings and even the backs of people. Something’s not right about any of this. Because while the sheer quantity of the spiral motif in *Uzumaki* is creative and impressive just on its own, Ito grounds this recurring visual in the Uncanny. Elements such as the environment, laws of nature, daily mundane occurrences, and even the characters themselves are each warped *just* enough to still be recognizable, before inevitably spiraling out of control. *Uzumaki*’s short chapters are guided by the spiral motif, but dictated by the way things are, and extracts horror from pushing elements from our reality further and further into the unknown. Ito’s detailed linework art, striking key visuals and uncanny horror combine to deliver what I believe is *Uzumaki*’s greatest strength — atmosphere. While a good half of chapters in *Uzumaki* are mostly standalone and largely reset to a status quo, there are overarching developments that carry over and pay off throughout the narrative. One such narrative thread encapsulates what I believe powers the haunting, daunting atmosphere of *Uzumaki*: the tale of Kirie Goshima’s boyfriend, Shuichi Saito. To avoid spoilers, I’ll spare you the details of where he ends up, but I think it’s noteworthy to observe where he started. From the get-go, Shuichi is the doomer-pilled skeptic, a knowledgeable teen trying and failing to make sense of the world around him. His hometown is affecting his mind, showing him unsettling signs that others aren’t seeing. He confides in Kirie and tells her of his intentions to get the hell out of Kurouzu-cho, only to have his pleas laughed off. He seemingly develops a paranoia of suburbia, but his anxious intuition is usually correct. The spirals are taking over every inch of the town, but no one listens to him until it’s too late. With the character of Shuichi, I think Ito manages to tap into a specific feeling, hearkening all the way back to the strife among neighbors that he lived amidst as a child. That small-town discontent that emerges from poverty, entropy and otherwise. The nagging urge to change the trajectory of discomfort, while lacking the tools to do so. The jadedness of “wasted people,” as Ito puts it, who succumb to dread and despair. It’s this existential tension over our human lack of control that lies at the heart of *Uzumaki*, connecting the dots between Ito’s frightening imagery. While not exempt from Ito’s weaknesses as a storyteller, the manga as a whole never overstays its welcome, and is a spine-chilling page-turner that rarely fails to up the ante at every turn. *Uzumaki* never really left, and it’s no wonder that fans were as obsessed as ever in 2019. Roughly 20 years after *Uzumaki* was first published, Production IG USA and Adult Swim announced a 4-episode limited series anime adaptation of *Uzumaki*. And it’s here where this story takes a turn for the worse. *** If there’s anything we can say for certain about *Uzumaki* ‘24, it’s that the series knows how to stand out from the crowd. Rather than settle for average mediocrity, the show instead winds up making an impression on both ends of the spectrum. 5 long years after the anime’s announcement, it seemed as if the anime community breathed a collective sigh of relief when *Uzumaki*’s first episode dropped and turned out to be well-worth the wait. Sure, the lip-flaps were largely out-of-sync, and the use of 3D rotoscoping took some getting used to. In terms of writing, this highly faithful adaptation of the source material led to a couple of small questionable moments awkwardly carried over from page to screen. But at the time, I was willing to wave off those gripes, because of how effective Episode 1 turned out to be across the board. The linework felt straight out of the manga, the animated body horror was grotesque, and the original soundtrack (OST) was stellar. That unmistakably uncanny atmosphere of Junji Ito’s Kurouzu-cho — the aspect that *Uzumaki*’s production absolutely HAD to get right — came alive throughout that first episode. Cue Episode 2. ~~~ img100%(https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/10/4f418-17282093701970-1920.jpg) ~~~ I know why you’re here, let’s not beat around the bush any further. Calling Episode 2 of *Uzumaki* “disappointing” is an understatement. At the top of the list of Things That Ruined People’s Childhoods in October ‘24 are 1) this anime episode, and 2) the Game Freak leaks. But how did the public reception to *Uzumaki* change so drastically? If you ask me, horror is a genre that heavily relies on suspense. In order to trigger our fear response, horror media usually needs to immerse you in the characters’ shoes and raise the tension effectively. Therefore, what separates Episode 1 from the rest of the series is how effective it was at maintaining suspense. It was certainly flawed in some areas, but never enough to significantly affect my immersion in the show’s dark atmosphere. In contrast, the rest of *Uzumaki* is littered with distractions. Subpar animation cuts frequently interrupted my escapism. Compositing and image quality varied wildly, to the point where some characters looked as if they were cut out from the manga and scanned in low resolution (I actually checked the manga to see if this was the case, thankfully it wasn’t). The continuity of events and internal logic of the show also landed poorly. For all these reasons, I disagree with the Internet consensus that Episode 2 necessarily suffered a sharp decline in quality, at least not in the manner one would expect. Even in this dumpster fire of an episode, there are some pretty good animation cuts that simply won’t make the rounds on social media the same way that the beach scene did. Negative bias does affect how we perceive things, and I’m inclined to push back on that with a more critical perspective. I believe that Episode 1 isn’t really all that far off from the rest of the series, in terms of creative approach and quality. But, Episode 1 was an all-rounded experience that covered all its bases, emerging in an experience greater than the sum of its individual parts. Meanwhile, the latter entries failed in increments that built up over time. These many mistakes crept up constantly in the following episodes, crucially getting in the way of audiences wanting to take *Uzumaki*’s fiction seriously. And for me, that makes all the difference in this genre. *Uzumaki*’s atmosphere and aura begins and ends with that pilot episode. In the span of just a week, grotesque horror turned into unintentional comedy. There’s one aspect of the show I’m especially keen on critiquing. And no, it’s not the animation… for now. Coming up in this investigation, I’ll reveal something truly shocking that explains a lot about why *Uzumaki* looks the way it does. But in the meantime, we’re going to touch on an area that arguably killed *Uzumaki* ‘24 from the get-go: the series’ questionable pacing. Now, I don’t think *Uzumaki*’s pacing is the worst idea I’ve ever heard… *on-paper*. Theory will only take you so far, and *Uzumaki* just couldn’t go the distance. Red flags were raised as early as 2019, when the anime was announced as a limited series, lasting just four episodes. 19 main story chapters across four 25-minute timeslots would be too damn fast! But rather than consider either condensing or excluding chapters to deliver experiences worthy of the *Uzumaki* intellectual property (IP), the production team decided to double down, with the hopes that they could deliver the definitive *Uzumaki* adaptation within their tight runtime. It seemed as if everyone involved on the project genuinely believed that the episode length was a non-issue, thanks to their “all-star” screenwriter, [Aki Itami](https://anilist.co/staff/118556/Aki-Itami). Interviews with Production I.G., U.S.A. and Junji Ito himself both sang Itami-san’s praises, claiming that she came up with a master plan fans could rally behind. Needless to say, that didn’t work. I’m not bringing this up to cast doubt on Itami-san's abilities, because no amount of knowledge regarding story beats can make up for needing to cram 19 said stories with the runtime allotted. Poor Aki Itami was set up to fail from the very start, although she really did give her best crack at things. The pacing of Episode 1 was promising. Initially I was drawn to the idea of having several spiral oddities occur concurrently. It broke away from a more traditional “Monster of the Week” structure that Ito’s source material felt bound to, and instead hinted at a version of events that felt fresh and constantly kept me on my toes. In retrospect, the chapters featured in Episode 1 turned out to be uniquely suited to this writing approach. Since they were relatively light on content and featured periods where time would elapse between scenes, Episode 1 actually benefited from a dynamic adaptation: one where the script hopped back-and-forth between chapters and aligned their climaxes at the very end. Episode 2, on the other hand, couldn’t capitalize on this staggered adaptation. Not only did the episode tackle a good part of FIVE chapters, but it felt as if it was doing the bare minimum to maintain any semblance of continuity between plot points. Pretty much every change in plotlines feels unnecessarily contrived, with some sections lasting for barely over a minute before yet again shifting gears. Moving forward, the manic manner in which the show regurgitates the source material works against *Uzumaki*’s atmosphere. The storytelling feels forcefully itemized, as if crossing off boxes on a list. Post-Ep1 *Uzumaki* was only set on getting things done, as opposed to getting things done *well*. Now, with all that said, **do I think the *Uzumaki* anime is worth watching**? It might come as a surprise to us both that my answer **isn’t** a flat-out no. Whether you’re a newcomer or an existing Ito stan, I’d recommend that you ignore the noise online and judge Episode 1 for yourself. I genuinely believe it’s almost-mandatory viewing for weebs that aren’t faint of heart, by virtue of just how unique and realized this black-&-white experience is. Anything afterwards is optional. IMO, the main variable at play would be your tolerance for mid animation. If you, like me, don’t find the inconsistent animation quality too bothersome; then you may find some appreciation for the show's detailed linework and shading, made all the more technically impressive in the absence of color. Across all four episodes, in spite of the animation, the individual frames of this show are more intricate than people give credit for, and at times feel as if the manga itself is coming to life. As for the people who’ve either decided that this anime isn’t for them or just haven’t seen what the fuss is all about, I’d still suggest giving the manga a try. And while you’re at it, I absolutely recommend doing so while listening to the anime’s OST, composed by [Colin Stetson](https://anilist.co/staff/144471/Colin-Stetson). He’s a [GRAMMY Award-winning composer with credits on Western titles like *Red Dead Redemption* and *Hereditary*](https://www.crunchyroll.com/news/interviews/2024/10/4/colin-stetson-uzumaki-composer-interview?srsltid=AfmBOoqWIXgUbu-TylwofWtLjZGH_0d1jfCnPP47qIaC4vhvn0Uuckd_). His inexperience with composing for anime isn’t even a bad thing, because this soundtrack is so unnervingly unlike anything I’ve heard in the medium. Inspired by spirals, the music of *Uzumaki* sounds equal parts haunting and hypnotic. It perfectly complements the striking spirals of the source material, which threaten to scare your lights out, while also being too entrancing to take your eyes off. As an artist working in the West, Stetson stands out as an acquisition that simply wouldn’t have been linked to a traditional Japanese production, and comes out as possibly the only faultless member of an otherwise disappointing Adult Swim collaboration. Speaking of which, it’s now time to take a closer look at a mysterious production cycle spanning five years, and attempt to answer the all-important question: “How did things turn out this bad?” *** First things first. Let’s establish a brief timeline of events. - A four-episode anime adaptation was announced back in **Fall 2019**. - Storyboards of Episode 1 would be shown to the public in the **first half of 2020**. This time period would be where promotional material would be at its highest until full trailers for *Uzumaki* were finally released — four years later. - Official social media presence implied that the show was targeting an **early-2021** release. - However, the tune of the narrative begins to shift. Updates regarding the show slows for the **second half of 2020**. - In **November 2020**, Director [Hiroshi Nagahama](https://anilist.co/staff/99346/Hiroshi-Nagahama) and [Maki Terashima-Furuta](https://anilist.co/staff/104578/Makiko-Terashima), President of Production I.G., U.S.A., appear in an interview. They acknowledge challenges regarding the production, but remain confident in broadcasting the show by **2021**. - Radio silence for the **first half of 2021**. - Director Nagahama gives a teaser and update, published in **Summer 2021**. He announces that the anime would be **delayed indefinitely**. Despite this, the teaser was received positively, as being the first animated cut of the show we’d seen up till this point. In hindsight, a couple key details stand out. Firstly, Nagahama makes an alarming claim that *Uzumaki*’s production needed “[twice as many animators](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnQOO8Y1Ck0)” as what would be industry standard. Secondly, all the key visuals shown in this announcement are limited to just the first episode. Hmm. - Junji Ito is filmed in a studio, as he records voice acting lines for his cameo in the anime as a tornado. Thus concludes our updates for the **second half of 2021**. - Director Nagahama and the *Uzumaki* production team release an official statement, again delaying the anime indefinitely. No further news for the **rest of 2022**. - A year goes by. A new trailer drops in **July 2023**, showcasing a first look at the anime. Comparing the trailer to the final product, the trailer footage was evidently in the latter stages of production (~70-85% complete), only missing adjustments in coloring and additional shading. However, this animated sequence happens very early in the episode’s runtime, and we’re left to speculate the progress of other scenes in Episode 1. What we do know is that it has been at least 3 years since initial storyboards for this episode were produced, all the way back in **2020**. 3 years, 80% completion on one episode. The industry average tends to be [3 MONTHS per episode](https://blog.sakugabooru.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/lies-and-deceit.png). As we’ve established by now, *Uzumaki* appears to be anything but your ordinary production, so this timeframe doesn’t apply in the same way. It’s still a very alarming gap, however, and doesn’t bode well for the latter episodes in the series. We’ll keep an eye closed on this point for now. - **July, 2024**. A new trailer for *Uzumaki* drops, with an official release date of **September 28**. That’s a whole **1,795** days since *Uzumaki*’s initial announcement. The rest is history. Now that we’ve laid out our timeline, the first thing I’m going to draw your attention to are those storyboards: ~~~ img100%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EaK5YjhUYAA63cd?format=jpg&name=medium) ~~~ Notice that logo on the top right, titled “Drive.” That refers to [Drive](https://anilist.co/studio/6289/Drive), a studio that started out with work in [music production](https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/company.php?id=15371), before slowly building up a resume in the animation industry. In promotional material over the years, Studio Drive was attached to the *Uzumaki* anime. Today, we now know that they’ve completely vanished from the project, with no credited involvement in any of the episodes. The Studio Drive trail runs cold, and I’m only left to speculate as to whether or not this relatively small studio left the project due to scheduling conflicts or… some other behind-the-scenes drama I don’t know about. Instead, the studios we did get on-board the long-awaited adaptation of this modern classic manga are Studio [Fugaku](https://anilist.co/studio/7369/Fugaku) and Studio [Akatsuki](https://anilist.co/studio/6601/Akatsuki). The reason why you’ve likely never heard of these names outside of *Uzumaki* is because their portfolios mostly reflect production work associated with [support studios](https://blog.sakugabooru.com/2021/06/09/what-actually-is-anime-outsourcing-the-historical-context-and-current-reality-of-animes-life-support/). Think of regular anime studios as contractors working for anime production committees (i.e., the entities responsible for funding the anime), and think of support studios acting as sub-contractors for the contractors. As sub-contractors, support studios usually don’t pursue their own creative endeavors from the ground-up, but instead work on the behalf of contractors, in a process referred to as “outsourcing.” Outsourced work can include drawing key animation for another studio’s sequences, in-between frames, and even whole episodes. So yeah, that’s what Fugaku and Akatsuki have been mostly up to this whole time. They’re two relatively small teams who’ve stumbled upon an opportunity to make a name for themselves… *yaaaaay*. We’ll talk more about Fugaku and Akatsuki soon enough. Right now, let’s revisit an earlier point about *Uzumaki*’s unusual production timeline. We can gauge that Episode 1 alone took roughly 3-4 years to complete, from the storyboard phase to the final product. Which begs the question: “Was this reasonable?” Was this large timeframe necessary or justified for just 4 episodes of anime, given extenuating circumstances? Well, as someone without enough expertise in this topic, I can’t give you a concrete answer. What I can offer is research and arguments for why this long wait is ridiculous. And I’m going to do that with Director Nagahama’s own words. We’ve already heard how Nagahama admitted to needing “twice as many animators” as ordinary production teams. With so many animators to work alongside, surely a certain COVID-19 would have had a considerable impact on this story. But to my surprise, Nagahama doesn’t seem to agree, claiming that the [pandemic had minimal effects when it came to animation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXuQ9VbOlo4), since animators were already used to working remotely at their desks. The only challenge that the *Uzumaki* team acknowledged throughout the pandemic was that of [recording lines from their voice actors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXuQ9VbOlo4), during a time where safe distancing measures were implemented. Granted, these quotes appeared in late-2020, so there’s a chance the pandemic did hurt them in the later years. However, I think Nagahama’s claims offer a different perspective to consider, given that news outlets reporting on *Uzumaki*’s delays often pinned things on the pandemic as a blanket statement. Barring a severe viral outbreak, Nagahama’s team had twice the manpower and no excuse. If it isn’t already apparent, something very strange has happened in the making of this anime. Who is responsible for this maddening disaster? There’s a lot more information to share, so I’m going to present my evidence and claims alongside our suspects. That’s right, what started out as an investigation out of curiosity has now turned into a crime scene. The victim: *Uzumaki* ‘24. The crime: homicide. Down the spiral we go. *** ~~~ ##**Suspect #1: [Adult Swim / Cartoon Network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adult_Swim)** ~~~ For the uninitiated, Adult Swim is an American TV programming block airing on Cartoon Network. The people behind Adult Swim are responsible for broadcasting and producing media catering to mature audiences. Throughout its history, the company carried a level of prestige; seeing “[adult swim]” attached to a project was a sure guarantee that audiences were in for something bold, provocative and creative. It’s this specific marker of quality, coupled with the company’s deep history with anime as a cultural export, that really separates Adult Swim from the rest of the pack. “But wait,” I hear you say. “‘When it comes to East versus the rest, the West is far from the best.’ Americans couldn’t do this manga justice the way Japan would!” Well, Japan also had a 20-year head start, and no one in the anime industry laid a finger on *Uzumaki*. Adult Swim being outside of Japan has little to do with why *Uzumaki* ‘24 failed. If anything, I can’t think of any other producer today who would greenlight a faithful attempt at adapting *Uzumaki*, for better or for worse. Times have changed. We live in a day and age where projects like [*Cyberpunk: Edgerunners*](https://anilist.co/anime/120377/Cyberpunk-Edgerunners/), [*Star Wars: Visions*](https://anilist.co/anime/138060/Star-Wars-Visions/) and [*Terminator: 0*](https://anilist.co/anime/177814/Terminator-0/) represent a recent trend of Western producers ordering anime renditions of IP that are proven successes in the Western markets. Suddenly, the prospect of financing a black-&-white anime adaptation of a pre-Y2K manga aimed at an untested Western market… starts to sound like a hard sell, even for Adult Swim. The company isn’t on this list because they are foreigners. Adult Swim are here because they were the only option, and subsequently let us down by ordering a mere 4 episodes — crucially less than what the IP almost certainly needed to survive. Poor pacing at the expense of *Uzumaki*’s atmosphere spelt the death knell for the anime. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that Adult Swim are pure antagonists in this story. It’s easy for me to make the people-pleasing choice when I’m not risking hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line. I also have reasons to believe that the company involved did their best to support the production by generously providing resources, accommodating *Uzumaki*’s many delays and offering creative freedom for Nagahama and his team. But compromising on the episode count is a mistake too big to ignore, and truly reveals how the company perceives *Uzumaki*. > “[[For Adult Swim], this is their first Japanese horror anime adaptation… I wouldn’t really say it’s a trial, but in a way it is.” — Maki Terashima-Furuta, “*Uzumaki* Anime Work in Progress,” 2020](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXuQ9VbOlo4) Picture this. You are an avid fan of Junji Ito’s work, and waited patiently for an adaptation that would do the famed author justice. Adult Swim’s [legendary 2019 teaser](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDEQyK5ZH-E) drops, and fills you with hope. You start to believe that your wish might finally be coming true, only to hear that corporate executives weren’t treating *Uzumaki* like a beloved story, but a test subject. I accept the perspective of higher-ups at Adult Swim, I just hope they understand mine. Because this stuff really *hurts*. ~~~ img100%(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GZU4NxMXAAA4PuT?format=png&name=small) ~~~ It appears that I’m not alone in expressing discontent towards the executives at Adult Swim, as evidenced by a now-deleted post on Bluesky. Fortunately, it was kept up just long enough to fall under the radar of media outlets, who quickly spurred speculation about how exactly Adult Swim “screwed over” the *Uzumaki* production team. Also noteworthy was the rather hefty claim that the actions of “one or two people” nearly held back *Uzumaki* from ever seeing the light of day. Wow, these are some insightful claims! It’s reassuring to hear that amidst all the drama, there’s at least some people who are on the side of the audience. As for who made the post? Well, the Bluesky account can be traced back to- ~~~ ##**Suspect #2: [Jason DeMarco](https://anilist.co/staff/245993/Jason-DeMarco)** ~~~ This section almost writes itself. DeMarco is impossible to omit from this list, simply because the guy carries one of the most cringeworthy resumes in anime history. This includes Executive Producer credits on groundbreaking titles such as: [*Isekai Suicide Squad*](https://anilist.co/anime/166710/Isekai-Suicide-Squad/), [*Rick and Morty: The Anime*](https://anilist.co/anime/150103/Rick-and-Morty-The-Anime/), all 4 [*FLCL* sequels](https://anilist.co/anime/21746/FLCL-Progressive/), and… [*Shenmue the Animation*](https://anilist.co/anime/123752/Shenmue-the-Animation/)- WHO THE HECK IS ASKING FOR ANY OF THESE SHOWS? DeMarco’s track record is an unenviable symbol of a guy who appears to have the anime inverse of the Midas Touch — almost everything he touches turns to shit. At a certain threshold, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore a pattern this egregious. But in the spirit of good faith discourse, I think it’s unfair to characterize this real person in such a one-dimensional way. DeMarco does have [credentials in the visual arts](https://toonami.fandom.com/wiki/Jason_DeMarco), and probably knows more about Japanese anime production than I ever will in my lifetime. Perhaps it’s possible to be a passionate champion of the medium and Ito’s creative vision, while also being a producer who has a chronic tendency of supervising trash anime. I learned in an interview that the [inspiration to adapt *Uzumaki* in black-&-white came not from Nagahama, but DeMarco](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXuQ9VbOlo4)! Presenting this medium in monochrome is no easy feat, and is a risky move that goes against mainstream preferences. No, this is a choice made out of passion for the fans. DeMarco dared to differ from the other Junji Ito anime adaptations preceding *Uzumaki* ‘24, and I honestly think this adaptation was better off for it, despite losing its legs in the long run. Why did DeMarco make those defiant comments on Bluesky? Was he trying to deflect criticism and appear as an infallible saint to normies who don’t write overly-long investigative essays about nightmarish anime productions? Or, does DeMarco genuinely have the interest of the fanbase at heart? Until I get more context proving otherwise, I’m inclined to believe the latter. ~~~ ##**Suspect #3: The Staff** ~~~ Probably the least impactful “culprit” out of the lot. I’ve decided to add them to the watchlist, as a response to bad takes on Reddit. It’s vital to distinguish how the animation team are less of a root cause, and more likely a symptom of systemic issues plaguing *Uzumaki* ‘24. A common opinion found online is that Fugaku (Eps 1 & 4) is responsible for the good animation in *Uzumaki*, while Akatsuki (Eps 2 & 3) botched their assigned episodes. At the time of writing, I’m dismissing this theory outright. It’s a reductive assessment which ignores how both Fugaku and Akatsuki are relatively on-par in terms of experience, having mostly filled in the role of support studio prior to *Uzumaki*. Instead, it’s quite apparent that the real difference-maker in this narrative is Director Hiroshi Nagahama. Because interestingly enough, he’s nowhere to be seen in the key credits for Episodes 2-4. The most crucial revelation surrounding this story is, unfortunately, a rumor. However, the claim does come from a credible source, and echoes what DeMarco might have meant with his assertion that the *Uzumaki* production team were “screwed over.” Dimitri Seraki, Chief Editor of blog site Fullfrontal.moe, alleges that [Nagahama single-handedly corrected most of the drawings in Episode 1, and was therefore banned from overseeing the production of Episodes 2-4](https://x.com/pizza_rigatoni/status/1843407983553982700).^ If true, this claim neatly explains why Episode 1 took up to 4 years to produce, and even implies that Nagahama got NO key animation work done beyond that single episode. Looking back at the evidence, we can surmise that Nagahama was heavily demoted; besides 3D modeling and storyboards (presumably completed towards the beginning of the production cycle), Nagahama only took on limited duties in post-production (offline editing, in-betweens for Episode 4). #####^A rumor emerged that Nagahama had been fully reinstated for Episode 4. The only evidence I found that supports this claim appears to be a misunderstanding of [this post](https://x.com/nekoseijinn/status/1840272544957641074). It was [Kouichirou Soutome](https://anilist.co/staff/105569/Kouichirou-Soutome) who would return as an Episode Director on parts of Episode 4, not Nagahama. Adding credence to this theory is that Episode 4 of *Uzumaki* literally [does not credit a director](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GaL4foRacAAk505?format=jpg&name=4096x4096). It only credits 3 separate entities with the role of Episode Director, which would be below a Director in the industry chain-of-command. What this tells me is that Adult Swim would rather blacklist its own director and proceed with Episode 4 without executive directorial approval, rather than let Nagahama back on-board. With all this in mind, I’m no longer bitter towards the staff at Fugaku and Akatsuki — frankly, I’m even amazed they finished the show at all, in spite of their relative lack of expertise and the dismal circumstances that we’ve just learned about. I could go into more detail about how one of the [Episode Directors](https://anilist.co/staff/152705/Taiki-Nishimura) is allegedly blacklisted from the industry for being terrible to work with, but that barely matters when we’re dealing with a production fallout this gigantic. It’s time we turn our attention to none other than- ~~~ ##**Suspect #4: Hiroshi Nagahama** ~~~ Nagahama is arguably the best thing to happen to *Uzumaki* ‘24. I’m now about to make the case for why he’s also the worst. Nagahama is the golden boy. An animation veteran known for his attention to detail and expertise in 3D rotoscoping, Nagahama won approval from DeMarco, Maki-san, and even [Junji Ito himself](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtM5x_4SejA). Across 5 long years, Nagahama applied nothing but the highest standards possible, and actively combated executive requests to compromise on his animation process, which reportedly involved correcting most of Episode 1’s frames by himself. Nagahama went all-out and hired [motion-capture teams](https://i.imgur.com/pyN4ucU.png) (which do not come cheap!) to provide animation for his 3D rotoscoping. For his storyboards, Nagahama treated Ito’s source material as his Holy Grail, choosing to deviate from the manga panels as little as possible, even if it made translating sequences from page-to-screen that much harder. He’s *him*. He also spent somewhere around 4 fucking years to produce a single episode of anime. Wouldn’t you like to know why production took this long? Wouldn’t you like to know how badly Nagahama must have messed up to completely derail his own passion project? Wouldn’t you like to know why Nagahama claimed that the unusual production of *Uzumaki* required twice as many animators as normal? Wouldn’t you like to know what, on Kami-sama’s green Earth, would it take for Adult Swim to effectively bench their MVP for the remainder of production? I’m convinced that Nagahama’s biggest mistake was that he’s singular. Just one guy. He was never asked to negotiate or compromise, until things had gotten well out of hand. He had the full trust and freedom to bloat the staff with a costly motion capture department, despite it being a luxury not many anime productions can afford. He delegated a huge chunk of grunt work to both in-house staff and outsourced labor, only to apparently wind up bottlenecking the entire operation by correcting the frames himself. His unconventional methods stalled production, leading to the unceremonious exit of Studio Drive, for reasons unknown but understandable. As for the workforce that remained, Fugaku and Akatsuki were forced to take the brunt of the blame, despite putting in near-thankless work that could never live up to the Nagahama’s noble aspirations. Nagahama is one of the best things about *Uzumaki* ‘24. But he’s not without fault. *** Now that we’ve rounded up our suspects, who do I think killed *Uzumaki* ‘24? If you ask me, I’d say they each contributed to the downfall of this show. Adult Swim’s mere 4-episode order made attaining success a near-impossible feat. Despite well-meaning intentions, DeMarco enabled his star director to do what he deemed fit, and lacked the foresight to intervene before things got as ugly as *Uzumaki*’s beach scene. Nagahama, in his singular pursuit of artistic integrity, wasted resources and precious time, with his irresponsible work methods requiring a good part of a decade to be fully realized. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that timeline where *Uzumaki* releases 10 years down the line. We live in a world where animators had to be cobbled together from support studios and elsewhere, just to have something to show for all of the sunk cost invested in *Uzumaki* . We live in a world where those animators bore the brunt and blame for poor decisions made by people above them. I lied, the animation quality wasn’t the scariest part of this situation. The behind-the-scenes drama is far more horrifying. I started this investigation with the hope that people reading this would find some much-needed clarity and closure on a disappointing and infuriating situation. But frankly, after spiraling down this rabbit hole, I feel rather upset myself. *Uzumaki* isn't a low-effort misfire like other mediocre shows in the medium. They tried to make this amazing, and it almost worked. There's no doubt in my mind that the people behind *Uzumaki* were passionate about what they were making. Which somehow makes it more painful that they couldn't deliver on their vision in the end. The higher the high, the farther the fall. What a mess. **5/10**~ *** Thanks so much for checking out the review. I plan on updating this ongoing story if new information is discovered. In the meantime, please watch this space or check out my profile for further updates. If you happen to like my verbose rants, feel free to check out my other [reviews](https://anilist.co/user/AnimeDweeb/reviews) for seasons past and present. I also frequently post writeups under my list updates, so definitely take a peek if you'd like to see me mald over anime as they hit the airwaves. Peace~
>#####___This review is spoiler-free.___ ~~~
**At the core, adaptations are an incredible concept.** Having the ability and opportunity to breathe new life into a story by giving it a fresh and distinctive coat of paint is nothing to scoff at, and time and time again, we are reminded how these creations can elevate both the source material and the narrative itself, especially since audiovisual formats tend to attract a broader audience due to their sheer accessibility.
Given all of this, it is no wonder that countless creative teams have rolled up their sleeves and had a crack at bringing [Junji Ito](https://anilist.co/staff/97410/Junji-Itou)'s manga to the small screen, hoping to marry his haunting imagery with equally effective animation and sound design. Yet, despite their sky-high hopes and ambitions, these ill-fated projects have all crashed and burnt in spectacular fashion, and the 2024 adaptation of *Uzumaki* is no exception. **To be perfectly blunt, this might just be one of the most disrespectful, disgusting and downright disheartening adaptations I have ever had the misfortune of seeing.**
~~~img350(https://i.imgur.com/V7aVZn8.jpeg)~~~Before I get to the meat and potatoes—or rather, address the elephant in the room—there is something I need to make crystal clear. **I am in no position to ponder, speculate or fill anyone in on what exactly happened behind the scenes or why the final outcome turned out to be so repulsively lacklustre.** Frankly, even if I had the full lowdown on the whole predicament, it would not excuse or justify the atrocious quality of the production one bit. While I have the utmost respect and adoration for every animator who pours their heart and soul into their work, in the end, what really counts is the finished product, and, oh boy, what a terrifying sight it is.
To call *Uzumaki*'s production values a laughable mess would be an understatement of the century, **as this multi-year endeavour feels more like something cobbled together on a shoestring budget, rather than the aftermath of numerous months of hard work spent on tirelessly bringing Ito's poster child to life**. However, I am getting way ahead of myself, so we need to rewind and take a closer look, step by step.
Before the series spirals into the meme-worthy fiasco that it is, **for a solid 25% (meaning the first episode) of its run, *Uzumaki* actually looks like it has some real potential**, at least from a purely visual standpoint. While I personally would have preferred to see the manga's impeccable, memorable surroundings and body horror rendered in grim, cold, and otherwordly colours—a palette like this would have allowed the twisted narrative to truly get its claws into you and send a shiver down your spine in a unique manner—the anime seems adamant about staying true to the manga's black-and-white aesthetic, almost frantically and passionately following the source material's style and vibe down to the smallest detail where not even a single pebble is allowed to be out of place. **In a sense, the adaptation's mission might have been a one-to-one recreation, which, while not the best way to "translate" stories between mediums, shows a genuine fondness for the original.** The first episode's art style is on point to a surprising degree, adequately reproducing the locations, character designs and overall atmosphere. What is more, the liberal use of rotoscoping throughout the episode adds a lot of flair and stylishness to an already impressive-looking premiere.
**Nevertheless, that is precisely where my praise comes to a screeching halt and hits a brick wall.** The remaining 75% of *Uzumaki* is nothing short of embarrassing, and the way it violates your eyes with its hideousness should be studied for years to come. **From episode two onward, the quality takes a nosedive, and it is downright ridiculous how many animation and drawing errors made it through.** I will not supply you with actual examples of those things appearing on the screen—you can easily find them online if you are morbidly curious—but imagine something very much akin to [Berserk 2016](https://anilist.co/anime/21560/Berserk/) in terms of visual clarity, and you will have a good idea of what you are in for. Episodes three and four may not be as utterly irredeemable as the infamous second one, yet their quality is still woefully horrendous across the board:
There are many, many more inadequacies and shortcomings within the audiovisuals department, each one chipping away at both the core essence of the original and the show's ability to stand on its own two feet. The only shining light in this otherwise dark tunnel is the soundtrack by [Colin Stetson](https://anilist.co/staff/144471/Colin-Stetson). It is an absolute banger that deserves all the praise and love it gets, but sadly, it cannot singlehandedly save the rest of the production from falling apart.
**And yet, even these depressing issues and flaws are nothing in comparison to the treatment the narrative received.**
~~~img400(https://i.imgur.com/dMQvr6m.gif)~~~Let me get this off my chest first—**[*Uzumaki*](https://anilist.co/manga/30436/Uzumaki/) is not a well-written manga.** Even though the atmosphere and horror elements are phenomenal, the story and the characters become progressively more lukewarm and shallow as the chapters progress. Yes, the plot itself has its moments and some of the mini-arcs peppered throughout the earlier chapters can pack a punch, but, ultimately, it is the visuals that do all the talking and heavy lifting. So, does the anime manage to smooth out these rough edges with clever techniques and creative ideas? Not in the slightest. **In fact, it completely shits all over every single cool and unique plot point in the most banal, brutish, and brainless way possible.**
The root of the problem lies in **what might just be the worst pacing I have ever witnessed**, which somehow makes the oftentimes goofy and unintentionally unserious events and happenings of the manga look infinitely worse. For those not in the know, *Uzumaki* is essentially a collection of chapter-long stories that form one, somewhat understandable storyline. The order in which they appear is by no means random—they follow the chronology of events, each one revolving around a specific object of horror that is inevitably connected to the spiral motif. The climax of these short tales is always the protagonists' confrontation with some grotesque monstrosity, which leads to the pièce de résistance of the entire manga: the twisted, nightmarish reveal of said entity's contorted, inhuman appearance. While the manga does tread at a rather hasty pace that can deter some people from liking it, it still retains some of its inherent charm. **Sadly, the anime does not follow suit.**
You see, the anime throws caution to the wind and decides to experiment. **Thus, it comes to the insane conclusion that mixing and intertwining the stories so that they create one continuous string of events happening simultaneously is a wise idea.** As you can imagine, this bold move backfires spectacularly. Picture a [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/) playlist where every single song is from a different genre, in a different language, and plays at varying volumes; or those cartoon cooking pots filled with every random ingredient the characters could get their hands on; or a joke with no setup, where the punchline falls on deaf ears—that is what watching this anime feels like. By getting rid of the stories' independence, the show robs them of their proper setups and makes them feel incoherent. How can the horrifying, iconic imagery be considered striking when the build-up that is supposed to lead to them is flat-out non-existent? How can the stories be considered logical or impactful when their chronology is all over the place? How can the sincerely frightening content affect the viewer in any way, shape or form when they are presented in such a nonsensical, haphazard fashion? **This is, in my eyes, the anime's gravest sin, as it turned something painfully lukewarm into something absolutely unwatchable.**
~~~img300(https://i.imgur.com/tUUswLw.gif)~~~So, is there something to enjoy here? **The answer is a resounding no.** Sure, the first episode may be pleasing to look at, but all the issues mentioned above utterly sucked the enjoyment out of the experience. Now, throw in the absolute abomination that is the second episode and the half-baked, low-effort slop that makes up the rest, and it is no surprise I found myself bored to bloody tears while watching. In other words, there is zero reason to waste your time on this steaming pile of excrement. **If you are genuinely itching to check out Ito's most iconic scenes and imagery, do yourself a favour and pick up the manga instead.** It might not be that compelling of a read, but the atmosphere and the art style make it worthwhile.
All in all, the meme about the Junji Ito manga adaptations being horrible is still alive and kicking, and *Uzumaki* might have permanently killed my interest in any future "passion projects" that aim to convert the horrifying manga panels into a TV series. We waited years for this to come out, and the payoff for all that waiting and anticipation is a product that not only should have been baked for a little longer but honestly **should have stayed in the oven until it was charred beyond recognition.**
*Twist, turn and spiral down—this is easily the worst advertisement the manga could have asked for, and I am well and truly sick of thinking about it.*
***
Junji Ito is one of the most celebrated mangakas, known for his signature style in the horror genre. His famous works, including Tomie, Gyo, Uzumaki, Remina, and many short-form mangas and one-shots, have garnered a massive fanbase, not just in the horror space but throughout the entire manga community. Iconic moments and memorable scares, brought to life through his finely detailed panels, have cemented his work in pop culture. Given this impact, it's inevitable that Junji Ito's works would be adapted into anime, where their reach could theoretically expand significantly. However, for the longest time, this potential hasn't fully materialized. This is mostly due to the reputation of Horror in the anime space. ***
__Is Horror Adaptable?__
Horror is a genre that's largely been unexplored in the anime space as of late; this has mostly been concise of cheap and tame jumpscares rather than quality storytelling with its world. There are exceptions on this, namely Mononoke, Higurashi, Perfect Blue, and Shiki, but one thing that's consistent with the horror genre, namely the first season of The Promised Neverland and the first half of Wonder Egg Priority, is that it's only good in its first run, but later parts became stale, either by having a half-baked, unconvincing story that fails to keep it's novelty due to running out of creative ideas, or the direction becomes half-assed that becomes unintentionally bad; it becomes comedic. Another issue is that horror shows are largely a subgenre from another larger, more appealing genre such as action, drama, or thriller; this results in the horror genre being left aside as a filler rather than a fully baked story, not being given a proper budget and creative passion to fully flesh out its potential. This has been largely true for anime adaptations of Junji Ito’s works that mainly consisted of cheap execution, poor imitations from the source material that's downright laughable, and insulting from the original source material. And finally, there are pure horror shows that just did not hit as they wanted to because of their limited resources and poor direction.
Junji Ito's works have notoriously struggled in anime adaptations. From the numerous failures of the Junji Ito Collection series, which included Tomie, to the abysmal movie adaptation of Gyo, respected works by Junji Ito have consistently been done a disservice in these adaptations. While many of the factors I previously mentioned contribute to these failures, there's another crucial issue: Junji Ito's works are, in many ways, unadaptable. His unique art style, the captivating horror atmosphere, and his quirky, nonsensical yet seriously committed storytelling are perfectly suited for the manga medium. Attempting to replicate this distinctiveness in animation often feels like a poor imitation, even bordering on disrespecting the original material. Simply put, don’t bother adapting a Junji Ito work unless he is 100% involved.
When Uzumaki was announced, there has been little confidence from fans, but director and storyboard artist Hiroshi Nagahama (Director for Mushishi) has been determined to produce a respectable adaptation that not only brings Junji Ito’s work the respect it deserves but shapes the anime industry and screams “Horror Works for this Medium.” on behalf of the promises made when the project was first announced. ***
__Uzumaki: Good or Bad?__
This review will not focus on the quality or the pacing of the story, as there are already numerous reviews and opinions online—particularly on AniList, where it's been described as anything from a masterpiece to messy, or simply fine. These opinions have remained consistent with the adaptation as there has been little to no changes with its story when it was adapted, which may be a positive or negative depending on viewers. Setting that aside, this review will primarily explore the technical aspects of the direction, which is what initially caught my attention.
One notable aspect of Uzumaki is the conscious decision to keep the adaptation monochromatic. This not only gives the anime a "moving manga" feel but also successfully recaptures Junji Ito's art style, which is key to its unsettling atmosphere. While it may still feel like an imitation of his work, it's the closest adaptation we've seen so far. The slight jankiness in the characters' movements that might emit from a mixture of CG and Rotoscoping might be jarring for some viewers, but for me, it added an extra layer of uneasiness. This effect is enhanced by the excellent sound design and score, which pull you into the world just as much as the animation does. The first episode alone is wonderful and meticulously well-made, standing out in the anime space like nothing else. It firmly established its place in the industry—but only the first episode.
As many of you reading this review may know, episode 2 and the following episodes became infamous for their animation and direction, which didn't live up to the impact of episode 1. It feels like you're watching an entirely different show, with a different team trying to produce the same product—because, in a sense, it basically is. Personally, while the later episodes still stand above many of their contemporaries, the drastic quality shift after episode 1 from its lackluster animation and unimlacful direction, coupled with the long-awaited promises, disappointed fans—and the online backlash is understandable. There's little confirmed information about the sudden drop in quality, but according to the Anilist database and the show’s credits, there’s a noticeable difference in the staff involved in each episode. This could explain the shift in quality, but with no clear answers emerging, it points to potential negligence from the studio overseeing the project.
Some argue that animation quality shouldn’t matter as long as the story drives the series forward—and in a way, the story and pacing remained consistent throughout. However, this is a Junji Ito adaptation, where the visuals are a core strength and a major selling point, which also contributed to a couple of delays. The loyal fanbase, after years of waiting for a high-quality and respected adaptation, ultimately received what they feared.
A disappointment of an adaptation that only fulfilled its promise by up to 25% ***
__Conclusion__
Junji Ito’s works are inherently difficult to adapt due to the unique way his storytelling complements his distinctive art style. The reading experience in his manga is vastly superior to the various adaptations we've seen. This anime sparked many discussions about adaptations in general, with some suggesting that we should leave them alone and encourage people to experience the source material in its purest form—which I wouldn’t disagree with.. That said, Uzumaki is perhaps the closest we've come to capturing the essence of his work in an entertainingly Junji Itou way.
Although it faced some huge missteps along the way and the promises that wisped away, sparking division among fans, it still serves as an example that horror shows—including visually-forward artists such as Junji Ito’s works—can succeed in the anime space—provided creators invest the necessary resources, budget, passion, and overall care into the project. ***
__This review is spoilerless and anything relating to the story of Uzumaki comes from the synopsis. Arc names are very general.__ ___ Junji Ito really can’t stop catching strays whenever it comes to his anime adaptations. Although I have only watched 2 of the piss poor anime adaptations under his name and not the other 2 listed on his profile (which I might probably do soon just to compare how bad each adaptation is to each other), it’s enough to convince me of the latter. The animation always turns out to be ugly as sin, and Ito’s source material is poorly handled storywise. I actually feel kind of sad for Ito since he’s such a really nice and chill mangaka if you look at the videos he’s in. I feel like those adaptations are just a big fat middle finger to him and his legacy. He literally leads the genre of horror manga and that’s how you treat him? Although I have only read Uzumaki and Dissolving Classroom, I can see why he deserves his fame. The way that he portrays horror is not like any other manga I’ve seen. I would like to give a proper Uzumaki review with just its story in mind, and nothing else. I read the manga for Uzumaki way before the adaptation was even announced. I will stand by the fact that this is overrated, and not a masterpiece by any means. While I can praise the grotesque and disturbing art by Ito in Uzumaki, I really can’t say the same for his writing. It is basically just a sequence of small horror mini arcs that exist purely just for shock value. There are no explanations for any supernatural activity that occurs. If it happens, it happens, and the art says all that the audience needs to know. After each story arc ends, there is no mention of them ever again. They basically just come and go. In the typhoon arc (the final arc of Uzumaki), there is no reference to the hospital arc, snail arc, or any of the other arcs whatsoever. The ending was extremely unsatisfying as well since it has unresolved plot points. If I’m being honest, Uzumaki felt more like a horror sketchbook than an actual, linear story. The manga itself is a 6/10. The day that the Uzumaki anime adaptation was announced, I was excited to say the least. Even though I wasn’t a fan of the manga initially, I wanted to see how things would be executed. The teaser that released along with the announcement looked very promising as well. I remember that the hype for the adaptation was unreal. I was going to wonder if this adaptation would do Ito’s work justice as all of his others looked like absolute dogshit. It HAS to look good since it’s literally his most popular and highly acclaimed work. Hint hint, I’m wrong, and should’ve been pessimistic about the announcement. But then the hype started dying out when the official Uzumaki anime Twitter account stopped tweeting. Like no teasers or character designs or any of that on the account for maybe a year. I really thought the anime adaptation got silently abandoned after a few months of the account going inactive… And then 2 years after going inactive, the people behind the adaptation announced that they were going to start airing in October 2024. The new announcement got me hyped up again for the anime. I could not wait any longer, and when the first episode dropped, watching it was the first thing on my mind. I was ultra focused on checking this out. Everything started off the way that I would expect it to. The beginning went pretty well with adapting the introduction to Kurouzo-Cho, its residents, and the important main characters Kirie and Shuito. We get to see how the spiral is driving that entire town crazy. The plot progresses as usual until we get a random source material jump out of nowhere. The anime suddenly went to the beginning of a separate arc already, which I will refer to as the snail arc. I first thought that this was maybe a smart directorial choice. I thought that this was done for some important purpose that I couldn’t put my finger on yet. I then saw the absolutely horrendous second episode, which suddenly made all my positive thoughts and expectations toward this adaptation vanish. The anime decides to cram three separate arcs from the manga out of nowhere, with the 3 being the twisted souls, jack in the box, and lighthouse arc. This quickly put the end of my question earlier about if this was a smart directorial choice. I now saw that the people behind the anime were trying to rush everything and get it over as quickly as possible. They somehow underestimated the amount of episodes needed to adapt. You would think that a measly 19 chapters would fit into the span of 4 episodes unless you actually read the manga. Those chapters are extremely long and have lots of information from just 1 chapter itself. And those mini arcs last for at least 1 chapter. It jumps back and forth with the arcs in this episode, leaving no space to breathe. It focuses on one arc, and then jumps to start another new one, and then back to the first one… I’m pretty sure you get the idea. They repeat this cycle for the entirety of the second episode until these half baked arcs are finished in the eyes of the people behind the adaptation. img(https://files.catbox.moe/1huys7.gif) >This is enough to turn you away from watching the adaptation entirely. I have heard that there were apparently production issues with Studio Drive in the span of the 5 years that the adaptation was being made. Even with the amount of outsourcing done with the adaptation, there was still lots of time to perfect it. You’d expect everything to look crisp in 5 years of production on literally anything. Even movies take 1-2 years of production before everything is wrapped up and released to the public. If there was a work schedule that isn’t too much for the workers, it would look amazing. With the outcome of this adaptation, I can only assume the worst has happened with the animators and everybody else on the production part of this. There had to be severe cases of overworking employees and/or forcing them to stay inside the studios where they work. I don’t really have any credible sources for this, but something had to go on behind the scenes. I should’ve probably dropped the adaptation at this point, but I want to see how much worse this adaptation gets. Plus, it’s only 4 episodes, which is pretty consumable for me. I just want to see how much worse that this could possibly get. As I booted up episode 3, I found the same exact issue as episode 2. We get a hard switch back to the hospital arc, where everything is rushed, which I should’ve expected. And now begins the final arc of Uzumaki, which I will refer to as the typhoon arc. This arc itself in the manga had already unresolved plot points, so you can already imagine how much worse it gets in the anime. As expected, everything in the typhoon arc is rushed. Everything just comes and goes, leaving the audience just going “Oh, so that just happened.” Not much else to comment about this episode. Episode 4 was about the same as episode 3 with everything rushed and the plot holes being extremely prevalent. I now want to touch on the external factors of the Uzumaki adaptation. The art. I thought nothing about the art much of the first episode since the hype basically blinded me. I now realize how much of a nothing burger the artstyle is compared to the already amazing art by Ito. It just looks to me that they ripped off Ito’s artstyle completely just to storyboard the episodes. There was no creativity by the studios that created this abomination to even make it unique in any way. And the animation, oh my fucking god, that animation. In that beach running scene shown above, we can definitely see how half assed that sequence was. The quality drop compared from episode 1 to episode 2 is crazy. What’s the fucking point of saying “oh we went quiet to really work on this adapation and give our fans the best from us” and give us whatever the fuck this shit is? I was genuinely angry when episode 2 ended. The animation just gets uglier the more you progress in the anime. The only positive aspect that I can praise this adaptation on is Colin Stetson’s OST. The music is a great addition to the tone Uzumaki sets. Whenever the music starts playing, I start feeling actual goosebumps. The discordant and off putting chords are so simple, but so strong and powerful. The voice acting is also decent (watched in sub), but to be completely honest, it was exactly how I thought all the characters were going to sound in my head. Screams were pretty high quality. Not much input to add onto this aspect. Don’t watch this adaptation. Really don’t. It’s not worth your time since it messes up the manga’s pacing, art, and basically everything it stood for. As corny and annoying as it sounds, I would say to read the manga instead. The arcs all happen chronologically, are organized, and you actually get a scare out of Ito’s art. It’s really good for some quick, easy to consume horror media. Hell, I’d say to play Stetson’s OST while reading the manga to immerse yourself even more into the world of Uzumaki. There is literally no reason to watch the anime since it adds nothing on Uzumaki’s legacy except for how not to adapt source material. Why the hell does this adaptation even exist in the first place? As a matter of fact, why the hell are so many of Ito’s works adapted just to be shit entirely? Is it all just for a quick cash grab? Ito deserves so much better than this.
# Review is light in spoilers what a boring slog Uzumaki was. the horror elements just did not work for me with the exception of a man crawling after a snail in episode 4 that produced just a slight shiver for like 1 second. and the story is just not told in a interactive or entertaining way. bland characters and their seemingly relaxed reaction to the bizarre things happing at time first lets talk about the art style. the art style in of itself is just not that interesting if everything else is uninteresting. art is a window into the soul of the artist and the visuals/plot/art style/settings/music and so on are just tools the artist can use to express him/herself. these can alone or together come together and express something the artist wants out there like music in of itself does does not need anything else than the music to create a experience for someone else. When watching visual media you expect that all the elements the artist put in would work together to create a pleasant experience but Uzumaki just don't. having a rotoscope art style and pretty visuals and good music does not make up for how boring episode 1 really were and having bad visuals in ep 2-3 didn't really ruin my enjoyment for those and adding in ep1s visuals would just not enhance those episodes either. its a spiral of boredom as for ep 1-2-3 and first half of 4 they are just hollow, vapid and lack emotions or anything really. im convinced there isint really a bigger message here because if so what would it be? would it be that obsession sprialing to doom? we see the dad in ep1 being obsessed with spiral, the mom obsessed with removing anything related to spirals, the guy that was peeking at the girl in i think ep 3(?) and obsessed over her, the girl that were obsessed with having the bigger hair, probably some more you get the point but why is obsession bad? thats not explored here at all. again it really just using some of these theme as a viachle for horror but again when the horror fails to work you are left with nothing. theres no comedy, no action, no romance, no deeper meaning, no waifus ye you get the point so its just boring for the second part of episode 4. i kinda explained how the snail scene managed to get some reaction out me but the last moment where the protagonist have realized that the curse have spiraled so deep that resistance is futile and accepted her fate was a beautiful moment and here the the graphic greatly enchanted that experience from the girl walking on cursed people, the big structure in the middle and how light they made the room where all working to enchant that moment. the saving grace for this serie (it still gets 1 star from me) any medium for artist to express itself comes with its upsides and downsides and one of the downside of film is that you can not choose the pace the information is delivered in. when you read a manga you yourself choose when you want to receive the next packet of information by choosing when to turn the page. this gives a interactive elements that films just dont have. [Beastialmoon ](https://anilist.co/forum/thread/77262/comment/2740703)mentioned in a thread that the tension and dread that the manga gives might be by how the author handling the information by simply making you expect the next page to be more scary/dreadful then the one your reading then choosing if you want to jump in to that scarier page or not is now in your hands. since you dont know if the next page is actually going to be scarier than the one you are reading and have no idea what its going to contain your mind is going to have to fill that in for as long as you dont turn the page which in of itself might cause dread to build up and making the work scarier than it really is. furthermore once you actually turn the page there is often a large skip in information from panel to panel since manga dont draw frame by frame your mind might fill in what happenend from one panel to the next panel which means your mind might trick you into thinking the author have a scarier surrounding than it really is (well you filling in the horror elements is the authors intention but you). if the author have crafted his horror around this interaction then there's no wonder the series fail and might be why the other of Junjis work have failed in the past aswell, they might be impossible to do a fatihful adoption to begin with. which begs the question, would a game like a telltale type of game with junjis work be kinda kino??? reading [personnel](https://anilist.co/review/25848) and [befalt](https://anilist.co/review/25846) reviews also suggests that Uzumaki might just be overrated work or have aged poorly. moments like this makes me wish i read the manga but i just could not be bothered and i i don't care about spewing BS aslong as the BS i peddle sounds cool 😎 kinda funny that the Uzumaki is so obsessed at making as much as possible be spirals but then at the end its revealed that the city's follows a cyclical pattern where a city is raised -> city is spirals into chaos -> the victim of the spiral builds spiral shaped building just to be consume by this eldritch force that's behind the curse -> city turns to dust -> repeat. not a criticism at all just though it was funny
Two days after the second episode of Uzumaki released, executive producer Jason DeMarco posted an official statement on Bluesky before deleting it shortly after. In this statement, he says that the series was almost cancelled after "one or two people screwed them over" and they had three choices: 1. Cancel it 2. Finish episode 1, cancel the rest 3. Finish episode 1, cheap out on episodes 2-4 For I'll say 90% of everyone that watches this, that's a bridge too far. And they're justified in being upset. Uzumaki was announced way too early in development and could have gotten less blowback had it been announced in 2022 instead of 2019. But hell, even if it was announced this year, it was not only Adult Swim's first direct manga adaptation but an adaptation of what is considered Junji Ito's most well-known and beloved work. Junji Ito did not let anyone adapt the manga into an anime (there is a weak live-action movie adaptation) because he didn't think any of them could pull it off until Hiroshi Nagahama, director of Mushishi and The Flowers of Evil, called. The idea was that instead of making a straight adaptation of the manga, which after a while would have been monotonous, Nagahama would kind of combine all of the best chapters of the manga into one continuing narrative, with a few small changes. This, alongside Colin Stetson doing the music (something that was announced like a year after Hereditary), is pretty much all we knew up until it actually released. I think Jason DeMarco's statement is important because, in my opinion, it completely recontextualizes Uzumaki. This isn't a scam funded by a company that should probably stop greenlighting projects after Lazarus/Rooster Fighter/a couple unannounced projects that have already started development, which I'm saying even as someone that's liked some of what they've put out (Shenmue, the FLCL sequels that aren't Grunge). This is an attempt to salvage what could've been a masterpiece. And of course, this begs a philosophical question: is it better to cancel an unfinished series and take the L, or finish it knowing it will never live up to the original expectations? The craziest part is that, if Jason DeMarco didn't say a thing, I think episodes 3 and 4 would have had better reception. Episode 2 is the only time the animation noticeably dips. Each episode is storyboarded by Hiroshi Nagahama, so it always feels like his version of Uzumaki. As a fan of the manga, this anime does a great job recreating what makes the manga so special. The feeling of everything slowly getting worse, the grotesque imagery, the human body contorting in physically impossible ways. It's all here. The highlight for me is Colin Stetson's score. He brought his A-game here. Is Uzumaki's anime great? Yes, albeit barely. If the single appeal to you is the animation then uh yeah your mileage will vary. Just keep your expectations low. For me, animation isn't the singular appeal to me, it very rarely is, so I'm able to look past that (mostly because episodes 3 & 4 look way better than episode 2) and see this anime for what it is: the best Uzumaki adaptation we're ever gonna get.