Uzumaki Review: The Perfect Junji Ito Adaptation

Since the horror master Junji Ito first picked up his pen to draw manga that would send shivers down readers’ spines, it has appeared impossible to adapt the mangaka’s works. Thanks to the level of detail and skin-crawling imagery that Ito has employed throughout the decades, anime adaptations have tried, but for the most part failed, to bring the artist’s works to life in relation to fan expectations. All that has changed with Toonami, Studio Drive, and Production I.G.’s Uzumaki, as the limited series has done what many believed was impossible, capturing the essence of Junji Ito’s art and created the perfect anime for the Halloween season.

Uzumaki follows the two high-school teenagers Kirie and Shuichi. The pair live in a mountain town where things are beginning to go awry in some unexpected ways. In the first episode of the anime adaptation, viewers are given glimpses into how an obsession with spirals can become horrifying abominations that twist and distort the villagers unfortunate enough to fall under their sway. As things continue to get worse, Shuichi and Kirie need to survive and see if it is even possible to dodge a curse that has unexpected ramifications for the town and its residents.

Uzumaki’s plot is a strong one, in terms of Junji Ito’s overall horror library. Often, the series is considered one of the horror artist’s greatest works, and for good reason. While it does have its two main characters in Shuichi and Kirie, it will often branch out from them and tell the stories of handfuls of characters unfortunate enough to be cursed in rather unique ways. This works in a way to create an anthology-style tale that is also cohesive in its overall plot. Shuichi, for example, is dragged into a specific curse thanks to his father’s obsession with spirals, as the young boy even explains to his girlfriend how ridiculous it sounds on the surface, while documenting how terrifying it is to see it with his own eyes. That’s Ito’s work in a nutshell; concepts that, on paper, sound hilarious but put into practice, make for the stuff of nightmares.   

What works so well about the horror aspect here is how unsettling so many of the moments are in relation to the “spiral curse.” For example, Shuichi’s mother, in an effort to “escape” her husband’s obsession post-mortem, begins cutting off her own fingertips to eliminate spirals from her body. A young boy is transforming into a slug in an embarrassing yet skin-crawling way that hits close to home for those who might have been bullied. Perhaps the creepiest of all in the first episode is a young girl who has a mark on her forehead that has long since benefited her romantic life but begins to grow and distort in such a way that it has become one of Ito’s most recognizable images to this day. 

Of course, we would be remiss to not touch upon the animation style used here to perfectly capture Junji Ito’s art style. Studio Drive incorporates both 2-D and CG animation to bring the story to life and, obviously, it’s no easy feat to recreate the work of the horror master, yet the production house does so. The characters themselves appear to have something of a “marionette” style that adds to the creepiness factor of the series, while the animation perfectly captures the uneasiness of the curse lying in wait. The world itself feels like it’s “breathing,” ready to pounce and to heighten the horror to levels that will drag viewers in. Past attempts at fulfilling the promise of adapting Ito’s works have fallen flat in countless respects but that assuredly is not the case here.  

Musical artist Colin Stetson was an inspired choice to create the soundtrack for Uzumaki, as the saxophonist’s tracks work well in once again lending to a feeling of uneasiness in the portrayal of the cursed town. Stetson’s work helps to set the mood and exquisitely accompanies the madness that is a part of the series. On top of the soundtrack, both the Japanese and English Dub work is stellar here, so its up to anime fans which method they’ll want to experience Uzumaki in when it begins on Adult Swim on September 28th. 

Horror anime is something that viewers don’t nearly get enough of and so it is beyond satisfying to finally see what might be the perfect example of the genre arrive right in time for the spooky season. Adult Swim’s Uzumaki might have taken years to finally arrive but it was beyond worth the wait. Junji Ito’s latest anime endeavor is sure to be one that anime fans will revisit on an annual basis when Halloween rolls around and we can’t wait to dig our teeth into the rest of the four-episode miniseries following its premiere. 

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Uzumaki premieres on Adult Swim on August 28th.