The highly anticipated anime adaptation of Uzumaki released its first episode on Sept. 28, exciting die-hard fans of the manga. The manga was initially released in August 1998 and ended in 1999. The animation and story immediately captured the attention of horror fans.
Within the first episode, the anime sets itself apart from other horror anime through its lack of color, giving the impression that the story has been directly brought to life from the manga panels. The anime’s opening consists of a spiral that shapes itself into the word “Uzumaki,” which is not a technique often seen in anime. The overall animation is fluid, and the contrast of the art style uses unique shading to bring out the disturbing essence of the work.
The story centers around two main characters, Kirie Goshima and her boyfriend Shuichi Saito. In the mysterious, small town of Kurouzu-Cho, both characters bear witness to the unknown spiral curse driving those around them into chaos and further madness, embodying the visual form and representation of “Uzumaki,” meaning spiral.
Accompanying the animation, the tone and mood are also set by the subtly dark music. As scenes become more disturbing, the music becomes more intense to express the monstrosity happening on screen.
Manga writer Junji Ito conveys that simple things in everyday life constantly drive people insane. He demonstrates this by intentionally placing spirals everywhere in the art. They are included in simple, everyday objects, showing that it’s near impossible to escape, which further drives the townspeople mad.
Each character affected by the curse slowly morphs into a spiral, consuming them slowly from within. The gradual change of the curse’s effects transforms these characters into disturbing images. As this happens, the characters become less recognizable, in terms of their personality and physical features, further capturing the madness and insanity.
Though the curse of the spiral becomes flagrant, most of the town refuses to acknowledge that something unusual is happening. It seems that Shuichi and Kirie are the most aware that the town is being affected. By doing so, Ito reveals that we refuse to acknowledge problems in our society, and as a result, we slowly lose pieces of ourselves.
While Kirie and her boyfriend have survived the effects of the curse, the anime has not yet revealed why they have not been driven to insanity like the other characters. This leaves the audience puzzled over what makes them unique compared to the other victims.
The hype for Uzumaki quickly died down after the second episode came out. Problems within the art style and animation were noticeable, which upset fans who waited years, even decades, to see the manga adapted for the screen. While the visuals are still disturbing, by episode three, the pacing slowed down, leaving audience members with feelings of boredom and disappointment.
Looking at the ending credits, the first episode was animated by studio Fugaku while the second and third ones were animated by studio Akatsuki. The differences in studios may be the reason for disappointment. Fans worry that the story’s depth will be ruined by this change.
While the hype for the anime adaptation has decreased, fans still have the option of reading the manga to experience the unique story that has kept fans waiting decades for an anime release. Though he created Uzumaki, Ito himself does not have a concise definition of what the spiral curse is. This leaves room for fans to connect and interpret what the curse is.
