Here’s What The Uzumaki Anime Got Right, And Where It Fell Flat

Junji Ito is no stranger to controversial anime adaptations. The Junji Ito Collection anthology series from last year bombed among manga fans for destroying the ambiance Junji Ito is famous for. Other attempts at adapting his work have met a similar fate; the Gyo movie is almost universally hated for the same reason. Junji Ito’s horror manga is so successful because of a unique, eerie, and unsettling atmosphere that no one else in the horror manga space has come close to mastering. This, unfortunately, also means no one in the anime space has managed to adapt his works ‘properly’, due to the uniqueness of his style being hard to convey or recreate in a traditional anime style.

This is where the recent Uzumaki adaptation comes in. Done in the original black-and-white manga-esque artstyle, and initially with scene-by-scene accuracy, one would think this adaptation finally did Junji Ito justice. But this 4-episode mini-series seems to have angered and upset many fans, for completely new reasons than previous Junji Ito adaptations. Is this just a case of fans being too picky, or is it really impossible to properly adapt Junji Ito’s work?

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The Anime Showed Promise, But…

Did All The Effort Go Into The First Episode?

One of the biggest complaints of this adaptation was the change in quality throughout the episodes. The first episode was practically revered online; the animation was flawless and smooth, with frames that looked almost exactly like the manga panels they were adapting. The dialogue lines were exactly as they were in the manga. It was every Junji Ito fan’s dream, seeming to finally coming true. Junji Ito’s horror largely relies on imagery and aesthetics to convey its terror. The problems don’t begin to show until after the first episode. There is a noticeable drop in quality starting with the second episode and continuing throughout the rest of the limited series.

The details become less intricate, outside of notable iconic scenes from the original manga, like the Tongue Spiral and Azami’s moon-shaped scar that swallows her face, which remained the same quality as the first episode originally established. This indicated the drop in quality to be somewhat intentional or at least acknowledged by staff on the series, as the same level of care and attention was given to specific iconic scenes from the manga and therefore still obtainable under the right circumstances. While there are theories that this is due to understaffing or an overworked team with limited time, which are the same theories are attributed to how the show was delayed multiple times, there are no confirmed reasons for this noticeable drop in quality or recognition of this from the staff that worked on the anime.

Did The Anime Make Up For That?

It Depends On The Audience

When it comes to diehard Junji Ito fans, as a whole, they are not happy with this adaptation. While most agree this is the best Junji Ito adaptation so far, they also generally agree it loses the magical, horror spark Junji Ito is known for. The quiet eerieness and intense uneasiness that builds when a reader is flipping from one extreme page to the next of Junji Ito’s manga still proves to be an impossible feat to match for someone watching a smoothly and consistently-paced anime with clean linework and background music.

That said, the anime seems to be incredibly popular with horror enthusiasts unfamiliar with the source material. On its own, it has a very unique style of horror that’s hard to come by, in animated form, and easily accessible on Netflix for horror fans everywhere. It still has a cohesive story with weird twists and turns (pun intended) the average horror audience isn’t used to, comingling with an incredibly unique form of body horror. Animated horror is also hard to come by, which is why many horror fans have jumped at the chance to watch, and along the way, looked over smaller grievances for such a novelty to the genre.

Will There Ever Be A Universally Acclaimed Junji Ito Adaptation?

Probably Not, But This Is What It Would Take To Happen

Like what was touched on earlier in this article, Junji ito has a deeply specific style in his horror manga that is seemingly impossible to replicate. A lot of the problem lies in the art style that contributes to the horrific scenes and moments in his stories. Another issue is the pacing; often Junji Ito hops from one topic to another to draw out the suspense, something that would not work in a typically linear form of storytelling that is preferred by anime audiences.

A large majority of Junji Ito’s works are short stories, and while Uzumaki is an exception to that rule, other adaptations of Junji Ito’s work might serve better as short films or anthologies. While that won’t be as liked by the general audience, this is likely the only path to accuracy. If the quality of the first episode of the Uzumaki series could be combined with an anthology or short film format for future Junji Ito adaptations, it might bridge the gap between general horror audiences and Junji Ito superfans. There is only one way to find out, however.

You can watch Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror on Max, the HBO streaming service.

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror is an adaptation of Junji Ito’s acclaimed manga, directed by Hiroshi Nagahama. The series unfolds in the town of Kurôzu-cho where inexplicable events related to spirals plague the inhabitants, leading to terror and madness. Highlighting the psychological and supernatural, the show follows high school student Kirie Goshima and her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, as they confront the spiraling horrors that engulf their town.

Based On

Manga

Creator

Junji Ito

Number of Episodes

4

Streaming Service(s)

Adult Swim , Max

MyAnimeList Score

6.11