Uzumaki Has All the Makings Of an Anime Classic

The horror anime series Uzumaki might just have the makings of a classic anime series.

By Evan Valentine

Uzumaki's anime adaptation on Adult Swim has hit the ground floor running. For quite some time, many anime fans believed that adapting the works of Junji Ito to a point where a television series could live up to the mangaka's art was a nigh impossible task. Luckily, Studio Drive's latest spooky anime series has garnered quite a bit of attention as anime fans believe that they have found the ultimate horror anime. In exploring this creepy town cursed with a spiral obsession, now seems like the perfect time to explain why this Junji Ito adaptation has the makings of an anime classic with only one episode out in the wild.

To start, let's dive into Uzumaki's story. The story itself is a simple enough one as two high school lovebirds, Kirie and Shuichi, are learning that a curse has befallen their town, Kurouzu-cho. Rather than simply being stalked by a vengeful spirit or needing to ward off the advances of a hockey mask-wearing slasher, the pair are discovering that the curse appears in various unexpected and uncomfortable ways. Slug kids, spirals infesting a woman's face, a man's obsession leading to his own "twisted" demise, and many other arcs help sell Uzumaki as both an anthology-style series and a story with a haunting overture. Junji Ito has always been a master of putting to paper horror that cannot be understood and Adult Swim's Uzumaki makes good on his artistic inclinations. 

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(Photo:

Falling prey to the spiral in Uzumaki

- Adult Swim)

We Need Horror Anime

One of the major tenets as to why Uzumaki will stand the test of time is that there simply aren't enough examples of truly terrifying horror anime out there. Granted, some major anime franchises have their fair share of horrific elements, with series such as Jujutsu Kaisen, Bleach, Chainsaw Man, Death Note, and others fitting this bill but they were never quite sold as truly scary stories. Even a series like Hellsing which focuses on a gun-slinging creature of the night in Alucard can have unnerving elements while still focusing far more on its action than anything else. The creepier aspects of these series can often be lost in the fact that the protagonists have more than enough strength to combat whatever is sent their way and this certainly isn't the case with Ito's latest anime adaptation. 

In Uzumaki, the four-episode mini-series, should it manage to hit the same heights as its premiere, will give anime fans the horror that they crave. The imagery that was brought to the small screen from Ito's original pencils doesn't simply work for the series, said imagery is able to stick with you and present truly uncomfortable, skin-crawling moments that demand a rewatch. This isn't to say that Uzumaki is a perfect outing as the Adult Swim production does move at a rapid pace, though it looks to be on track to be a perennial horror classic.

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(Photo: Adult Swim)

The Junji Ito Adaption Of Our Dreams

Uzumaki is far from the first time that Junji Ito's works were brought to the screen as the likes of The Junji Ito Collection, Maniac: Junji Ito's Japanese Tales of The Macabre, and Gyo are but a few examples of the horror mangaka's works given animated life. There is certainly enjoyment to be found should you be looking to dive into any of these horror offerings for the first time but Uzumaki's black-and-white, otherworldly feel works hand-in-hand with the original manga's tone in a way that its predecessors could not. Previously, we here at ComicBook.com had the chance to rank the segments of Maniac's anthology series and in doing so, the segment, "Mold", stood above the rest. The segment presented a black-and-white, atmospheric tale that helped it to stand on even footing with Uzumaki and will hopefully have more attention drawn to it thanks to the recent Adult Swim success. 

Many anime fans were beyond disheartened that Uzumaki was indefinitely delayed for quite some time but you can see in Studio Drive's animation that the wait was worth it. There's simply no other anime adaptation on the market today that looks anything like Uzumaki, with this fact adding to its infinite appeal over time. The moody, atmosphere-dripping anime demands your attention and for us here, Uzumaki certainly has it.

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(Photo:

Kirie and Shuichi in Uzumaki 

- Adult Swim)

Hammering Home The Horror

Some anime fans might be disheartened to hear that Uzumaki is only four, thirty-minute long chapters but this works well in terms of delivering its story. While some of the original arcs might be left on the cutting room floor, the subject matter that remains works to present the story as if it were a feature-length film. Uzumaki was never a story about Kirie and Shuichi growing up in the face of horror, it's a story of survival and a creeping, celestial terror that is nigh incomprehensible. You simply won't see anything else like this in the anime world and unfortunately, this might be the case for the future as well. 

Despite Uzumaki's success, it's still not known as to whether Cartoon Network will dive further into Junji Ito's library for future projects. In a recent interview with Toonami co-creator Jason DeMarco, executive producer on Uzumaki, he stated that working on the project nearly killed the team responsible. This was both due to the ridiculously hard work placed into the series by Studio Drive and Cartoon Network along with the COVID-19 pandemic. Should this be the only Junji Ito adaptation to maintain this style, it makes the Adult Swim anime adaptation that much more special. 

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Want to see what the future holds for Uzumaki and the other twisted tales born from Junji Ito's brain? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest spooky anime updates and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Uzumaki is currently streaming on MAX, with each following episode airing on Adult Swim and Max each week. 

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