Junji Ito is one of the most prolific manga creators among fans as his horror stories often have highly memorable imagery. Ito’s works have been making their way to anime and live-action adaptations in the last few years, but now we have one of the most promising adaptations yet. Adult Swim has announced during Crunchyroll Expo that they are partnering with Production I.G. for a special anime mini-series based on Junji Ito’s famous Uzumaki story.
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Production IG CEO Maki Terashima Furuta announced that the new series will be a four episode mini-series that will be premiering on Toonami in 2020 before its official premiere in Japan. You can check out the trailer for the newly announced Uzumaki special above!
This new mini-series will be directed by Hiroshi Nagahama (Mushishi, The Flowers of Evil), with music composed by Colin Stetson (Hereditary), and the best part? The new anime will be entirely in black and white! The first teaser trailer for the mini-series captures the fear of the fog coming into Kurozu-cho, and one can imagine just how the series’ original ghastly visuals will be adapted for this new stylish series. It’s going to be a major series for fans of Junji Ito and horror anime!
Originally created by Junji Ito for Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits in 1998, Uzumaki takes place in a small town suddenly plagued by a mysterious curse involving spirals. Viz Media has licensed Uzumaki for an English language release, and they describe it as such:
“Kurozu-cho, a small fog-bound 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 According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the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 everything from seashells and whirlpools in water to the spiral marks on people’s bodies, the insane obsessions of Shuichi’s father and the voice from the cochlea in our inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurozu-cho are pulled ever deeper into a whirlpool from which there is no return!”
Junji Ito’s works have definitely seen a major boon over the last couple of years as his work have begun to make their way into adaptations. Last year saw a few of his short stories being adapted into the Junji Ito Collection anthology anime series, and soon Tomie will be getting a live-action adaptation from The Hills Have Eyes director Alexandre Aja.
