I read a lot of horror, and not a single book has ever scared me.
Except, that is, for Junji Ito's masterpiece, Uzumaki, which made my skin crawl from cover to cover. I've already discussed Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre on Netflix, and how it’s a great entryway into the world of Junji Ito. But now, I want people to experience the real deal.
Which is why I'm so hopeful for Toonami's long-delayed adaptation of Uzumaki, which has literally been years in the making. It received a fairly recent trailer (well, recent compared to the teaser we got four years ago), and I've been looking forward to this more than any other anime ever (even more than my beloved Attack on Titan, back when I was still waiting for its conclusion). Here’s why.
Uzumaki Is My Favorite Manga Of All Time
I’d definitely consider myself more an anime-watcher than a manga-reader, but every now and then, I hunker down and read a good series. I’m currently re-reading Attack on Titan, but I’ve also read many Lone Wolf and Cub stories, a big chunk of Berserk, most of the East Blue Saga of One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, Akira, and Fist of the North Star, just to name a few.
But nothing, and I mean nothing, has impacted me like Junji Ito’s Uzumaki. And, in a lot of ways, I regret that it was the first work of his that I read. This is because Tomie, Gyo, and Dissolving Classroom, which are his other books that I’ve gotten through, just didn’t strike me in the same way as Uzumaki, which haunted me to my very bones.
For those who are hearing of this story for the first time, it’s basically about a town overrun with spirals. Our protagonist is a teenager named Kirie, but it primarily focuses on her boyfriend, Shuichi, whose family is the first we really see to be impacted by the curse that seems to be haunting this town.
At first, it’s Shuichi’s father, who becomes obsessed with spirals to the point where he…well, I won’t spoil it here, but the image in the manga literally made me sick to my stomach. And then, from there, the story, er, spirals out of control all the way to one of the most distressing endings I can think of to any story.
And, I want to see all of that on television. Yes, Ito is a master storyteller through the visual medium, and I could definitely “see” the story moving on the page. But, I really want to view the story with actual motion, and I also can’t wait to hear all of the distressing sounds that this bizarre story will likely produce.
There was actually already a live-action movie of Uzumaki, and it was okay. But, I definitely wouldn’t call it one of the greatest horror movies of all time, which is why I want this new Toonami four episode miniseries to be great, since I finally want the scariest book I’ve ever read to get the special treatment.
The Visual Style Looks Like No Other I've Ever Seen
I love anime, especially from the ‘80s and ‘90s, and one thing that I’ve noticed is how color can play such a huge role in storytelling. I say this because a vast majority of manga is in black and white, so this greatly impacts the way these stories are told. In a sense, even though most of the manga I read is fairly recent, because they’re in black and white, they still make me feel like they’re stories told from before I was born, since I associate black and white with the past.
For example, I love black and white movies, but most of the ones I’ve seen are from way back when. So, when I see a movie like, say Clerks (which is arguably Kevin’s Smith’s best movie), it doesn’t really feel like it’s from the ‘90s for me, even though it is. No, the movie actually feels timeless, since black and white usually has that effect on me.
The same can be said for this adaptation of Uzumaki, which, instead of colorizing the story, looks to be told in the same black and white format that we see in the manga. This makes it look totally unique from other anime that I’ve seen, which usually lean hard into the colorization to make them stand out.
At the same time, this black and white style also makes the movement seem more fluid, and like the manga has come to life, which is something that I’m both looking forward to, but also dreading, since some of the scenes in the original story really made me nauseous.
I Want More People To Be Introduced To The World Of Junji Ito
My introduction to Ito actually came from a YouTube video by the content creator, Matttt, and I’m so grateful that I found his video because it opened me up to a world of manga that I never would have even imagined. I’ve since looked into other horror authors in the field, such as Gao Tanabe, Masaaki Nakayama, and the OG, Kazuo Umezu, but I so want other people to get into horror manga just like I have.
As I said earlier, Ito is a great gateway. That said, I think Uzumaki in particular is an excellent jumping off point, because the story is just so bizarre, but also so accessible at the same time.
It's told in bite-sized chunks, where we gradually get to know not only the town, but its inhabitants and their reaction to the spirals.
There’s one segment in particular that seriously haunts me to this very day, and it involves a lovelorn admirer who gets run over by a car, with his whole body getting bent into an unnatural, hideous formation.
I know it might sound weird to hear, but I can’t wait for other people to be as grossed out and as squeamish as I was when I first saw that scene in the manga. It’s terrible, but in the best sort of way!
Other Junji Ito Adaptations, While Admirable, Didn’t Fully Capture His Work. This Looks Like It Does
I already mentioned Maniac, as well as the Uzumaki movie, and they’re fine, but one I didn’t mention was the 1998 Tomie adaptation, which is surprisingly effective. That said, I still don’t think any adaptation (that I’ve seen, at least) has truly captured his haunting style.
There’s just something about how his work on the page doesn’t fully translate over to the screen for some reason. Take, for example, one of Ito’s greatest stories, “The Hanging Balloons.” It was covered in Maniac, and it was thoroughly creepy, but it’s much creepier on the page, and I feel like this adaptation of Uzumaki, which looks to replicate the story perfectly, will finally truly capture the master's work like no other.
Really, it all depends on if the four episodes cover the book in its entirety, but if it does (and I don’t see why it couldn’t), then I truly do believe that this will be the best Junji Ito adaptation yet.
What do you think? Are you as excited for Uzumaki as I am?
