Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror

Headline: Incredible style cannot save a rushed, disjointed adaptation It breaks my heart to rate Uzumaki this low after years of anticipation. Visually, the premiere episode is an absolute triumph. The choice to keep it in black and white with heavy line art perfectly honors the source material and sets a deeply unsettling mood. However, everything falls apart after that. The sudden shift in animation quality in the subsequent episodes breaks the immersion entirely. Worse, cramming the sprawling madness of Kurouzu-cho into a tiny episode count completely guts the narrative. The horror in Junji Ito's work relies on a slow, suffocating descent into madness. Here, it feels like a rushed montage of "weird things happening." Without breathing room, the dread evaporates, leaving a disjointed series of events. It's a gorgeous concept that sadly fumbled the execution.

I harbor such a deep distaste for this series it spurred this review, if that's worth anything. Its bad enough to have a bad adaptation, but we have had bad Junji Ito adaptations before. But to show that the talent was there to do it, then drop the ball so hard with episode 2 and 3. I truly hate that. The first episode shows talent in weaving chapters together, translating the manga panels to moving, horrifying images. Everything was fantastic, but there was a small hint of pacing issues that could easily be overlooked. The second episode though. Good god the second episode. The animation dropped off a clip, using cheap, stilted run cycles that just faltered so hard. The rotoscope became lazy, and everything fell apart. The thing I have seen less of though being discussed is the drop of in pacing. The first epsiode weaved together stories, horror beats and set up to future storylines well. The rushing of chapters, cutting of scenes that add/setup horror for future scenes was so poorly done the story becomes incomprehensible. The thing that set me off the most though was straight up cutting of major scenes, iconic panels not even translated, and CENSORSHIP. on ADULT swim. Adult Swim should be ashamed to have even released this.

“Uzumaki Episode 1 is a masterclass in psychological horror, easily a 5/5. What struck me most was the slow, creeping sense of dread. It doesn’t rely on cheap jump scares; instead, it builds this heavy, uncomfortable tension from the very first minute. Seeing the townspeople slowly succumb to the obsession with spirals was deeply disturbing. The sound design and music only added to the paranoia. I couldn’t look away, even when things got graphic.”

To start, in Uzumami, the main protagonist Kirie is very rootable. She doesn’t really have a personality that makes her unique, which you’ll realize a lot of Junji Ito stories suffer from. Despite this I feel she is relatable and one of the few normal characters in the show. In the anime she reacts to horrific events so fear and dread, which are normals responses to events beyond our comprehension. As the anime continues we follow through Kirie’s perspective as everything goes more and more downhill. Then her fate is rather moving as she dies with her boyfriend, after giving up. Some consider it underwhelming but it makes sense. Her family are all gone and her boyfriend, Shuuichi, is about to die before her. Her fate is sad but was weirdly a better outcome for her instead of her losing everyone she cares about while she is left all alone. I feel the start and end of the show are handled very well. The first episode takes its time as the gorgeous animation brings out the horror of the spiraling situation. Everything flows well and doesn’t feel rushed, which I can’t say for the next two episodes. The last episode feels a lot like the first and a proper send off to the anime. It is paced well and the underwhelming animation doesn’t look horrible here. I also liked the new scene that shows how the town will always loop in this time loop like state, people dying and being reincarnated as other living vessels, then the spiral continues again. It’s just two really good episodes. The acting I feel is really good. In the sub, everyone gives it them all and it shows. The dub I have heard from some YouTube clips and it’s ok. Nothing good but nothing great, which makes sense since most dubs tend to lack when compared to the original sub. I also really enjoy the soundtrack by Colin Stetson, who I was a tad shocked did the soundtrack. I really enjoyed his soundtrack for Hereditary and feel he did a good job here. The horror aspect I feel is handled mostly well. In three out of the four episodes it’s done rather well, even if the animation in the last three episodes suffer slightly. My favorite moment was the first episode where Azami takes off her hat for Kirie to see, revealing a spiral forming, eating up her eye. It’s a very well done scene and spooky! The anime’s first episode also has quite the gorgeous animation. Almost every scene feels like it was made with care, minus one of two, which is a few closeups that look off. Now for cons, some are quite obvious. First is the animation which takes a huge decline in episode 2. It’s so bad in episode 2. Everything is static, shots don’t match, and etc. It’s just so bad that it kinda ruins the episode. We can blame the higher ups as they basically forced the studio to finish the anime, or more so replace the whole studio and supposedly fire the main director. Because of this animation isn’t as good as the first episode, but I feel the anime episode 3 and onward tries more than the second episode. The anime has a bit of a pacing problem which is really prominent in the middle two episodes. They just go too fast and lack a connection with events in the anime, but tbf the manga suffers from this too. Then there is the dialogue that’s just weird. The manga and most of Ito’s work suffer from this, as the dialogue is just so weird. It doesn’t feel real at all and feels to ‘explainy’. I also find the soundtrack heavily underutilized. It’s good like I said in the pros but I just feel the soundtrack isn’t used enough. The characters are all mostly dumb or uninteresting. Shuuichi is my least favorite as he comes off really annoying as the episodes progress. I get his parents died but like…he sucks. Tbh the manga also suffers from this which isn’t shocking. Now finally my last con, which is that the show should have been longer. The anime is only four episodes which I find way too short. Twelve episodes or more probably would have been too much, so I feel six or eight episodes could have worked, but four is just too low. It’s no wonder the middle two episodes are so misguided. Now what do I think of this anime? I think it’s serviceable but still slightly disappointing. Episodes 1 and 4 are great, 2 sucks, and 3 starts too but gets like episode 2 in the second half. I recommend this anime but keep in mind the anime isn’t perfect. {Pros} - The main character Kirie is very rootable - The start and end of the show is very well done - The acting is very well done - The OST is good - Parts of the horror is handled well - The first episodes animation is gorgeous {Cons} - Animation takes a decline in the second episode and onward - The anime suffers from pacing problems - Some of the dialogue is questionable - The Soundtrack is underused - Some of the characters lack personality or just kinda suck - The show should have been longer Personal Rating - 7.0/10 IMDB Rating - 6.4/10 MAL Rating - 5.6/10

A really bad episode. The animation was really bad, the story and pacing felt so rushed, and it was not very fun to watch.

a very irritating adaptation of a great horror work.

Just finished Uzumaki and honestly… not for me. 😩 Yeah, it looks cool and all, but the pacing is so slow I almost fell asleep

As a hardcore Junji Ito fan, I was honestly impressed by how faithfully the black-and-white aesthetic captures that oppressive, nauseating feeling of inevitability. The way Shuichi’s father obsessively records spirals—especially in mundane objects like snails and ceramics—feels deeply unsettling. Still, I can’t ignore that the pacing rushes the psychological breakdown. In the manga, his descent into madness feels slower, more invasive, like it’s infecting every corner of his mind. Here, the bathtub climax hits visually, but emotionally it doesn’t linger long enough. I wanted more time to feel his paranoia build, more scenes of isolation, more subtle hints that reality itself is bending around him before he fully collapses into the spiral.

Good it's pretty good if You like horror every episode is great Even this You have to watch it this episode don't scared me for good i couldnt sleep

By this point the spiral curse feels unavoidable as the entire town starts showing signs of decay and madness. The visuals become more chaotic with spirals appearing in architecture and the environment, making Kurouzu feel like it is slowly being consumed by the pattern.

The horror shifts toward more disturbing body changes as the spiral curse begins affecting people directly. The animation leans into grotesque shapes and unnatural movement, turning simple scenes into unsettling visuals that feel straight out of Ito’s manga panels.

The town of Kurouzu starts feeling infected by the spiral pattern. People behave strangely as the motif appears everywhere, from objects to nature. The eerie atmosphere builds through distorted body horror and quiet dread rather than loud scares.

The episode premieres with a heavy black and white aesthetic that instantly nails Junji Ito’s unsettling tone. Shuichi’s father becomes obsessed with spirals, and the imagery slowly creeps into everyday life. The slow pacing and warped visuals are a cinematic treat.

Episode two was even more horrific than the first episode in the best way possible. As a fan of the manga, this episode was a spot-on adaptation. It's beautifully grotesque, capturing the essence of the manga, paced out in a way that makes my head spin like spirals in the show.

the spiral curse finally goes full cosmic horror and Kirie and Shuichi's fate is genuinely haunting. but 19 manga chapters crammed into 4 eps shows hard here. the ending lands but you can feel all the story they had story they had to skip 🌀

slight animation improvement. the mosquito women and placenta hospital scenes are peak gross out Ito. . too much story crammed in, not enough time to let the dread sink in 🌀

Kirie's hair spiraling out of control and Katayama's snail transformation are peak Ito body horror. Colin Stetson's sound design is doing a lot of heavy lifting this ep. the animation drop from ep 1 tho. :(

finally a Junji Ito adaptation that actually gets it. the black and white animation is stunning and Kirie and Shuichi's town already feels deeply wrong from the jump. Shuichi's dad's spiral obsession alone is nightmare fuel. pacing is a bit rushed but the dread is real 🌀