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