Uzumaki Is A Spiral Into Disappointment

Adult Swim released the first teaser on August 30, 2019, for its animated adaptation of Junji Ito’s horror masterpiece, Uzumaki (2024). Uzumaki tells the tale of Kurôzu-cho, a small town cursed by spirals. These spirals become an object of obsession for the townspeople, which eventually evolves into supernatural chaos. Ito masterfully evokes cosmic dread with his storytelling and terror and his classic depiction of body-horror. The adaptation’s announcement left fans of Ito intrigued and excited, but many worried if it could faithfully capture the disturbing nature of Ito’s work. Five years later, Production I.G and Cartoon Network completed the four-episode miniseries, which aired from September 28 to October 19. Uzumaki’s first episode exceeded expectations, but the miniseries ultimately suffered from inconsistent quality and poor pacing.

Previous animated adaptations of Ito’s work have also left fans disappointed. Junji Ito Collection (2018) and Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023) both adequately adapted Ito’s stories, but the quality of art and animation fell flat. In some cases, fans felt that the still illustrations in Ito’s work felt more alive than the animations themselves. Many fans lamented the series’ use of color over Ito’s iconic black and white, suggesting that the monochrome aspect of Ito’s illustrations adds to their creepy appeal. Adult Swim’s adaptation takes these criticisms into consideration, preserving the manga’s black and white.

The Uzumaki miniseries is an ode to the original, not just a remake. Under director Hiroshi Nagahama, the first episode of Uzumaki was created using rotoscoping and computer-generated images (CGI). Rotoscope animation is the technique of tracing over live-action video. As a result, the episode feels as though Ito’s illustrations have come to life, perfectly capturing the likeness of Ito’s iconic art style. The rotoscope animation creates a unique, lifelike feel that only adds to the uncanny nature of the story. The stylized art contrasts with realistic movements, reinforcing the show’s eerie ambiance.

However, the highly anticipated second episode was disastrous. Many scenes in the second episode abandoned the rotoscoping technique used in the first episode, creating scenes that were animated stiffly. There is also no consistency in art style, and the quality differs drastically from scene to scene, making it difficult for the viewer to immerse themself in the story and be shaken by its horror. The credits reveal that Nagahama, who helped direct episode one, did not work on episode two. Instead, 24 animation directors leading nine different studios were responsible for episode two, explaining the inconsistency between scenes. Episodes three and four improve in consistency, but do not rival episode one in animation quality. Though Nagahama returned for episode four, the long list of animation directors once again resulted in varying quality.

The original Uzumaki consists of 19 chapters, depicting a slow descent into madness as increasingly unbelievable events turn the main characters’ lives upside down. The miniseries, however, adapts that content into just four episodes. Nagahama’s vision for the project was similar to Ito’s: with every episode, the pacing would increase to mimic the motion of a spiral. However, with only four episodes, the overall pacing of the story increases dramatically. The first episode already begins at a fast pace, featuring a combination of the first four chapters; each event happens simultaneously rather than consecutively. Many believe this doesn't faithfully capture the slow, spiral-like pacing of the original. The second episode occurs at an even faster pace than the first, cramming five chapters of content into a single episode. There is no time for the viewer to truly feel the horror of one event before the story moves on to another. Nagahama’s vision could have been executed more cohesively if certain chapters were excluded entirely. The series abandons Ito’s element of dread for the sake of iconic scenes, which ultimately don’t create the same terrifying effect because of poor pacing. 

Despite the madness of Uzumaki’s art and pacing, Colin Stetson’s soundtrack brings another dimension to the series. Stetson, who created soundtracks for contemporary horror films Hereditary (2018) and The Menu (2022), meticulously composed Uzumaki’s soundtrack with spirals in mind. Stetson uses sounds that evoke expectations, pushing and pulling, drawing in the listener like a spiral. For instance, Stetson’s “Eerily in the Dark” endlessly alternates between loud and quiet sounds and features a persistent ticking sound that creates suspense.

In a now-deleted post on Bluesky, executive producer Jason DeMarco revealed that the show was “screwed over” with only three options: “A) not finish and air nothing and call it a loss, B) Just finish and air ep 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C.” DeMarco’s statement was cryptic, but he claimed that “someone is definitely at fault” for the issues in production. 

Though the teams that contributed to Uzumaki undoubtedly worked hard, the promising adaptation fell short of expectations, once again leaving fans wondering if Ito can ever be successfully adapted. The last three episodes are discouraging, but the first episode proves that with proper budget and time, it is possible. Uzumaki was an ambitious project that pushed the boundaries of adapting Ito; its downfall doesn’t lie in a “Junji Ito adaptation curse.” The true horror of Adult Swim’s Uzumaki lies in its mismanagement, which overshadows the success of its first episode.