‘Uzumaki’ episode 1 review: Worth the wait

After five long years of waiting, the Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror adaptation is alive and well! Production I.G. and studio Drive have successfully brought one of the most iconic Junji Ito manga to life for Adult Swim despite the long production. Uzumaki episode 1 shows the series bringing the manga to life in an unbelievable way that any horror fan will enjoy watching. 

Uzumaki episode 1 carefully recreates the manga classic

Uzumaki revolves around the seaside town Kurouzu-cho which is seemingly plagued by spirals. The story follows Kirie Goshima, a high school girl who lives in the town, as she begins to observe how spirals are appearing throughout the town seemingly out of nowhere. Not only that, her boyfriend Shuichi Saito has noticed that his father’s obsession with spirals is increasingly becoming more intense as the days go on, collecting any item with the pattern as well as making the shape in his soup and bath before getting in. The obsession is to the point where his dad can even roll his eyes independently of each other to create spirals himself. 

Unlike other Junji Ito adaptations, Uzumaki is presented in black, white, and gray to recreate the original manga panels — which creates the same sense of doom and dread one might experience while reading. The combination of this and the 3D-esque animation brings out the best parts of the original work. It also works well from a cosmic horror point of view. Some might disagree, but the lack of color makes the show all the more creepy. Gray-washed spirals are a lot more off-putting than their brightly colored counterparts and leave you asking what exactly is wrong with them since it’s such an odd color. 

Changes are to the adaptation’s strength

The first episode is a strong start for the series. Instead of focusing on one chapter at a time, it overlays the first two, revealing the connections between characters right off the bat. This alone creates a structure that flows better for animation. It also allows the anime’s atmosphere to be more layered, building the unease slowly throughout the episode so that it never drops throughout the whole 23 minutes. By the end of the episode, the sense of doom is right there in the room with you. 

There’s a lot to say about horror anime, but not much when it comes to cosmic horror or even body horror. Uzumaki brings these genres to life and shoves them to the forefront of the fall anime season. It’s an almost magical retelling of a story that, if we’re being honest, shouldn’t work. The plot revolves around spirals, not some external enemy causing the citizens of Kurouzu-cho to flee in terror. It’s very David Cronenberg in its approach to the question, what can horror be? Both Ito’s original manga and this anime answer this question extremely well, creating a world in which a shape is a reckoning force. 

Something small but worth mentioning is the voice acting. Both the English and Japanese versions of Uzumaki are impressive. The voice actors put their all into bringing the dreadful atmosphere to life in a way that had me looking over my shoulders after I finished watching. Uki Satake and Abby Trott voice Kirie in their respective versions and do a brilliant job of bringing her and her fears to life. No matter which version you watch, you’re sure to feel the same. 

The fear of fans won’t come to pass

It’s safe to say that I was nervous for Uzumaki to premier. Other Junji Ito adaptations have, to be quite honest, fallen flat for me. While they were a good watch, there was always something missing from them. 2023’s Junji Ito Maniac: Tales of the Macabre for example left me wanting much more than what they gave me along with being disappointed with the overall animation. The delays that hit Uzumaki didn’t do it many favors, instead convincing me that the anime would fall short as the others did. But, I was pleasantly surprised while watching and am happy to say any worries or reservations I had before watching have promptly been erased. 

Uzumaki episode 1 is an amazing adaptation of Junji Ito’s original manga. The animation team put an immense amount of work into bringing the manga to life. Every scene is beautiful and shows the love that the team behind the anime has for the source material in the best way possible. Of all the Junji Ito adaptations out there, Uzumaki is possibly the most well-done one I’ve seen. Cosmic horror fans rejoice because this is the perfect series to get into for the spooky season! 

Uzumaki premieres this Saturday, September 28th, 2024 on Adult Swim, streaming the next day on Max.