‘Uzumaki’ Review: Junji Ito’s Spiral Into Horror

“Uzumaki,” the serialized manga by the universally praised Junji Ito, is a lesser known pillar of horror storytelling. Ito’s episodic spiral into horror is available in a single, deluxe edition for readers all over the world to enjoy. Recently, Production I.G. USA, Adult Swim, Akatsuki, and Drive collaborated to adapt ‘Uzumaki’ into a mini-series available to stream on HBO Max.

The manga delivers remarkable, chilling and masterful illustrations of a seaside Japanese town, psychological madness and creative, spiral-shaped body-horror. Beyond the creepy images, “Uzumaki” ingeniously wrestles with nature’s inscrutable violence, crumbling social order, individualism and life itself.

The artwork of “Uzumaki” is a breathtaking mixture of beautiful and grotesque, and always effective in its decisive linework. The story moves forward with a bingeable, bite-sized quality while maintaining a strong through-line and steady sense of escalation. While the character development may be arguably lacking, the episodic nature of the story flourishes.

Safely under the umbrella of graphic novels, “Uzumaki” would make for an unforgettable foray into the world of Japanese manga for those unfamiliar with the artform. In any respect, it’s a thoroughly impressive work from the late 1990s that maintains originality and relevance.

‘Uzumaki’ Summary: Descent Into Collective Madness

Our main character, Kirie Goshima, recounts the strange events that happened in her seaside hometown, Kurouzu-Cho. Kirie’s boyfriend, Shuichi, attends high school outside of town. This physical distance allows Shuichi to notice Kurouzu-Cho changing. When Shuichi’s father develops an obsession with spirals, a chain of events unfurl that eventually envelop the entire town in dreadful, mysterious occurrences.

Some of these occurrences include cremated human remains forming spiral clouds in the sky, residents developing spiral snail shells on their backs, and spiral hurricanes drawn toward a whirlpooling pond in the center of town.

These seemingly independent events all have the spiral shape in common. On the surface, these connections may seem skin-deep, but the subtext and themes that tie these events together don’t just defy rational explanation; they transcend it. As the mystery of these spiral events unfold, any attempt at a grand explanation seems less and less likely. Looking for a “why” amidst the chaos becomes a fruitless endeavor. The insights into human nature and nature itself are often simple, sometimes profound, and collectively timeless.

Audience and Genre: Digestible Manga for Fans of Horror

Horror exists as a genre in nearly every artistic medium, and manga is no different. Manga has certainly grown in popularity recently in the United States, with shonen like “One Piece” and “Naruto” being among the most popular in America. Like in film, high-concept horror is typically a smaller, male-skewed subgenre in manga.

“Uzumaki” was released as part of a subgenre called ‘seinen.’ Seinen essentially refers to a particular corner of the manga world. It’s for adults, often male, and tends to carry a reputation of balancing high-concepts with graphic violence. It’s considered more high-brow than the typical young adult and commercialized “shonen” horrors like “Alice In Borderland.” Ito himself plainly refers to himself as a horror manga writer in an interview with Crunchyroll. He said, “although I write horror manga, I want the reader to have an uncanny feeling more than fright. That sense of wonder, which also comes up in sci-fi.”

Over the decades, the work of Junji Ito has gained a global cult following of all genders. In recent years, portions of his library have made their way into the forefront of digital streaming, appearing on Netflix and HBO Max. Manga has seen a steady surge among American teens since the late 1990s.

Due to its unmatched horror vision, ‘Uzumaki’ has proven its potential to expand its reach through time, format and audience. The stories are inspired by the literary works of H.P. Lovecraft, and may invoke similar feelings to films like “Annihilation” (based on a book trilogy).

Granted, the work of Junji Ito is arguably a subgenre unto itself. Due to the level of unique strangeness, graphic violence and foreign origin, Ito’s work managed to stay on the fringes of American pop-culture until recent years. For those willing to get a little daring in their reading, “Uzumaki” is full of dark intrigue.

Book Aesthetic: Elemental and Eerie, With Unexplained Color Page Sections

Juni Ito’s artistic style is largely his own, not necessarily in character design, but in his brand of horror. His style is revealed in subtle suggestions of mood and line work, and in his demented imagination. In ‘Uzumaki,’ there is little gradient in tones. Nearly all mid range light is simulated through simple but painstakingly precise hatching (parallel lines) to create realistic shading. Beyond clever and fundamental shading techniques, it’s either black, white, or middle gray. An entire world is completely and believably rendered in three shades.

Color is used with extreme rarity throughout, and no discernible rhyme or reason. The deluxe edition begins with four pages of color-images before switching to black and white. Chapter 7, “Jack-In-The-Box” and chapter 13, “The House,” also begin with four color pages. Feel free to let us know if you have a theory of why this pattern exists! Perhaps they mark the beginnings of the older, three-volume release?

The inner covers of the deluxe edition are also in color. The front cover is minimalistic and effective with black and white only, except a bright red spiral beneath the title. The subtle image of Kirie’s spiral-cursed hair in “Medusa” is featured in a black-gray negative. The back cover is equally concise and mood-oriented. It conveys itself with graceful consideration.

Perspective: Young Woman Observing Chaos

Kirie recalls the largely vignetted stories that comprise Uzumaki. Despite all the information supposedly coming from her, Kirie’s role in the stories varies widely. In some cases, she’s at the very center. In others, it seems impossible that she could know what certain characters are saying. In many, she is a spectator within the town, as anyone might be.

Being a largely visual medium, manga and graphic novels inherently blend traditional narrative styles with the more objective view of a series of panels, using visual perspective to suggest tone and more. The presence of an “eye” or camera creating what we see, along with Kirie’s narration, makes it harder to pin down the exact level of reliability in the perspective of the story.

The general lack of reliability of Kirie as the narrator, however, is used to a pointed purpose. Before a full suspension of disbelief, the stories start more grounded, with Kirie more present. As stories unfold beyond her, her reach is extended by the sense of small community gossip as well as an eerie, metaphysical connection the spiral has to every single living thing in the town.

Three Cs: Compelling, Clear, Concise

Editorial Note: We believe these three factors are important for evaluating general writing quality across every aspect of the book. Before you get into further analysis, here’s a quick breakdown to clarify how we’re using these words:

• Compelling: Does the author consistently write in a way that would make most readers emotionally invested in the book’s content?
• Clear: Are most sentences and parts of the book easy enough to read and understand?
• Concise: Are there sections or many sentences that could be cut? Does the book have pacing problems?

Compelling: Singular Style

Visuals drive ‘Uzumaki,’ and they do so in a way that conveys great detail, nuanced reactions to emotionally complex situations and, perhaps most-importantly, unsettling, spiral-related fates. Some may find Kirie to be undeveloped, and Shuichi a bit one-sided. Nonetheless, there is enough interaction with them and their families to develop a sense of empathy. Watching them try to deduce what’s going on and react to the horrors they experience makes them our vehicle for emotion. The characters are perhaps less active than they could be, but not without ties to the larger themes. Shuichi is grief-stricken and quickly of the belief that nothing can be done to escape the spiral. Kirie is both a guide and less attuned avatar for readers.

Clear: Simple on the Surface, Complicated Beneath

The events of the stories are never in question. In the most basic sense, the events of the plot unfold with undeniable clarity. Similarly, some of the smaller themes within a few short stories border on childish (the late student becomes a snail). But the piece as a whole is purposefully difficult, if not impossible, to completely figure out.

Concise: A Fast 600 Pages, Despite Spiral Repetition

From story to story, the pace is break-neck fast, rarely bothering with lengthy exposition or filler. Because the story was told episodically over time, reading them all at once, while easy to do, runs the risk of the story feeling repetitive. Then again… spirals are repetitive!

Dialogue and narration were second to the images, rightly so, but words filled in the gaps with well-tuned brevity and clarity. Despite being a visual medium, making 600 pages feel quick to consume is no easy feat.

‘Uzumaki’ Character Development: Blank Slates of Morality

While Kirie and Shuichi are compelling, they face little throughout the story that forces them to grow or change. Rather, their struggles encourage them to stay the same, perhaps to no avail. The spiral transforms people who, in some way, usually succumb to a lower nature or indulge in selfishness. By fighting change and simply enduring, Kirie and Shuichi remain free of the spirals’ influence for as long as possible. Many of the side characters serve as fairly straightforward, allegorical devices. These moral messages become complicated when, for example, pregnant mothers begin sacrificing strangers for their babies.

Considering “Uzumaki” was released in a serial magazine, and the story is about the effects on an entire town, it feels arguably realistic that a pair of relatively ordinary teens don’t experience profound transformation during a time when literal transformation is violent and profoundly scary. Kirie takes active steps to avoid the spiral, sometimes at the cost of individuality. There’s an element of needing to fall in line and be a perfect, invisible citizen… until being a good citizen means joining the spiral.

Story: Twisted and Alluring Episodes That Link Together

Junji Ito manages to keep each chapter relatively self-contained, achieving genuine short-term satisfaction out of quick stories. At the same time, the more you read, the more the individual tragedies build towards something huge. Every step closer is an increasing degree of unpredictable madness. The sheer impossibility of every story can feel more mesmerizing than traditionally scary. Inevitably, there’s a victory of storytelling achieved here, whether or not any individual reader cares to make it through the entire collection. One or more chapters is almost certain to elicit an emotional response, if nothing more than a grimace at a visual reveal.

Even if a chapter and its horrifying images amount to little more than a vague warning of “don’t always seek to be the center of attention,” the collection as a whole points toward much deeper, grander ideas.

Without spoiling, suffice it to say that the existence of the spirals is remnant of the black box analogy. We may be able to see inputs and outputs as we do in nature, but actually seeing inside? Truly knowing the inner-workings is impossible, and that’s what gives this collection of horror shorts its larger story. It’s not just having Kirie and Shuichi that allows the story to feel full; it’s the breadth of symbolism and town-sized scale that makes “Uzumaki” feel like a complete story.

Prose Style: In Illustrated Books, Does Onomatopoeia Count as Prose?

Non-dialogue prose doesn’t necessarily exist in “Uzumaki.” Manga is a visual medium, and therefore tends to rely less on word-description. It’s worth it, though, to take a moment to appreciate the translations of Ito’s onomatopoeia. The “klaketta, klaketta” of a train pulling into Kurouzu Station, the “Fsssssh” of heavy rain, and the “SHEEEOOO” and “eeeyoooeeyoo” of many-a-vortex throughout are appreciated.

Dialogue: Helpful If Not Expository

The consistent dialogue exchanges sometimes resort to wooden explanations to give clarity to images. This dynamic is common in graphic novels, comics and manga, but not inherently necessary. A number of lines of dialogue are just devices to help clarify images, like, “Look, a trail,” over an image of snail slime. In the flow of a read however, some of those lines feel appropriate, even helpful.

“Uzumaki”s’ characters have distinct vocabularies and manners of speaking. Similar to the way actors can make lines sing, the accompanying imagery does wonders to assist and blend with the dialogue exchanges. The episodic nature of “Uzumaki” may have detracted from opportunities to get to know Kirie and Shuichi better individually and as a pair through longer conversations.

Manga (and anime) in English has a way of sounding extremely information-heavy. Seeing hand-drawn Japanese characters on a page reciting expository dialogue can feel dense and dishonest for unfamiliar readers. Without accompanying voice acting, it may seem even more stiff. For those familiar with it, it can take on a flow and style of its own.

‘Uzumaki’ Setting: A Main Character

The small, tucked away, seaside town of Kurouzu-Cho is essential to the plot and tone of “Uzumaki.” Everything takes place within its borders, a crucial rule of the strange magic of the spirals. The architecture and terrain may be unfamiliar to some. Despite the ominous and isolated nature of little Kurouzu-Cho, it feels mundane — beautiful and yet unremarkable. From the decayed row houses to the hills and ocean sandwiching the coastal town, this setting is baked into nearly every image. Dragonfly Pond, at the center of Kurouzu-Cho, also plays a pivotal role in the story.

The mysterious, fictitious nature of the town is drilled deep into the magic of the spirals. While we’re ultimately left to speculate, the class divides present in some of the stories and the depiction of the row houses lend to the moral lens of critique for ‘Uzumaki.’ For the more nuanced, arguably deeper and more elusive interpretation, the setting lends itself to an ancient history that likely transcends humanity.

Rhetoric: Fight the Inevitable

Some of the succinct lessons to be gleaned from the chapters within “Uzumaki” border on alarmingly traditional. Is there supposed to be a sense of karmic justice for a lazy, late student to essentially melt into a grotesque snail alongside his bully? Should a femme-fatale-type teen girl be sucked into herself for playing with the hearts of young men? As the stories progress, any sense of simple or even brutal “social justice” is sucked away into the spiral. One could use evidence from the stories to argue either side of an endless debate between collectivism and individualism.

It’s possible that the spiral represents selfishness associated with individuality. Throughout “Uzumaki,” it’s the people unwilling to account for the needs or feelings of others who face the swiftest fates from the spiral. On the other hand, it may be the free-thinking individualism of Kirie and Shuichi that allow them to stay free of the all-consuming, spiral force. In that sense, the spiral could very well represent a kind of soulless, amoral empire that demands conformity.

At the end of the day, ‘Uzumaki’ feels far more concerned with fascination than explanation, and the spirals are more of an inexplicable natural force than a strict metaphor for any one thing. Like death, the spirals are inevitable.

Cultural and Political Significance: Media Modernizes

It’s interesting to watch cultural trends repeat themselves, for shows, movies, music to re-enter pop-culture for another dance in the sunlight. “Uzumaki” certainly doesn’t feel over 20 years old. It’s more likely that, at the time of its release, there was a greater debate over the more outmoded ‘western vs eastern’ philosophies, themes and implications of the story. Today, at the forefront of the general progress of media, audiences are more able to casually grapple with the absurd sorrows of post-modernism and the death of objectivity, no matter the origin. In this way, it makes perfect sense to see “Uzumaki” get a well-publicized journey to streaming now, rather than 20 years ago.

Unintelligible horror, evil triumphing over good, and shows about antagonists are more popular than ever. The barriers of global culture are getting thinner, despite how it may feel in America. There was little holding people back from getting their hands on “Uzumaki.” Some art is just ahead of its time.

Critiquing the Critics: Not Scary Compared to Some Horror Movies, But So What?

Most critics praise “Uzumaki.” Consumer reviews are mostly positive as well. When nearly everyone agrees something is good… it often is.

One of the more common critiques from consumers amounts to “it didn’t actually scare me.” This is an understandable point to make. However, many people have a tendency to unwittingly compare books to movies. They compare how scared they feel reading to how scared they feel watching a horror film. The way sound and moving images can elicit physiological reactions isn’t quite the same as what photos and words on a page can.

Granted, I’m sure there’s more gory manga, and more suspenseful writing out there. This may not be among the truly scariest graphic novels or traditional novels to exist. What ‘Uzumaki’ brings to the table is an uncanny, unique vision. No one seems to dispute that, and that’s what it truly has to offer.

‘Uzumaki’ From Manga to Mini Series

Adult Swim and Production I.G. USA adapted Ito’s achievement into a 4-episode mini series. Many of the show’s strengths, strangely, are also their own weaknesses. The show is extremely faithful to the art style of the manga, not only staying black and white, but using minimal shading. Some critics have complained that, in doing so, the show feels bare and thrown together.

The show manages to include essentially every single short story in the manga, which is admirable. The branching stories take place largely simultaneously to give the show a steady sense of escalation. But these victories come with their own downsides. Like the multiple language releases of the manga, the show is available to watch with English voice dubs. It is the default method that Max offers when watching the show.

Despite the manga and mini series being nearly identical, it’s hard to deny a sense of something missing from the show. Where the manga leaves you pondering character motivations and final revelations, the show focuses more on the violence and spectacle of it all. For example, a conversation between Kirie and Shuichi briefly hints at a connection between spirals and seeking attention, but rather than explore that connection through dialogue, like the manga does with Kirie and her classmate, the show jumps straight into people being transfixed by Kirie’s spiraling hair. The rush to include everything made their inclusion have less impact. If any major event were left out, though, there would likely have been complaints about it.

A cardinal rule of effective action/horror is to give the audience time to react to it. In that regard the show falls short where the manga doesn’t. Perhaps the biggest difference comes (as usual) at the very end. Without spoiling, there’s a ‘time’ element that the manga leans into in its final moments, but the show hardly flirts with. Despite the criticisms, with imagery so striking and so many jarring moments, the show successfully drew in millions of viewers.

‘Uzumaki’ Reviewer’s Personal Opinion: ‘Two Thumbs Way Up’

After finishing the manga and the show, a potential plot hole within the story dawned on me. As I was debating including it in this review, I realized that the manga presents an ingenious solution to my concern. The show, however, does not. The show may avoid the near-plot hole by taking a more present-tense approach. I can’t really say more without spoiling the ending, but please, leave a comment if you have a theory about what I mean! (Hint: It involves the very end, Kirie, and the element of relative time.)

I definitely preferred the manga to the show, but it was a genuine pleasure to ingest them both. I also believe “Uzumaki” is an absolute masterclass in symbolism. Purposefully or not, Ito may even be getting into Jungian territory in terms of how his use of spirals bubbles up from the collective unconscious. It’s truly quite remarkable.

‘Uzumaki’ Review: A Powerhouse of Illustrative Storytelling

‘Uzumaki’ has stood the test of time to remain (if not become) a major staple of illustrated horror. Junji Ito is now becoming a pillar of the horror genre itself. This achievement is saying a lot because, at least in pop-culture, horror legends mostly belong to Hollywood. So, when a Japanese manga writer/illustrator who came up in the late 1980s is, only in the past few years, becoming a household name, it pays to pay attention. While maybe not the “scariest” or most beautifully written, Ito’s visual style and uniqueness make “Uzumaki” an unmatched addition to the world of horror that, indeed, the whole world can spiral into.

‘Uzumaki’ FAQs

Is ‘Uzumaki’ really that good?

Yes, “Uzumaki” by Junji Ito is really good, earning it 4.5 stars in this review. Its unique storytelling, unnerving illustrations, and the eerie concept of spirals overtaking a town create a chilling and unforgettable experience for readers. Many fans and critics praise it for its originality and its ability to seamlessly blend psychological and cosmic horror.

What makes ‘Uzumaki’ so scary?

The horror in “Uzumaki” stems from its surreal and escalating depiction of a town being consumed by spirals. Junji Ito’s artwork brings the unnatural to life in gruesome detail. The characters’ slow descent into madness and grotesque transformations are particularly unsettling.

3. What happened to the ‘Uzumaki’ anime?

The Uzumaki anime adaptation, produced by Production I.G and Adult Swim, has faced several delays since its initial announcement in 2019. These delays were attributed to the creators wanting to ensure the animation quality lives up to the manga’s iconic artwork. The anime promises a distinctive black-and-white aesthetic to remain faithful to Junji Ito’s style. As of January 2025, its release date is yet to be confirmed.

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