The newest adaptation of the manga Uzumaki sparked disappointment among fans for its decrease in quality as the mini-series progressed.
The 2024 adaptation, which premiered on Sept. 28 and finished on Oct. 19, was co-handled by Production I.G USA and a television programming block called Adult Swim (owned primarily by Warner Bros. Discovery). It contained a total of four episodes and was based on the manga by Junji Ito, which spans three volumes in length.
The first of the four episodes awed viewers with the replications of the original art featured in the manga. The animation was clear and smooth, with excellent shading featured in the black-and-white art style. However, the audience soon found that episodes 2-4 were significantly different from the first one.
The remaining three episodes showed less detail in the art, with a more blocky, awkward animation style. They gave off the feeling that it was unfinished, and the episodes fell short of the expectations imposed upon them by the first episode in the series.
The reason for the drop in the episodes’ condition is unclear, as no official statements were released. The only news anyone has to go off of is social media posts made by animators. The content of these posts allegedly states that the company overseeing the animation process rushed the time-consuming work that was required for the adaptation. Because of the timeline, the first episode was ready to go, while the following three were incomplete.
The word “Uzumaki” (うずまき) means something along the lines of “a swirl, a whirlpool, or a spiral”. The manga and the subsequent adaptations are about the citizens of a fictional town of Kurouzu-cho. Starring high schooler Kirie Goshima, and her boyfriend Shuichi Saito, Uzumaki showcases a startling series of supernatural events, all revolving around spirals.
As the manga progresses, the townspeople become more and more obsessed with the spiral shapes, with all sorts of horrifying things happening. Kirie and Shuichi both get to witness how the “curse” of the spirals affects the people around them, eventually getting to Kirie as well, causing her hair to curl into spiral shapes. The two attempt to escape the town, but are unsuccessful, and when they return, they find the people they left behind changed by the curse.
It ends with the two embracing each other in one last stand, their bodies twisting and intertwining around one another. They’ve accepted their failure to stop or escape from the curse. The assumption made near the end is that one day, the curse will affect more people after a new town is built upon the ruins of the old one and that more people will experience the obsession and horror of the curse.
The manga itself most notably features excellent art and shading, which gives it a great appeal to those who read it. The intricate art, however, poses a challenge to recreate, especially in animation. When the newest adaptation was released, it featured amazing recreations of the manga’s original style, lasting throughout the whole of the first episode. But, the following three episodes fell short of the standard created by the first. They featured a clear drop in both art and animation fluidity.
This left many fans who were hoping for a good adaptation with the original art style disheartened. The adaptation could have been even better than it is now if only there had been more time given to the animators to finish their final product.
