Uzumaki (2024) Review: A Disturbing Anime Adaptation of Junji Ito's Spiral Horror

 

Uzumaki | 2024 | 4 Episodes
Genre: Adult Animation / Anime / Body Horror / Seinen / Supernatural Horror / Animation / Drama / Horror
Country: Japan
IMDb: 6.5/10
My Rate: 9/10

The residents of Kurouzu are haunted by spiral-shaped phenomena appearing in increasingly unimaginable places, as strange and terrifying events begin to reveal what seems to be a supernatural curse.

Warning

Contains scenes of violence, self-harm, and disturbing imagery.

 

What if something as simple as a spiral suddenly became the source of everything terrifying around you? That is the disturbing idea behind Uzumaki (2024), an anime adaptation of Junji Ito's horror manga that turns an ordinary shape into an inescapable curse. The longer the story goes, the more unsettling it becomes, because the spiral is no longer something that can simply be avoided. It is everywhere.

The story takes place in Kurouzu, a town where strange spiral patterns begin appearing in places they should not exist. Water, air, objects, and even human bodies start becoming connected to the mysterious shape.

Shuichi, Kirie's boyfriend, is among the first to realize that something is terribly wrong. He believes the town is being affected by a curse, especially after seeing his father become increasingly obsessed with spirals. Shuichi tries to convince Kirie to leave Kurouzu before things get worse, but Kirie initially does not think there is anything truly strange about the town.

That changes when she witnesses the strange condition of Shuichi's father herself.

From there, the situation becomes increasingly disturbing.

In the second episode, spiral patterns begin appearing on people's backs. Katayama, one of Kirie's classmates, starts behaving strangely before eventually arriving at school in the form of a snail. Kirie is also affected when her hair begins moving on its own, twisting into towering spiral shapes. Shuichi once again has to step in and help her.

By this point, the spiral is no longer just a strange phenomenon.

It is taking control of people's bodies.

The third episode becomes even more disturbing when Kirie wakes up in a hospital after surviving the lighthouse incident. Another patient turns out to be her pregnant relative, but the hospital is quickly overwhelmed by millions of mosquitoes. Patients begin dying from severe blood loss, while the pregnant women appear to be connected to something much more disturbing happening inside the hospital.

Then comes the final episode, when the curse reaches a completely different scale.

A massive disaster destroys Kurouzu. Typhoons tear through the town, houses are destroyed, and the surviving residents are forced to move into whatever old homes remain standing. Kirie, Shuichi, and their families are eventually forced out of their temporary shelter and have to keep searching for another place to survive.

But there is one terrifying problem.

There is no way out of the town.

“Get away from this town before it's too late.”

That line captures the feeling of Uzumaki perfectly. From the beginning, Shuichi understands that something is wrong, but the people around him do not realize how serious the situation is until escape is no longer an option.

As an adaptation of Junji Ito's horror manga, Uzumaki naturally comes with very high expectations. The series also received mixed reactions, especially because some viewers were disappointed by the animation quality. The production was affected by the difficulties of making the series during the COVID-19 period, and that appears to have had an impact on the final visual presentation.

The decision to present the animation largely in black and white gives the series an atmosphere that feels consistent with older horror animation. Personally, I think it works reasonably well. The visuals may look less polished compared with many modern anime productions, and I can understand why some viewers felt disappointed. When expectations are built around Junji Ito's incredibly detailed artwork, it is difficult for any adaptation to feel completely satisfying.

Still, I think the story itself is where Uzumaki remains very strong.

The narrative is presented systematically, and I never felt confident about what would happen next. Each episode introduces a different manifestation of the spiral curse, yet the central idea never becomes confusing. Even though the events keep changing, the story remains connected to the same horrifying concept.

That is one of the aspects I appreciate most.

Some horror stories become predictable because once we understand the rules, we can guess what will happen next. Uzumaki does the opposite. Knowing that the spiral is the source of the horror does not make the story easier to predict. Instead, it makes almost everything suspicious.

A person's body, a strand of hair, a snail, a hospital, the weather, even an entire town can become part of the nightmare.

The ending leans more toward a cliffhanger, but I do not think that makes it confusing. It still provides enough of a conclusion for us to understand what has been happening from the beginning to the end. We may not get the kind of resolution that completely closes every door, but the story does give us a clear sense of the horrifying fate surrounding Kurouzu.

That balance works for me.

Overall, I think Uzumaki is a series that will appeal especially to Junji Ito fans and viewers who enjoy horror that is strange, disturbing, and difficult to predict. The animation may not meet everyone's expectations, but the storytelling remains effective enough to keep the nightmare intact.

What makes the series particularly unsettling is the idea that the characters cannot simply defeat a monster and return to normal life. The horror has become part of the environment itself. There is nowhere safe because the curse is not coming from one particular place.

It is everywhere.

And perhaps that is why the spiral feels so disturbing. In our own lives, some problems are easy to recognize because they have a clear beginning and an obvious solution. But what happens when something slowly surrounds us until we can no longer tell where the problem starts or where we can escape from it?

Maybe the scariest curse is not the one chasing us.

It is the one that makes us realize there may be nowhere left to run.

(Aluna Uwie)

Previously published on Alunauwie.com

"This article was originally written in Indonesian and has been adapted into English for international readers."