Uzumaki

Uzumaki was the first Ito manga I ever read. For most people, when they hear "Uzumaki" they think of that mediocre Naruto bullshit and not this masterpiece of manga.

Story / 9

The story follows teenage Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi as they embark on their journey in their cursed town of Kurôzu-Cho. As time advances, the town "spirals" into more and more insanity. For me, the story was very interesting and I never knew what truly to expect. Many people criticize Ito on his stories "not being scary", but they aren't meant to be in that sense. He writes the sub-genre of psychological horror, where you have to think about it for it to truly be scary. As a long time fan, none of his works are "shit your pants scary". Like all Ito series, it has a similar ending to Tomie and Gyo.

Art / 10

For me, the art is what truly drew me in. When I first heard about Uzumaki, I looked it up and was truly astonished by the art. The first image I saw was of Azami and her eye, which I believe to definitely be one of the most popular panels from the manga - having seen many parodies and tattoos of it. The art stayed the same over the course of the series, being both beautiful and abhorrent at the same time.

Characters / 6

In most of his works, his characters don't happen to matter at all in a sense - they just happen to be there or exist within the work. They are usually nothing memorable. Here, since Uzumaki spans over 3 volumes, the characters are slightly more memorable. Kirie is very brave and Shuichi proves again and again that he cares about her. Azami is completely unforgettable with her short chapter - the same with Shuichi's mother and father.

Enjoyment / 9

I very much enjoyed Uzumaki. After reading the first volume (which I had a physical copy of), I remember looking it up online and binge-reading the last two volumes. I was very eager how this story would turn out.

Overall / 10

I absolutely love Uzumaki - it is a completely unforgettable adventure. With it's unique and never-before-heard plotline and amazing art, you'll most likely be sucked in. I know I was when I read it.

How can we make something simple like "circles" into something so macabre and manipulative that it breaks your mind?

Uzumaki brilliantly transposes through a clean and detailed art, a theme that for many today in works called "manga" are very difficult to reproduce without being cliché, repetitive, tiresome, plagiarized as the "psychological horror."

This work can be unique in its concept, because Junji Ito did not use openly visual horror, or gore, without a reason and free way, all parts of visual horror has a meaning, which you can analyze through the visual and Mental, which often becomes dubious.

Many may commend the gore scenes or visual horror, which are very well designed and that make them wonderfully terrifying pictures, but what strikes me in a charming way is the script, so well written and intertwined. Many of the readers who read Uzumaki will always have a different view of what the manga really is or what it wanted to convey. The way it was written, transposed, the real and the mental, for me, is what makes this manga one of the best works that the manga genre can ever transpose.

For me, I was very happy to have read this work, it opened for me a new door on what is a work of Horror and literature. Getting 3 volumes quickly transpose a fine art, a simplistic concept, a brilliant horror and a perfect script must be valued.
Any fan of the Horror genre should read this work, it is a must have masterpiece.

I wish you a great reading!

"... Looking at your huge collection of spirals"

This is Probberly one of the most F@#k up Mangas i have ever Read but still it was a Master piece at its Finest it was scary Dark making Sure the Reader was uncomfortable With every Page it was extremely edgy By far. Most of it was Shot in a little Town but the main character was likable and her strusty 4 eyed BoyFriend and there Adventure through the Series and the incidents that happend was Very Diffrent from the last so it gave the Main character Diffrent ways of geting out of any situation and the art was amazing the Translation was a bit funky but still understandable. thats my Thoughts anyway

I am pretty sure to this day I have never reviewed a horror manga or anime. So today I am breaking that trend and I did it with the manga Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror. Now to be honest, I am not the biggest fan of horror since really it hasn’t been good in quite a long time. Try to name 5 horror films since 2000 that have been good. There aren’t a lot, but thankfully Japan has come to the rescue once again to bring us yet another piece of art that shows how dark this country can really be at times. Uzumaki is a manga that’s classic horror that not only makes you think about what you’re consuming, but also makes you feels sick while reading. To me true horror is when the way it’s made makes you feel absolutely sick to your stomach, or one that no matter how disturbing something may be, you can’t turn away. Something that makes your face your own morbid fears or at times indulge in them. So with that thought in your mind, let’s review Uzumaki.

Background

Uzumaki is created by renowned and legendary Horror Mangaka, Junji Ito who’s known for his unique distinct art style in horror. He’s also known for such manga like; the Ito Junji Kyoufu Manga Collection, Black Paradox and many many more manga. This manga also released in January 12th of 1998 and finished in August 30th of 1999 lasting 3 volumes with 19 chapters. Uzumkai has also seen a movie adaptation, but sadly I have not seen it besides a few screen shots.

Story

The story for Uzumaki is pretty standard in terms of it continuing the trend of having a unique plot while having it represent some deeper meaning. This is Junji’s calling card and it’s no different here, the manga is base off spirals that take over a town. And while it may not seem like the focus, Junji through subtle details in visuals and writing gets across that the spirals are they key to figuring out just what exactly is behind this madness. And not to be cheeky here, but the manga basically puts your through your own spiral of horror by the end. Figuring out exactly what the hell is happening in this town is by far the most fun part of the manga, but also the most frustrating. Sometimes I’m wondering if there really will ever be an answer, but thankfully by the end I felt while it wasn’t an ending many people would say would be good, but I thought was pretty solid. But I will say this, the adventure is much more important than the ending in this manga, and in some ways, the ending for this one is in the details of what comes before. So yeah, if you’re planning to read this, pay more attention to the details in the writing and visuals, you won’t regret it.

Characterizations

Uzumaki’s characters are interesting and are very important to this story.

First off we have Kirie Goshima, a highschool student living in Kurozuchou with her family. She has a distinct look to her with long-ish brown hair with a fair complexion. She’s the pretty one and our main character. She is described as a very friendly girl who cares deeply about her family and friends. Overall she does a moderate amount of development in terms of what she does in the series. In terms of character she is pretty static for the most part, and she remains our constant character and ground throughout.

Next up is Kirie’s Boyfriend Shuichi Saito and he is one of the only people to first see the town is messed up. Throughout the series he’s pretty much tortured by anything and everything under the sun. As for his development, he developed quite a bit as he is one of the characters that pursues the mystery of the spirals and why this is all happening, but as well trying to escape the town, even though the spirals will not let him. This will probably be a character most people will root for as he’s a pretty well grounded character in the grand scheme of it all

Overall the characterizations are very solid here, I actually feel for a lot of these characters and what they go through. It’s such an awful thing to be exposed to and the horror they face in each chapter is downright awful and disturbing. These characters are extremely sympathetic because of these horror elements and what happens to them and their families. Suichi is by far a character I feel the most sympathy for because well… he experiences living hell in this manga over and over. I don’t really sympathize too much with Kirie though, as I feel on purpose she is written in a way that is the personification of innocence. She is spared from these horrors that is inflicted upon everyone and just really dotes around trying to save everyone she can. She’s like that rich girl who just doesn’t have to experience anything and lives in a mansion on top of the hill because she has the money to do so.

Art

The art on for Uzumaki is brilliant, easily the best aspect of this series. This is what sells you the horror of this series and keeps you hooked. Seeing humans contorted into spirals, humans turning into snails, cannibalism, insanity, it’s all there visually represented and it’s horrific. These images are extremely graphic and I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s not gore porn by any stretch of the imagination, but it has a violent and disturbing side to it that you can’t not mention. But it also has a beautiful side to it as well. I want to bring up the town of Kuruzou-cho, because it’s so unique and mysterious, but also beautiful. There are elements to this place that you look at and can’t help but be impressed. The lighthouse off in the distance is an example of its mysterious beauty and how it not only can seem peaceful, but in reality it is violent as well. Character designs are great as well and some stay the same and also change throughout the manga. Kirie for example gets short hair somewhere in the middle of the manga as an example. Overall the art for this is like I said brilliant.

Final Rating

Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror is a manga that should be read by all horror fanatics out there today. It has a great story that’s simple and mysterious, but sadly does has its flaws with being slow sometimes. But it also has great characters that really shine through and are sympathetic that you can really get behind and root on. And let’s not forget the art style, I can’t say good enough about it. Uzumaki is a manga that I don’t think I will ever forget, and every time I analyze a place or object and find there is a spiral I will always remember the time I spent reading this manga. It’s haunting as it is beautiful.

Uzumaki receives an 8/10

I started reading this manga with high expectations i thought that it was going to be a horror-mystery manga. the first one or two episodes were really good, had elements of mystery and horror then it started to become ridiculous, such as (without giving any spoilers) mosquitoes, snails, and the storm.

I loved how "spirals" were used as an obsession point for several people. It would be a really interesting idea to explore the mystery of the spirals, and how they basically made everyone lose their mind. Then, the manga straight up started to get really stupid, it seemed to be more in lines with an absurd comedy than horror, the storyline and the characters got more and more ludicrous and nothing made sense.

Sometimes, that one manga or anime comes around that sets a standard for what that genre should be, and this is definitely the case for Uzumaki, the iconic horror manga written by the ever-so-brilliant Junji Ito.

The story is brilliant. The reason I find this to be the case is that the unknown stays unknown, and that's how a horror should be. I find that in most cases, once the horror is fully explained we learn how to deal with it, and as a result, it becomes less threatening. But the spiral infestation the fictional town is involved in is all but explainable and makes us question everything up to our own purpose in the universe and the cause of our existence. (I may be over-exaggerating here, but you will understand if you have read this. If not, I highly urge you to do so, you may or may not regret it.)

The fact that Ito can make such a non-threatening object seem unstoppable and downright disturbing is astonishing, and it makes any reader afraid to turn the page with his masterful image placement that raises the bar especially high for future horror authors. Illustration-wise, we practically feel the same emotion these characters do coming across straight up gory and gross scenes, and some could even make us physically sick. I definitely see that Ito was trying to cause this, and he did a mighty fine job.

I suspect that what makes this manga so terrifying is not just the incredible yet petrifying imagery, but the fact that he's essentially bent what we perceive as normal. Everyone knows that a zombie or ghost are inherently scary, but nobody would suspect that a simple spiral would be so unsettling, and this feeling of surrealness also brings about a feeling of dread as we turn the page to see what gruesome event it has now caused.

The characters are also very well handled, as we see their descent into misery and madness that "the spiral" causes and empathise with them. After all, who on this planet would want to succumb to the same dreadful experiences these poor characters have gone through? We grow to care for almost all of the characters, and Ito rips our heart out page after page after page...

Despite having to take a few breaks here and there, I thoroughly enjoyed this series, and the only regret is that I sunk too far into this spiral and didn't realise I had spent hours utterly mesmerised by this inspirational work of horror. Props to you, Junji Ito.

Let's say this manga is a..... a hamburger! Yes. Now - when the meat is awesome, it's just awesome, right? But it has to work with the buns to actually make a GOOD hamburger. If the buns are average, dry - it will still work, but won't taste that good with that awesome patty. But just imagine adding soggy buns, which literally have no taste in them. And you add that fantastic patty between them. Will the hamburger taste good? Well, it depends. It depends if you still have your taste buds, or not. I think that I still have them, and that's why I gave this manga 5/10. Why? Just read below.

-- Story (6/10) --

I gave the story 6/10 because it's fine. It's kinda interesting and actually intrigued me at the beginning. The problem is - part of the story are characters and the world. And both are just totally ridiculous. Characters are not thinking too much, and the city becomes more and more ridiculous by every next chapter. I know, that this might sound, that Junji wanted it to feel like that (and he partly wanted), but I don't think so that he fully understood what he did. We have a lot of plot holes, things are not explained fully, and the characters' reasoning is just SO, so, so awfully OFF. Some of the side characters' stories might wake up a question in your head - were they possessed before, or just now? Did the possession become stronger? And through this manga I had more and more questions like these coming up. Because, come on. I am not getting scared by scary art only. I need to get deep in the story to actually feel it. And then, when it all comes up together - there comes the fear. Story is the top bun of our hamburger, it's just dry.

-- Art (8/10) --

Well, I don't have that much to say here. The art is awesome, that's why it has received 8/10. It's simple (thus not masterpiece nor great by the ranking), but it actually creeps me out. It is unique too. And that's our patty, it is very good, it tastes awesome by itself, but the buns need to come with it to actually allow us to call this piece a hamburger.

-- Character (2/10) --

And now - the worst part about our hamburger. The soggy, terrifying part. I think I even see mold here? This is our bottom bun.

There is much to say, and at the same time there is not. Characters are (as I have mentioned in story section) just off. They don't stick together. One chapter they are fulfilled with fear, and the other one they keep sitting in this freaking city. They don't try to escape, even though it's later revealed that they can't. But we don't know if they couldn't before. Maybe the curse just became too strong to leave the city? That's the problem with the story - it just wasn't explained.

This section didn't receive 1/10, because at least one character in the story was acting right, and it was the boyfriend of the main character. He was fearful of the situation, of the city - he has locked himself up in his house. But why he didn't run away by himself? People were literally dying here. They were turning into animals, zombies - weird things were happening to them. And both main characters were still staying in this awful city. Also - the main character's (the girl) development through these series is just not seen. She saw so many things by her own eyes and even though she just walks to her school and does her typical everyday things as always. She fears those beasts and accidents only at the critical point, but after that? She just forgets about everything that happened.

-- Enjoyment (6/10) --

I don't count this section to the overall mean as always. Enjoyment was fine, because it was just fine. I kinda feared some things in the manga, but that's only because of the art. The awful reasoning of characters and story did it's work to actually make this piece not that scary at all.


OVERALL (5/10)

And here we go with our hamburger. Taste it. You don't want to taste it? Well, good for you, but you should try it anyways. Just for the patty. And speaking by normal words - I kinda like Junji Ito's work. I love his oneshots, but not the series. I kinda feel that his full stories are kinda off, and he just can't keep the pace with the terror that he has demonstrated through the first chapters. His art is awesome. I really love how he draws the characters' eyes when they are struck with fear. Or even eyes of those who are possesed. It's just scary - does it's work. But every time I read some kind of series from him - the story is just going downhill. Well, sometimes it is interesting, but even when it is (like with the Uzumaki's case) - the characters are dragging it down.

And now - why you should (or not, you decide) taste the hamburger even though it's lower part is just dreadful? Because you may get scared anyways, just by the art of this manga. It really depends on the person, but after looking at some of the opinions of the reviewers here - I think they got scared just by the art.

Also, as one of the previous and recent reviewers said - Ito should stick to short stories.

Like much of Ito Junji's work, Uzumaki focuses more on creating a disturbing atmosphere and feelings of discomfort in the reader. On those levels, Uzumaki stands as one of Ito's best works, helped along by its extremely well-paced and varied episodic plot. Each chapter brings a new story and a new terror, but with an overall arc and thematic unison.

The art style is one of the biggest draws here, as with all Ito. His drawings tend to be highly detailed with impressive shading work, and that's as true here as anywhere else in his canon. There are some impressive drawings of the horrors, and some of the bodily contortions created are simultaneously unbelievable and hideously grotesque in an extremely captivating manner. Once again like most Ito, it's not particularly scary in the grand scheme of horror, but its adherence to effective tropes and consistent atmosphere of dread will make it enjoyable regardless of how scared you actually feel while reading it.

My one and only real complaint about the series is the incredibly lackluster ending. Ito had a number of options for concluding the narrative, and in my opinion he chose one of the weaker ones. While it reflects a thematic unity and completes the spiral motif, the way he does it actually undermines some of the earlier narrative moments, and also doesn't fully realise some of the early promise that had been built up throughout the entire series.

Although this disappointment leaves me with a very bitter feeling (which is frequently my relationship with Ito's work, and almost entirely with regard to how he ends narratives), I don't think it takes away from the overall accomplishment of the manga.

I've always been away from horror stuff but I still just gave a read through this manga since it is so popular and so-talked-about!! And my impression was completely different than what I expected it to be because that it's not just any random horror genre.

The story of this manga is probably pretty unique and philosophical considering such a great fiction has been created just out of a "spiral" shape. Even though I haven't been around horror stuff much, this story is surely on a different side of scary stuff.

The art is just fabulous!! And the thing that made this manga shine sooo sooo much!! The art style just helped the creepiness and weirdness of the story come out so good and not only that, the whole artwork is so greatly done in such a detailed way that the some stuff just sticks to the mind! The spiralling humans, spiralling hair, spiralling grass, every single thing was so perfectly done!! And hatsoff to that part where Shuichi's father curled himself in that round box!!!

As for characters... There wasn't much to care about since there was always new stuff in every frickin' chapter. But the Kirie, the character which we got to see the most was well made.. she was just so strong-willed and for Shuichi, the author very nicely explained how psychologically unstable that character had become after being around so much bizarre stuff and how his whole family and even the whole town was destroyed by the spirals. I see him as a very observant of a personality. But I have to say the psychologically unstable behaviours of the "caught up by the spiral" characters was just so greatly shown! Like Shuichi's father, that hair girl whose name I forgot, the people who got so psyched up that they are those sn*** humans @_@

I pretty much enjoyed it! And considering how much of a paranoid I am, I think the creepy stuffs will haunt me for quite a while.................

Anyways I got to see how much great Ito Junji sensei's work is and I'm glad that I checked this manga out!!

Uzumaki has a simple premise that it develops on in wonderfully connected short stories with a satisfying conclusion. Despite me saying this, I was quite disappointed.

Uzumaki started off really strong in its earlier chapters, but as it progressed, it seems like Junji Ito was running out of interesting ideas to capitalize on.

The first chapter starts with a man obsessed with spirals, to the point where he morphs himself grotesquely into one, followed by his wife developing a phobia of spirals in reaction to this, to the point where she even cuts off her own fingerprints in order to get away from them... with a really disturbingly chilling end to this section, it was by far the most interesting and well executed parts of the manga.

The series then takes a weird turn, with jack and the box people, spiraling hair fights, 'air benders', and pregnant mosquito women littered throughout the story. This really ruined the pacing and my overall enjoyment with this manga. Going from creepy stories to almost comical, over the top reaches at more content. It's not like these individual stories are that bad, it's just that they seem so weirdly slapped in. Some even mimicking a shounen fighting manga, instead of a horror manga. All of this really shattering any form of "realness" that Uzumaki had to begin with.

This is my first review...

and probably the hardest one i will ever write. Words cannot describe Uzumaki. The manga itself has officially raped my brain over and over again and you know what!? I liked it. The art is very good and sometimes beautiful(I'm talking about the scenery and backgrounds) and at the same time very disturbing and grotesque (umm yeah...people bending their bodies into spirals O__O)

Do not expect me to explain the story well, because frankly I have no clue what the fuck i just read!but I will try, Its about spirals killing people... yeah... fuck it. my mind is still recovering form the mental trauma that is Uzumaki but y'know its a very satisfying experience. Its really short(only 20 Chapters) which is a good mark in my book. its full of Brain Fuck and everything else that makes you question Reality

So heres the Rundown:

Fucked up Story
Outstandingly Unsettling/Beautiful Art
Likable Characters
And its so Fucked up its hard not to like it!

Overall Uzumaki gets an 8

This manga, everything about it. I love it.
Horror, suspense, love, and wonder.

This is about a town obsessed with spirals. The Spiral is the whole premise of this whole story. You will never be able to see a simple spiral the same way.

When you start off, it's slow.. but then.. the action never stops! You wonder and are amazed. That grips you in for a whirl wind of a read if you ask me!
I own all three volumes at home and read them online.
This is something you would want to read.

This has gore and is not for the faint of heart. One thing I dislike, you learn basically nothing about the characters and only their actions.

I need to address, that i don't like horror. In movies, in games, in anime, i always found it uninteresting. And for me Uzumaki started as a very good mangа with a lot of wasted potential later on


Story 5/10


The story started surprisingly intuiting. It was holding the attention and you felt craving for more and more. But with each chapter it made me angrier and angrier with it's unlogikly and stupidly progression. Who in their right mind will see how people turn into spirals and die, how your hair starts killing you, how your pregnant cuisine is trying to drink your blood and kill you and stay at that place acting like nothing abnormal happens. And on the top of all, your loved one is advising you to leave as soon as possible, because all of this is not normal and you will stay at this town............ i just find it idiotic and unrealistic.


Art and Atmosphere 8/10


The art and the settings where very good. Probably the reason why i kept reading. It made you uncomfortable and tense. Jut the thing it was supposed to do.


Characters 6/10


All of the characters except Saitou and Kirie were tiny bit above okay. Kirie were dumb and naive, only her beauty saved her from being completely hateable. And Saitou was very good ans strongly developed character. He was saner that Kirie, despite the fact that he was going crazy.

Good horror stories are successful not only due to their gruesome nature, but also due to how believable and relatable they are to the readers. Uzumaki has moments of gruesomeness and unease. But the lack of relatable characterisation ultimately results in failure to keep up the creepy atmosphere throughout the entirety of the story.

The narrative structure of the manga is where it fails the most. Every chapter has Kirie, the main character narrating the events in a retrospective manner. It is emotionless, matter-of-fact narration and feels disjointed to the atmosphere the story is trying to create. Her expressions throughout the manga remains mostly the same as well. You can tell she is crying in some scenes only because of tears drawn across her cheeks. If you remove it, it looks as if she is smiling. Considering that the art is phenomenal everywhere else, I don't see why Ito didn't put effort into Kirie's expressions. When the character's emotions are masked by the bland narration and expressions, the readers can't empathize with them. If we can't care about the characters in a horror story, it would turn into a complete failure.

Talking about the characters, all of them are straight out of cheap slasher movies. They only exist either to die in gruesome ways or to cause conflict to drive the plot forward. The mc is indifferent to the gruesome events unfolding around her. She never tries to leave the town in the early chapters when the spiral starts affecting her like any other sane person would do. The only character with some sort of common sense seems to be the boyfriend. It seems strange how everything is considered normal by all characters in the beginning of every chapter after all the things that they go through. The characters basically "reset" after every chapter.

Some of the events are just dumb and do not convey any impression of horror. I was laughing while reading some of the chapters. They are there only to increase the chapter count of the manga. Once you finish reading the whole thing, you will realise that the core idea that Ito had is used only in the last five chapters to conclude the story. Everything else up to that point is just a huge waste of time.

Art : 7/10. I would have given a 10/10 for the art if it wasn't for the same expression of Kirie throughout the manga. No matter how much detail is put into the background art, everyone is going to first give attention to the faces of the characters. Whether it is dining with her family or witnessing the death of someone, Kirie has The. Same. Exact. Expression in her face.

I believe plot is more important for a horror story than the art. So I give more weight to the plot in the overall score. It is quite bad. 3/10.

An ancient curse reawakens in a small town in Japan...

Story:

Uzumaki is a rather fascinating little manga that revolves around the human psyche. This manga succeeds in changing something that wouldn't usually be considered scary, a simple spiral, into an object of horror. The story becomes progressively gory and disturbed throughout the later chapters. Everyone in the town becomes more and more twisted and psychologically insane. I won't spoil anything, but the ending to this manga is extremely depressing and sad. This manga is all about how people deal with the unnatural and how they try to keep their sanity or completely lose it.

A lot of horror mangas are built on exploitation, and Uzumaki is no exception, except that it has a well done story in addition.

Art:

The art in Uzumaki is very well done. A lot of imagination was put in creating this manga as the gory scenes are original and are intriguing in a grim way.

Characters:

I found it strange that most of the characters in the beginning, reacted reacted nonchalantly to the rising number of unnatural deaths around the town. Most characters become completely illogical when taken over by the spiral and usually die shortly afterwords. The main character Kirie Goshima is a rather logical character who seems to always keep her calm no matter how strange the situation is, which contrasts with her boyfriend Shuichi Saito, who becomes more and more paranoid as the spiral curse becomes worse throughout the town.

Overall:

Uzumaki was a highly enjoyable read and it is worth reading.

Nobody knows the origin of the universe. We can only perceive what is logical through theoretical analyses or imprints of what the galaxies have for us. Probably, questions about the existence of our world are also deeply rooted in how humanity acts, and how close encounters with our origin may lead to questionable actions that portray the primal truth of humanity.

Uzumaki is a manga made by Junji Ito, known by some as the master of horror in the medium. This particular series is hailed by many as a masterpiece and Ito's magnum opus, known for its hyperrealistic depictions of a blend of supernatural and human horror through the use of spirals. Unbelievably deep in philosophy and complex in terms of artistic narrative, Uzumaki captures the essence of the aforementioned themes with disturbing imagery and wholesome character development—

WHAT A LOAD OF TOTAL BULLSHIT.

If anything, this manga can be compared to my first two paragraphs—totally redundant. Uzumaki is no less a "horror" that can only go as far as to provide shock value. What some present as one of the most horrifying contribution to the genre in manga is nothing but B-movie quality episodical tales through the first two thirds of the entire series, then shows off in the later third as an apocalyptic environment filled to the brim with disturbing imagery. Not much plot progression is even present as you get a rinse and repeat for the first eleven chapters and nothing afterwards but an exploration of the mess their town has become, which could have been good world-building IF ITO DECIDED TO BUILD ON THE STORY TOO.

The entire pacing of this manga is abrupt—nothing is ever consistent with how it runs throughout the course of the story, and that includes in-between chapters. I thought that what is necessary in horror is a proper buildup to scenarios so as to truly scare readers, but all it had done was give me a few shaky moments that could barely classify as terror from reading this manga.

If there is one thing to commend, it would be the well-detailed art. In most times, the anatomically correct art style cements its quality as a good shocker, albeit in some moments the art surpasses life that it's more hilarious than anything. There were some real high points that this manga had to qualify as a terrifying read, but I was too caught up with how over-the-top everything is for it to become believable in the first place.

Now I know horror should require some suspension of disbelief, but Uzamaki pays little attention to the logic it should have and the whole structure of the series at one point is a repetitive "spiral-of-the-week" of which their conclusions are not only detrimental to the plot but also to my biggest gripe about the series.

What little character development Uzumaki has can be seen in the series' main led Shuichi, and you can see his slow descent into insanity as the spirals take over Kurozuchou—which could have made the story so much better if it was his perspective that we were looking at. All Ito provides us is the world of spirals through the eyes of Kirie, Shuichi's girlfriend, who has the habit of dismissing everything he is saying about the impending danger EVEN AFTER FALLING VICTIM TO AN EVENT just a chapter ago. Kirie as a character is as dense as you're ever going to get from a horror plot; and it's a surprise that her bland archetype is what makes it out alive at the end of each chapter. Maybe if you count the spirals themselves as a single entity, then I can probably say that Uzumaki has one of the best character developments of any manga. Aside from that, this is by far one of the worst selection of cookie-cutter characters in such a would-have-been intriguing storyline about spirals.

I don't know when I got tired of it, but Uzumaki immediately became formulaic to me after the first few chapters. I couldn't keep my hopes up with how poor the execution is, and I just kept making excuses to allow myself to finish reading it. While it is at best an entertaining read, in no ways is this even qualifiable as a masterpiece in horror, nor in manga.

When you think of the genre of horror, the first things that might come to your head are words like blood, fear, and death. Junji Ito takes the word horror and literally twists and squeezes the life out of it towards a whole different meaning.

Looking at the cover you may notice the abundance of spirals. And Spirals there are a plenty. The symbol of the Spiral can often mean mesmerizing, entrancing or hypnotic, but Ito has turned this rather beautiful symbol into a deranged, inescapable hellhole.

Story: 8
Without trying to spoil the mystery that awaits interested readers, Junji Ito weaves his precious symbol the spiral by incorporating the opposite side of this coin. With concepts such as passion-turned-twisted obsession, phobias turned into day and night realistic nightmares, and even has the chance to play with the innocence of love be it romantic or maternal. Guaranteed, Ito has something in store for everyone of different circumstances.

The story begins rather from rather small suspicious events and drills further deep into the limits of the human psyche in a dreadfully consistent manner. Ito guides the reader into the bowels of the rather simultaneous happenings within the town of Kurouzu-cho. These events are divided into chapters in which each could be a high-rating horror one-shot all on its own.

Art: 9
Very well done for its time. The artwork beautifully (for the lack of a better word) reflects the happenings of each chapter beginning from it's rather ordinary and simply living inhabitants to the twisted rather monstrous outcomes of the events. It's old, heavy pencil drawn designs add to the plain, but gritty nature of the story as you can tell the amount of detail difference in the human characters and the other "entities" that exist in the manga.

Character: 7
The main protagonist Kirie Goshima, is followed throughout the novel as strangely, but predictably enough everything that goes wrong happens around her. Her character doesn't exactly change or develop in comparison to her counterpart Shuichi Saito who reveals the most mental instability as can be seen from the first chapter. I won't reveal what happens around him but he appears to understand the most of what's going on throughout the novel. These characters appear to have little to no development other than learning and surviving, perhaps because the interesting ones aren't the main ones.

Junji Ito puts a plethora of different entities that Kirie encounters, each with their own unique story to tell. Although, aside from a few, most of them are simply discarded and unheard of after Kirie flees from them. Regardless, at least in my point of view, it only adds on to the slowly, spiraling and deteriorating world around the main characters.

Enjoyment: 8
It takes an iron stomach and "experienced" eyes to truly enjoy the horrific and twisted masterpiece that is Uzumaki. One can easily be turned away by the first two chapters if he/she can't appreciate what it takes to make a psychologically disturbing piece without going into mindless gore and mutilation.

The best part, at least in my opinion would not be the end, but how Junji Ito crafts the individual stories so well that each story can become more disturbing than the next without losing it's essence of giving readers a feeling of "being sucked in and the inability to escape from it's gaze".

Overall: 10
I classify this manga a masterpiece in it's own unique right. I am no experienced horror genre junkie, but I can sense a classic when I see one. I warn potential readers that this is not your everyday blood and guts horror show, but a truly psychological tragedy. A story that might disgust or disturb you, but will definitely make you feel like there's no escape but death itself.

(no spoilers contained)

Successful horror stories scare or repulse, assaulting the audience with an arsenal of monsters, shocking or unexplainable events, and playing with the character's mind and feelings. Horror is frequently supernatural, though it can be non-supernatural. Horror is about fear and tragedy, and whether or not one is capable of overcoming those things. It’s not all about severed heads or blood-glutton vampires. It’s an existential thing, a tragic thing, and somewhere in every story this dark heart beats. One of the defining traits of the genre of horror is that it provokes a response; emotional, psychological or physical, within readers that causes them to react with fear.

Inspired by manga horror greats like Hideshi Hino (Hell Baby) and Kazuo Umezu (The Drifting Classroom) but working in a highly detailed style all his own, Junji Ito successfully managed to create a story that has many - if not all - of the characteristics that makes a horror story, good and scary. There's no doubt that he is one of the most popular horror manga artists.

But let's go deeper...

Story: 8

The story follows what must seem like a bizarre, absurd premise even by the standards of weird fiction. A small Japanese town is “infested by spirals.” This means spiral shapes begin to appear everywhere: blades of grass, clouds, pottery baking in a kiln, whirlpools in creeks. The story quickly goes into the scary stuff, where townspeople begin obsessing over the spiral. This situation becomes even more menacing when terrible things happen to human bodies which leads to some truly disturbing images of the horrifying pliability of the human body, culminating in an iconically nightmarish scene that will have a profound effect on how you view personal baths.
For the most part, each chapter has it's own story, characters and events, which means that sometimes, an event or a character won't affect the story in any way, in later chapters. Which is something that some people may not like. Though, that isn't always the case. There are some very noticeable moments who trully managed to capture my interest. Also, the story is narrated from one of the main characters.

Art: 8

Not many things to write here. As a horror manga, the art is pretty good overall. Sometimes the backround isn't very detalied, but it's not necessary. Characters have a realistic style, which fits with the story and the atmosphere, and some pages, mostly the scary scenes, are really well drawned. Ito knew what was important and needed more detail, and what not.

Characters: 7

The "characters part" wasn't the highlight of this manga, but that doesn't mean that it makes the manga repulsive. There isn't much of character development, which isn't unprecedented, considering that the story is mostly based on short stories. The main characters are likeable, both with their own personalities and flaws. Despite their flaws of either being too naive and the other too self conscious, they complement each other which helps the story to move forward. Secondary characters support the story good enough to make the story interesting and scary. But other than that, nothing remarkable about them.

Enjoyment/Overall: 7

This was actually my first time reading a horror manga, and i really liked it. It is a great example of how scary and weird a horror and supernatural manga can be. It leaves you guessing until the climatic conclusion, which is also part of the horror that this manga wants to pass to the readers. This series contains a bunch of disturbing images, violence and gore, nudity, and intense scenes of horror, so if you think you can't handle all these, then this manga probably isn't for you. I would recommend it, but if you never have read any horror manga before, then you might want to read something else first.

I consider myself a great lover of manga and have read tons of them. However none have influenced me as strongly as Uzumaki.
The plot of the story starts rather subtly in a village with a man who is obsessed with spirals. As the pages turn, you become engrossed as the obsession with spirals spread towards the whole village. The way Junji Ito chose such everyday items and make it so scary is truly amazing. His drawing style is unique, where the drawings are light and simple in normal scenes, but horrifyingly realistic and disgusting in the horror scenes.
You know how when you read a book only to glimpse into the world that is in the book. When i read Uzumaki, however, the world inside the book seems to creep out from the pages right into my own life. Uzumaki is not a scary manga that makes you dont want to sleep at night. but it is a manga that will change you, even if it's just a little. The first time i read Uzumaki was 4 years ago, and by god i still get chills when i see a snail.

Whenever someone thinks of "Horror Manga" it's very likely that the first name that pops on their head is Junji Ito. Ito is well known among anime, manga and even horror fans in general. Since 1987 that he has been giving us horrific nightmares, something that he still does even till this day. But among all of his works one stands out the most. 1998's "Uzumaki", a story about a city consumed by The Spiral. Uzumaki has since been adapted into a live-action movie, and more recently it's being adapted into a 4 episode anime mini-series. It seems that now, more than ever, is a good time to see what Junji Ito is all about.

In Uzumaki we follow Kirie and Shuichi, two citizens of Kurozu-cho, as they slowly see their town be more and more haunted by anything and everything spiral related. That's the gist of it, so lets address point one: Spirals are not scary, right? Well, Junji Ito rarely uses things that are scary by themselves, he generally grabs things that we take as granted and distorts them until they are frightening and it is just that that he does here. Part of the reason to read Uzumaki is to see and discover just how much he can do with just a pattern.

With 19 chapters, spread along 3 volumes, eventually released in that giant omnibus we all know, and having an extra chapter, Uzumaki isn't necessarily a huge manga, but it's still one of the longer works of Junji Ito, as he mostly focuses on writing one-shots and one-shot compilations, and sure, Uzumaki isn't the ONLY long work of Ito, but his non-one-shots are still the vast minority when compared to sheer size of his bibliography. Now, I'm bringing this up because it shows that he's a one-shot writer.

Ito's one-shots focus on having short, mysterious and unexplainable events happening to random people. It doesn't have big, deep stories, it doesn't complex and interesting characters, it's all about the primal, raw feeling that it invokes on people who read it. Uzumaki is very much the same, with almost every chapter feeling like a self-contained one-shot, with the exception of the final couple chapters. And yes, there is a story being slowly told across all of them but it doesn't really go much further than "this town is being haunted by spirals". Sometimes there are two chapters in a row who might be connected, but for the most part, I could show you chapters in a random order and you probably would not notice it with the exception of maybe a line of dialogue.

And while we do follow the same character through all of the 20 chapters, it's not like I can say that she is a complex or interesting character, it still feels very much like any other Junji Ito character, a blank state that we can use to self-insert and explore the actual main character of the story, the horror. Kirie's boyfriend, Shuichi is the only character that has a bit more going for him, and that's mostly the fact he's the only one who seems to understand what the fuck is going on.

With that said, one does not read Ito's manga for complex stories, or characters, we read it for the fantastic and horrific pay-offs he delivers, and Uzumaki does deliver, having some of the most iconic of Ito's imagery. Each chapter is a wild and fun ride full of weird events. We start with pretty basic ideas, first chapter is about a man in love with anything that has a spiral pattern and the second chapter follows his wife, who has a deep fear of anything spiral related. These chapters are ideal to start with, since not only eases you in into the idea, it also shows you just how much this hypnotizing pattern exists in our lives. You'll come back out of these two chapters noticing it everywhere. The first chapter also has one of the best page turns in the entire series.

For those that may not be familiar with the term page-turn, it's a technique that is very used in horror and comedy manga, the idea is to build upon something that is revealed in the next page turn, this means that it can have some seconds (or even minutes, if you really don't want to change the page) to build up on your expectations and then subvert them. In horror, specially Junji Ito horror, it can be used to let you know that in the next page something horrible is gonna happen, but not tell you exactly what, so it's up to you decide if you're feeling brave enough to see what's on the other side. This is something that is present in pretty much every chapter of Uzumaki, and each page turn is fantastic. This is where the artstyle of Ito comes into play, his artstyle is hardly the most beautiful to look at, but it's perfect for a horror series, it's weirdly realistic and he is known to spend hours upon hours on some of these pages, making all of them mesmerizing and haunting, with so much detail that it won't look like something out of painting, but something disgustingly real. It calls upon a very visceral and raw feeling, and this is the strong point of Uzumaki, pages that will most definitely stay burned in your mind forever. Everything else is pretty much a slow build-up for those reveals.
Some of the chapters deal with some ridiculous ideas, some too ridiculous that just make it all too silly and feel more comedic than scary, but even those are enjoyable, and even those have visceral pages.

It's in it's final chapters that Uzumaki starts flowing more fluidly, as it develops it's conclusion. It's some of the best chapters in the whole manga and it's good to see it call back some events that had not been mentioned again. The ending, without spoiling, is not the most in-depth conclusion, but you should not expect that from Uzumaki. Junji Ito follows the mantra of Lovecraft, and his stories are not to be explained, the horror lies in the mysterious and the unknown, so it makes sense that story concludes by keeping most things a mystery, just giving us small details of "why" it could have happened.

Junji Ito does not use Uzumaki as a way to explore his weak points or to expand much on his strong ones. Ultimately, this is still a Ito manga 101, so if you're coming into Uzumaki expecting more, you probably will leave disappointed. If you're not a Junji Ito fan or don't like horror either, this is also not going to be the manga that's going to convert you. But if you know his works and you're a fan or if you know what to expect and that still sounds interesting to you, then you'll probably enjoy what this manga has in store. Uzumaki isn't a masterpiece, but what it does, it does it very well.