Uzumaki

This is a manga that is thrilling and disturbing by turns, but disappointing and over the top at the same time.

What drew me to this manga was the atmosphere that oozes right from the first chapter on. It's dark, and the art serves incredibly well into creating nightmarish creatures and occurances. There is no limit to the amount of strange things that will make you ask, "what the hell did I just see/read?!", and that alone makes it worth reading.

But, as creepy and disturbing as so much of this manga is, the effect quickly wears off after several filler chapters that stretched my suspension of disbelief to the max. I found this particularly disappointing, because there is a true lack of depth behind the events of the story. It's a cool premise - an obsession with spirals driving residents of a small town crazy - but we don't get to know much of the why or how. Things just happen, and occasionally, characters react disproportionately to the insanity around them. I would've enjoyed Uzumaki infinitely more if the author had simply went more in depth about what was behind everything, instead of the few small hints we wind up with.

While I'm overall disappointed at how the manga's plot unfolded, I still think this is something worth reading. It's very unsettling at the best of times, and downright disturbing at the worst. For the sheer "what the hell?" factor alone, you'll want to see just how much worse it can get until you've wound up finishing all twenty chapters. It's the kind of thing that gets into your head late at night, leaving you with that paranoid feeling that all good horror provides.

While Uzumaki starts off strong with its truly creepy first few chapters, it then loses everything that made those chapters great and becomes neither scary nor interesting. With the first chapters, even though the events that take place could obviously never happen, the author succeeds in making them believable. This is not the case for the majority of what follows, the plots become ridiculous to the point where the entire manga just doesn't work anymore. What is perhaps the scariest part of the manga after the first few chapters doesn't even come from the deeper, more psychological horror that is intended, but rather something that feels overtly done before, people who become zombies at night and feast on the blood of others. It's more complicated than that, but instead of those complications being scary, as they're supposed to, it's just the drawings at that point.

There are some stories (the manga generally works in the fashion of telling interrelated stories every chapter, with each chapter having a closure, the exception being the last set of chapters, which is the manga at its best other than the beginning due to its continuity) that are not only ludicrous and completely separated from reality (as opposed to the beginning, which succeeds in seeming as more of an extension of reality, something that could actually happen, which is the root of it's creepiness that isn't present for the rest of the manga), but aren't even remotely scary on the most basic level. Marvel as... a blinding light causes select people to walk in circles! The horror! The overall story is interesting and unique, much different from your average example of horror, as the "evildoer" is something as ambiguous as a shape. Now, if done correctly, this could make for a chilling manga that would haunt some readers' sleep for weeks. However, once again, the beginning of the manga is the only section that comes anywhere near accomplishing this. Many of the stories are barely even related to spirals (the shape in question), the "zombie" story mentioned earlier in particular, which also lessens the blow, making the stories feel much less related to each other, and the spiral as well. This takes away the feeling of the spiral taking over the town, one of the main elements of horror that's meant to be present.

The characters here have absolutely no personality. At all. The vast majority of characters are just generally kindhearted people whose dialogue is the same as everyone elses'. The only exceptions: Shuichi, who becomes a recluse early on in the story, mumbling to himself about how the spiral is taking over. No, he's not interesting (probably more interesting than any other character though). Kirie's (the main character's) little brother, whose name doesn't come to me despite having just read the last few chapters (a sign of how forgettable the characters are?). He's whiny. That's it. The final exception are the "bad people," the people who become possessed by the spiral and have a mean disposition. But nothing else. Yes, they're all cruel, but they're all the same type of cruel. There is a subsection of "bad people," however, attention cravers. And that's the only thing setting them apart. And yes, like the others, they're all the same as each other. So let's sum the characters up: We have nice people. We have mean people. We have attention craving mean people. We have Shuichi. We have Kirie's little brother. The characters are another thing that takes away from the horror of the manga; if I was at all interested in the characters, all these terrible things happening to them would have a much greater impact.

Uzumaki is a unique idea that lost all its steam early on. We can at least be glad that we got to see it live up to its potential, for a few chapters anyway.

There are many horror mangas out there that try to make themselves scary. But often we just get a comic that’s more gory or disgusting than scary. Now there is Kazuo Umezu who really can write a horror story that’ll scare you. He is known as the godfather of horror manga, but there is another called Junji Ito called the master of horror manga who has wrote something just as terrifying as any scary movie, book, or comic out there. This story is called Uzumaki.

Story:

The story is simply starts us of quick with two main characters to get use to and the setting for our horror manga. Right away, we get the feeling that something isn’t actually right in this little coastal town. Soon, after the first chapter we get our first freak out and scary moment that is very twisted. The story is written well and focuses on something that really isn’t scary to begin with, a simple spiral.
But as this story shows, there is much more to this symbol then meets the eye.

As the story moves along, each chapter presents us a separate story that is completely different than the last, but still connects to the main plot. We get strange stories about a lighthouse, crazy hair, giant snails, and twisting bodies that all go together into this spiral story, no pun intended. But some of these stories within the story aren’t actually really horrific or anything which is why this grade isn’t a 10.

Art:

This story really is scary and what helps it is its sick and creepy style art. These characters are really well drawn and have a small alteration that makes them different than another person, though a lot of the girls seem similar to me and at one point I could tell two of them apart from each other.

Now let’s look at the world itself. It really is drawn well and if you look closer enough, you’ll find spirals that aren’t even apart of the story at hand. There’s also the carnage and scenes of disturbing violence in the story, now this stuff is freaky. This story contains a lot of this story and unlike most stories, it actually makes this story scarier!

Character:

Like I mention before, we are instantly given our two main characters right off the bat that both provide two different personalities. The girl is a bit uneasy and refuses to believe a lot of the things happening around her for a while and there is her boyfriend who is really nervous about the town and believes there isn’t something right about it.

Then we get the rest of the cast… there isn’t much of a cast besides these two. The only people that make repeat appearances are Kirie’s mom, brother, and dad plus one of her friends occasionally. Everyone else that has a big part in one of the chapters is pretty much a one time appearance. It’s kind of annoying that you get to know a new character only to never see them again.

Enjoyment:

Well… this series is extremely rewarding if you get it a chance and you’ll for sure think there is no other horror story around that can reach this level of freakiness. But this story might not appeal to everyone. Some might be put off by the crazy images or might find this story not that scary but just disturbing. Either way, this story provides a chilling, but enjoyable ride from beginning to end if you find that you like this series.

Overall:

This story might not appeal to everyone like said before, but a lot of people should at least read the first chapter before making their judgment. You never know, you could be missing out on a great horror manga and you could never have even known!

This series contains a lot of disturbing images, violence and gore, nudity, language, and intense scenes of horror. If find any of this not really your style, especially the disturbing images, avoid this series at all costs!

Originally posted by me on The Moon is a Dead World (http://ryneb.blogspot.com)

I'm always interested in different forms of media that manage to tie in the horror genre, and being a manga and anime fan myself, I sometimes find myself perusing the various manga shelves at my local bookstores to see what good ol' Japan has in store for us. A few years ago, I stumbled on Uzumaki, a manga which immediately grabbed my eye because of its psychedelic spiral book cover and the words "Spiral Into Horror" printed over the title. Obviously, anything that incorporates horror is going to increase my interest, so I picked it up, sat down on the couch, and started reading it until my parents came to get me. That was the last I saw of Uzumaki until now, pretty much. I remembered the manga and started reading it again, only to find myself as enthralled with it as the last time.

The manga is done by Junji Ito, known for other horror works besides this one. It follows Kirie Goshima, our narrator, who lives in Kurôzu-cho with her family. Her boyfriend, Shuichi, is the first to experience any happenings with the spiral - his father becomes obsessed with anything of spiral formation, and finally breaks all of the bones in his body to become a spiral. If that's not trauma enough for the poor kid, his mother becomes so crazy with grief and obsession about spirals that she begins to purge any on her body, including the whorls on her fingertips, and eventually, she kills herself. There's some strange stuff going on in Kurôzu-cho, and Shuichi knows it, so he becomes a recluse, hiding out in his house. Kirie, on the other hand, is not fazed by the madness of the spiral, and continues living at her house. Through a series of experiences, including spiral obsessions that turn people into spirals themselves, people turning into snails with spiral shells on their backs, violent hurricanes that want only Kirie, and pregnant mosquito ladies who need blood for their unborn children, Kirie begins to realize that Kurôzu-cho is a cursed town. But it's a little too late, for the town won't let them leave, at least not until they join the spiral themselves.

Just from that summary, Uzumaki seems like a lot of fun, right? Very true. Never have I read a comic or manga that sucked me into the story and artwork as Uzumaki. It's ironic that the story is so compelling, almost mimicking the fact that spirals have an inescapable, hypnotic effect to them. The main characters are pretty rich and developed, especially Kirie, because we associate most with her. Most of the secondary characters are flat, but if they are important to a segment of the story, they get some sort of backstory and development to give the reader a little more interest in them. Obviously, this is a horror manga first and foremost, and at only three volumes, there's barely any time to establish a host of characters. However, the reader easily gets a feel for Kirie and her brother, as they begin to take more important roles in the narrative.

In the beginning, each chapter feels almost like a one-shot, presenting a story and concluding it (or giving as much of a conclusion as possible) at the end of the chapter. Most scenes have little to no bearing on the last one, and at first I felt that all of the chapters felt really disjointed to the point where it felt like the author was just throwing out cool ideas that incorporated spirals. Towards the end of the manga, though, scenarios start to tie together a little more cohesively. That's not to say that all of the mystery is cleared up, because much of why certain events happen are left ambiguous. This is one of the downfalls of Uzumaki; there's a really amazing lead-up of events, with creative monsters or horrifying situations, and then the chapter drops off, never clearing up why the spiral chose to manipulate the people in this way. It's very fun and care-free, but there's a sense that the audience is missing an explanation.

Even towards the end, when some of the earlier story arcs come into play again, there's a generic exposition of "the spiral made them do it," but it doesn't cut it for me. I want to know exactly why some people turn into snails while others willingly make themselves into spirals. The conclusion to the story feels like a cop-out too. Shuichi and Kirie have worked non-stop throughout the manga to avoid the spiral, and for the finale, we are forced to accept the fact that there is no other way to survive except to complete the town's spiral. It gives a large sense of abandonment and futility for the reader, but it also lets them down, because all the events that occurred could have been left out, Kirie could have died in the first chapter, and the outcome would still be the same.

Other than these nitpicks with the story, though, Uzumaki is creative enough to stand out from other J-horror titles about curses. Sure, the city is cursed with a spiral instead of a ghost, but there are endless possibilities for strange happenings, and Ito certainly uses his imagination, both in concept and artwork. The drawings are, for the most part, typical manga style, except when characters are abnormal or are going crazy because of the spiral. The latter characters begin to develop dark splotches around their eyes, have strange postures, and become plain creepy. The chapter on the pregnant women sucking blood is hypnotically creepy, in fact.

Everything is so twisted in the story that you can't help but feel the atmosphere of depression. Ito tends to present complex choices that the characters must make, normally with frightening results either way. Food becomes scarce in Kurôzu-cho and our protagonists are forced to cook and eat the snail-people, trying to convince themselves that the snails have ceased to be human. However, this is still a sickening and twisted turn of events, especially when Kirie's brother becomes a snail, and I felt disgusted and actually fearful when reading.

The moments stated above are just some of the respectable plot lines that Ito brings to the table, and rather than read my lackluster attempt at a review, it would be much more fun to read the 500 or so pages of the manga instead. Expect a few uncomfortable moments, however, as Ito finds it fun to get under the reader's skin.

This manga built up suspense like it was your own life! Junji Ito is very good at flashing out the scarriest scenes when you wouldnt even expect it, unlike the other stories that when you open a door slowly at night, you would already know something scary would be behind it. Junji Ito would keep it at daytime, the most natural time of the day, and something scary would be climbing out of your WALLS - or better yet, the walls could be your enemy!

He really sets up the unexpected, and also puts in the right amount of suspense in everything. The story really made me think, and even after it ended, I still wonder if the ever-continuing story would ever finish, and if some hero would come along to stop the chaos.

This masterpiece started out like any normal day, meeting up with her boyfriend in a peaceful town. But can you expect what would happen next, with Junji Ito as the author? Probably not, if you have already read his other mangas. I dont want to supply you with any spoilers, but I admit everything was so unexpected! Even though it was just a manga, already recorded on paper that can never be changed, I still begged in my mind that nothing bad would happen, as the days go on, and the chaos just rises by huge levels.

I loved it because it set the most disturbing, scarriest, most affecting end I have ever seen. I didnt know if I should have cried because it was so nice to end that way, or jumped that it became what I thought of avoiding. This manga will make you feel like you were there, experiencing the huge impact at an explosive climax!(ITS OVER 9000!)!

Over all, I can say without doubt, that this story will affect you in many ways.
"How will it affect me?" You may be asking. Well...read the manga to know for yourself!

Uzumaki was a horror manga which made my eyes go wide. The story was actually pretty good though a bit on the creepy side. The characters are quite unique and psychotic which adds a bit more spice and suspense to the horror section. The art wasn't all cutesy and stuff which also help the story come alive. It amazes me how one shape (the spiral) can expand into a series of conflicts and stories. This is definitely one of the best horror stories that I read. If you want a good horror manga to read, this should be one that you should read.

Uzumaki is one of the most haunting and deeply disturbing mangas I have ever read. While the story and characters aren't anything too special Junji Ito's terrifying art and great understanding of what makes things "scary" cement this as one of the most disturbing reads of all time for me. At first you may laugh at how silly the premise sounds, how can a spiral be scary, but Junji Ito makes it so. Even with one of the the most silly and outlandish premises Uzumaki delivers on the horror and delivers it hard, gradually escalating the horror and creepiness until the end. Uzumaki is such a good read from start to finish I recommend it to anyone who likes horror. Now for my rating even though the story itself and the characters aren't too special, Uzumaki more then succeeds in its main goal and point which is to scare the everliving sh*t out of you. So for me I give it a 10/10.

Warning: This manga isn´t for the faint of heart and I REALLY mean it.

I have to admit that I enjoy horror stories. Why? Because I often laugh while reading/watching it. Yes, I am quite sarcastic person and some horrors are just so ridiculous, it´s not even scary. Is this case of Uzumaki?

I must say: "NO."

I think that Uzumaki is one of best horror stories ever and Ito Junji is master of this genre.

Story: 10

I love the ways of Spiral Curse. It starts unobtrusively but as story progress, madness spreads between inhabitants of Kurozu-Cho. Uzumaki isn´t manga with surprising storyline, you can kind of guess what happens next but charm of this piece is in gradation of horror and in knowing that nobody can escape horrific curse. You don´t know why spirals cursed Kurozu-Cho but that´s, in my opinion, really great, because it supports feeling of horror - you are just like main heroes, wrapped into strange wolrd and you don´t know rules. In one word: awesome.

Art: 10

I just fell in love with Juni-sama´s art. His art is so beautiful, so pure... And so detalistic in moments of death. He has unbeliavable imagination when it comes to killing. Oh, I almost forgot: art in Uzumaki is full od spirals. Spirals are everywhere.

Character: 8

I can´t say that I loved them but they were okay. Kirie insn´t annoying and whiny and Shuichi... He is just okay. Character develepment wasn´t that great but hey, everything else was!

Enjyoment: 10

When I started reading, I couldn´t stop. This speaks for itself.

Overall: 10

Uzumaki is a "must read" for all horror fans. It has everything: intriguing storyline, amazing art and breath-taking ending. Believe me, you just HAVE to read this.

PD. Sorry for my bad english im from a latin american country

When I first saw Uzumaki, I was guided by the reviews, how pepole said that was one of the greatest mangas that was ever made, even so when i was reading it i came up to my head that this one isn't actually a very good manga so here is my rate for Uzumaki

WARNING SPOILER ALERT

1. Story : 8
yeah, it's got an amazing storyline, how pepole get turned on into spirals and how all the world evolves by the spiral curse, i loved the concept of how such simple things like spirals can make up one of our most inner fears come out to the surface and how things like snails freaked the hell out of me. Even so as i was reading it i realized that the timeline did not make sense. It occured to me that there were going to be like little stories around that weren't suposed to have any relationship, but as a matter of fact it had, so it comes up the next part of my review.
2. Character: 2
the characters are so damn bad, when you see a manga where are little stories having relationship between them with the same characters you'll notice that the characters change their way of seeing the world or maybe at least be freaked out about anything , but they're not they (excluding Shuichi) are so lifeless, like they don't give feelings about anything (yes im talking about Kirie), i mean how the hell are you supposed to feel after you see a bunch of pregnant women eating all doctors, i mean it freaked the hell out of me but even so she is lifeless, and of course there is no character development at all.
3. Art: 9
I got to admit art at his anime is soo amazing, it just gave me the creeps through the whole manga i felt like the spirals were coming to me and the spiral curse just moved around the real world.
4. Enjoyment: 4
well it all sums up to the characters again.
5 Overall: 5
even if it was an amazing storyline, characters make it feel empty like it doesn't matter at all, so it's a manga you just read while have nothing better to do or read.

Junji Ito, master of the horror manga.
I had expectations for Uzumaki, having heard it was one of Junji Ito's better known work. But I was disappointed in this manga: Uzumaki is hardly scary or horrifying. Uzumaki is not, in my honest opinion, a horror manga. Let me tell you why.

It's all in the atmosphere. Or in this case, the complete lack of it. The story is just so ridiculously over the top! It breaks any kind of immersion. The best (and well known) example is: The Spiral is granting the mosquitoes the terrible power of... flying in spirals. Hypnotizing! I won't spoil it for you, but it gets better. As in hilariously stupid.
While the overall concept of a strange and unknown force messing up the world is refreshing (no big bad monster!), I could never get into it. Once the Spiral has taken hold of the city, it never stops tormentinq it. And it goes way too far. Intentionally or not, this manga is parodying itself.

Each chapter can stand on its own, the manga being more of a collection of interconnected stories. And after reading a couple chapters, you start noticing a pattern... Ito's world follows a number of rules. For example:
1-Newly introduced character(s) will die at the end of present or next chapter.
Corollary:1.1- Fighting the Spiral is useless. Humans cannot escape or change their fates.
(And I'm not even spoiling anything. Just read a couple of chapters, you'll see! Discerning this pattern made the reading boring as hell too)

The minor character don't get a lot of exposition or characterization. One chapter isn't enough to get me to know and get attached to any character. It leaves them flat as cardboard, and half as interesting. They do serve a purpose, however: meatbags. It's sad really: potentially interesting characters reduced to meatbags. They exist so they can get killed. Quite gory deaths too. I didn't care about them though. And seeing a character you don't care about suffer or die won't trigger a strong emotional response. I mean, I didn't care for their deaths. Too bad for the horror I wanted. Ito got me a truckload of gore though.

Now, I've got to give credit where credit is due. The art is nice. Ito's got his own realistic-ish character drawing style, and he always show the mutilated dead people in great detail. He also tends to exaggerate his character's expressions when they get crazy, making them look inhuman. I find it ugly and silly, but it's a personal preference.

In the end, I found that only one chapter of the manga was interesting and memorable: the attention seeking-hair (it still is one of the first chapters, don't worry). This one is light on blood and gore, but was still delightfully creepy.


All in all, this manga was rather boring. Bland and forgettable characters lessen the impact of the gore. The ridiculous storyline gets out of hand pretty fast and I found myself laughing at the stupidity of it all in the later chapters. As I said, the art is really nice, but I find that Uzumaki lacks the most important part of a horror manga: the horror. It's got gore though.