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Sep 28, 9:48 PM
#1

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Dec 2021
2870
Junji Ito. The man needs no introduction. What also needs no introduction is that when it comes to adaption of his works, they're not the most faithful to the original source. And there's a reason for that. Simply being, his work's aren't something that are easily translatable into anime. Hell, this work itself already had an iffy enough live action movie.

Many years later though, after constant delays and the such, here we are.

Right off the bat, you can clearly tell this ain't your average anime. From the black and white aesthetic, to Hiroshi Nagahama's INFAMOUS rotoscoping. You may know him as the one who brought you the infamous Aku no Hana, and holy hell did he improve his game in the time frame from that to now.

Visuals aside, it's clear that this ain't your average anime even besides the visuals. Main dude's dad is obsessed with these "Uzumaki's". Not to be confused with Naruto Uzumaki or anything lol, but the literal translation of it, a spiral. And he's more than just obsessed, I mean this dude just embracing it. Dude legit just turned his tongue into a Uzumaki itself LOL.

Then we got miss crescent moon on her forehead, who is just bugging out because main dude was the first to ever reject him ever since she got it. As if it wasn't weird enough with that whole ordeal, we go to the funeral of main dude's dad, to which we get the backstory leading to his death, and yeah, it's a Junji Ito manga all right. Only he would be able to think of WHATEVER THE HELL THIS IS


And from there it just gets even creepier and eerier. It's clear that this "Uzumaki" is just the second coming of the devil or some shit, because people in this anime just want to throw everything away at the sight of one apparently. Though, some do make sense why they would freak out, like whatever the hell was going on with Kirei's face.... AND IT WAS WORSE THAN JUST A SIMPLE UZUMAKI, THE SHIT JUST SUCKED EVRYTHING INCLUDING HER OWN BODY IN??? HUH?????

So many questions, so many.. I don't even know what I just watched. But I'm hooked. BRING ON MORE.


Sep 28, 9:59 PM
#2
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Oct 2014
389
after 5 yrs of waiting it's finally hear ive been so excited I absolutely love all of junji itos work and this is by far one of the best , super creepy and unsettling and just being in black in white is extremely unique and makes it 10x creepier it's a pity it's only 4 episodes but illctake anything I get from his work , the part where the mother cut off her fingertips was definitely one of the more stomach turning parts
Sep 28, 9:59 PM
#3

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Mar 2020
56
kinda odd they speedran through some story
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Sep 28, 9:59 PM
#4
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Jul 2016
1220
I was vaguely reminded of the "Aku no Hana" anime here. I had no idea it was the same guy lol!
Sep 28, 10:00 PM
#5
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Jul 2017
5
Really good start! I think that having the events of multiple chapters playing simultaneously is a good way for them to make it work with the episode limit, & it still felt like things climaxed near the end of the episode.
Sep 28, 10:02 PM
#6
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Nov 2020
10
It actually managed to mix the stories well surprisingly
Sep 28, 10:02 PM
#7

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Mar 2014
1471
Incredible. Perfect choice to premiere this to kick off Halloween/spooky month. Them using CGI/motion capture definitely enhances the uncanny valley of some scenes. And things definitely "spiraled" out of control really fast
Sep 28, 10:03 PM
#8

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Oct 2022
10
it hit the nail on the head so hard with this adaptation, and ngl the pacing is almost the same with how i read it a few years back. Regardless im hyped for next week
Sep 28, 10:04 PM
#9

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Jan 2021
127
You're yearning for an incredible horror anime at long last? Junji Ito truly stands as one of the masters of horror. Uzumaki is nothing short of a masterpiece horror manga, crafted by this legendary figure. Each of his works sends exhilarating chills down your spine, leaving you utterly unnerved. He is the japanese Stephen King.

The animation style is so beautifully suited to Uzumaki, and the decision to keep it colorless heightens the eerie atmosphere and tension, perfectly aligning with the dark and suspenseful narrative. It may have taken ages, but the animation quality is astonishing. It feels as though the manga has truly sprung to life, right off the page. This is precisely why it’s far better to delay a product than to hastily meet an original deadline. This is the adaptation that Junji Ito deserves. Thank you, Adult Swim.
And Colin Stetson was simply the perfect choice to compose the soundtrack for this, whoever had the brilliant idea to bring him on deserves a Nobel.

I can't wait for the
, thanks for the meal.
YuyuichiOct 13, 12:52 AM
Sep 28, 10:04 PM

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Jul 2012
1879
The first episode looks good. I think the music really adds to the experience.
Sep 28, 10:08 PM
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Dec 2021
1
damn the animation is insane, the atmosphere is so good as well
Sep 28, 10:14 PM
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Aug 2021
34
Definitely worth the wait. Everything is perfectly put togheter, I can't remember seeing somthin that lived up to my hype this well. Also kind of glad it has no OP, it doesn't even need it.
Sep 28, 10:24 PM
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Nov 2023
13
What a jokeπŸ˜‚ the amount of cgi, the messed up timeline, weird animation at times and I won’t mention pacing will they ever make a good junji Ito anime? Did anyone like it
Sep 28, 10:25 PM
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Nov 2023
13
RaccoonBread said:
Really good start! I think that having the events of multiple chapters playing simultaneously is a good way for them to make it work with the episode limit, & it still felt like things climaxed near the end of the episode.

A limit they set themselves didn’t have to be like that
Sep 28, 10:30 PM

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Feb 2018
430
I laughed a lot, nice comedy horror.
Never understood why people like junji ito but this anime feels funnier than some actual comedies like shikanokotan
kataneerSep 29, 12:49 AM
Sep 28, 10:44 PM
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Aug 2024
33
1st ever horror anime (that actually feels horror) that I've watched

looking forward for the next episodes
Sep 28, 10:54 PM
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May 2019
5
First episode! Just... two things:
1) It's literally the manga in motion.
2) The things were... a bit faster?
Sep 28, 10:58 PM

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Oct 2017
27087
Such a bizarre story with the uzumaki/spirals which is going out of control and making people go mad. Funnily enough the story is just only that, the spiral will just keep spiraling. Horror is weak and not a big fan of the manga but the I did like the first episode and the black and white approach. Though watching it only made me more sure that this would be also work very well with colors, the horror specially would have been more horrifying but it would have also taken considerable amount of more funds and proper work to do so. Anyway should be a decent watch with the anime.
MegamiRemOct 1, 8:05 AM
Sep 28, 11:17 PM

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Mar 2022
8
The style of this series is amazing! Probably the one and only Junji Ito adaptation that actually looks something like the source material
Sep 28, 11:20 PM
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Sep 2019
3
amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sep 28, 11:35 PM
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Aug 2023
15
Reply to Vysarine
Incredible. Perfect choice to premiere this to kick off Halloween/spooky month. Them using CGI/motion capture definitely enhances the uncanny valley of some scenes. And things definitely "spiraled" out of control really fast
@Vysarine You gonna have nightmares from it? I hope not
Sep 28, 11:36 PM
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Feb 2020
218
Finally here.Maybe from being spoiled and retaining much from trailers,it felt less scary but more so tragic and uneasy waiting while knowing whats going to inevitably happen to them.
Sep 28, 11:39 PM
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Dec 2023
8
my first horror anime
first episode and im hooked!
Sep 28, 11:44 PM

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Jun 2023
547
It’s finally here, animated manga
Sep 28, 11:53 PM
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May 2021
2577
kataneer said:
I laughed a lot, nice comedy horror.
Never understood why people like junji ito but this anime feels more funny than some actual comedies like shikanokotan

Ya they are so trash lol. Never even felt any horror from his work, just creepy and disgusting shits
Sep 28, 11:54 PM
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Jun 2022
35
Watched this at midnight and I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed with the way this was paced. while the realistic animation and rotoscoping was good to look at, it was rushed to oblivion. Everything just happened without any build-up or fear. I'm just sitting there, like 'Oh, that happened okay.' It's just a bunch of scenes mashed together without any structure. Azami's reveal of what's under the hat is accompanied by complete silence with no audio cue like what. I don't feel the same uneasiness as I do when I read the manga. Sad, I was excited for a true Junji Ito adaptation, but it is what it is. I am going to watch the rest to see how it goes. 7/10
Sep 29, 12:09 AM
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Nov 2021
26
The story pacing is too fast. And why they use so much CGI?:(
But still, I like the images and the music fits well
Sep 29, 12:11 AM

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Sep 2018
5229
Reply to Park_Pierce
Watched this at midnight and I have to say, I'm kind of disappointed with the way this was paced. while the realistic animation and rotoscoping was good to look at, it was rushed to oblivion. Everything just happened without any build-up or fear. I'm just sitting there, like 'Oh, that happened okay.' It's just a bunch of scenes mashed together without any structure. Azami's reveal of what's under the hat is accompanied by complete silence with no audio cue like what. I don't feel the same uneasiness as I do when I read the manga. Sad, I was excited for a true Junji Ito adaptation, but it is what it is. I am going to watch the rest to see how it goes. 7/10
@Park_Pierce A lot of what you said, I felt the same way with the manga lol, so it's even more noticeable here. The music and visuals are nice though.
Sep 29, 12:22 AM

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Sep 2015
7
Reply to RawrOfTheEmo
kinda odd they speedran through some story
@RawrOfTheEmo I dare you to: Buy yourself another copy of Uzumaki, cut out each panel, then sit your ass in front of a board and try to make a proper storyboard for 4x30-min episodes of mediocre funding, that conveys this brainfuckery of a story and then say that again. Remember that movement takes time.
In an ideal world an episode would take as long as it needs and it would be as many episodes as are needed to tell the story with limitless funding. But some guy (at Toonami) paid for this and he wants to be paid back from the resulting product (and ideally make more money, than he invested). It's crazy already, that he was able to postpone the release this much, without getting his production shut down completely.
Imagine the pressure.
Sep 29, 12:23 AM

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Jan 2015
15106
as expected, WAYYY too fast. It’a rushing through content at an incredible pace with no build-up or whatsoever to any of the stories told. I like that that they’re mixing the stories altogether, but they were too many at once and it just didn’t work out. I wish they would have taken at least a first 5 minutes of chilling and then get it going and tell one story less.

Pacing aside, Shuichi’s mom cutting her fingers was hard to watch. Animation was gorgeous as expected, especially the last few minutes, it was even smoother. I wish they would’ve built up Akebi’s story a little more to deliver the climax next week, considering how iconic that girl is.

Snail is next!
XenocrisiSep 29, 12:42 AM
Sep 29, 12:25 AM

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Mar 2010
8
i dont know what you lunatics are disappointed with. watch the ito's short story anime before you get into episode 2 and you'll see the light! its a masterpiece like no other! 10/10
Sep 29, 12:30 AM

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Jun 2014
7419
After it seemed like this was never going to come out, Uzumaki is finally here.

I like the animation style, it really adds an unsettling atmosphere and contributes well to the creepy vibe. Everything being in black and white also helps.

Pretty good start so far.
People on MAL refuse to actually enjoy watching anime.

Your taste in anime isn't a personality trait.

MAL is literally just anime Twitter as its own website lol.


Sep 29, 12:30 AM

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May 2023
59
Hook, line and sinker. Gorgeous art direction and music. It actually feels like I'm seeing the manga come to live and move.
Sep 29, 12:32 AM
ε­”ηœŸγƒ»γ‚³γ‚¦γƒžγ‚³γƒˆ

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Jun 2017
7868
I'm not even a fan of horror since it gets to me but something about these Junji Ito-sensei stories just feel like creepy and uncomfortable stories. I'm better at handling this than jump-scares so I've been wanting to give this a shot but after all that teasing for ages, and I feel like a lot of things were happening but there just wasn't enough buildup. Definitely still curious to see where this'll be going though.
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Sep 29, 12:33 AM

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Apr 2019
203
I really do not appreciate them rushing through so much of the story like this, it genuinely takes away so much of the tension and impact of these scenes.

The animation itself in some segmentions looks very good but in a lot it looks like an old flash game.

Also, the english voice cast is cooking, the Japanese one felt weirdly unenthusiastic.
Sep 29, 12:36 AM
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Nov 2022
10
everything was great except the pacing, damn
Sep 29, 12:40 AM
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Aug 2017
84
Reply to Nik012
everything was great except the pacing, damn
@Nik012 this show is fucking ugly as hell. I dropped it lmao
Sep 29, 12:48 AM
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Nov 2022
10
Landonime said:
@Nik012 this show is fucking ugly as hell. I dropped it lmao

the pacing hurt my heart but there no going back for me, gonna keep watching it lol
Sep 29, 12:49 AM

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Jan 2018
3815
I had been hearing about this anime for years. I thought it was a unicorn. But it finally came out.

I never read any of Junji Ito's works or watched the "less than stellar" adaptations that came out before this. So, I was excited to watch this anime without knowing almost nothing about it except what the trailers showed. And boy did it deliver.

The artwork and music are gorgeous. There's really nothing like it in the industry, which is probably why it took so long to come out. I'm glad they went with black and white and rotoscoped animation. It gives an unsettling vibe to the animation. The animation is so smooth which I think is because of the rotoscoping. If the official twats ever make a good Berserk animation I hope it'll be in black and white too. The Japanese voice acting was phenomenal too. I did listen to the dub a little bit and like most dubs it didn't intrigue me.

So much shit happened in the first episode. It felt like they adapted a bunch of manga chapters together in one episode. I think a horror series like this needs appropriate build-up which is sadly missing here because of the fast pace. I think it's cause this only has 4 episodes which isn't a lot. Could've just made a movie then. Ig it makes sense cause this was probably extremely expensive to make.

Can't wait to see the rest.
Sep 29, 12:50 AM
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Aug 2017
84
Reply to Nik012
Landonime said:
@Nik012 this show is fucking ugly as hell. I dropped it lmao

the pacing hurt my heart but there no going back for me, gonna keep watching it lol
@Nik012 well if it really is only 4 episodes might as well. But this show is so ugly I legit got a fuckin migraine. I'm not continuing lmao
Sep 29, 12:50 AM

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Mar 2012
224
This is the first anime adaptation of Ito's I'm looking at, since that's the one I know that I've read before and everything else has a pretty terrible reputation.

Going by the comments here, I guess I'm not alone in feeling like it's looking pretty good so far?? The effort in the visual alone looks like the manga itself came to life (I don't agree at all that the CGI detracts from it), and the integration of different chapters into a singular episode without it feeling like chopped up shorts was pretty risky but kind of paid off, I think.

I will agree that pacing feels like an issue. That being said, if the order itself was Uzumaki in 4x~30min episodes, then I understand that's a small L we have to take. Otherwise, it feels pretty good and overall similar to the source.

And to some other comments who never liked Ito's work to begin with and see this as a horror comedy... why are yall here? I get that he's a big name, but very obviously you should know ahead of time that this isn't for you.

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Sep 29, 12:57 AM
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Aug 2020
3324
it was interesting and creepy

i enjoyed this first ep
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Sep 29, 12:58 AM
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Nov 2022
10
Xenocrisi said:
as expected, WAYYY too fast. It’a rushing through content at an incredible pace with no build-up or whatsoever to any of the stories told. I like that that they’re mixing the stories altogether, but they were too many at once and it just didn’t work out. I wish they would have taken at least a first 5 minutes of chilling and then get it going and tell one story less.

Pacing aside, Shuichi’s mom cutting her fingers was hard to watch. Animation was gorgeous as expected, especially the last few minutes, it was even smoother. I wish they would’ve built up Akebi’s story a little more to deliver the climax next week, considering how iconic that girl is.

Snail is next!

mixing the stories definitely ruin everything, it all over the place

they should keep everything separated
Nik012Sep 29, 1:04 AM
Sep 29, 1:40 AM
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Jun 2023
44
PEAK art. Worth the Wait
Sep 29, 1:40 AM

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Jan 2021
99


They literally cut off every pretext, eeriness and mystery build-up each stories has squizz 4 stories into 22 minutes......All I saw was cut to jumpscares, but those jumpscare panels were fear inducing and iconic bcz of the pretext and build up in the first place, writter seemed to missed the part

Example (Spoiler Alart)---- Azami's story was completely ruined, No foreshadowing about her forehead, no letting the audience see how she views boys, no letting meeting in Sunichi's home at night.... Literally there was to pretext, just few glimpse and jump to the final scene of her story...

Same for Sunichi's families story, which was one the most important chapter of the manga relating to Sunichi's character development...
TaifSuxSep 29, 1:44 AM
Sep 29, 1:43 AM
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Jan 2022
278
They really nailed every important panel's of the manga... the art style was so creative and fresh for me but they speedrun through some stuff and also the cgi shorts in some portions look wired and bad but other than that it was freaking awesome the wait was worthwhile.....
Sep 29, 1:48 AM
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Sep 2024
18
Brilliant! I was worried about the pacing since it’s only going to have 90 minutesish total runtime, but I thought they packed a lot into one episode without it seeming too rushed. The art was brilliant too, and legitimately terrifying at times. Looking forward to more!
Sep 29, 1:55 AM

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Mar 2022
311
only one word PEAK glad i waited for this worth the wait
Sep 29, 1:56 AM

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Mar 2023
669
I was very much engrossed, they nailed the atmosphere
Sep 29, 2:04 AM
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Sep 2020
34
While this wasn't a bad episode, I fail to feel the horror. And this proved to me once again, that anime is incapable of creating a certain horror atmosphere, because anime as a form of storytelling is too exaggerated, that the immersion itself is ruined.
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