Uzumaki Executive Producer Breaks Silence on Episode 2's Shocking Quality Drop

Oct 7, 10:44 PM

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Apr 2023

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https://www.cbr.com/uzumaki-producer-episode-2-quality-drop-reveal/

The executive producer of the Uzumaki anime series has spoken up about the show's downward spiral in quality for Episode 2. Jason DeMarco, who's also the co-creator of the Toonami action block on Cartoon Network, revealed what went wrong with the anime adaption of Junji Ito's most famous work.

DeMarco spoke up on the social media website Bluesky about Uzumaki Episode 2's sudden drop in quality, which aired on Oct. 5, 2024, on the Toonami Saturday night block on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Although DeMarco later deleted his comments, his revealing posts were screencapped and spread online. "It's fine, we knew this would happen," DeMarco said in a series of deleted posts. "I can't talk about what went down, but we were screwed over, and the options were A) not finish and air nothing and call it a loss, B) Just finish and air Episode 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C. After waiting so long, it makes sense people would be mad. Unfortunately, I can't tell them who to blame it on... but someone is definitely at fault here, and we all just had to do our best when things imploded. Maybe others would have made different choices. We did the best we could with what we had."

"But again, a lot of people worked very hard on this show, and I didn't think the actions of just one or two people should be the reason it never saw the light of day," DeMarco continued. Maybe that's the wrong choice. I truly don't know. But those people have a right to be annoyed and disappointed. I'm glad you are digging it." The series premiere of Uzumaki was highly praised for its haunting visuals that brought Ito's horrifying artwork to life. The critical acclaim for Episode 1 was unanimous, with many believing the "curse" regarding adaptations of Ito's printed works had finally been broken. However, the dip in animation quality for Uzumaki Episode 2 was anything but subtle. Clips of extremely stilted animation, poor lip synching and inconsistent drawings -- seemingly a complete 180 of the animation in Episode 1 -- began circulating on social media within minutes.

While DeMarco didn't go into detail about what went wrong with the production of Uzumaki, the series' development woes have been well-known since its initial announcement in 2019. The highly anticipated adaptation of Ito's famous horror story took five years to air, suffering three critical delays. The third delay occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when the entertainment industry was struggling to adapt to working remotely. DeMarco even joked about the series' "cursed" production in a recent interview with Vulture

Oct 8, 4:01 AM

vinnywizanime

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Dec 2021

221

What about the Pacing as well? It doesn't let the scenes breathe at all. It's not just animation.

Oct 8, 4:03 AM

deg

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Jan 2009

100963

looks like he is implying only the first episode is good quality lol

Oct 8, 4:35 AM

YoshikageKiraxx

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Apr 2024

what i think is they should have made it in movie format instead of episode

Oct 8, 4:45 AM

Chalc_

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Jun 2024

deg said:
looks like he is implying only the first episode is good quality lol

yeah for sure, but let's hope that's not the case.

Oct 8, 5:43 AM

ScottMerica

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Nov 2020

465

Reply to Chalc_

deg said:
looks like he is implying only the first episode is good quality lol

yeah for sure, but let's hope that's not the case.

@Chalc_ I'm not hopeful, if episodes 3 and 4 were of decent quality, he wouldn't have said that releasing only the first episode was considered.

Are ya winning, diners?

Oct 8, 5:49 AM

Chalc_

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Jun 2024

Reply to ScottMerica

@Chalc_ I'm not hopeful, if episodes 3 and 4 were of decent quality, he wouldn't have said that releasing only the first episode was considered.

@ScottMerica Your probably right. The 2nd episode was less creepy, and more of a laughing stock. I couldn't stop laughing at it.

Oct 8, 6:10 AM

Zarutaku

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Sep 2016

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Hickykissy said:
I can't talk about what went down, but we were screwed over, and the options were A) not finish and air nothing and call it a loss, B) Just finish and air Episode 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C.

Respect for that decision 👍

No, this isn't my signature.

Oct 8, 6:17 AM

deg

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Jan 2009

100963

Reply to Chalc_

deg said:
looks like he is implying only the first episode is good quality lol

yeah for sure, but let's hope that's not the case.

@Chalc_ i will lower my expectations if im watching this

Oct 8, 7:08 AM

#10

Xenocrisi

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Jan 2015

15106

DeMarco should be banned from the anime industry

Oct 8, 7:08 AM

#11

FlydayEthan

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Apr 2020

AHHHHHH! I'm so angry but I don't know where my anger should be pointed towards.

Oct 8, 7:15 AM

#12

shouko_u

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Jan 2022

I loved the manga so much that didn’t notice nothing wrong with ep 2.Im just grateful for the animation and really enjoying it even if it’s “bad”

Oct 8, 9:43 AM

#13

perseii

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Jul 2021

1371

I haven't started this yet, but from the outside looking in, it looks like a really strange situation.

The strangest part being the executive producer talking about his own product in any negative context, the same week that it aired. In public. Most people say nothing, or stand by their product, even if it sounds really corporate or delusional.

Also, the comments sound like he's the victim here and is not responsible for how his anime turned out. "We were screwed over"? He's really throwing his partners under the bus here. I understand executive producers aren't involved in the nitty-gritty of anime production, but this guy is at the top of the food chain and this happened under his watch. If the production fell apart, it's his job to pick up the pieces and put together some kind of solution. If he could not do that for whatever reason, he should just own that failure and move on.

"We did the best we could with what we had" is the best thing he said, and maybe he should've stopped there.

Oct 8, 11:04 AM

#14

Satyr_icon

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Oof, I guess we are back to the usual Junji Ito awful adaptation curse.

Oct 8, 1:46 PM

#15

ManoCustaff

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Jan 2021

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Reply to Satyr_icon

Oof, I guess we are back to the usual Junji Ito awful adaptation curse.

@Satyr_icon At least the 1st episode was awesome. Studio Deen would never be able to pull off anything like that.

Oct 8, 2:07 PM

#16

MuscularBlackMan

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Oct 2017

251

Reply to Xenocrisi

DeMarco should be banned from the anime industry

@Xenocrisi it's not his fault, that's why he said what he said

Oct 8, 3:34 PM

#17

Satyr_icon

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Aug 2013

2285

Reply to ManoCustaff

@Satyr_icon At least the 1st episode was awesome. Studio Deen would never be able to pull off anything like that.

@fudish123 yeah, personally I don't find animation to be a great medium for horror, but that first episode was perfect, which makes this all the more of a tragedy. The weird high quality rotocosping 3D just added another layer of eeriness and the soundtrack is amazing, really made me feel like I was watching a classic horror like The Exorcist or Suspiria. The first episode was a 10 for me, this second dropped it to 3 or 2.

Satyr_iconOct 8, 3:38 PM

Oct 8, 3:51 PM

#18

Ash_Anime24

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Mar 2024

I’m still excited to see the rest but it just seems off to me. The quality had its moments but idk man, I’m trying to hold onto hope here since I’ve been hyped for a long time

Oct 8, 5:24 PM

#19

OvergrownRover

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Feb 2021

1487

R.I.P to the next 2 episodes, Ito adaptations are just as cursed as the characters in his stories

Oct 8, 8:00 PM

#20

thebrentinator24

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Jun 2014

7415

Just a damn shame, man. Episode 1 was so phenomenal too.

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.

Oct 9, 2:14 AM

#21

Xenocrisi

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Jan 2015

15106

Reply to MuscularBlackMan

@Xenocrisi it's not his fault, that's why he said what he said

@MuscularBlackMan
do u even believe him? every project he’s on, there’s the same exact issue.

Oct 10, 7:51 AM

#22

MuscularBlackMan

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Oct 2017

251

Reply to Xenocrisi

@MuscularBlackMan
do u even believe him? every project he’s on, there’s the same exact issue.

@Xenocrisi not sure. Maybe he's running a money laundering scheme. That would be smart

Oct 10, 8:59 AM

#23

DarusHayabusa

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May 2018

Reply to Xenocrisi

@MuscularBlackMan
do u even believe him? every project he’s on, there’s the same exact issue.

@Xenocrisi En otras varias donde el estuvo no pasó nada malo, Big O, Shenmue, igpx y demás no pasaron por lo que pasó Uzumaki

Oct 10, 1:31 PM

#24

VivavideoUser2x

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Jan 2016

522

I mean, at least he was honest.

"Get your tentacles off me or ill make calamari out of your manhood" -Mirai Nikki Dub

Oct 10, 4:33 PM

#25

Mykasan

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Nov 2015

686

well at least it gets some attention for junji ito's art. no matter the form,
uzumaki wasn't even how i learned about him. It was the amigara fault ! to this day i'm still haunted by it.

Oct 11, 4:41 AM

#26

black4all

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Apr 2024

Reply to YoshikageKiraxx

what i think is they should have made it in movie format instead of episode

Avinash-Weeb said:
what i think is they should have made it in movie format instead of episode

they won't fans try to compared with "Uzumaki live action(2000)" lol

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Uzumaki Executive Producer Breaks Silence on Episode 2's Shocking Quality Drop

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