Over a year ago, I reviewed a show called Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. In that review, I stated that the show was “one of many shows that has failed to appropriately translate [Junji] Ito’s work into anime.” Now, I am happy to say that we have finally received what seems to be a faithful adaptation in the form of this year’s Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror TV mini series.
The first thing anyone was wondering when the news of a new Junji Ito anime broke was, “how is the animation going to look?” Adaptations of Ito’s stories in the past have notoriously erased the large amount of detail that makes his work stand out in the first place. This show, thankfully, does not have that issue. Instead, it looks as though the pages from the book have been photocopied onto the TV and brought to life with magic.
The amount of detail in the first episode was genuinely stunning to watch. It felt like the characters themselves had come to life and were walking around a stagnant book page, which is by no means a diss on the backgrounds. I think the stillness adds a feeling of unease to the world, bringing it even closer to the manga.
While the animation is easily the best thing about the first episode, the voice acting is also incredible. The story is horror-based, which of course means there’s lots of screaming. And god are these voice actors great at just absolutely shrieking. The terror in their voices is so realistic you end up feeling scared with them. It’s nice to see some talented casting in an industry slowly being dominated by celebrities’ voices.
In general, the episode just had the right vibe. I can’t exactly describe it, but if you’ve read the book and watched the show, you’ll know what I mean. Something the crew put in the animation, the acting, the detail, it all feels very exact. It’s totally on point, and I really love to see that.
All in all, I’m excited to see how this series pans out. Based on the first episode alone, I have high hopes. Episode two and three are out already, and episode 4 shouldn’t be too far behind. I will say, in keeping close to the original novel, this show already seems like it will have its fair share of body horror. If you’re not interested in that, I would stay away. But otherwise, I definitely recommend it; I think it’s a good way to get into Itos works without having to read all 600 pages of the Uzumaki manga. And I’m extremely excited to see the rest of it as it comes out.
