Summary
Warning: The following contains spoilers for episode 4 of Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror, now streaming onAdult Swim&MAX.
After five years of production hell, anticipation, and four weeks, the anime adaptation of Junji Ito’sUzumaki: Spiral Into Horrorhas wrapped up. With episode 1, fans were really impressed by the quality of the animation, soundtrack, and directing. However, with the release of episode 2,it was clear something happened behind the scenesthat threw the entire production into disarray. The anime completely swapped studio and director, Hiroshi Nagahama being one of the names that got people excited about the production, left the project for undisclosed reasons.
The studio was given the choice toeither cancel it after episode 1or release the remaining three with this other studio and with a considerable shift in quality. Fans debate whether leaving it with episode 1 would have been better than the final product. But the point is, besides episode 1, the Junji Ito adaptation curse continues.
Animation, Lackluster At Best
Great Start, Awful Ending
As mentioned before, fans were really impressed with the animation shown in episode 1. Studio Drive used rotoscoping for the human characters. This, combined with the excellent art, provided an uneasy feeling throughout. The animation felt unique and enthralling,enhancing the sinister atmosphere of the story. Every character looked taken straight out of the pages of Ito’s manga. Perfectly animating their terrified expressions and thanks to the work of the excellent cast of voice actors, Kirie, Shuichi and the others feel just like they’re supposed to.
Then episode 2 happened, and that feeling of hope and excitement from fans completely vanished. Episode 2 had some of the worst animation seen in the last few years of the anime industry. What fans often call “PNG animation” would have been even better than what was seen in this entry. Then episode 3 improved slightly, but it was clear it was still the same studio as episode 2, and that what wasso impressive and exciting in episode 1, would not happen again.
The rest of the production saw slight improvements in the animation at times, but it was still far below the standard fans expect from current anime. It becomes even more jarring when compared to anime in the same season. Shows likeBleach: Thousand-Year Blood War, Re: Zero, andDragon Ball: Daimahave outstanding animation worthy of their intellectual properties. ButUzumaki: Spiral Into Horrorwent through five years of production hell and had great anticipation behind it thanks to the promotional material shown and the staff behind it.
This was another production underAdult Swim’s venture into anime. And after the catastrophic failure ofNinja Kamuyand theRick & Mortyanime, things don’t look good for their initial works. While it’s hard to pin the blame on Adult Swim alone, as anime productions have countless factors that play into the quality of the work, it’s impossible not to have the name stained when it comes to anime.
Music and Sound, A Spiral in your Ear
The Saving Grace
Colin Stetson should be remembered beyond his works in his own music career and his film soundtrack, but also for being the best thing about this series. His music salvages what was otherwise a completely disappointing production.He has a great talent for horror ambiance. His tones don’t ever leave the viewer throughout the story, like a spiral crawling into your ear. His music is not something you’d hear outside the series as it is for other anime, but as the sound medium that carries the weight of the story.
The sound design also goes a long way to making sure the audience is deeply disturbed all the way. But it is not flawless. In the best moments, it works to ensure the surreal visuals hit as they should. At the worst, it becomes borderline comedic.Many scenes in all four episodes attack the senses with the combination of visuals and sound. The sound design is excellent for the most part, but when it falters, it is very noticeable.
It feels as if they crafted specific sounds for some of the most important scenes, while others used stock sounds found in amateur productions. The contrast is jarring at best, and hilarious at worst. This pairs up with the dissonance in the animation. It looks like Stetson was the only continuous line of quality.
Directing, A Bizarre Decision
Nagahama is Sorely Missed
Hiroshi Nagahama was one of the prominent names, giving fans hope for the production. His previous works were often praised by fans and critics alike,Mushi-Shibeing a beloved series. And this talent was clearly shown in episode 1. He understood the gravitas of Junji Ito’s original work. The episode kept audiences on edge the entire time; the growing horror of theSpiral Curse disturbed fans thanks to Nagahama’s directing.
After his leave, the change was much too apparent. The delivery of the story beats felt clunky and forced. And with the conscious decision to increase the pacing with each episode, the speed the events occurred didn’t let them feel as horrific as they should have, but rather comedic. Things just happened everywhere at once, with the characters barely acknolewdgin them as they ended. Granted, the original manga was mostly episodic. Chapters would be dedicated to one story at a time. With the anime adapting four or more in one episode, it just felt overly chaotic and disjointed.
This will be yet another example of howextremely difficult it is to adapt Junji Ito’s work. His stories are surreal and outlandish, and they work solely because of his great talent for storytelling and nightmarish imagery. But adapting these into anime without a competent writer, director, and animation studio has proven to be virtually impossible. Episode 1 may be the closest we’ve ever been to getting a proper adaptation of Ito, while the other three simply continue the curse.
