Uzumaki
Rating: Instant Fav
Themes/Genres: Horror, Supernatural, Spirals
Main Characters:
Kirie Goshima, Shuichi Saito
Developer/Publisher/Writer/Artist/etc: Junji Ito; Big Comic Spirits/Viz Media
Overview:
There are horror ‘well knowns’ and there are horror ‘dear god never
touch this genre again’, but then every once in a while, once every blue moon,
we get the rare horror ‘holy shit give me more now’. Japan has produced a lot of really great
horror over the years and the most infamous horror artist among them… is Junji
Ito. His style is unique and disturbing
and his storytelling is top tier. If
you’re ever on the hunt for the best of the best of horror manga, look no
further than anything done by Junji Ito.
Anything he touches is guaranteed ultra-creepiness. Imagine
if he’d helped work on something equally notorious for its spooks in another
genre… like say… a Silent Hill
game.
*coughcough*FuckYouKonami*coughcough*.
But one of the most well-known pieces is the three-arc story of
Uzumaki. It’s most people’s first
introduction to Junji Ito’s work, even when they don’t know the artist, most
people recognize the artwork, and it’s one I’ve read several times over and
absolutely adore.
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| One of the most widely recognized panels in the series |
Summary:
Kurozuchou is a town cursed by the Spiral, manifesting in
everything around it from the shape of the grass to whirlwinds to little
whirlpools in streams. While only
Shuichi is able to notice because he goes to school in a different town and
started noticing how abnormal his hometown was compared to others, the entire
town is soon sucked into the curse.
Starting in small manifestations with odd behaviors, including Shuichi's
own father, the town's curse quickly escalates until escape is impossible.
Characters:
Kirie and Shuichi are both decently likeable characters with
relatively realistic reactions to all the strange events going on in their
town. There's a certain uniqueness to
Ito characters that both captures basic human simplicity in a strange world,
but also have a subtle strangeness, themselves.
Their very human reactions to the strange events around them drastically
contrast the off-putting nature of the story and while the characters are believably
every day in nature, they also have just that slight bit of off-ness that gives it a distinctly
Ito-y feel to them.
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| Shuichi and Kirie: the main focuses of the story |
Plot:
While the concept is entirely supernatural, the writing
pulls you in enough that, instead of questioning the likelihood of the story
actually happening, you instead focus on the events within the story and the
character reactions. While it's
outlandish and unbelievable, it keeps the characters, themselves, grounded in
enough reality to keep the focus on the story.
The human element is human enough that the supernatural element doesn't
need to be questioned. The story is
masterfully paced in order to create the perfect amount of suspense and tension
without making any of its more self-contained stories over-long.
Art Style:
Junji Ito has one of the most recognizably 'him' art styles
in manga. The monster designs are
outrageously creepy and off putting while the human characters look relatively
normal in comparison. The art is
detailed and expressive, each person looks unique, and the backgrounds are
beautiful in the creepiest ways. He obviously
puts a lot of thought into the world around the characters and it shows up in
every detail. The imagery from Uzumaki
is just mind-blowing and inspirational in its concepts.
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| A melted bulb in a lighthouse... that still emits a dangerous, swirling light |
Ending:
In the weirdest way possible, it's both extremely
unexpected… but also gives you the proper 'holy shit wtf' feeling that good
horror should. It ties up its ends but
also has such an insane conclusion to it all that it leaves you plenty to think
about. It builds up and builds up and
even though you’re fully expecting shit to go down, you can never guess what
the answer actually is. It’s a perfect ending with just the right
kind of buildup to it.
Final Thoughts:
I fucking love this manga.
It's creepy, it's outlandish and unexpected, and it’s such a unique
experience that deserves all the praise it gets. Junji Ito is extremely well-known for his
horror over in Japan and I can see exactly why, his work is brilliant and I'm
glad I was able to read these books. It
makes me want to hunt down more of his work, for sure. I’ve since tracked down a couple more of his
mangas, Tomie and Mimi’s Ghost Stories and while I haven’t
finished Ghost Stories yet, I loved Tomie as much as I loved Uzumaki.
Ito’s work is amazing and I adore everything I’ve seen from him so
far. I couldn’t recommend his work
enough.
(Side Note: I highly suggest picking up the actual manga for
Uzumaki, if you can, because the end
of book additions are hilarious)
