English Dub Review: Uzumaki “Episode 1”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

As Shuichi urges Kirie to escape the town with him, the real “spiral” horror begins.

Our Take:

With October around the corner, there’s bound to be plenty of new spooky content that’ll shake us to the core.  This anime is no different.  After years of popularity, Junji Ito’s acclaimed horror manga series has finally received an anime adaptation courtesy of Warner Brothers and Adult Swim.  Considering the praise it’s been getting for its horror elements and storytelling, this has been a really long time coming for fans since this is the first anime adaptation of the manga.  As for me, this is actually the first time I’ve heard of Uzumaki, and since I’m planning on getting into the Halloween spirit, I might as well see what the hype is about.

The first episode introduced us to the show’s protagonists, Kirie Goshima and Shuichi Saito, who live in the small town of Kurouzu.  However, this small town is far from peaceful, as it is plagued by supernatural events involving spirals, causing people to go batshit insane and eventually die.  Shuichi is the only person with a vast knowledge of this curse, especially when his father was affected by the spirals, and it looks like Kirie may have been affected by it after encountering her mysterious classmate, Azami Kurotani.  

This episode doesn’t hold back on showcasing the psychological terror of the town’s curse, mainly through Shuichi’s father, who died from forming himself into an actual spiral in the tub.  While it may have some familiar vibes from other supernatural horror content, it was vastly elevated by its haunting imagery and style, thanks to Hiroshi Nagahama’s direction.  I was also impressed by its animation, which combines its 2D black-and-white imagery with 3D animation and textures, mainly for the character movements.  It looked slightly off at first, but after a while, it immediately grew on me when it delivered some effective terror in its images and violence.  If it continues this pattern for the remaining episodes, this could wind up being another great addition to the Halloween tradition.