I’m skeptical of comics’ power to truly horrify using supernatural elements. Because the reader controls entirely the pace of a story’s execution, one of the primary tools of the horror genre is kept from authors in the comics medium. Additionally, revulsion is increasingly difficult to elicit from static imagery—a gross drawing is merely that and draws forth none of that sense of fear or terror that aficionados of the genre tend to relish. Certainly a compelling story about the affects of war on a civilian population can horrify, but only because it is humanity who is the monster and not some lumbering creature of the imagination. There seems little room for the supernatural to scare us from the immobile, two-dimensional page.
When I first approached Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, I hoped for my understanding of comics horror to undergo a dramatic shift. I hoped that his mind-bending work would bring me to see that the comics page could truly deliver terror. Not so much because I like being frightened but simply because I love experiencing the expanding boundaries of what the medium is capable of. And Ito seemed the perfect guide if anyone was.
Junji Ito is, so I read, considered to be a master of Japanese horror. He’s created several works that have been lauded for their depiction of strange horror. But as inventive as his stories are and as horrifying as I would find these tales had they been committed to film, they come off rather sterile in screentones.
Adult Swim Adapts Junji Ito's Horror Classic Uzumaki Into Four Part Miniseries For Toonami
Which is not to say that Ito’s Uzumaki isn’t a good time. It is. What it isn’t, however, is in any way horrifying.
Uzumaki, in Japanese, means “spiral” (hence the helpful English subtitle for the book: Spiral into Horror) and throughout these three volumes we become well acquainted with a town that is becoming possessed by the idea of the spiral. The theme of spirals makes its mark across every chapter and in numerous inventive (and usually gruesome) ways. In one case, a girl’s hair takes on a spiraling, hypnotic life of its own. In another, a boy grows a spiraling shell on his back and gradually becomes a snail. A scar bores into one girl’s mind. Another girl finds herself the love interest of a typhoon.
Uzumaki begins as a collection of interrelated short stories, each exploring one more aspect of the town’s strange connection with spirals, but gradually takes on the form of a longer, more interconnected narrative. There isn’t much in the way of character development because apart from the protagonist and her boyfriend (who wants desperately to get out of Dodge), most characters don’t last much farther beyond the chapter of their introduction. There is a lot of death (and worse) in Uzumaki and so the story soon becomes the question of how this couple will survive the increasingly manic terror being visited upon their town.
Philosophical Themes In Uzumaki
Really, by series’ end, the moral becomes clear: Girls, when your high school boyfriend says that the town is possessed and you two should run away together, you’d be crazy not to do as he says. Perhaps Ito is projecting his own childhood’s discreet woes. Really, after even just one of these incidents, it’s not entirely clear why any of the witnesses don’t flee the town immediately. Perhaps they find the spirals too hypnotic.
Uzumaki, though boasting its share of faults (both in art and in storytelling), still stands out as something that may be worth your time. While it probably won’t frighten you or give you any kind of nightmares, you may find Ito’s images, in a certain sense, indelible. In the couple weeks since I finished the book’s last chapter, I have continually found myself reminded of particular story moments or ideas that were rather strikingly composed.
If you’re curious what Ito’s all about, his short story “The Enigma of Amigara Fault” is a good starting place. It’s pretty representative of the kind of horror that is found in Uzumaki.
Kirie From Uzumaki. Sashimicake
Good Ok Bad features reviews of comics, graphic novels, manga, et cetera using a rare and auspicious three-star rating system. Point systems are notoriously fiddly, so here it's been pared down to three simple possibilities:Azami Kurotani (黒谷 あざみ Kurotani Azami) is a high school student from Midoriyama-Shi who goes to the same school as Kirie Goshima in Kurôzu-Cho and she was friends with Kirie until she was eaten by The Spiral.
Azami is a pretty girl (as described by Kirie Goshima) with straight bob-cut black hair that has thick fringes where her thin eyebrows peek out from under, wide brown eyes, she appears to be wearing lipstick that is depicted with bright red lips (on the cover of the first volume) and she is shorter than Kirie.
Azami is first introduced as being a friendly and cheerful girl who is the subject of rumors at her school but addresses them with Kirie Goshima in an attempt to dispel them, which leaves Kirie unconvinced. She is excitable and enthusiastic, but deeply irritated by the constant interest from boys her age, and shows them no mercy when turning them down. Though given the abuse she endures after said rejection, her coldness is likely well-founded. When affected by the spiral curse, she becomes obsessed with Shuichi Saito, who was repulsed by her connection to the spiral. Azami ignores his advice for her to leave Kurôzu-Cho and save herself so that she can stalk him. As the spiral further eats at her head, she becomes more malicious and sinister, tricking and manipulating a boy with a crush on her into luring Shuichi to her. Her intentions towards Shuichi were most likely sexual, as demonstrated by when she climbed on top of him and only got off once he convinced her to look in the mirror.
Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Vol. 1: Ito, Junji, Roman, Annette, Ito, Junji: 9781421513898: Amazon.com: Books
Azami was a transfer student from Midoriyama-Shi and one of Kirie Goshima's close friends, supposedly since about grade 10. She was very popular at school with all the boys wanting to go out with her and all the girls being jealous of her. Eventually, the girls started a rumor about Azami: that there was a scar on her forehead that had the power to attract boys, and that she used that power to get boys obsessed and then break their hearts. Kirie later sees the scar, although Azami explains that she'd gotten it in elementary school when she'd fallen while trying to impress a boy she liked.
After school that same day, Azami insists on meeting Shuichi Saito, although Kirie is very reluctant to let her, explaining that Shuichi has become eccentric and antisocial after the suicides of his parents. However, Azami still persists, and Kirie gives in. When they visit Shuichi, first greeting her with cordiality, his demeanor quickly changes when he senses that the curse has begun to take root in her, falling over in terror and screaming that Azami is a spiral. Azami is shocked, and Kirie even more so, and they both leave. From then on, Azami begins to stalk Shuichi, staying at his house banging on the door for hours on end, and eventually convincing her parents to rent her an apartment in Kurôzu-Cho so that she can harass him more often.
Shuichi warns Azami to get out of Kurôzu-Cho, insisting that her scar is a spiral and that she'll die if she stays. Azami does not heed his warning, and her scar becomes a quickly growing spiral digging into her face.
Why You Need To Read The Horror Masterpiece Uzumaki
One night, Azami convinces a boy named Okada to bring Shuichi to her somewhere in a park, by means of telling Okada she'll go out with him if he succeeds. Okada feigns having a crush on Kirie and convinces Shuichi to meet him in the park. However, Shuichi calls Kirie first to tell her what happened, and Kirie shows up as well, which was not part of Azami's plan. Azami attempts to keep Kirie out of her plan by showing her now half-eaten face, and runs off to the park to do whatever she'd planned on doing to Shuichi.
She reveals to Okada that she'd never intended to keep her promise to him, and that she only wanted Shuichi. Okada, furious, takes off her hat and whacks her with it, then noticing her face, half-eaten by a Spiral. Azami cackles and eats Okada with the Spiral. Shuichi manages to scramble up a tree before she eats him, too. Once Kirie arrives at the scene, Azami herself is being eaten and vanishes without any trace of her existence.
Good Ok Bad features reviews of comics, graphic novels, manga, et cetera using a rare and auspicious three-star rating system. Point systems are notoriously fiddly, so here it's been pared down to three simple possibilities:Azami Kurotani (黒谷 あざみ Kurotani Azami) is a high school student from Midoriyama-Shi who goes to the same school as Kirie Goshima in Kurôzu-Cho and she was friends with Kirie until she was eaten by The Spiral.
Azami is a pretty girl (as described by Kirie Goshima) with straight bob-cut black hair that has thick fringes where her thin eyebrows peek out from under, wide brown eyes, she appears to be wearing lipstick that is depicted with bright red lips (on the cover of the first volume) and she is shorter than Kirie.
Azami is first introduced as being a friendly and cheerful girl who is the subject of rumors at her school but addresses them with Kirie Goshima in an attempt to dispel them, which leaves Kirie unconvinced. She is excitable and enthusiastic, but deeply irritated by the constant interest from boys her age, and shows them no mercy when turning them down. Though given the abuse she endures after said rejection, her coldness is likely well-founded. When affected by the spiral curse, she becomes obsessed with Shuichi Saito, who was repulsed by her connection to the spiral. Azami ignores his advice for her to leave Kurôzu-Cho and save herself so that she can stalk him. As the spiral further eats at her head, she becomes more malicious and sinister, tricking and manipulating a boy with a crush on her into luring Shuichi to her. Her intentions towards Shuichi were most likely sexual, as demonstrated by when she climbed on top of him and only got off once he convinced her to look in the mirror.
Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Vol. 1: Ito, Junji, Roman, Annette, Ito, Junji: 9781421513898: Amazon.com: Books
Azami was a transfer student from Midoriyama-Shi and one of Kirie Goshima's close friends, supposedly since about grade 10. She was very popular at school with all the boys wanting to go out with her and all the girls being jealous of her. Eventually, the girls started a rumor about Azami: that there was a scar on her forehead that had the power to attract boys, and that she used that power to get boys obsessed and then break their hearts. Kirie later sees the scar, although Azami explains that she'd gotten it in elementary school when she'd fallen while trying to impress a boy she liked.
After school that same day, Azami insists on meeting Shuichi Saito, although Kirie is very reluctant to let her, explaining that Shuichi has become eccentric and antisocial after the suicides of his parents. However, Azami still persists, and Kirie gives in. When they visit Shuichi, first greeting her with cordiality, his demeanor quickly changes when he senses that the curse has begun to take root in her, falling over in terror and screaming that Azami is a spiral. Azami is shocked, and Kirie even more so, and they both leave. From then on, Azami begins to stalk Shuichi, staying at his house banging on the door for hours on end, and eventually convincing her parents to rent her an apartment in Kurôzu-Cho so that she can harass him more often.
Shuichi warns Azami to get out of Kurôzu-Cho, insisting that her scar is a spiral and that she'll die if she stays. Azami does not heed his warning, and her scar becomes a quickly growing spiral digging into her face.
Why You Need To Read The Horror Masterpiece Uzumaki
One night, Azami convinces a boy named Okada to bring Shuichi to her somewhere in a park, by means of telling Okada she'll go out with him if he succeeds. Okada feigns having a crush on Kirie and convinces Shuichi to meet him in the park. However, Shuichi calls Kirie first to tell her what happened, and Kirie shows up as well, which was not part of Azami's plan. Azami attempts to keep Kirie out of her plan by showing her now half-eaten face, and runs off to the park to do whatever she'd planned on doing to Shuichi.
She reveals to Okada that she'd never intended to keep her promise to him, and that she only wanted Shuichi. Okada, furious, takes off her hat and whacks her with it, then noticing her face, half-eaten by a Spiral. Azami cackles and eats Okada with the Spiral. Shuichi manages to scramble up a tree before she eats him, too. Once Kirie arrives at the scene, Azami herself is being eaten and vanishes without any trace of her existence.
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