Uzumaki is a 2000 liveaction horror moviehttps://www..com/watch?v=j9U4JqO5hxo about spirals 440https://ak5.picdn.net/shutterstock/videos/8743585/thumb/8.jpg Whoops Im sorry. I was staring at spirals on Google Images and got momentarily confused. No since what happened the last timehttp://i.ur.com/G1jrPle.jpg we dont talk about live action in these reviewshttps://anilist.co/review/anime/2244 anymore. This is not a review of the live action movie which yes is a thing theres tons of live action Junji Ito movieshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JunjiItoFilm apparently but a review of Uzumaki the manga. Introduction 440http://www.geeksofdoom.com/GoD//2013/10/20131018uzumakideluxeedcv.jpg Uzumaki is arguably Junji Itos best series out of the three hes done Opinions are opinions and all but if someone actually makes the claim that Tomiehttps://anilist.co/manga/30912/Tomie or Gyohttps://anilist.co/manga/30909/Gyo are better Ill laugh in their faces. Mind you I like both Tomie and Gyo but Tomie is just a disguised extended short story collection about this one weird Junji Ito female character and Gyo is... Gyo. While Uzumaki is more of a focused thing than Tomie it does still kind of read like a Junji Ito manga collection but entirely about spirals. It all takes place within this one town and we get to know and stick with a handful of characters... but with each chapter theres a new thing. The lighthouse is blasting spiral light rather than normal light People are turning into snail people oh fuck Our hair is becoming alive and turning into spirals LETS DO POPULARITY BATTLES There were many moments when I just thought. This idea could be cut out of Uzumaki entirely and still work on its own in some different Junji Ito collection. But it is actually more cohesive than most of Tomie and stuff from the previous chapters do actually return or are still evident within the town. Like he just adds more and more insanity to this town with each chapter and its just completely fucked by the end. The Meaning of the Spiral http://pm1.narvii.com/5823/5fe02e1809beb6a71f9a1c3c4cf4bbce5d2fb668hq.jpg It doesnt matter. It literally doesnt matter. I know you want to think it matters but it doesnt matter. Thats why right now Im just gonna spoil it. The ending of Uzumaki is not exactly... satisfying. We dont really get answers. Like why were people turning into snail people? Why was almost everything in this town and this town alone essentially turning into a spiral by the end? Im just bringing this up because if youre a person who fucking hates when things leave a bunch of stuff open to intepretation or just straight up doesnt give a fuck about explaining anything Uzumaki as well as Junji Ito in general is not for you. The spiral is some sort of weird omniscient force and is everywhere and is causing really weird and sometimes genuinely spooky shit to happen. GOT IT. I mean this is just my take on it but you could say the entire manga is a spiral. A descending spiral of weirdness insanity and creepiness. With each chapter you proceed into it the quicker you fall. Which would explain why odds are when someone mentions Junji Ito chances are if you know of Junji Ito your mind will likely go to Uzumaki. Or... or the story about holes I guess. To be fair I actually saw images of that one before I was even aware of Junji Itohttp://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rszamigara.jpg. Still like I said by near the end of the manga the surviving characters are basically just trying to get the fuck out of the town but they literally cant escape the spiral and end up getting brought back towards the town and then they just end up going straight to the center of it. Everything goes to shit and it shifts from the short stories about spirals to we need to get the fuck out. And that brings me to my next point. Should Have Listened to Shuichi This may have as well as been the alternate fucking title for Uzumaki https://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/uzumakijunjjiito/images/e/ea/ShuichiSaito.png/revision/latest?cb=20131124031734 Junji Ito is aware of typical horror tropes. You know: Hey lets go explore the old haunted house Lets not leave when quite obviously we should leave because if we just leave then horror things cant happen. Woah heres a random trail of blood Lets follow it.https://anilist.co/activity/7997432 But he takes it to a new level with Uzumaki. It is on page 14 of this over 600 page book that Shuichi our main male character turns to his girlfriend Kirie and basically straight up says Lets get the fuck out of this town right now. 440https://schulzlibrary.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/uzumaki3.jpg And I had completely forgot he had told Kirie this at the very beginning until I began to reread it. But Kirie doesnt really respond because she doesnt know how to. Yet anyone with half a brain would immediately leave after any of the events of any chosen Uzumaki chapter. Shuichi is actually probably one of my favorite Junji Ito characters. He starts out as a bit weird but with every next chapter of Uzumaki he just becomes worn down bit by bit. He continually repeats his desire to leave the town but nope Kirie doesnt immediately leave with him when they could. The third chapter literally ends with a girl having a spiral vortex open up in her head literally consume a guy and then eats herself whole. 440https://pbs.tw.com/media/CNM4K3JWoAADXp6.jpg WHY WOULD YOU NOT IMMEDIATELY LEAVE. WHEN PEOPLE ARE CREMATED THEIR ASHES FLY UP INTO THE SKY FORM A SPIRAL AND THEN ARE SUCKED DOWN INTO THE LAKE. THERE IS CLEARLY SOMETHING WEIRD GOING ON WITH THIS TOWN. But you know Shuichis still a good guy. In the chapter when Kiries hair becomes spirals and takes on a life on its own and is literally sucking her life away despite Shuichis already spreading fear and hatred of spirals he still shows up in the end and saves her by forcefully cutting her hair even as its trying to fucking kill him. 440http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/uzumakijunjjiito/images/0/01/Cut.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20120616051912 As a matter of fact he could have just said fuck it at any point and just left the town on his own but nope. Kirie stayed so he stayed. What a good guy. Im so glad it ended well foroh right... it didnt. https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/uzumakijunjjiito/images/2/27/Mad...thistown27sgoingmad...png/revision/latest?cb=20131124033939 Fun Horror Of the three long series Uzumaki is definitely the one that remains... it doesnt get stale because it throws something new at you with every chapter until the inevitable final descent into insanity and spirals. Tomie retains its weirdness but apart from I think the first handful of stories theres really no continuity among them. Gyo... sort of goes a bit too far and departs from attack of rotten fish and enters weird blob people spewing gas territory. With Uzumaki its still always about the spirals. 440http://www.toptenz.net/wpcontent/uploads/2012/10/uzumakicomic.jpg Theres just so many fun sequences and neat art for horror fans. Like the newborns talking to each other and saying they want to be put back in the womb because its more comfortable? And then the fucked up doctor who is actually doing it and then feasting on spirals mushrooms that grow from the discarded placentas? And never mind the fact that even before this these women were basically becoming human mosquitoes and feasting off of peoples blood and have now developed needle spiral tongues? Kirie escapes that hospital and literally never goes back and we never find out what the fuck happens now that the entire hospital staff is addicted to placenta spiral fungus or having their blood harvested by pregnant women who have had their babies sowed back into their stomachs. 440https://i.ur.com/tboLf2H.png Jesus Christ after that chapter THERE IS IMMEDIATELY A CHAPTER WHERE A HURRICANE FALLS IN LOVE WITH KIRIE SO IT STARTS CHASING HER IN AN ATTEMPT TO ABDUCT HER. Shuichi who has basically been driven insane at this point straight up says to her completely seriously: Sounds like its taken quite a fancy to you. I think I may have a rival. 440https://i.ur.com/13mtNEf.png THE HURRICANE IS IN LOVE WITH HER. A HURRICANE. IT SUCKS UP SOME RANDOM GIRL WHO JUST HAPPENS TO BE WEARING THE SAME COAT AS KIRIE THEN IMMEDIATELY SPITS HER OUT CAUSING HER TO FALL TO HER DEATH. Im not even going to talk about Jack in the Box because that would ruin it but if it isnt my favorite chapter of all of Uzumaki its absolutely in the top three. As a matter of fact I honestly recommend that if you dont intend on reading Uzumaki no matter what just give that chapter a read. Chapter 7. Its great. 440https://i.ur.com/YMjXzEy.png Conclusion A 9 out of 10. I cant say it enough but I love Uzumaki. Theres more I could have said theres more parts I could have went into but I feel itd be best to just experience the bulk of this manga on your own. I will say this though if you dont like Uzumaki from my observations it seems like a love or hate it sort of thing you probably will not enjoy any of Junji Itos other stuff considering this contains in my opinion some of his best stuff. Because while each of his short story collections contains something a little bit different none of them hit the Uzumaki mark for me. Some came close and some of the ideas I loved but Uzumaki overall is probably my favorite Junji Ito work. 440https://i.ur.com/5u7jMW9.png God damn it Kirie those are the eyes of a dead man.