Warning: Contains spoilers for Uzumaki!
Uzumaki Easily considered the most recognizable legendary horror mangaka This is JunjiIto's works, with many recognizable moments that even first-time readers will remember forever, are something fans can't wait to see in the upcoming anime adaptation. Ito has a unique way of leaving a lasting impression on horror fans by exploring cosmic horror concepts while still mixing in enough dark humor to keep it from feeling too harsh.
Junji Ito has been active for decades since Uzumaki was released, capturing similar vibes with creepy stories depicting everything from liminal horrors to Soichi stories and more. However, Uzumaki is often referred to for its use of Horror themes about ghosts, supernatural, psychology and body as a spectacular display of the horror master's storytelling spectrum. With the Uzumaki anime set to premiere on Adult Swim on September 28, 2024, it'll be interesting to see what moments the series will feature.
10 types of fungi in obstetrics
Chap #11: Umbilical Cord
Much of Uzumaki features the people of Kurozu-Cho being terrorized by the spiral curse, but seeing it affect even infants is truly disturbing. When Kirie discovers the source of the mushrooms being fed to hospital patients, harvested from Babies grow spiral mushrooms from their umbilical cords and regrown placentasThe series takes a dark turn. The worst part is that this isn't even the darkest part of the chapter, with just a few pages later showing a scene that's disturbing enough to be safely left out here.
9 Wakabayashi Drills This Scene Into The Reader's Brain
Chap #13: The House
Peeping peepers are common in manga, but rarely do they reach the extremes of Wakabayashi. After moving into the same apartment complex as Kirie Goshima's family, Wakabayashi develops a habit of secretly drilling peepholes to spy on Kirie. This habit would make him a perfect cautionary tale for those who engage in similar behavior. as spiraling pain turns him into a monster covered in thorns as sharp as a drillunable to recognize his innocent, terrifying nature within.
8 Medusa Gets the Junji Ito Treatment
Chap #6: Medusa
Kirie's most recognizable cover and one of Junji Ito's best covers features her hair, affected by the spiral curse, starting to curl up to attract attention. If the hair curse were more harmless, it would almost be quaint, But when Kirie tried to cut it, the hair tried to strangle her, asserting itself as a symbiotic threat to her life. The worst part was that this caused one of Kirie's friends, Kyoko Sekino, to try to imitate her hair, which resulted in her being cursed. While Kirie escaped the encounter and cut off the source of the curse, Kyoko did not.
7 Everything Reminds Yukie of Him
Chap #2: Spiral Obsession (Part 2)
Yukie Saito was the second person to be completely possessed by the spiral curse after her husband passed away, and it was a cruel fate, because she was haunted by Mr. Saito's image until she suffered the same fate.No matter how much she tortured herself to eliminate the spiral sources, she still couldn't help but see the spirals attacking her husband in everything, be it hospital equipment, insects, or her inner ear.
6. The master of horror
Many Afterwords and Tables after the chapter
Junji Ito is one of the top horror mangakas and has received a lot of celebrity recognition in Japan and abroad. However, his creepy illustrations and writing for Uzumaki don't always prepare readers for just how strange and absurd this man is. In many panels after the series' particularly dark moments, It draws itself in various situations, from research to series preparation or being pushed by an editor.
His most interesting panels include him casually enjoying the perks of Uzumaki's creation, namely tasting spiral-shaped food for no particular reason. Hopefully, Ito's voice actor status means he'll be reprising these scenes.
5 Male Snails
Chap #8: The Snail
Katayama is one of the most sympathetic victims of the spiral curse in Uzumaki, characterized as a slow-witted character who is pushed to his naturally terrifying extreme when he turns into a snail. This isn't even the last case of human-snail hybridization in Uzumaki.This makes perfect sense given their perfect spiral shells. What emerges then are the disturbing implications of their past as humans, as humans make dark choices when suddenly food supplies become limited.
4 Spring in the cemetery
Chap #7: Jack-In-The-Box
Mitsuru Yamaguchi is also obsessed with Kirie, like Wakabayashi, but instead of drilling peepholes, Mitsuru has a habit of performing scares even on the people he likes. After a tragic, completely preventable car accident that Mitsuru causes by jumping in front of the car, confident that his love for Kirie would have prevented it, he leaves a box of mannequins for her, vows to return from the dead to kill her.
The resurrection of the zombie Mitsuru in Uzumaki is a more surprising and typical horror moment. There is a twist, however, as His swift movements were due to him being pulled by the springs of the car's suspension, trapped in his body.
3 Spiral Cities
Chap #19: Complete
Uzumaki's descent into Lovecraftian elements culminates in chapter #19, the story's conclusion, which features a collection of massive, creepy spiral structures that resemble a city. The city of Spirals has a floor of corpses, fused victims of the spiral curse, and an ominous, impossible liminal space at the end of the block. Even though Uzumaki is only four episodes long, seeing this city brought to life with as much impressive detail as Ito used would be fascinating.
2 Come join Mr. Saito
Repeat after chap #1: Spiral Obsession
The mutilated corpse of Mr. Saito, impossible spiral arrangement by breaking his bones, leaving his mangled remains for his family to discover, is one of the most iconic, chilling scenes of any Junji Ito moment. The worst part for Saito's family is that they can't escape his face, and this creepy image appears to them as a wooden impression or even a curled-up insect. Fans of Uzumaki and Junji Ito will be especially willing to scrutinize this moment for its authenticity and bone-chilling horror.
1 Kazunori & Yoriko Alliance
Chap #5: Distorted Soul
Kazunori Nishiki is one of the most tragic characters in Uzumaki, along with his doomed lover, Yoriko Endo. Kazunori's family is locked in a feud with Yoriko's family, which makes things extremely difficult for the couple. The spiral curse, it turns out, has affected their family and is causing them to be at odds, so in a creepy Romeo & Juliet moment, Their curse manifests itself in the two being locked in a binding romantic relationship.The resulting image is creepy, haunting, and tragic, as the couple's only real crime was loving each other.
