Disappointed Fans React to Uzumaki’s Downward Spiral in Quality, Proving That Junji Ito’s Horror Manga is Cursed to be Unadaptable

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Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Nov 9, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Welcome, internet scrollers. Anime fans and Lovecraftian horror aficionados alike have held Junji Ito's Uzumaki in high regard since its release. It is a creepy, absurd, and hypnotizing manga with such beautifully crafted panels that many believe it to be unadaptable. Unfortunately, Adult Swim's recent anime adaptation has proven this to be true. After waiting for five years with baited breath during the anime's snail-paced production, fans of Junji Ito's horror masterpiece were left spiraling into a woeful abyss.

While the first episode went above an beyond everyone's expectations, the following four episodes were a complete disaster. Some behind-the-scenes production issues resulted in messy, rushed plot lines and such a massive drop in animation quality that some scenes just featured PNGs moving statically across the screen like a PowerPoint presentation. Fans took the internet in a whirlwind to express their deep disappointment. Scroll down below to get a taste of the discourse surrounding this terrible twist of fate.

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  • 01
    RepresentativeSun423. I'm crying the shot of shuichi falling down the stairwell was literally just a png Reply 166
    via u/RepresentativeSun423
  • 02
    Domineeto⚫1 Episode 1 was one of the most exciting pieces of television animation I've seen in recent memory. This episode at least had some effective scenes but I think this will only be remembered for the drop in quality from episode 1 onwards. I feel bad for everyone involved artistically that this is what had to come out after 6 years, this can only be a management issue. ← Reply 85
    via u/Domineeto
  • 03
    [deleted] ⚫ I wanted to love it. I waited the same amount of time as everyone else, eagerly awaiting an adaptation that was true to the greatest manga I've ever read. Sadly I think they dropped the ball. With all the delays you'd think the quality would have shown beyond episode one, but you can tell something really messy was going on in regards to the animation. The story I can live with. What can you expect from a four part series of a 600+ page behemoth? (A work that I believe to be Junji It
    via Reddit
  • 04
    The pacing was always going to be fast, with chapters and scenes skipped. It was definitely expected so I will not criticise them for that. I particularly loved what they did with Azami's chapter. Art is definitely ito's strong point and I found the dialogue in that chapter was improved on in the anime vs the manga. I was excited for more upon seeing this.
    via Reddit
  • 05
    Then we get onto my favourite chapter of The Snail. Wow, what a dip in quality. You can get the frame of Katayama side by side and compare the drop if you are not convinced. It's art vs a sketch when looking back at episode one vs two.
    via Reddit
  • 06
    From the third episode I was beginning to think that I was wrong about the second episode, (coupled up with reading some of the comments here, criticism is allowed guys, not everyone is a troll, some of us are fans and have been for a long time), some improved animation made the episode a lot more engrossing.
    via Reddit
  • 07
    The final episode is upon us. I'm neither happy nor sad about it. I probably set my expectations too high for the quality of the animations but I think the studio really did rush a lot of them after episode one. It's better than the live action movie but compared to the manga, it's like having a candle to light the way when the sun has set. Reply ↑ 26 ↓
    via Reddit
  • 08
    thatdarkhippie22. Overall, I'm just happy this finally came out and we were all able to watch! The animation and pacing had inconsistencies, however I'm happy we were finally able to watch this crazy story unfold in anime form. Just wish we had two more episodes or something, feels like it came and went so fast. Reply 39 ↓
    via u/thatdarkhippie22
  • 09
    -Cyst- . It ended even more abruptly than the manga; there wasn't even the dramatic sign-off by Kirie, it was practically "that's all, folks!" then it jumped straight to the credits. The rapid pacing's been the main problem for me throughout and here it drained so much of the claustrophobic tension and desperation that really hit me when I read the manga. Reply
    via u/-Cyst-
  • 10
    amoretpax199 I have waited for years and we only got 4 episodes. What is this madness? ← Reply ☆ 7 B д
    via u/amoretpax199
  • 11
    Natural-Evidence-440 ⚫ Do the animators have some sort of grudge with Junji Ito? Like most of his previous animes are just disastrous. At this point I feel like his works shouldn't be adapted at all. It's just disappointing. Imagine working on an anime for THIS LONG only to screw it up. So much for overpromising and underdelivering !! ← Reply 23
    via u/Natural-Evidence-440
  • 12
    tvtango ⚫ Not the animators but the studio executives, the animators said they were rushed and given two options, send it, or it never gets aired 21
    via u/tvtango
  • 13
    medimelancholy ⚫ Honestly, at this point, dare I say the constantly changing animation styles throughout the whole show adds to the experience, somehow? It feels like its own brand of madness or spiral, I can't entirely hate it ... Reply 21
    via u/medimelancholy
  • 14
    Eclectic Eel ⚫ I'm going to be honest, this should've just been released as one episode. As in just the first episode. There was absolutely no reason to release such low quality animation after showing us how good it could've looked. The insanely fast pacing combined with the bad animation just makes the whole series feel silly at most points. In comparison to episode 1, everything after felt extremely cheap and not the quality you'd expect from a big production animation. in 2024. It doesn't ju
    via u/EclecticEel
  • 15
    CT-TK-FN-1977. Although the animation quality drops off, the show still has the best art style of any of the Junji Ito cartoon series. It looks the closest to the manga which I really appreciate. The finer details of spirals in the background also stay strong in the show. ... Reply 수 16
    via u/CT-TK-FN-1977
  • 16
    UnluckyMuscle9084. Ok? Why does that mean we have to settle for BAD animation ... 43
    via u/UnluckyMuscle9084
  • 17
    Ito Zilla2000. People do realize that animation will NEVER be on the same level as manga, right? Why? Because they are TWO TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS ← ☑ Reply ☆ 1 ♡
    via u/ItoZilla2000
  • 18
    vivisecting ⚫ the ito anime curse... strikes again Reply ☆✩ 66 ⇓
    via u/vivisecting
  • 19
    alukard15. This is incredibly disappointing. The 1st episode was fantastic and I was constantly excited by how fluid the animation looked. I thought this project was delayed so long BECAUSE the animation was so detailed. I haven't seen the full episode yet but this is upsetting. The curse is real ... ← ☑ Reply 114
    via u/alukard15
  • 20
    jasonxm1 ⚫ Projects being delayed rarely if ever have to do with spending more time to perfect things. ← ☆ ☆ 41
    via u/jasonxm1
  • 21
    BURZE Spodenator ⚫ Ok episode 1 set a new standard on animation quality, and this looks like a newgrounds flssh animation made by a 14 year old. They didn't _deal with the colors how is this even have to SO bad ← Reply 88
    via u/Spodenator
  • 22
    Chuncceyy . No way this is real this is like early 2000s newgrounds animation ... Reply Ŷ 41 ♡
    via u/Chuncceyy
  • 23
    othelloisblack ⚫ I have more issues with the bizarre pacing and the way they overlapped the stories. The way the manga is paced is each of the stories is a seperate incident to show the gradual decent (dOwNwArD SPIRAL heuheuhueheuhehue) into madness happening in their town. You lose a lot of the horror of it all when you throw everything at everyone at once and the stories don't overlap well. Really feels like they're rushing to get to iconic moments in the manga too like the snails or the surpr
    via u/othelloisblack
  • 24
    mikearete ⚫ To be fair that is exactly how I run in my nightmares ... Reply 30 ⇓ & 쇼
    via u/mikearete
  • 25
    Original_Branch8004. this genuinely looks horrible Imao, I feel so bad for fans of this manga having to wait years for... this ... Reply ✩ 31
    via u/Original_Branch8004
  • 26
    EmCount⚫ Man, i was so happy for Junji when that first episode dropped, i thought that my boys work was going to be done justice at last and now this. It truly is a curse. ... Reply 42
    via u/EmCount
  • 27
    grapesodeypop ⚫ I cannot believe this got released. How are you going to have such a stark, strange difference in quality between the first and second episode? I was so worried when i saw the initial teasers from the show that they were only showing us the good animation. Apparently that was the right instinct! The running animation is crazzzyy. Reply 44
    via u/grapesodeypop
  • 28
    FlemPlays. You could say the animations quality is...spiraling. (I'll see myself out) ... Reply 71 ♡
    via u/FlemPlays
  • 29
    @exodus9001 Absolutely mind boggling they would dare to try and squeeze uzumaki into four 20 minute episodes. There are SO many good bits in there. I can see trimming some of the side pieces out to make the main part coming to the reveal of the eldritch city flow smoothly, but this? Ridiculous 147
    via @exodus9001
  • 30
    @FinnTheGentleman eks ago I've been a huge junji ito fan for years and honestly this just solidified that its better as manga. it doesnt need any adaptation 53 3
    via @FinnTheGentleman
  • 31
    R @ReverendKJ I wouldn't have minded so much if they nailed the ending. Imo those final panels are the most iconic part for me, and they rush through even that. B 3 B 回
    via @ReverendKJ
  • 32
    @buffruddy297 Man it broke my heart seeing the downgrade after EP1. EP2 was rough but I had faith it would pick up again since, at least IMO, the school arc is the least interesting part of Uzumaki. Then EP3 happened and it ruined one of my favorite parts of the comic. I knew it was over after that. There was no coming back. 17 ☑
    via @buffruddy297
  • 33
    @aguyontheinternet1532 ago Looks like this Uzumaki never became Hokage 1.5K 回 16
    via @aguyontheinternet1532
  • 34
    J @justinbuergi9867 I don't know what you mean. This series was fantastic. Sure it's weird that they only made one episode but I'm sure they had their reasons 1.2K E 8
    via @justinbuergi9867
  • 35
    T @TheSkaOreo Honestly I think they should have done this the old-school OVA way: Release an ep every 6 months to a year to maintain that quality. 2.5K 回 15
    via @TheSkaOreo
  • 36
    @michaelking7847 The most personally annoying thing about this whole situation, for me, is the the number of people claiming that Uzamakis failure is some kinda proof that animation is somehow incompatible with horror. And while it's true there's VERY little feature animation prioritizing horror, there's still oceans of short form horror animation out there for those who bother to look. H I even if you wanted to use Uzamaki as an example of incompatibility, the first episode still exists. It cou
    via @michaelking7847
  • 37
    @garryame4008 The most unfortunate thing is that episode one proves that Ito's work IS adaptable - It is possible! I only hope the mismanagement of this adaptation doesn't hinder future attempts 384 6
    via @garryame4008
  • 38
    Cheezburger Image 10426268160
    via Junji ITO, Shogakukan/Production I.G., LLC

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uzumaki junji ito animation anime animemes cartoon network anime memes cartoons manga otaku lovecraft horror geek nerds scary movies adult swim japanese japanese entertainment Japan weeb
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