First Impression: Uzumaki

Do you ever feel that your life is spiraling out of control? Like things are just swirling downwards into an endless pit of despair towards a void of horror? Well, spare a thought for the citizens of the small town of Kurouzu. It appears that quite a few of the townsfolk are falling victim to uzumaki. And no, I’m not referring to the Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja we all know and love; these are literal uzumaki or spirals. Some people are obsessed with spirals, some use them for their own nefarious purposes, others are physically infected by them, and still others are so terrified of the spirals that they will mutilate their bodies to eliminate them. The story follows high school girl Kirei as she struggles to live in her town surrounded by people who have fallen victim to the swirly subterfuge of the uzumaki.

No lie, this premiere episode had me laughing more than being scared or unsettled. Just for context, when it comes to horror movies and TV shows, I don’t tend to go for them as I find the entire genre silly and pointless. If you like it, I love that for you, but on my end, I just don’t feel the need to knowingly sit down and watch something that is supposed to be scary. As I’ve said countless times, if I REALLY wanna be scared, I’ll check my bank account after an anime convention. That’s scary to me. But I digress. The whole time I was watching Uzumaki I felt this show was leaning too much on its imagery to be creepy instead of the story itself. I mean, the visuals are unsettling, but after a split second, I just found myself either rolling my eyes (pun intended), laughing, or looking at the screen like “Umm, yeah, that’s a thing they did.” I get the feeling this show is just going for visually shocking moments to show off the admittedly amazing animation style. I’ve been told MANY times that I should wait until the next few episodes during which time things will ramp up, but you guys know how I feel about that; if you can’t bring the “A” Game from the jump, then I have little hope for later episodes. And especially when you consider that this is a mini-series with only four episodes, that means you have even less time to draw me in. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very interested in seeing how this story plays out as it does enough to keep me entertained and amused. But if I’m honest, I found shows like Parasyte and Made in Abyss to be FAR scarier and unsettling. Maybe I’m just cut different? I don’t know. However, props where props are due: Uzumaki looks amazing. I love the “Moving Manga” style that is presented, and I also love the creative decision to avoid color. I think the idea of telling multiple stories all tied together with one person is a very unique storytelling idea, even though it does make things a little confusing, at least in this premiere episode. I just hope this doesn’t become a case of the creators trying to jam so many stories into one episode that you end up losing track of a character that was supposed to be the focus.

So where does that leave us with Uzumaki? Heck, it’s only four episodes, so I say go for it if you’re curious. I’ll be keeping up with it, as the five-episode rule doesn’t really apply here. If surreal horror is your thing, then I can honestly say you might find something to like here. However, if the first episode is anything to go by, be prepared to laugh more than be afraid. I know a lot of people put a lot of hard work into this one, and that work shows in the final product, but I just wish that it gave me a little more than just creepy visuals.

Uzumaki is airing on Adult Swim in the US and is available for streaming on MAX in the US and Channel 4 in the UK.

Josh
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