Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror - A Review

Plot: Kirie Goshima and Shuichi a teen couple in Kirouzu Cho discover the town's weird obsession with spirals. It begins with Shuicchi's father followed by a series of horrible and bizarre events that makes citizens of Kirouzu Cho spiral into madness. 

Review: This is all my subjective opinion and if it isn't what you thought about this manga then it's perfectly fine. So first I'll talk about things I like and things I didn't like later.  

The Story: Uzumaki is inspired by the works of HP Lovecraft which emphasises cosmic horror. Most of the stuff in these type of works doesn't make sense but we will be given a vague idea of what's going on so that we can theorize about it a lot. They mostly involve otherworldly beings that are beyond our comprehension and they can bend logic and are very absurd. The best example of Lovecraft work I can think of is Mist and Annihilation. We are given a vague idea of whats happening and will leave a lot of questions that we need to figure out on our own or just leaves us with no resolution. Uzumaki perfectly captures that subgenre perfectly we are left with awe on a spiral which is a power beyond our comprehension and Junji perfectly uses the ambiguity of that power and uses his imagination to create creatures that will make you uncomfortable. 

After the premise, every chapter felt like stories that aren't related to each other but soon everything comes together while it doesn't make much sense it shows why people are being this absurd. 

*Spoiler Terroritory begins*

I can't say if I am right since this could be just a theory but it seems like they were all cursed by the spiral into not leaving the town from early on. I mean think about our heroine reacted normally to the most absurd situations and acted like nothing happened just like many others in the town. But Shuuichi on the other hand is the only one who isn't affected by spiral powers Kirei got affected but got out of it. Shuuichi was unable to get out early on for two reasons 

1. He can't leave Kirei behind

2. He is a special one who was given clairvoyance to understand the spiral but still has a restriction that makes him not to move out of the town. 

*Spoiler Territory Ends*

Every chapter that feels unrelated shows the different effects spiral has on other people and there is a little bit of social commentary in between too. There is a lot of suspension of disbelief but that's what you expect in Junji Itou works. 

The Art: The main aim of Junji Ito isn't to scare you but make you feel uncomfortable. The art of this manga does exactly that the characters are drawn realistically and the grotesque monsters they become becomes all too real. Junji is very talented in making them as real as possible when I saw his human-sized snail drawing I felt like this is exactly how a human-sized snail would like, which makes it feel very disgusting. 

The Characters: The main characters have no depth and that's what makes them perfect vessels. They are generic and they have no personality but they are still used perfectly to explore the horrors of that town. They are nothing special even with Shuichi's powers they are still just like any other person in the town. 

*Spoiler Territory Begins* 

So what I am saying is that despite being able to get out of the town territory both of them were still able to return back. They are still stuck in the town and they will be stuck together for eternity as the curse begins as soon as it ended which means when they fell in a spiral where times freezes they will be there for eternity. The time in the town is fast. The time outside the world is slow. So no matter what they do they will be stuck there at the centre and everything that isn't in the centre will go back to normal and become chaotic again.  These two main characters are no special they will never be free.  

*Spoiler Territory Ends*

Now the stuff that I didn't like 

While the premise perfectly builds up the suspense, most of the chapters later didn't give me the same suspense as previous chapters. However, it did get better from the hospital chapter onwards and it was a wild ride. 

Final Rating: 4/5 

Uzumaki is absurd and illogical sometimes but gives you some answers and lets you ask yourself that is it absurd? or did I just not understand it, its ambiguity is what makes it so good. Will, I read it again? Not Really 2 times is enough. Did I enjoy it? It was weird stuff and I liked it very much.