May 18th, 2008 | → 2 Comments | ∇ Graphic Novels & Comics |
Uzumaki, Spiral into Horror
by Ghastly McNastyUzumaki is a manga horror comic written and drawn by Junji Ito. It has recently been made in to a live action movie but this review focuses on the manga stories currently available as a 3 volume graphic novel series.
Uzumaki (translated means spiral) tells the story of the town of Kurozu-cho a small Japanese fishing village that has been cursed by spirals. Residents find themselves increasing obsessed with the shape and form of the spiral which leads to countless horrific deaths and bizarre events throughout the town. These events are viewed through the eyes of Kirie Goshima a young high school student who bears witness to the increasing madness as friends and family are taken over by the curse.
The first 2 volumes are filled with individual stories of terror while the third volume brings the whole tale to conclusion. The stand-alone stories are the most chilling of this entire macabre series but Junji Ito does well to actually finish such an unusual and original story without ever fully explaining exactly what has taken place.
Opinion
What makes this story so interesting is that Junji Ito has taken a completely random everyday shape, the spiral, and turned it into something unknown and fearful. The ‘creature’ in this horror story is impossible to define and the horror comes from the actions of the characters who fall for the spirals charms. It gives you a certain sense of paranoia and uneasiness because these seemingly innocent shapes are all around us.
What really sets this manga apart from other horror manga is Ito’s excellent artwork. It follows the basic manga style but he manages to draw some really disturbing images throughout the series. He is able to produce big scares with the revolting imagery alone. When you add to the mix the extremely spooky storyline the result is a modern horror masterpiece.
Rating
This is the first comic book review on this site and maybe I chose Uzumaki because it’s the easiest to review. It’s certainly not the easiest to explain but as a reviewer I can only come to one, easy to make, conclusion. This is manga at its very best!
Heartily recommended to anyone who is a fan of horror, fantasy, surrealism and comics. A very worthy 10/10
by Ghastly McNasty
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excellent! you’ve inspired me to do a “Tomie” review!
Good choice of picture too…poor Kirie 🙂
also, his “autobiographical” afterwords in Uzumaki are quite funny…