Title: Uzumaki (spiral in Japanese)
Vols: 1-3
Publisher: Viz (under their Pulp Graphic Novel heading)
Price: $15.95 for 1 and 2, 16.95 for 3(it's a bit bigger)
Rated: Not rated, probably adult
Original release date: 1: Oct 2001 2: May 2002 3: Oct 2002(man, I'm glad *I* didn't have to wait a year for the end)
Review date: Nov 11th, 2003
What they say:
Vol 1: Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. Accourding to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person, or being, but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on people's bodies, the insane obessions of Shuichi's father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurozu-cho are pulled even deeper, as if into a whirlpool from which there is no return...
(geez, there's more text in the back cover blurb then there is in the rest of the book)
Vol 2: Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. Accourding to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person, or being, but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. (I'm editing a bit, as there's spoilers for volume 1 in this blurb) It possessed one of the town's people, causing him to remake himself into that image before he died. It grows in ferns, in seashells, in curls of hair, and in the crooked folds of the human brain. Giant snails are sighted near the high school. An eerie glow shines from the abandoned lighthouse. Mosquitoes fly in drowsy curves, and feed on blood. As more people are caught in the pattern, over the town of Kurozu-chu hans the spiral smoke of cremated corpses, because even in death, there is no escape...
Vol 3: With their town devestated by titanic hurricanes, the citizens of the spiral-haunted town of Kurozu-chu--including Shuidchi, Kirie, and her family--find themselves cut off from the outside world. Reporters and rescue teams cross the mountain range into Kurozu-chu, only to find themselves unable to leave. Trapped inside the cursed ruins, the desperate survivors struggle and huddle together(more editing) waiting for the worst to happen. The very laws of nature are changed as the spiral sucks them in. And to right it, or to escape, the last survivors must go to the heart of the horror to winess what may be their eventual fate.
Packaging:
Standard old style large Viz manga. The first few pages are in color (I know you guys love that stuff) Flipped, but I like flipped (blasphemy!) The cover for the first volume is either red or a picture of Kirie, as does the second and third volume. I don't think it matters what printing you get, since mine's a second printing, and it has a red cover. I prefer the red cover, it's spookier. Oh hey, I never noticed that before. The red cover even has something hidden in the cover, which you recognize after you read it. Spiffy.
Artwork:
Gosh, I really like Ito's art style. Very realistic, rather then the hyper stylized stuff we usually see. The eyes are even normal shaped. Really nice stuff.
Sfx:
I don't think there's a lot of SFX in this book, a quick flip through volume one didn't reveal any, so either it's not there, or it was translated.
Comparisons:
I like this MUCH better then Tomie. It's a lot better written, and plotted then Tomie. If you liked Tomie, you'll love Uzumaki.
What I say:
I liked Uzumaki better then Tomie or Flesh Colored Horror, but not as much as Gyo, tho that could change (see spoiler section).
Uzumeki has more of a unifying theme then Tomie, but a wee bit less then Gyo, as Gyo is all one story, and Uzumeki is more of a series of vignettes, tho it becomes mostly one story in the 3rd volume. It also has a much higher body count then Tomie, but isn't nearly as gory.
The vignettes are told by the heorine, Kirie, and really show the progression of the madness that's slowly infecting the town.
This is a pretty good manga, and I highly recommend to horror manga and Junji Ito fans. I had some problems with it, but it's really well written, drawn, and plotted. You won't be disapointed. Unless you're like me
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Volume 1:
The Spiral Obession parts 1 and 2: This starts off volume one, and really start off the story with a bang. Suichi's father is slowly driven mad by his obession with spirals. It ends with the first indiciations that something is REALLY not right with this town. A good start.
The scar: This one is almost Tomie esque, in that it has a girl that men desire, and throw themselves at her feet. However, it's definatly gruesome, esepcially what happens to her eye, and to one of the supporting charactors, and eventually, to her. Creeeeeepy.
The firing effect: This was also distrubing, as the madness that was affecting Suichi's father is now affecting Kirie's father. He's been dredging clay from the bottom of dragonfly pond, and using it to make pots, with horrific results. This would make a pretty good outer limits episode.
Twisted Souls: Sort of a Romeo and Julliet, Junji Ito style. It ends....well, it actually has somewhat of a happy ending, tho I think the non-affected parties took what was happening rather well. I don't know what I'd do if I saw what they did.
Medusa: The apprently obligatory hair episode. I think Ito's got a hair phobia, as this is the third story of his I've read that's delt with hair, and across three different series. I still think Flesh Colored Horror's was the best. Man, that father's look is STILL creepy!
Volume 1's pretty good. It shows the creeping madness that's affecting the town pretty well. And the stories are pretty good two. Alas, volume 2 doesn't quite meet this high standard, but it's still good.
Vol 2:
Jack in the box: Kind of random (actually, this is true for a lot of the stories in volume 2) I think it would've worked better as a stand alone, in say, flesh colored horror. It doesn't really work as Uzumaki story. Some boy proclaims his love for Kirie, dies, comes back to life.
The snail: This is the one story I bet got a lot of people. I guess the snail is sort of related to spirals, and I don't think it could've worked as a standalone story, but I still think it's kind of weak. It does have some threads that show up later, so it's semi important to the the story.
The Black lighthouse: ANOTHER random story that doesn't really fit into Uzumaki. I guess Ito wanted to write it, and couldn't make it a standalone. It's good, but not really horrific.
Mosquitos/Umbilical cord: Quite possibly the WORST story(it's basically one story) of the bunch. It has nothing to do with spirals, the situations is absurd, and the results are riduculous. It could've been dropped, and no one would ever miss it. It doesn't even show up later on in the story, so I guess even Ito didn't like it.
The storm: This starts the endgame, really. A small Tropical storm attacks the town, and uh, goes looking for Kirie. As I said, this is bascially the beginning of the end. It would've worked better in volume 3, imho, but it's in volume 2.
I think you could probably skip volume 2, and not miss it. If you want, read the snail in the bookstore, and leave the volume there. Things pick up in volume 3
Volume 3:
The house: After Kirie's home is destroyed in the hurricane, they go to one of the row houses, that strangely haven't been affected by the hurricanes. A strange infection infests the house, and begins to affect the family...A good story, but I wish this had been in volume 2, and the storm in volume 3(yea, I know it messes up the continuity, I still think that it would've worked better)
Starting from here, I'm gonna skip individual story descriptions, as it's basically all one story
After 6 hurricanes, the town is in ruins, except for the row houses. Rescue teams and reports are streaming in, and are finding they can't get out. A new character enters the story: Chie Maruyama, a tv reporter stuck in the town. Kirie, Chie, and Shuichi move from row house to row house, trying to find a place to stay, and find a horrific site: people have started to twist up around themselves. Kirie's brother has started to transform, and she, her brother, Chie, and Shuichi decide to escape from the spiral of horror.
This is where I think Junji Ito cheats a bit. As the gang is trying to find their way out, time speeds up in town, so that when they go back, the row houses have been rebuilt into a spiral, and of the charactors in town mention that they've been gone for years. This is abit of a cheat, as it allows Ito to jump ahead to the end of the story, but oh well. He skips five of the hurricanes too.
Kirie and Shuichi go to the middle of the madness: Dragonfly Pond, and find themselves trapped in the middle as the curse comes to and end.
This is what I have my problem with the story: Kirie and Shuichi don't escape! They end up caught, just like everyone else! What's the point of caring about them if they end up dead at the end of the story anyways? This doesn't really bode well for Gyo, but I'm still going to buy the second volume (and probably anything else that's put out of his, cause it's really good). As with Tomie, althought I have real problems with how it ends, I recognize that it's very, very good, and thus, I will recommend it, with no reservations, as I assume most people don't feel the same as I do.
Bonus story Galaxies:
Kind of a silly story, with a silly ending. I didn't like it much, and it doesn't really have much to do with the rest of the series.
Vols: 1-3
Publisher: Viz (under their Pulp Graphic Novel heading)
Price: $15.95 for 1 and 2, 16.95 for 3(it's a bit bigger)
Rated: Not rated, probably adult
Original release date: 1: Oct 2001 2: May 2002 3: Oct 2002(man, I'm glad *I* didn't have to wait a year for the end)
Review date: Nov 11th, 2003
What they say:
Vol 1: Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. Accourding to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person, or being, but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. It manifests itself in small ways: seashells, ferns, whirlpools in water, whirlwinds in air. And in large ways: the spiral marks on people's bodies, the insane obessions of Shuichi's father, the voice from the cochlea in your inner ear. As the madness spreads, the inhabitants of Kurozu-cho are pulled even deeper, as if into a whirlpool from which there is no return...
(geez, there's more text in the back cover blurb then there is in the rest of the book)
Vol 2: Kurozu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. Accourding to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person, or being, but by a pattern: uzumaki, the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world. (I'm editing a bit, as there's spoilers for volume 1 in this blurb) It possessed one of the town's people, causing him to remake himself into that image before he died. It grows in ferns, in seashells, in curls of hair, and in the crooked folds of the human brain. Giant snails are sighted near the high school. An eerie glow shines from the abandoned lighthouse. Mosquitoes fly in drowsy curves, and feed on blood. As more people are caught in the pattern, over the town of Kurozu-chu hans the spiral smoke of cremated corpses, because even in death, there is no escape...
Vol 3: With their town devestated by titanic hurricanes, the citizens of the spiral-haunted town of Kurozu-chu--including Shuidchi, Kirie, and her family--find themselves cut off from the outside world. Reporters and rescue teams cross the mountain range into Kurozu-chu, only to find themselves unable to leave. Trapped inside the cursed ruins, the desperate survivors struggle and huddle together(more editing) waiting for the worst to happen. The very laws of nature are changed as the spiral sucks them in. And to right it, or to escape, the last survivors must go to the heart of the horror to winess what may be their eventual fate.
Packaging:
Standard old style large Viz manga. The first few pages are in color (I know you guys love that stuff) Flipped, but I like flipped (blasphemy!) The cover for the first volume is either red or a picture of Kirie, as does the second and third volume. I don't think it matters what printing you get, since mine's a second printing, and it has a red cover. I prefer the red cover, it's spookier. Oh hey, I never noticed that before. The red cover even has something hidden in the cover, which you recognize after you read it. Spiffy.
Artwork:
Gosh, I really like Ito's art style. Very realistic, rather then the hyper stylized stuff we usually see. The eyes are even normal shaped. Really nice stuff.
Sfx:
I don't think there's a lot of SFX in this book, a quick flip through volume one didn't reveal any, so either it's not there, or it was translated.
Comparisons:
I like this MUCH better then Tomie. It's a lot better written, and plotted then Tomie. If you liked Tomie, you'll love Uzumaki.
What I say:
I liked Uzumaki better then Tomie or Flesh Colored Horror, but not as much as Gyo, tho that could change (see spoiler section).
Uzumeki has more of a unifying theme then Tomie, but a wee bit less then Gyo, as Gyo is all one story, and Uzumeki is more of a series of vignettes, tho it becomes mostly one story in the 3rd volume. It also has a much higher body count then Tomie, but isn't nearly as gory.
The vignettes are told by the heorine, Kirie, and really show the progression of the madness that's slowly infecting the town.
This is a pretty good manga, and I highly recommend to horror manga and Junji Ito fans. I had some problems with it, but it's really well written, drawn, and plotted. You won't be disapointed. Unless you're like me
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
a
h
o
y
Volume 1:
The Spiral Obession parts 1 and 2: This starts off volume one, and really start off the story with a bang. Suichi's father is slowly driven mad by his obession with spirals. It ends with the first indiciations that something is REALLY not right with this town. A good start.
The scar: This one is almost Tomie esque, in that it has a girl that men desire, and throw themselves at her feet. However, it's definatly gruesome, esepcially what happens to her eye, and to one of the supporting charactors, and eventually, to her. Creeeeeepy.
The firing effect: This was also distrubing, as the madness that was affecting Suichi's father is now affecting Kirie's father. He's been dredging clay from the bottom of dragonfly pond, and using it to make pots, with horrific results. This would make a pretty good outer limits episode.
Twisted Souls: Sort of a Romeo and Julliet, Junji Ito style. It ends....well, it actually has somewhat of a happy ending, tho I think the non-affected parties took what was happening rather well. I don't know what I'd do if I saw what they did.
Medusa: The apprently obligatory hair episode. I think Ito's got a hair phobia, as this is the third story of his I've read that's delt with hair, and across three different series. I still think Flesh Colored Horror's was the best. Man, that father's look is STILL creepy!
Volume 1's pretty good. It shows the creeping madness that's affecting the town pretty well. And the stories are pretty good two. Alas, volume 2 doesn't quite meet this high standard, but it's still good.
Vol 2:
Jack in the box: Kind of random (actually, this is true for a lot of the stories in volume 2) I think it would've worked better as a stand alone, in say, flesh colored horror. It doesn't really work as Uzumaki story. Some boy proclaims his love for Kirie, dies, comes back to life.
The snail: This is the one story I bet got a lot of people. I guess the snail is sort of related to spirals, and I don't think it could've worked as a standalone story, but I still think it's kind of weak. It does have some threads that show up later, so it's semi important to the the story.
The Black lighthouse: ANOTHER random story that doesn't really fit into Uzumaki. I guess Ito wanted to write it, and couldn't make it a standalone. It's good, but not really horrific.
Mosquitos/Umbilical cord: Quite possibly the WORST story(it's basically one story) of the bunch. It has nothing to do with spirals, the situations is absurd, and the results are riduculous. It could've been dropped, and no one would ever miss it. It doesn't even show up later on in the story, so I guess even Ito didn't like it.
The storm: This starts the endgame, really. A small Tropical storm attacks the town, and uh, goes looking for Kirie. As I said, this is bascially the beginning of the end. It would've worked better in volume 3, imho, but it's in volume 2.
I think you could probably skip volume 2, and not miss it. If you want, read the snail in the bookstore, and leave the volume there. Things pick up in volume 3
Volume 3:
The house: After Kirie's home is destroyed in the hurricane, they go to one of the row houses, that strangely haven't been affected by the hurricanes. A strange infection infests the house, and begins to affect the family...A good story, but I wish this had been in volume 2, and the storm in volume 3(yea, I know it messes up the continuity, I still think that it would've worked better)
Starting from here, I'm gonna skip individual story descriptions, as it's basically all one story
After 6 hurricanes, the town is in ruins, except for the row houses. Rescue teams and reports are streaming in, and are finding they can't get out. A new character enters the story: Chie Maruyama, a tv reporter stuck in the town. Kirie, Chie, and Shuichi move from row house to row house, trying to find a place to stay, and find a horrific site: people have started to twist up around themselves. Kirie's brother has started to transform, and she, her brother, Chie, and Shuichi decide to escape from the spiral of horror.
This is where I think Junji Ito cheats a bit. As the gang is trying to find their way out, time speeds up in town, so that when they go back, the row houses have been rebuilt into a spiral, and of the charactors in town mention that they've been gone for years. This is abit of a cheat, as it allows Ito to jump ahead to the end of the story, but oh well. He skips five of the hurricanes too.
Kirie and Shuichi go to the middle of the madness: Dragonfly Pond, and find themselves trapped in the middle as the curse comes to and end.
This is what I have my problem with the story: Kirie and Shuichi don't escape! They end up caught, just like everyone else! What's the point of caring about them if they end up dead at the end of the story anyways? This doesn't really bode well for Gyo, but I'm still going to buy the second volume (and probably anything else that's put out of his, cause it's really good). As with Tomie, althought I have real problems with how it ends, I recognize that it's very, very good, and thus, I will recommend it, with no reservations, as I assume most people don't feel the same as I do.
Bonus story Galaxies:
Kind of a silly story, with a silly ending. I didn't like it much, and it doesn't really have much to do with the rest of the series.
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