For the first time in over 20 years, Junji Ito’s iconic horror manga, Uzumaki, will have an anime adaptation by Drive, Production I.G USA, and Adult Swim. Dubbed by the MyM magazine as “one of the scariest manga series around,” it will see the story of the citizens of the fictional Kurouzo-cho plagued by a supernatural curse involving spirals come to life. To give a glimpse of this adaptation, Adult Swim has dropped an official trailer for Uzumaki that proves to be faithful to its source material.
You can watch the Uzumaki trailer below:
The trailer for Uzumaki perfectly captures the terror of Ito’s manga with its terrifying sound and black-and-white aesthetic that makes it feel hand-drawn. It starts with Kirie Goshima, introducing the town of Kurouzo-cho, where she was born and raised. Beside her is her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, and the two look at the stream of spirals while a whirlpool starts to threaten the city.
“What I’m about to tell you are the story of the many strange events that happened here,” she says, as one of her classmates suddenly has a growing lump on his back.
Shuichi’s father becomes obsessed with spiral-shaped objects, believing they hold a strange hidden power. Azami Kurotani suddenly develops a spiral mark on her forehead, while Kirie and Shuichi are drawn into a spiral-like abyss. Azami reveals the gory, empty spiral hole in her head where her eyeball falls. Another man’s tongue twists into a spiral. As everyone falls victim to the spiral’s curse, Kirie and Shuichi attempt to escape, but it’s already too late for Kirie.
Who are the cast and staff of Uzumaki?
Adult Swim has revealed the Japanese and English voice actors for Uzumaki. Hiroshi Nagahama directs the series, while Colin Stetson composes the music. For the cast members, you can check the graph below:
Japanese Cast | English Cast | Character |
Uki Satake | Abby Trott | Kirie Goshima |
Shin-Ichiro Miki | Robbie Daymond | Shuichi Saito |
Mariya Ise | Christina Vee | Azami Kurotani |
Toshio Furukawa | Doug Stone | Kirie’s Dad |
Mika Doi | Mona Marshall | Shuichi’s Mom |
Takashi Matsuyama | Aaron LaPlante | Shuichi’s Dad |
Katsutoshi Matsuzaki | Max Mittleman | Katayama |
Ami Fukushima | Shiho | |
Wataru Hatano | Okada |
What is Uzumaki about?
Uzumaki follows the story of the people of Kurouzo-cho being haunted by a mysterious spiral-shaped object called Uzumaki. Since its emergence, the citizens have suddenly become obsessed with everything spiral. Among the victims is Shuichi’s father, fond of spiral-shaped objects—snails, whirlpools, and pottery decorations. While it seems to be no problem, something sinister is about to unfold after his dead body is found positioned in a spiral shape.
You can read the Uzumaki synopsis below:
A mysterious spiral shape, Uzumaki, haunts the small Japanese coastal town. Citizens suddenly become attracted to spiral-shaped objects. Shuichi Saito’s father is one of them. He becomes increasingly obsessed with spirals – snails, whirlpools, as well as decorations on pottery. This by itself isn’t a huge problem, but something more sinister is lurking. When his dead body is found positioned in a spiral shape, the town must prepare for the worst…
The anime is based on Ito’s critically acclaimed manga of the same title, which was published from 1998 to 1999. During its one-year run, its chapters were compiled into three bound volumes. Viz Media licensed it in English. In 2000, it was adapted into two video games for the WonderSwan and a Japanese live-action film directed by Higuchinsky.
An anime adaptation by Drive, co-produced by Production I.G USA and Adult Swim, was announced at the 2019 Crunchyroll Expo. It was supposed to be released in October 2022 but was delayed to improve the quality and give justice to Ito’s iconic work.
The long wait for Uzumaki will soon be over. The anime adaptation doesn’t only look promising. It also promises to be true to Ito’s material. With the hype surrounding its nearing release, many hope it can live up to the expectations.
Uzumaki is set to be released on Adult Swim on September 28 and will be streamed the next day on Max.
