Uzumaki

Story: 9/10
Uzumaki is one of the most intense horror anime I’ve ever seen. From the very beginning, it pulls you into a terrifying spiral that you can’t predict or escape from. What makes it stand out is how faithfully it adapts Junji Ito’s legendary manga—every disturbing detail is there, with nothing left out. For once, an Ito adaptation truly does the manga justice.

What impressed me the most is how the anime treats the town itself as the real protagonist. It’s not just about Kirie or her boyfriend—the entire town is consumed by the spiral curse, and that creeping, inescapable atmosphere is what drives the horror. ... The pacing is deliberate, the dread constant, and the story never lets you rest.

Art: 10/10
The black-and-white animation style was a brilliant choice. It perfectly captures Junji Ito’s unsettling artwork, making you feel as if you’re reading and watching the manga at the same time. Every scene feels handcrafted to preserve the eerie linework, shading, and emotion of the source material. Visually haunting, it’s one of the best artistic interpretations of horror I’ve seen in anime.

Sound: 8/10
The sound design complements the visuals with haunting ambient tones and moments of piercing silence that make the tension unbearable. The voice acting fits the eerie mood and makes the atmosphere feel suffocating and real.

Character: 8/10
While the focus isn’t heavily on character development, that’s part of what makes Uzumaki unique. The real character here is the town itself—a living, breathing curse. Kirie and Shuichi serve more as witnesses to the madness, which is what makes their reactions so relatable. You feel their fear and helplessness as the spiral curse devours everything.

Enjoyment: 9/10
Overall, Uzumaki is one of the best horror and gory anime I’ve watched. It’s intense, unpredictable, and visually haunting—an experience that lingers long after the credits roll. If you’re a fan of true psychological horror, this anime is a must-watch.

Final Thoughts:
Now, I can see a lot of people giving low ratings or saying it’s “not recommended.” But here’s something I really want to point out — this is an adaptation. Don’t come to the anime page and review it based on how the manga made you feel. The manga and anime are two different mediums: one is a book, the other is a motion picture with sound, atmosphere, and animation.

If you’re going to rate Uzumaki, rate it for what it is, not for what it came from. Watch the anime as if you haven’t read the manga—then you’ll see how beautifully it adapts the spirit and visuals of the original. I couldn’t almost differentiate between the characters in the manga and the anime; they’re that close.

So please, rate a work for what it has become, not for what you expected it to be.

Overall: 9/10 – A masterful spiral of madness, art, and psychological horror that stays with you long after it ends.

The basic idea is terrifying and original. The obsession with spirals as a curse gradually invading an entire city—bodies, minds, environment—is a powerful and unsettling concept, very well executed.

• The horrific atmosphere, blending body horror, psychological horror, and cosmic horror, is precisely what makes the work memorable. The grotesque, disturbing aspects often leave us feeling like we're walking a tightrope between fascination and disgust.

• For the anime adaptation: the black and white visuals are quite effective—they recall the manga's style and reinforce the sinister atmosphere.

• A few striking scenes remain effective: when the horror erupts, the mix of sounds, movements, and disturbing images can truly ... create a feeling of dread.

The narrative (especially in the anime) is sometimes too compressed: a manga spanning several hundred pages has been adapted into very few episodes, resulting in a very fast pace—sometimes too fast. This reduces the gradual build-up of fear, thus diminishing the horror's impact.

• Similarly, some events, characters, or traumas don't always seem to have significant consequences for the characters. After horrific traumas, the reactions are sometimes weak or inconsistent.

• The anime adaptation loses some of the depth and underlying unease that are the manga's strength: when everything moves too quickly, certain metaphors or the psychological breakdown aspect lose their effectiveness.

• The shock and gore effect can become repetitive: for sensitive viewers or readers, it can descend into macabre nonsense—the narrative interest can be diluted in favor of the horror spectacle.

You will just waste your time watching this anime.
Better read the manga.

The production experienced delays and changes in animation studios. One theory suggests the initial studio spent most of the budget on the first episode, necessitating a studio change for the remaining episodes.
Reading the manga is better because of the character designs , it is anime with a simple horror story and is not that interesting there are better choices in horror anime.

Here's a breakdown of the issues:

Initial Promise and Quality:
The first episode was praised for its animation and accurate depiction of the manga.
...
Deteriorating Quality:
Subsequent episodes saw a significant decline in animation quality, with some describing it as "sloppy" and "lazy".

Pacing Issues:
The anime's pacing was also criticized, with some viewers feeling that the story was rushed and key plot points were omitted, diminishing the unsettling atmosphere of the manga.