Initially after hearing that one of Junji Ito's most prolific pieces was about to be adapted into an anime, after that 'shonky' Netflix anthology, I was sceptical but indifferent as I had never read Junji Ito's work. However, soon after thinking that, I was gifted the deluxe edition and found myself amazed by Ito's macabre imagery and his ability to convey such a compelling story along with it, and found myself wondering as to how an anime studio (let alone Adult Swim) could adapt something so unique into an episodic limited series? So, I watched the trailer and again was shocked at how good it looked and told myself I would see it through and that there was still hope yet for an Ito adaptation that looks good in motion and...and...I was soon proven incorrect. While I don't find it to be the worst of the worst, I can definitely see how and why long time Uzumaki and Junji Ito fans may have felt slighted and frustrated at this adaptation and I would argue that some of these complaints are very much real and not just a matter of bias for the source material.
For what it did well I found that ironically by doing away with the episodic nature of the original manga for a more streamline, interconnected narrative that incorporated ALL of the classic Uzumaki stories (save for the lost chapter), the anime felt more alive, with a bit more flow than the original manga. The voice acting provided for the show was also quite good and found that a lot of the characters sounded like I thought they would have funnily enough. Lastly, the animation in episode 1 was an absolute highlight as I for one never thought any Junji Ito story could be shown/animated in such a way as to emulate the source material and Ito's linework so effectively.
Sadly, what it didn't do so well in also overlaps with some of these positives. While it was great to see every story adapted and interconnected, some stories just didn't fit very well, the worst examples of this coming in episode 3 where several storylines such as the 'Jack in the Box' felt shoehorned in or rushed through. The latter issue also proving to be an issue after the first episode where many of the stories then felt rushed with little time for them to truly shine, the hospital story(s) was one such victim of this in my opinion. I feel some stories should've been cut in the final compilation of the stories, though I acknowledge it would've been odd to have left out either one or two stories when all the others were adapted, so while it wasn't done the best and I feel more time should've been dedicated to some of these stories, it is refreshing at least to see an adaptation that truly utilises all of the source material.
Now to discuss the elephant in the room, By and large, the biggest blemish on this adaptation is the animation, specifically episode 2's animation as it was just bad (along with some grating moments in 3 and 4). Grinding, PowerPoint presentation and ugly are the main things I've heard, and I'm sure if not for the new Blue Lock season, more people would be talking about this right now. I'm told there were issues pertaining to the budget of animation behind the scenes, as well as this being in production hell for a bit which probably compounded the issue, but that is a bit of speculation on my part, and I do feel a lot of the animosity comes from how the trailer used mostly episode 1 footage and thus felt a bit like false advertising on the airing of episode 2. And this is in no way meant to be a slight at the animation teams, but the final result cannot be ignored and episode 2 was definitely a visible drop off
My final verdict? I've been waiting for this anime to wrap up for a week now so I can say my final thoughts, so I do apologise for going off about this at length, however the Uzumaki anime is not something I can really recommend. Though I prattled on about the animation, it didn't bother me as much as I know it did others, if anything it's serviceable beyond episode 2, but the pacing of the stories was handled very thoughtlessly I found. While I appreciated the little things they added to make the series more cohesive, the series felt like it was hurtling toward the finish line after episode 1, leaving little time to process or comprehend what was going on, I myself only just catching my bearings as I had read the manga beforehand...which leads into my final thoughts. While I acknowledge the adaptation offers something new that manga fans are sure to enjoy, I cannot recommend someone watch this anime just for those little tidbits. The anime is fine for people who prefer this medium, though I would urge anyone who wants to experience the Uzumaki story to read the manga.
Final Score 5/10
"Just barely serviceable, but the spirals made me dizzy."
