Here's what we know about Adult Swim's upcoming adaptation of Junji Ito's acclaimed horror manga Uzumaki. Junji Ito is a legendary writer and artist who has created some of the most nightmarish mangas of the last 30 years. He has an uncanny talent for dreaming up disturbing, gross or even strangely beautiful imagery. Some of his most famous stories include Gyo or Tomie, and while his narratives don't make a whole lot of sense upon examination, that only adds to that strange, nightmare feel he's chasing.
Despite his enduring popularity, even the best Junji Ito books have led to disappointing live-action or anime adaptations. The many Tomie movies or the Gyo: Tokyo Fish Attack anime met with mixed responses - especially when compared to their source material - while the recent Junji Ito Collection also disappointed many. This horror anthology adapted two Ito tales per episode, but some lackluster animation made it only fitfully successful in its attempts to port over the artist's style to a new medium.
Uzumaki was previously turned into a live-action movie in 2000, with the film considered one of the better Ito adaptations. Adult Swim is trying again with an animated miniseries based on the manga, and here's what we know about the project.
Uzumaki's Story & Talent
Like Junji Ito's original manga, Uzumaki is set in a small Japanese town where the residents become almost supernatural obsessed with spiral patterns. The story then gives way to some haunting body horror and Ito's trademark gift for creating tales with a thick air of dread, as the residents literally get twisted out of shape.
The Junji Ito Uzumaki miniseries will consist of four episodes, with Toonami and Production IG (Ghost In The Shell) producing. The series is being directed by Flowers of Evil's Hiroshi Nagahama and scored by Colin Stetson, which will follow the style of the original manga by being in black and white. Like many shows, production was set back by the COVID-19 pandemic, and an airdate of late 2021 was estimated.
Uzumaki Release Date Delayed To October 2022
The first teaser for Uzimaki dropped in late 2019, so for Junji Ito fans, it's been a long wait. Unfortunately, they will have to wait another year, as Adult Swim recently released a video announcing it will be delayed until October 2022. In the video - which contains a small tease of the show's art style - director Nagahama explains that not only did the pandemic seriously disrupt the original plan but that the show has also doubled the amount of staff normally used for such a production.
This has necessitated another delay, but even from the early glimpses, Adult Swim's Uzumaki looks set to capture the nervous dread of Ito's source material. If it proves a success for Adult Swim, it may lead to further adaptations of the artist's work too - which can only be a good thing.