A Disturbing Anime Horror Series Is A Streaming Hit On Max

As celebrated as Junji Ito's horror manga are, they've had a rather mixed track record when it comes to being adapted to other mediums. Even the scariest Ito adaptations (which we've ranked in the past) can't fully translate the visuals, the dread, and the pure storytelling of the creative's work. Then along came "Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror," the latest adaptation of the "Uzumaki" manga, as produced by Production IG and Adult Swim. After years of delays, the "Uzumaki" anime is finally here, and it is making some big waves on Max's streaming charts. According to FlixPatrol, the four-episode anime is currently at the #10 spot on the U.S. Top 10 TV Shows chart and #2 worldwide this week.

"Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror" follows Kirie Goshima, a high school girl who lives in a seaside town called Kurouzu-cho. The mysterious yet sleepy settlement changes drastically when spiral patterns start to appear in innocuous places, quickly turning into an all-encompassing obsession for its citizens. Soon, however, Kirie and her boyfriend come to realize the town is literally cursed, with the spirals turning from a source of fascination into a body horror nightmare warping the minds, bodies, and souls of the townsfolk.

The show's first episode is a true masterclass in horror and animation, and one of the best works of horror of the year regardless of the medium. A big part of this is the animation, with Studio Fugaku keeping the black-and-white look of the original manga and using the linework to make the visuals truly terrifying. The series also features some astonishing use of motion capture, which makes the character acting and body movements mesmerizing, all the while feeling as real yet unnatural as the spirals in the story. It's easy to see why audiences across the country are entranced with this anime ... which, unfortunately, brings us to the downside of this story.

Audiences who watched "Uzumaki" as it was airing were quick to take to social media and share in their real horror when the second episode of the anime felt like a curse unleashed on the audience. Indeed, the stunning motion capture gave way to flat CG renderings of character models, with fluid body movements being replaced by rigid movements that deflated any semblance of the horror of the premiere. It's a shame, and people were rightfully angry, particularly given that the anime was repeatedly delayed after being announced all the way back in 2019 — not to mention that Ito himself and producer Jason DeMarco constantly praised the show ahead of its arrival.

In a now-deleted post on BlueSky (via Polygon), DeMarco tried to explain how "Uzumaki" turned out this way, stating that he expected the response to turn so sour and even pointing at someone being responsible for the drop in animation quality. "I can't talk about what went down but we were screwed over," DeMarco wrote. "The options were A) not finish and air nothing and call it a loss, B) Just finish and air ep 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C."

DeMarco did not try to dissuade fans from sharing their frustration, either: "After waiting so long, it makes sense people would be mad. Unfortunately I can't tell them who to blame it on... but someone is definitely at fault here, and we all just had to do our best when things imploded."

It's a shame, but it seems a drop in quality didn't stop audiences from connecting with the horror of Ito's storytelling, as "Uzumaki" nevertheless dominates the streaming charts.