Collection
Series
Publication
VIZ Media LLC (2001), Edition: 1, Paperback
Description
Kurôzu-cho, a small fogbound town on the coast of Japan, is cursed. According to Shuichi Saito, the withdrawn boyfriend of teenager Kirie Goshima, their town is haunted not by a person or being but by a pattern: "uzumaki," the spiral, the hypnotic secret shape of the world which causes the inhabitants to go mad.
Language
Original language
Japanese
User reviews
LibraryThing member othersam
The three volumes of Uzumaki, written and illustrated by Junji Ito, make up one of the weirdest, most frightening, and most utterly brilliant stories I've ever come across. They centre on on a boy and a girl and their struggle to survive when the small town in Japan where they live comes under
The town is being menaced by spirals.
No way? Way. Believe it. The threat starts out small. Tiny whirwinds are seen in the streets. The town’s inhabitants become increasingly obsessed with spiral patterns in everyday objects such as springs, drill bits, corkscrews, lighthouse beacons, sirens. From there, with the inexorable, hypnotic anti-logic of a dream, the spirals take over. Spiral patterns appear in girls’ hair, until the hairstyles become sentient and battle each other over which spectacularly curling ‘do attracts the most attention. Spiral patterns appear on slow-moving town residents’ backs, before they turn into snails. And if you think /those/ things are weird, wait ’til you see what happens in Volume 3…
Uzumaki is a horror story: make no mistake about that. But the horror in it isn’t about blood (though it’s got its moments) or monsters (though it’s got those, too!) The emotions Uzumaki produces are something close to the claustrophobic, merciless unease of being trapped in a nightmare. Every few pages as I read it I was saying aloud things like ‘Whoah!’ ‘Ha!’ ‘Ew!’ ‘Gah!’ and ‘Wow!’ With its one dazzlingly original premise, Uzumaki opens your mind to the story possibilities that are waiting in everything around us. I tell you, I’ve never read anything like it.
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attack. But the threat in Uzumaki isn’t zombies, or werewolves, or demons, or aliens. The clue is in the title: the Japanese word ‘uzumaki’ describes a particular shape, or pattern…The town is being menaced by spirals.
No way? Way. Believe it. The threat starts out small. Tiny whirwinds are seen in the streets. The town’s inhabitants become increasingly obsessed with spiral patterns in everyday objects such as springs, drill bits, corkscrews, lighthouse beacons, sirens. From there, with the inexorable, hypnotic anti-logic of a dream, the spirals take over. Spiral patterns appear in girls’ hair, until the hairstyles become sentient and battle each other over which spectacularly curling ‘do attracts the most attention. Spiral patterns appear on slow-moving town residents’ backs, before they turn into snails. And if you think /those/ things are weird, wait ’til you see what happens in Volume 3…
Uzumaki is a horror story: make no mistake about that. But the horror in it isn’t about blood (though it’s got its moments) or monsters (though it’s got those, too!) The emotions Uzumaki produces are something close to the claustrophobic, merciless unease of being trapped in a nightmare. Every few pages as I read it I was saying aloud things like ‘Whoah!’ ‘Ha!’ ‘Ew!’ ‘Gah!’ and ‘Wow!’ With its one dazzlingly original premise, Uzumaki opens your mind to the story possibilities that are waiting in everything around us. I tell you, I’ve never read anything like it.
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LibraryThing member ax174
A very creepy collection of related stories about a town haunted by spirals (must be read to be believed). It's one of those rare works that changes the way you look at things. If you are not a huge fan of horror manga before reading this volume (and the other 2 following it), after you are
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through, you will be. Show Less
LibraryThing member ChemicalAzure
Creator of classic horror manga Tomie makes a comeback with this wonderfully disturbing series. Although the plot may seem ridiculous from a glance, it manages to be quite eerie as the series continues on. All horror fans should definitely read this.
LibraryThing member fuzzydeadthing
I am not usually a fan of Horror and Tragedy Manga. I can enjoy it as a non-graphic novel, because not actually seeing the gore helps me to separate fact from fiction in my mind. But visual media can be very influential on me. However, this series came so highly recommended, I gave it a try. I'm
Highly recommended, even to people who aren't big fans of horror or Manga (but some tolerance to both is necessary). The culprit is easy to forget once the story is over (what could be more benign than a spiral?) But it may affect yr view of row houses forever. I can't see one any more with out getting the creeps.
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really glad I did. The story is haunting and terrifying. The city is doomed, but it's still an excellent read, with great art and a skilled storyteller. Highly recommended, even to people who aren't big fans of horror or Manga (but some tolerance to both is necessary). The culprit is easy to forget once the story is over (what could be more benign than a spiral?) But it may affect yr view of row houses forever. I can't see one any more with out getting the creeps.
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LibraryThing member JimElkins
I have been reading manga, intermittently, ever since I heard the Japanese scholar Shigemi Inaga give an excellent talk on Hitoshi Iwaaki's "Parasyte" in 2000. I try to read mainly the more violent, frightening, or obscene manga, because those are the kinds that are mentioned and used in the art
Junji Ito's "Spiral Obsession" is motivated by something visual, so its graphics are directly involved in its plot. The characters' obsessions with spirals produce some memorable images (a man who twists himself into a spiral; a girl whose hair grows outlandish spiral sculptural forms). And the spiral itself is well suited to an obsessive account of obsession.
Ito's shorter manga are often formulaic horror stories involving ghosts, and his characters are seldom developed in any psychologically interesting way. When he tries to elaborate his stories, he tends to follow stereotypical narrative forms, which rely as much on cinema as novels. "Spiral Obsession" escapes some of those clichés by permitting him to concentrate on briefly told ideas and images, moving without excuse from one to the next.
In terms of graphics, Ito has two strengths: he is very good at connecting cells, which show Japanese houses from the outside (they appear dark, with shadows like stains, and they often include power lines and other everyday details); and single images of monsters, ghosts, and -- in this case -- spiral forms. An ideal Junji Ito manga would be a succession of carefully drawn images, of both these kinds, with a minimum of the connecting narratives he feels compelled to add.
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world. I haven't been writing notes on them because most are short and ephemeral. And, although it doesn't seem to bother the manga-reading public, the great majority are very badly or at least carelessly drawn: they aren't visually interesting.Junji Ito's "Spiral Obsession" is motivated by something visual, so its graphics are directly involved in its plot. The characters' obsessions with spirals produce some memorable images (a man who twists himself into a spiral; a girl whose hair grows outlandish spiral sculptural forms). And the spiral itself is well suited to an obsessive account of obsession.
Ito's shorter manga are often formulaic horror stories involving ghosts, and his characters are seldom developed in any psychologically interesting way. When he tries to elaborate his stories, he tends to follow stereotypical narrative forms, which rely as much on cinema as novels. "Spiral Obsession" escapes some of those clichés by permitting him to concentrate on briefly told ideas and images, moving without excuse from one to the next.
In terms of graphics, Ito has two strengths: he is very good at connecting cells, which show Japanese houses from the outside (they appear dark, with shadows like stains, and they often include power lines and other everyday details); and single images of monsters, ghosts, and -- in this case -- spiral forms. An ideal Junji Ito manga would be a succession of carefully drawn images, of both these kinds, with a minimum of the connecting narratives he feels compelled to add.
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LibraryThing member amandrake
Excellent, very unsettling, and definitely NOT one for the kids. Really nightmarish.
LibraryThing member dr_zirk
While I haven't read all that many manga, Uzumaki is easily the most inventive and entertaining of those that I have read. Junji Ito's twisted tale is alternately hilarious, horrifying, and deeply thought-provoing in ways that I'd come to think that manga could never be. Using spiral patterns as
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the central conceit of his plot gives Ito's tale an edge that more conventional horror is incapable of delivering, as the author draws ever wider circles (or are they spirals?) around his characters, with each ring of the circle infused with ever more examples of menacing spirals. Uzumaki succeeds both because it's based on an audacious idea, but also because the author has the talent to to spin a genuinely interesting tale with his unusual ingredients. Show Less
LibraryThing member ancameme
I was expecting something a little more distressing from a horror manga but I have the slight impression that it's going to be a slow burn kind of book. The kind that haunts you for days with images of twisted cadavers and flesh eating spirals.
Update: Nope...no haunting images yet and the only
Update: Nope...no haunting images yet and the only
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nightmares I had were about not being able to turn off the alarm clock in the morning. Show Less
LibraryThing member sarafwilliams
WAIT WHAT?
This series is so fucking great. In a town where everyone seems to be getting overly obsessed about spirals, the strangest things start happening. Starting from people being turned into snails to people swallowing up entire human bodies and becoming spirals themselves.
As some of you might
It is a horror manga, after all but so much more is happening that you can feel the terror behind the things happening in town. The characters are likeable (BUT WHY THE HECK WON'T THEY JUST LEAVE TOWN ALREADY) and on top of it all, Uzumaki is an utterly enjoyable read.
This series is so fucking great. In a town where everyone seems to be getting overly obsessed about spirals, the strangest things start happening. Starting from people being turned into snails to people swallowing up entire human bodies and becoming spirals themselves.
As some of you might
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be aware, I am into art and despite not being too good, I fairly enjoy it. One of the things I draw the most are spirals so this book hits close to home.It is a horror manga, after all but so much more is happening that you can feel the terror behind the things happening in town. The characters are likeable (BUT WHY THE HECK WON'T THEY JUST LEAVE TOWN ALREADY) and on top of it all, Uzumaki is an utterly enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member sarafwilliams
WAIT WHAT?
This series is so fucking great. In a town where everyone seems to be getting overly obsessed about spirals, the strangest things start happening. Starting from people being turned into snails to people swallowing up entire human bodies and becoming spirals themselves.
As some of you might
It is a horror manga, after all but so much more is happening that you can feel the terror behind the things happening in town. The characters are likeable (BUT WHY THE HECK WON'T THEY JUST LEAVE TOWN ALREADY) and on top of it all, Uzumaki is an utterly enjoyable read.
This series is so fucking great. In a town where everyone seems to be getting overly obsessed about spirals, the strangest things start happening. Starting from people being turned into snails to people swallowing up entire human bodies and becoming spirals themselves.
As some of you might
Show More
be aware, I am into art and despite not being too good, I fairly enjoy it. One of the things I draw the most are spirals so this book hits close to home.It is a horror manga, after all but so much more is happening that you can feel the terror behind the things happening in town. The characters are likeable (BUT WHY THE HECK WON'T THEY JUST LEAVE TOWN ALREADY) and on top of it all, Uzumaki is an utterly enjoyable read.
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LibraryThing member christina.h
This was awesome. Classic, twisted storytelling. Uzumaki centers around a gloomy seaside town whose residents are seemingly cursed by the influence of the spiral. Volume 1 follows its narrator, teenager Kirie Goshima as she witnesses various horrors and oddities throughout her town. Not wanting to
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sum everything up as being cursed by a spiral, Kirie does a good job of establishing the legitimacy of this curse, as she begins logical and skeptical, and is slow to give the curse credit while simultaneously not ignoring the impossibility of the events in front of her eyes. I love the grotesque imagery and classic, old-fashion simplicity behind Junju Ito’s storytelling. I’ll definitely be checking out Volumes 2 and 3. Show Less
LibraryThing member arewenotben
Well, that was unsettling
LibraryThing member bdgamer
"Uzumaki" has a strong beginning, a middle, and an end. That may not sound like much, but it's Ito's work after all, which is saying a lot.
Ito takes everyday objects and turns them into pure horror. Spirals, a rather simple pattern that appears in both nature and man-made objects, is converted
The first two stories are the absolute best, capturing and conveying the horror of obsession. While the first focuses on body horror, the second beautifully captures the gothic kind. This results in a wonderful see-saw of emotions in the readers; it's something I've seen very few authors, especially in manga, do, and it must be applauded.
Ito also expertly crafts stories about phobias centered around the body. Saying more would be akin to providing spoilers, so I'll refrain. You should read the stories.
Ito balances cosmic and body horror brilliantly, especially in the way he answers the question of who's more evil. While there is unseen and unexplained evil at the core of the town, it's the people who end up doing horrific things unprovoked. It is what truly drives the stories forward, making them more horrific than they should be.
"Uzumaki" is a brilliant read throughout. It goes a bit off the rails at some points, but the genius is consistent enough to make this an excellent read.
Ito takes everyday objects and turns them into pure horror. Spirals, a rather simple pattern that appears in both nature and man-made objects, is converted
Show More
into a source of terror, both physically and emotionally. The first two stories are the absolute best, capturing and conveying the horror of obsession. While the first focuses on body horror, the second beautifully captures the gothic kind. This results in a wonderful see-saw of emotions in the readers; it's something I've seen very few authors, especially in manga, do, and it must be applauded.
Ito also expertly crafts stories about phobias centered around the body. Saying more would be akin to providing spoilers, so I'll refrain. You should read the stories.
Ito balances cosmic and body horror brilliantly, especially in the way he answers the question of who's more evil. While there is unseen and unexplained evil at the core of the town, it's the people who end up doing horrific things unprovoked. It is what truly drives the stories forward, making them more horrific than they should be.
"Uzumaki" is a brilliant read throughout. It goes a bit off the rails at some points, but the genius is consistent enough to make this an excellent read.
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