Adult Swim’s Long-Awaited Uzumaki Anime Might Break the Junji Ito Adaptation Curse

Earlier today, Adult Swim unveiled the authoritative trailer for its long-awaited anime adaptation of horror manga auteur Junji Ito‘s magnum opus, Uzumaki, and it looks similar a terrifyingly bully time.

Uzumaki, a four-episode anime by Ghost successful the Shell workplace Production I.G, follows precocious schooler Kirie Goshima’s harrowing misadventures arsenic a mysterious spiral signifier colonisation haunts her and her hometown. Although the spiral starts arsenic an unusual curiosity for the townsfolk, it soon becomes an all-encompassing obsession threatening to upend their lives successful progressively gruesome and macabre assemblage horror-filled ways.

Famously, Uzumaki was initially slated to merchandise connected Toonami successful 2020 earlier it spiraled into 3 delays. At the time, Production I.G. issued a connection connected the anime’s authoritative X/Twitter leafage saying it required much clip to guarantee the anime’s chiseled black-and-white CG benignant recreated “the prime of the intricate designs and elaborate enactment work” of Ito’s manga.

In a caller interrogation with Vulture, Uzumaki enforcement shaper and Adult Swim elder vice president Jason DeMarco recounted the series’ galore troublesome accumulation woes, including however covid-19 halted enactment connected the anime.

“The pandemic wholly stopped accumulation connected the amusement for adjacent to a year. It was the azygous biggest impact,”  DeMarco told Vulture. “Our unit was small, truthful having adjacent a fewer members and their families getting deathly sick was a immense stroke to some the accumulation and our morale. It was precise challenging to bring the amusement backmost from the dead.”

DeMarco besides revealed that Flying Lotus, a long-time Adult Swim euphony collaborator, suggested making Uzumaki a black-and-white CG animation to present the page-turning fearfulness of Ito’s manga panels.

“I thought that was an astonishing thought and suggested it to [director Hiroshi] Nagahama successful our archetypal gathering astir the show. He said helium had really been reasoning astir the aforesaid happening and that helium was thrilled I suggested it,” DeMarco said.

“Nagahama’s thought was to usage question seizure and physique everything successful CG, past re-draw each of it, which helium felt would springiness the animators the quality to tackle Ito-sensei’s enactment work, which is incredibly detailed,” DeMarco continued. “The determination to nutrient the amusement successful achromatic and achromatic ended up being a immense accumulation issue, but evidently it looks terrific.” Adult Swim’s determination to marque Uzumaki achromatic and achromatic plays successful stark opposition to erstwhile anime adaptations from Crunchyroll and Netflix—Junji Ito Collection and Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, respectively—both of which were successful color, with middling results.

Closing retired the interview, DeMarco says helium and the folks astatine Adult Swim are gladsome to person yet exited the accumulation nightmare spiral that was moving connected Uzumaki. However, he’s beauteous definite the unit is dealing with a akin curse arsenic Kirie.

“I inactive spot spirals. Everyone who worked connected the amusement does—millions and millions of them,” DeMarco said, adding that the accumulation squad visited a shrine to escaped themselves of the supernatural. “It didn’t work! Without the slightest hyperbole, each of america connected the unit genuinely judge the spiral cursed our project. It’s a occurrence it got made and we each survived it.”

Uzumaki premieres connected Adult Swim September 28, with a next-day streaming merchandise connected Max.

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