What does it mean to be afraid of a concept that on its own is not frightening? How could one even conceive of such horror? In the manga, Uzumaki by Junji Ito, the shape of the spiral takes on this horrific role, as it manifests as a sort of Lovecraftian monster in order to terrify, and shock the characters within the manga, and those who decide to read it. Originally the adult manga was published as a serial in, “Big Comic Spirits”, from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were later compiled into an omnibus edition in English by Viz Media in October 2013.
The manga by Junji Ito follows a bizarre, and absurd premise, one that some readers may not feel like they understand immediately. A small Japanese town is, “infested by spirals.” This means spiral shapes begin to appear everywhere from blades of grass, to clouds, pottery baking in a kiln, whirlpools, and so much more. The story increasingly becomes more and more unnerving once the townsfolk begin to form an obsession over the spirals. Mr. Saito, the father of Shuichi Saito, one of the main characters, begins to act bizarrely; like stopping in the middle of street to watch snails for hours, or packing a room in his house with any object with a spiral shape drawn, carved, or otherwise embedded on it. This situation becomes even more alarming when Mr. Saito begins to distort his own body in an attempt to assume spiral shapes, which leads to some truly disturbing images of the horrifying pliability of the human body, culminating in an iconically nightmarish two page illustration.
To truly appreciate the horror that is Uzumaki, one cannot ignore the immensely detailed drawings that Junji Ito fills the pages with. Ito’s drawings refuse to be apart of the mainstream style of most Japanese mangas, and instead Ito focuses on the use of precise black and white line drawings that fit an anatomical model in order to create a sort of horrific realism. People metamorphosize into the spirals that haunt them. Boys begin to transform into snails; their shells rise and push through their skin in such detailed gore, each new page of the manga increases the ever rising dread. While in the compiled omnibus edition, the Japanese to English translation is at times a little rough around the edges. However where words fail, the intense body horror depicted through the drawings fills the narrative role of the manga.
The story of Uzumaki has an episodic nature, which for some may feel a bit sprawling or loose; however, it is crucial to remember that this story was originally published in a serialized form, as most manga are. The story itself marks Uzumaki as a work worthy of being read by any weird fiction aficionado, and in fact it moves through several notable weird “phases”. In its later second half, Uzumaki begins to slowly and surely reveal its true narrative shape. One that takes form as a cosmic horror story: surprisingly bleak and existential, given the obvious focus on more explicitly grotesque horrors elsewhere within its chapters. In the end, the spiral will forever haunt the mysterious Japanese seaside town for generations to come.
The world of Uzumaki is ultimately a dark one. The culmination of deeply mortifying drawings, and the bizarre premise of the manga , consume any possible lightheartedness into the spiralling chapters. This is not a feel-good story by any means, but readers will hopefully find themselves reaching some kind of pleasure in its creativity.
Have you guys read any of Junji Ito’s works, or do you want to? Personally I have a small collection of his stuff and I deeply enjoy it. Tell me what you think about it! Or Read my past review on My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness here.
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