“Uzumaki” is a three volume horror manga series created by Junji Ito, in 1998 in the weekly manga magazine “Big Comic Spirits”. This short horror series explores the concept of spirals, and their anomaly on a small village of people. While the idea of spirals being scary usually isn’t something that the average person would think of, Junji Ito’s ideas and artwork elevate their concept to a realm of eltrich horror. 

“Uzumaki” follows the denizens of a town called Kurouzu-cho, specifically a girl named Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi. Kurouzu-cho, the town itself sets in as a very odd place with random whirlpools that form in the water, and small dust devils that appear in the streets. Though I can recognize the horror presented throughout the story and art, I had a hard time finding it scary myself. I’ve always heard things about Junji Ito’s art, especially in discourse about “Uzumaki”; It was incredible visually speaking, I could see how it could be terrifying to others but that fear spark never ignited within me.

While I enjoyed the concepts that had been brought to life in the story; I feel that the characters were somewhat stupid the whole way through making the story fall flat in my eyes. The art on the otherhand was in a realm of its own, each and every page felt like something to anticipate. I recomend “Uzumaki” to fans of horror and especially art. Other than that I don’t really wana spoil anything since it is such a short story. I enjoyed the artwork quite a lot, but that’s all I really want to judge it on, I give it a 6/10 and a 7/10 at best.