[Book Review] Uzamaki (1998)

I was gifted a book called Uzamaki (which in Japanese, means “spiral”). I had never read a manga in my life and Uzamaki is not something I would have willingly bought myself. 

I opened the first page to the weird and crazy world that is Junji Ito. Before I knew it, I had finished the book.

The horror in Uzamaki comes from the distortion of the body transforming into spirals. The collection follows citizens of Kurouzu-cho, a Japanese city that has a supernatural curse involving spirals. The protagonists of the story are a young couple: Shuichi Saito and Kirie Goshima. Shuichi’s father is obsessed with studying spirals, which worries Shuichi. Eventually, Shuichi finds his father dead and in the shape of a spiral. 

After this event, all the citizens of Kurozu-cho became paranoid about everything being spirals. One of my favourite stories within the collection is “The Scar”, which follows the story of a young girl with a scar on her forehead. Eventually, the scar transforms into a spiral the size of her head, which engulfs anything in her way. 

This collection is classic horror and will      make      most readers want to scream at the protagonists to leave the town. It is irksome that Kirie and Shuichi do not leave, even after both of Shuichi’s parents die. 

The only thing I found irksome about Uzamaki was that I could see the dangers of Suchi and Kirie staying in Kurouzu-cho, despite the supernatural occurrences, but they both      stay anyway. However, their decision to remain      evoked an emotional reaction from me, which shows how engrossed I was with the characters and storyline. 

Paranoia is also an underlying theme in Uzamaki. Japanese societies fear various environmental scares, which can lead to paranoia about the weather and      Ito uses this in the story,      adding      to the overall paranoia of spirals in the community. 

Overall, this the best manga that I have ever read and it remains      my favourite book of all time. I was sucked into a spiral of infatuation and fascination. If you are a fan of horror, even if you have never read a manga before, you should read this collection.

You can purchase Uzamaki here: 

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