It’s been a long five years since the anime adaptation of Junji Ito’s manga Uzumaki was announced, but we’re slowly getting closer to its release! Here’s everything you need to know about the highly anticipated horror anime.
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What Is The Plot of Uzumaki?
Uzumaki is a horror manga written by Junji Ito. Among his lengthy career, many consider Uzumaki to be his magnum opus. The story of Uzumaki follows two high schoolers, Kirie and Shuichi, in the small Japanese town of Kurouzu-cho. They’re a couple who begin to experience supernatural events centering around spirals, whether it be strange weather phenomena or ancient structures appearing in the titular shape, that slowly begin to drive the rest of the town mad. They have no idea what’s causing these spirals to appear, and they frankly don’t know if they can do anything about it, but they’ll certainly try to do their part to stop the madness.
When Does Uzumaki Release?
For the longest time, Uzumaki was in production hell. It was originally scheduled to come out in 2020 but has been delayed numerous times to the point where any release date has been questionable at best. However, thanks to a recent interview with Japan Times, Junji Ito confirmed that the series will be released sometime in 2024 and that he approves of how the anime series has adapted his manga. No other update was given, but Ito did say that the episodes are complete, meaning that there’s not much left to be done, and the series will hopefully have a confirmed release date shortly.
How Many Episodes Will Uzumaki Have?
In its initial announcement, Uzumaki was confirmed to have four episodes. That is seemingly still the case thanks to the aforementioned Japan Times interview, where Ito again restated that the series will have only four episodes. That being said, the length of each episode has not been established yet, so it’s possible that each episode may go beyond the standard 23 minutes. While this may cause some fear in fans about the series receiving a complete and faithful adaptation, Ito has stated in interviews that this series will “re-arrange” elements of the manga and that he is personally satisfied with how it turned out, which is somewhat reassuring given the middling quality of previous adaptations of his work.
Who Is Making Uzumaki?
Uzumaki is being created by an animation studio called Drive. They’re a relatively new studio, with Uzumaki arguably being their most complicated anime so far, but they’ve helmed a few major anime in recent years. Last year they took over animation duties for To Your Eternity‘s second season, and they also animated KonoSuba‘s recent third season, as well as last year’s spin-off centering on Megumin. As for the director, the series is being helmed by Hiroshi Nagahama, who anime fans will know from his past shows Flowers of Evil and Mushishi. Both shows are highly introspective and have wonderful environmental design, so it seems likely that Nagahama will be able to capture Ito’s macabre vibes well.
Where Is Uzumaki Streaming?
Currently, Uzumaki does not have a confirmed streaming platform; however, it seems highly likely the series will be streamed on Max. Uzumaki was commissioned by Adult Swim, much in the same way the FLCL sequels were commissioned, meaning that they have exclusive control over where the series will be streamed. Given that Adult Swim is a subsidiary of Warner Bros., it stands to reason that Max will be the probable home of Uzumaki when it releases. That’s not saying it won’t come to other platforms — Suicide Squad Isekai was animated by Warner Bros. and is streaming on both Max and Hulu simultaneously — but if it’s going to premiere on one streaming platform, it’s likely going to be Max.
And that’s everything you need to know about Junji Ito’s upcoming Uzumaki anime!
