Well, Uzumaki came out after all these years. I liked it, but it does not live up to the manga at all. It did make me want to reread the manga though.

I have a lot of feelings about the anime. I think the OST was really spectacular. It really is what I imagined the background music of the story Uzumaki to be. I'm actually listening to it right now.

The dip in animation quality from EP1 to the other episodes was disappointing, but I don't really want to rag the animation team because God knows I'd rather animation look bad than people be overworked, and I think "poor" animation can be okay if done well. It's just sometimes things in Uzumaki looked kind of goofy- to the point where I'd sometimes laugh because of how off the animation looked at times. It's a bit disappointing, and I don't completely understand it because the anime was only.. 4 episodes? I want to know the story of the production so bad. Why did the animation drop so hard? Was the budget really tight? What was going on with the staff? I don't know.

The pacing was really rough. I expected them to approach Uzumaki by animating just a few of the stories- not every single one of them. Episode 2 was by far the worst example of this, which is a shame because I love the hair part in Uzumaki. It's so beautiful illustrated in the manga. Episode 2 had so much packed into it. I can think of a few stories that could've been cut which wouldn't have changed the atmosphere of Uzumaki at all. I just wish they'd prioritized telling a slower story rather than jamming as much of the manga in as possible..

I don't think it captures a fraction of the beauty of the manga's story, but I still liked it as someone who loves the manga. I'd be angry if I watched the anime before reading the manga though haha. Oh god. I'd be so mad.

It proved to me that an anime can be done with Junji Ito's works because I think episode 1 really pulled it off, and I think episode 4 could've been close if it had been a bit slower.. Just.. My friend and I were watching it, and it kind of felt like things were just Happening one after the other at breakneck space. I also think even though the anime dropped in quality, there were still a few beautiful things like the backgrounds and the old ruins and the like.. I still liked the art.. Just wish they had a larger team and bigger budget, or... A better director who knows how to work with a smaller budget I guess

10.21.2024