Junji Ito is at Crunchyroll Expo this weekend, showcasing his deeply unsettling art in its own special gallery, as well as discussing his celebrated 30-year career. During a presentation at Crunchyroll’s Grand Station on Friday, he also announced that his 1998 manga Uzumaki (Spiral), is being adapted into a four-part miniseries in cooperation with Adult Swim. Ito-sensei screened this trailer for the project:
As an Adult Swim co-production, the series will air first on Toonami before being shown in Japan. The crew includes director Hiroshi Nagahama of Mushishi fame, with music by Colin Stetson, known for his work on Red Dead Redemption 2.
Uzumaki depicts a city suffering under a supernatural curse involving the titular spirals. Weather, buildings, and ultimately even people twist into spirals in the town of Kurozu-cho. Junji Ito’s uniquely terrifying art style has always made good use of circles and spirals, but Uzumaki in particular took the motif to a positively horrific extreme.
It comes to animated life in 2020.
Photos courtesy of Fish.
