Uzumaki transcorre em episódios razoavelmente independentes, mas que seguem cronologicamente e cuja dimensão do horror se amplia, da fixação bizarra por espirais de um dos cidadãos, até o desfecho cósmico que engole a cidade. Nisso estabelece o sobrenatural e sua crueldade como acontecimento, como algo que vai tomando as pessoas, como um ambiente que vai se estabelecendo. A maldição se alastra, e é com maestria que Ito retrata a mistura de ridículo com pavoroso das situações desconcertantes aos quais os personagens se vêem enredados. Aqui, afinal, não é o indivíduo e sua autodeterminação que devem descobrir como derrotar o monstruoso, essa visão demasiada subjetivista do terror. Pois o sujeito é ele mesmo moldado pelo ambiente, sendo remoldado quando este se torna amaldiçoado. Suas fascinações e desejos mais impulsivos tornam-se a morada do monstruoso - da espiral. E é talvez aí que o que é menos impulsivo e mais terreno - o amor fruto da convivência, que mostra um papel de resistência importante. ( )

Now I see spirals EVERYWHERE. Thanks Junji Ito! ( )

Hey that was pretty weird, huh? ( )

I have never really been into Manga. Not entirely sure why but this book has made it very clear I was just reading the wrong Manga. Beautiful and creepy. Full of horrific images. I absolutely loved it. I was talked into reading it and now can’t wait to read the rest of them. A whole new world of horror might have just opened for me. ( )

This is a book about a town infested with spirals. What does that mean? Well, a spiral is a shape that draws the eye along its path to the center. In the right circumstances, such as for the inhabitants of this town, spirals might draw and trap people into increasing horror. A teenager (Kirie) and her boyfriend begin to notice strange, inexplicable behavior and occurrences around town. This is a story about what they saw and experienced.

A number of the early and middle chapters read like short, mostly independent stories. While the stories themselves were enjoyable, in at least one instance I felt like an important plot line just fell through the bottom of the world. It had been the focus of multiple chapters and seemed to be going somewhere, but was then never brought up again.

I was torn on rating this a 3/5 or 4/5. I decided on the former because Lovecraftian horror isn't a favorite of mine, and the story suffers a bit from stupid-character syndrome (seriously, get out of that town!). But it was still a solid and weird horror story that really layers stuff on (especially in the last half or third), and I wish I could write about my favorite parts without spoiling the book. ( )