Uzumaki should be the new anime hit from horror manga artist Junji Ito. The production is handled by the American company Adult Swim. The fact that a western company is taking care of an anime is said to be the reason for the current controversy, according to a former animator from One Piece.
What problems are there with Uzumaki? The first episode of Uzumaki, the horror anime based on Junji Ito’s story, was celebrated by many fans. It has a rating of 8.4/10 on IMDb and is praised, among other things, for its stunning animation style.
Things look quite different for the second and third episodes: The two episodes only receive ratings of 6.4 and 7.2 out of 10 possible points. Fans say the reason for this is the poor animations, which cannot compete with those from episode 1.
For user itschildishandino, the animations are even the worst he has ever seen. The pacing of the manga has also been ruined by the anime. An animator who has worked on episodes for One Piece finds a reason for this.
Uzumaki should have been the next big hit from Junji Ito, a well-known horror manga artist:
Ex-animator from One Piece finds reason for decreasing quality of anime
Who is to blame? Henry Thurlow is an animator who has worked on One Piece. He complains on his X account that the Uzumaki adaptation has flopped. He has no idea how the production went exactly, but he sees the blame on Adult Swim, the production company:
When it comes to the Uzumaki production, in the end, there’s pretty much certain that *some* western producer is to blame. “This takes too long, so they force another studio to finish it, no matter how it looks.” I would bet everything I have that it went down like this …
He also adds that the animes produced in the West have problems because the producers are “fucking trash.” This has affected the most recent animes from Yoshiaki Kawajiri, the unreleased Alien vs. Predator anime, and lately Uzumaki.
Thurlow repeatedly sees that western producers are cheating the artists and anime studios. This is particularly frustrating for him.
In the comments, there is a user who has read that it’s not the West to blame for Uzumaki. Rather, it is due to the Japanese team that was in conflict with director Hiroshi Nagahama. But whatever the reason, the horror anime could not maintain the quality of the first episode.
If you are looking for other horror animes instead, we can recommend several series. MeinMMO demon Cortyn has compiled a list of the best animes from the genre that will give you a real fright: The best horror animes to properly scare yourself
