Uzumaki has been getting torn apart by fans after a drastic drop in quality between the first two episodes, but there’s hope yet for thanks to an upcoming personnel shift.
After years of development, Uzumaki premiered this September to widespread acclaim. The anime show, produced by Production IG and Adult Swim and based on the beloved work by Junji Ito, seemed to capture the essence of his terrifying manga.
Unfortunately, such acclaim was short-lived, because sluggish work in Episode 2 has caused viewers to turn against the project completely. Alas, since the horror anime is only four episodes, it seemed all hope was lost – but that might not be the case.
Episode 4 will see the return of Hiroshi Nagahama, who oversaw the opening episode. This has raised hopes that we might see some more of the quality from earlier in the mini-series.
“Having Hiroshi Nagahama back for Episode 4 should bring the same eerie and captivating style from Episode 1!” one fan explaimed on X/Twitter.
“Yes, the final episode has to be as good as the first one,” Another says. Their optimism lays among a deluge of cynicism and hard feeling about what we’ve already seen.
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“Even if the finale is that breathtaking again, the middle episodes will be a horrible stain on the whole series,” one user stated.
Uzumaki is perhaps Hiroshi’s biggest work to date, following stints on Mushishi, Detroit Metal City, and more. Yuji Moriyama oversaw Episode 2, based on storyboards by Hiroshi.
There’s no guarantee Hiroshi’s presence can bring back the approach of the first episode, given the issues seem deeper than who’s in the director’s chair.
Jason DeMarco, executive producer on Uzumaki, revealed on BlueSky that the whole venture was “screwed over” by someone involved, implying they expected some backlash when they say how up and down quality was across the episodes. Alas, they felt the best move was to release the thing as is rather than scrap it.
We may never know the whole truth, only that Junji Ito’s work is still best experienced on the page. If you’d like some other viewing recommendations, our list of the best anime movies has plenty.