The 2024 anime Uzumaki had been in production for years, with the finished product finally releasing on Adult Swim and the Max streaming service. The result has left some fans excited and others cold, with the first episode of Uzumaki far more well-received than its follow-ups. Despite this, it's easily the best Junji Ito manga adaptation yet, and it paves the way for a similar new take on an old classic.
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Gyo was the next Junji Ito manga after Uzumaki, and its general concept might be even more disturbing. It already had one adaptation, but a new take on the material could definitely do it more justice. In fact, it might be easier to bring the fish-based tale back in a big way worthy of the mangaka's legacy.
Uzumaki Proves That Junji Ito Manga Can Be Adapted
As noted, the Uzumaki anime is something of a triumph, if only due to the fact that it exists. The "cursed" new anime was announced half a decade before it was finally released, with situations such as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic keeping it from being finished earlier. Many fans eagerly awaited the series and hoped that, due to the continued outpouring of love for the source material shown by the staff working on it, that the anime would defy expectations. After all, other adaptations of Junji Ito's works had come and gone, with most of them failing to come anywhere close to the quality of the books they were based on. This included a live-action adaptation that received mixed at best reception from fans and critics, and this was actually one of the better-received projects based on Junji Ito manga
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The Junji Ito Collection was a 2018 horror anime anthology that completely failed on all levels, being bad visually as well as in terms of writing. It gave a bad impression of Ito's unique style and has become the nadir among similar adaptations that were bad in their own right. Now, the new Uzumaki anime is also going downhill, despite a more than promising start. While the show's first episode was seen as a masterpiece among fans of the manga, Uzumaki Episode 2 had issues with both animation and pacing, evoking the problems with the Junji Ito Collection. Still, Episode 3 was an improvement, and overall, the series is the best adaptation that an Ito manga has ever received. Given this new precedent (which was made by a series that faced countless production struggles), it's clear that his manga actually can be done justice, so long as care is involved.
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How Uzumaki Is a Masterclass of Body Horror
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Gyo Deserves a Second Adaptation
Beginning its run two years after the start of the Uzumaki manga, Gyo is one of Junji Ito's other well-known and utterly terrifying manga. The protagonists are Tadashi and Kaori, who are the focus amid the arrival of a horde of strange fish who walk on land with mechanical legs. These aquatic animals include gigantic sharks and other deadly sea creatures, who soon wreak havoc wherever they roam. They also bring with them a terrible stench, with the smell signifying the death and destruction that these walking fish now bring upon civilization. Fighting to survive what becomes a post-apocalyptic environment, the heroes in Gyo face insurmountable horror, particularly when it comes to gutwrenching body horror. The series was originally adapted in an OVA, though this made notable changes, such as reversing which of the two protagonists met which fate. While it was better than other works based on Ito's manga, a new iteration can do a better job of handling things.
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Instead of adding unnecessary changes or additions to the source material, the Gyo remake needs to be as accurate as humanly possible. After all, the original story is what fans love so much, so changing it in any way will only rub them the wrong way. Likewise, while the issues with other adaptations of his work are many, one big problem with a lot of Junji Ito adaptations is that they don’t truly capture the spirit of the original incarnation. Egregiously, changing the story is a part of that, so making that mistake again is something that should definitely be avoided. Anything else will only make the nature of the remake particularly questionable.
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Gyo Could Benefit from Modern Animation
One element that’s changed a lot since the release of the original Gyo OVA is animation quality. A lot of prominent anime are becoming more well known for their stylish and absolutely jaw-dropping animation. Such as the case with the beautiful animation of shows such as Demon Slayer, as well as movies such as the work of Makoto Shinkai. Even the more mundane scenes in these projects look very visually appealing. That’s exactly what’s needed to properly showcase the horror inherent in Gyo, especially when it comes to the fish themselves. After all, both these aquatic creatures and their mechanical legs need to look as naturalistic and intimidating as possible. Needless to say, having them portrayed through very cheap and shabby looking CGI is not the way to do justice to the story. The same goes for the human characters and the environments, which have to have an element of realism to showcase just how much societal damage these fish end up doing.
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Having the animation or art direction of a Gyo remake be offputting or cheap would only damn the new adaptation. It would instantly cement that Junji Ito works can’t be adapted beyond manga and make fans of the source material become discouraged. On the other hand, if it looks particularly exciting, hype will be through the roof. Fans will shout to the rooftops about how good the new adaptation looks, whereas those who have no clue about the source material will still be instantly intrigued due to the combination of breathtaking animation and a chill concept. It’s easier said than done, but having an anime remake of Gyo look great should be at the absolute top of the list in terms of its production. After all, the story is already written, and all that’s needed next is to faithfully adapt it.
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Gyo Is Much Easier to Adapt Than Uzumaki
One thing that Gyo has going for it compared to Uzumaki is the general concept of the story. With Uzumaki, the plot revolves around a disturbing spiral aesthetic that essentially curses a small town. This manifests in all manner of tantalizing and terrifying body horror, with one man inverting his entire body to resemble a spiral while a young teenage boy mutates into a giant snail with a spiral shell. Even the series' protagonist, Kirie, isn't invulnerable, with her hair curling out of control into the spiral. At times, these aspects feel almost tangential concerning the spiral itself, and any sort of horror story involving a curse can sometimes be a bit too highbrow. Thus, as popular as Uzumaki is, it’s something that has to be watched or read to truly understand what makes it so great. It’s not necessarily an easily marketable concept, which is why so much of the promotion involves showcasing different aspects of horror. While this series might be the most well-known of Junji Ito’s works, these marketing issues aren’t shared with a somewhat lesser known project.
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Gyo as a concept is much more straightforward than Uzumaki, namely, because it doesn’t rely on a curse or any such esoteric idea. The basic idea involves fish with legs that become a terror to society, with the general fear and horror of a walking shark being easy to understand. If anything, it sells itself much more easily than any other works by Junji Ito, and that includes Uzumaki. For this reason, in particular, turning the manga into a new anime adaptation makes a lot of sense. Another thing to note is that, while Uzumaki wasn’t a particularly long story, many fans felt that a four-episode anime adaptation to tell the entire story of the manga was going to be too short a length to properly handle the material. This concern over the potential quality of the new Junji Ito adaptation is now being proven as valid given the much-maligned pacing issues seen in both the second and even third episodes. Once again, Gyo is a lot more straightforward, and this extends to its overall plot and progression.
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If anything, a movie adaptation of Gyo would more than suffice, and it could work on several levels. For one, it could make for a perfect box office success during spooky season. This could be bolstered by the growing popularity of anime movies and anime as a whole. While it might not be as mainstream as movies for franchises such as Demon Slayer, the idea of “that weird anime movie where the fish have legs” is a lot more compelling than a generic slasher film or the latest blasé Blumhouse feature. As noted, the marketability of this concept is probably the highest of any Junji Ito manga, which is why turning it into a new anime movie could be so successful. Now that the finally-released Uzumaki anime has proven that these works can be done at least a little bit of justice, Gyo can you walk on land and show just how great these adaptations can be.
Uzumaki is now streaming on Max.
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Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror
TV-MA
Animation
Mystery
Horror
A town of people slowly go insane over increasing obsessions with spiral shapes: patterns in the clouds, everyday objects, hair, insects, skin.
- Release Date
- September 29, 2024
- Cast
- Uki Satake , Shin-ichiro Miki , Mariya Ise , Toshio Furukawa , Mika Doi , Takashi Matsuyama , Katsutoshi Matsuzaki , Tatsumaru Tachibana , Kôichi Tôchika , Ami Fukushima , Wataru Hatano
- Main Genre
- Animation
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Creator
- Main Cast