Uzumaki - Could this be the first good Junji Ito adaptation?

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Just four-and-a-Pickle Rick hours away from another episode of something that "came together beautifully":
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I see a bunch of people praise episode 1 after the shitshow that was the second one but tbh I didn't think it was particularly good either. Sure, the animation is good but pacing is all over the place, it condensed things way too much and there's not enough buildup so when it gets to the money shots it doesn't feel as impactful as it should. I think people are just more willing to overlook the flaws since it doesn't have Berserk 2016 tier animation. I'll give them credit for the soundtrack though, Colin Stetson is fucking kino and a perfect fit for Junji Ito.

Also funnily enough this anime being such a trashfire inspired me to check out more of Ito's work, I'd only ever read Uzumaki before, don't know why I hadn't read his other stuff sooner. Read Hellstar Remina (pretty good, love me some cosmic horror) and currently going through Tomie (holy shit does it get dark), more recommendations would be appreciated.
 
Still bad news: The morale will continue until the beatings worsen.

Episode 3's animation is improved from last week, though there's still plenty of moments where it's extremely a motion comic, and the pacing has become worse than ever. Why the hell they decided to adapt the rest of The Spiral Obsession Part 2 in between Mosquitoes and The Umbilical Cord is baffling, let alone shove in other superfluous stories like The Firing Effect and The House. Plus those especially stupid moments where Medusa's conclusion is shown at the beginning of The Storm and Jack-In-The-Box's conclusion randomly shows up at the climax of The House. Whichever group of people decided on this pacing deserves to never work in animation again.
Ultimately, any complaints I make are futile. The apologists will cite the animation improvement as a reason why we should stop being critical, and nothing will be done or examined about the factors that led to this atrocity - namely, outsourcing to Chinese slavers and Demarco being a fucking retard. Cashgrabs like this are why we need a class revolution.
 
Part 3 covered Chapters 10 to 13 and was ... adequette. The hospital stuff is not my favorite part as I never saw much connection between pregnant women drinking blood and spirals. That being said, as an adaptation they did a decent job. Unfortunately, this means the finale has to cover the final six chapters and will most assuredly feel rushed with no proper pacing as the writers cram everything into it.

@DapperShark I enjoyed the story Red Sweater. It has a good chilling premise and it gets crazy enough at the end for a few WTF moments.
 
Episode 3 is a step up from Episode 2 but it has its own problems. The stuff with the pregnant women is handled well, but then shoving in chapter 2, 4, and the rest of chapter 7 is certainly a choice.

This show definitely feels like the writers and directors are making the best out of a limited budget since the producers could only get like 4 episodes produced.

This show would've definitely been better if it had like 6-10 episodes, 4 episodes is just too much to cram this much content in.
 
DapperShark dijo:
Read Hellstar Remina (pretty good, love me some cosmic horror) and currently going through Tomie (holy shit does it get dark), more recommendations would be appreciated.
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Hellstar Remina started so good that it gave me dread about the idea of cosmic horror swallowing the earth. But when it causes the earth to spin so fast that people were flying over continents in a single bound it lost me.

Black Paradox is really good. Short story of 6 chapters that was a fun read. Last page is, imo, one of his best drawings dripping with so much badass factor.

Gyo was alright except for the farting flying human balloon that took a sad/horrific scene into pure comedy

Cat Diary isn't horror unless you think cats are the scariest thing ever. Amusing slice of life about Ito's personal experience with his cats.

Itou Junji Kytoufu is his early works in short stories. Some good, some meh.

For a collection of his stuff to read online

Not Ito:
Fuan No Tane is a bunch of horror short stories that is worth a read.

World of Horror is a game heavily inspired by Ito's work. Gameplay is a bit abstract since its a "deck drawing" game that can be a bit odd in context of the gameplay/story but the pixel art of one guy using MSPaint is on fucking point.
 
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DapperShark dijo:
I see a bunch of people praise episode 1 after the shitshow that was the second one but tbh I didn't think it was particularly good either. Sure, the animation is good but pacing is all over the place, it condensed things way too much and there's not enough buildup so when it gets to the money shots it doesn't feel as impactful as it should. I think people are just more willing to overlook the flaws since it doesn't have Berserk 2016 tier animation. I'll give them credit for the soundtrack though, Colin Stetson is fucking kino and a perfect fit for Junji Ito.

Also funnily enough this anime being such a trashfire inspired me to check out more of Ito's work, I'd only ever read Uzumaki before, don't know why I hadn't read his other stuff sooner. Read Hellstar Remina (pretty good, love me some cosmic horror) and currently going through Tomie (holy shit does it get dark), more recommendations would be appreciated.
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Check out the Smashed and Lovesick collections, his best work is in short, shocking stories. If you want to check out something more focused on comedy than the horror, the Soichi collection is good, the tone is similar to Evil Dead.
 
DapperShark dijo:
Also funnily enough this anime being such a trashfire inspired me to check out more of Ito's work, I'd only ever read Uzumaki before, don't know why I hadn't read his other stuff sooner. Read Hellstar Remina (pretty good, love me some cosmic horror) and currently going through Tomie (holy shit does it get dark), more recommendations would be appreciated.
Presiona para expandir...

Others have made some good suggestions, I'd also add "The Town Without Streets" and "Army of One" if you want stories similar to Uzumaki's atmosphere. The Town Without Streets in particular has to be one of my favourite things Ito has done. Its a story about voyeurism and while not as visual as Uzumaki, the way Ito escalates that theme from a domestic into a large scale issue and then to a potentially world ending event is just chefs kiss.
 
Doctor of Autism dijo:
This show definitely feels like the writers and directors are making the best out of a limited budget since the producers could only get like 4 episodes produced.
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Even if the animation was good, having the toy box kid just pop out in the final typhoon cycle was really lame and kind of comedical.

I would go as far as saying that entirely cutting storylines would have been optimal in the long run.
 
斯尼 德之王 dijo:
Even if the animation was good, having the toy box kid just pop out in the final typhoon cycle was really lame and kind of comedical.

I would go as far as saying that entirely cutting storylines would have been optimal in the long run.
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Yeah like if the limit was 4 episodes, some of the stories really should've been cut, like what is the point of the Jack in the Box story being adapted if there is no good payoff to it.
 
They obviously cheaped out on this show and I don't understand why people are so afraid to admit it especially since it was the big fear going into it. Yeah was highly anticipated. Yeah they made sure to animate some of the classic bits well but this doesn't make up for everything else particularly the runtime being slashed down to the bone.


DapperShark dijo:
I see a bunch of people praise episode 1 after the shitshow that was the second one but tbh I didn't think it was particularly good either. Sure, the animation is good but pacing is all over the place, it condensed things way too much and there's not enough buildup so when it gets to the money shots it doesn't feel as impactful as it should. I think people are just more willing to overlook the flaws since it doesn't have Berserk 2016 tier animation. I'll give them credit for the soundtrack though, Colin Stetson is fucking kino and a perfect fit for Junji Ito.
Presiona para expandir...

I don't get why people are slobbering over ep1 either. IMO it has some amazing imagery but is otherwise pretty bad.
 
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I finished Tomie, holy shit that was rough. Self-replicating thot is pure fucking evil , Zero redeeming qualities or sympathetic traits whatsoever.
Also read Gyo, fucking gross.
Jimjamflimflam dijo:
But when it causes the earth to spin so fast that people were flying over continents in a single bound it lost me.
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Yeah that was goofy as fuck, but for me it held up because of the artwork and general fever dream sense,
Appreciate the recommendations.
 
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I guess at least the first episode has served as proof of concept that a good animated adaptation of Ito's work can indeed be done, but will there ever be anyone willing to invest enough time and money into it? Probably not...
 
Do you think it was producer or director stupidity that made the decision to adapt every goddamn story in the manga? Like, the point of this show shouldn't be to cram as much of the stuff people remember into it, it should be to act as an advertisement for the source material by animating the best stories. Rip out all the superfluous stuff and just adapt the chapters that get reincorporated into later stories - the first three chapters, the snails, the twisted lovers, and the storm. Then do the last few non-Galaxy chapters in a row.
 
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