A review by roach
Uzumaki, Volume 1 by 伊藤潤二, Junji Ito

dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 
He doesn't hear or see anything else anymore. He only stares into spirals.

(Quote translated from German.)

I've read one or two short stories by Junji Ito before, but this was the first time I grabbed a full-length work of his (or at least the first volume of it).

Right from the first pages, Ito's beautiful art style jumped out to me again. He has such a good eye for framing his subjects and locations, and so many creative ideas for all these otherworldy, surreal visuals.
The setup of the plot makes for good ground to string a bunch of different creepy situations together and I enjoyed most of the chapters that were included in this first volume.

It's really easy to see how Junji Ito became such a huge name in the horror genre. His body horror concepts and distinct creepy atmosphere are a ton of fun.