Monday, November 18, 2013

Book Review: Uzumaki

Although I've read a lot of manga over the years, the vast majority of it was either science fiction or fantasy based, so when I recently had to study a manga for my comic book course, I thought I would look for a good horror-themed manga.

Although the title I found wasn't recent enough for the assignment, the concept sounded so interesting I thought I should give it a try anyway.

Let me introduce you to Uzumaki, by Junji Ito.

The series follows a young girl named Kirei who begins to believe her small town is slowly turning into something horrible.  Her boyfriend Shuichi believes that the town is changing due to the insidious nature of spirals.  For some strange reason people in the town begin to become fascinated with the shape and then… things… start to happen.

I don't really want to get into any specifics, but let me put it simply - this 3-part collection really unnerved me - I've been enjoying horror stories for the last 30+ years, so believe me when I say, there is something truly unsettling about the story as you work your way through it.

The artwork is great, the story is entrancing, and it is a great example of why I try to find new stories from around the world, rather than simply sticking to what I know best.

Fair warning however, the imagery can get quite graphic and the concepts are very disturbing.

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