Uzumaki drastically cut down the story of the manga, and I’m pretty disappointed

Warning: Spoilers and disturbing imagery ahead for Uzumaki Episode #2!One of the scary stories in the US Uzumaki Manga is just drastically cut down in the anime, and I’m pretty disappointed. Junji Ito’s masterful horror story is loaded with terrifying chapters that showcase the horrific nature of the spiraling curse in Kurouzu-cho. However, one that is particularly important is “Jack-in-the-box,” a standalone tale that features some of the scariest images in the graphic novel. When I saw it was adapted into episode two, I was excited… until I noticed how cut down the story ended.

in Uzumakis second episode, “Jack-in-the-box” is introduced and adapted pretty faithfully, with Mitsuru Yamaguchi consistently scaring Kirie in an effort to make her like him. In fact, when the story comes to his death, the image of him crushed under the tires after jumping in front of it to prove His love for Kirie is just as troubled as it was on the page, however, after this scene. The anime completely abandons the story before it can even hint at its terrifying climax in the manga. Instead, it focuses on other stories such as “Medusa“and”Twisted souls“, and it devastated me to see such a horrible story being completely ignored.

Uzumaki completely ignoring the second half of “Jack-in-the-Box” left me devastatingly disappointed.

The scariest part of the manga was completely cut out

In the original manga, Mitsuru’s story goes far beyond his death in the animeAnd that’s what made it such a stand-out story. It follows Kirie as she begins to feel haunted by Mitsuru and guilt for his death. She then enlists Shihuru’s help to dig up his corpse to make sure he is indeed dead after experiencing a disturbing vision. When they exhume the body, the two are shocked to see that Misuru’s corpse is still moving and springs after them. However, as the body disintegrates with each bounce, it is revealed that a spring from the car that crashed him was lodged in his spine, turning him into a human jack-in-the-box.

This is such a solid horror story that perfectly uses Junji Ito’s signature disturbing artwork to tell a tale that is separate from the main one. Uzumaki The story is still fitting in its recurring themes and images. The fact that the anime cut the terrible second half of the final product is extremely disappointing because It neglects what made the story one of Uzumakis best. The end of the story just as the best part is approaching is by far the most frustrating part about episode two, even with the controversial decline in animation quality that left fans furious.

Uzumaki relegates Mitsuru’s corpse to a cheap jump-scare post-credits scene

Mitsuru’s story deserves more than this

What’s frustrating about how”Jack-in-the-box“was handled is that The anime actually addresses the story’s scary second half after the credits. The last scene shows Mitsuru’s grave before the ground gives way. Suddenly, Mitsuru’s corpse jumps onto the screen, making the same noise he would make to scare Kirie. It’s so short that it makes me wonder why he couldn’t just get a segment from the anime to give this horrific sequence more context. It doesn’t even show why he leaves the grave, completely explaining his connection to the spiral curse, because a spring in his spine is what makes him jump in the story.

Plus, the decision to leave the part entirely and save it for a post-credits scene means that One of the scariest images in historyThe Jack-in-the-Box with the demonic face is shown completely out of context. When it appears in the anime, there is a short segment where Kirie drops the present when Mitsuru is run over with the toy springing from its box. Then, it makes a scary face and is never spoken to again. This completely neglects the reasoning behind Ito’s iconic disturbing artwork, as Kirie sees it in the manga when she hears Mitsuru’s voice late at night in a fit of guilt, which motivates her to check to see if Mitsuru is truly dead.

“Jack-in-the-Box” would have benefited from not being adapted at all

Uzumaki needs enough room to breathe as it is

If I were given the chance to rework the anime adaptation of this story, I would ultimately decide to cut it completely. The biggest problem I have had with the anime so far Its rapid pacing due to only four episodes long. Although it has been a decent adaptation so far, the speed of it is completely ruining the experience of what should be a slow story. “Jack-in-the-box“Is such a disconnected story from the rest of the Uzumaki Telling that I would be fine with cutting it out entirely rather than trying to force it in and risk cutting out the most important parts.

To say I was disappointed by the execution of “Jack-in-the-box” would be an understatement. It’s such a terrifying story in the original manga, and to see it fully expanded before it can get to its second half takes away what made it scary to begin with. Uzumaki Story that was unnecessarily cut down, and while I wish they had done it altogether to give the series more room to breathe, it comes off as nothing more than wasted potential given its horrifying source material.

Watch Uzumaki Now on Max!