mxpringle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Self harm, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Confinement, Murder, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Blood, Torture, Medical content, Medical trauma, Grief, Gore, Child death, Cannibalism, and Animal death
bohboh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Medical content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Bullying, Cannibalism, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Child death, Blood, Pregnancy, Animal death, Gore, Medical trauma, Self harm, and Forced institutionalization
Moderate: Cursing, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
chazaiya's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
story-wise for most of the run it's alright. it goes through a new scenario every chapter with a new horrifying idea relating to spirals. it's cool how creative Ito gets with how exactly he can make something as simple as a spiral scary. but the real greatness of this work starts to show in the later chapters once Chie enters. at this point the story has more structure to it and Ito is writing not purely for the sake of being scary but to reach a logical conclusion. those last few chapters are incredible.
and needless to say Junji Ito is masterful with his art and how he uses it for worldbuilding. the way he uses his pen draw such unnerving figures and settings is unlike anything i've seen.
it's good. i get why people praise Ito so highly for this. i might check out some of his other multi-chapter stories like Tomie or Gyo. i'm particularly interested in his adaptation of No Longer Human, so maybe that next.
Graphic: Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Self harm
Moderate: Cannibalism, Confinement, and Gore
Minor: Stalking
leonormsousa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Moderate: Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Suicide, and Toxic friendship
wends_nblw's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Uzumaki was beautifully done. The artwork is truly phenomenal; the character's facial expressions were so well done, very lifelike. Also, the story itself was very interesting. I wasn't Quite sure what was happening until the very end. I loved Shuichi, and the love between him and the FMC was so pure. Even the side character's stories were amazing.
The only gripe I have is with the FMC. Why on Earth would she stay in the town? Why wouldn't she insist on her family leaving with Shuichi when she had the chance? Maybe it wasn't very practical, but you know. Other than that, I'm excited to read more of Ito's work. <3
Graphic: Death, Grief, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Pregnancy, Death of parent, Self harm, Child death, Car accident, Murder, Body horror, and Cannibalism
Minor: Bullying
crowcrow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Shuichi is the only sane individual in the whole cursed town.
Also snail people scarred me for life.
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Gore, Pregnancy, Self harm, Fatphobia, Bullying, Blood, Child death, Death, and Medical content
tobermueller's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Violence, Self harm, Animal death, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Child death
Moderate: Blood
bibyabs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Self harm, Death, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Dementia, Gore, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Car accident, Cannibalism, and Confinement
lames's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Medical content, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Vomit, Body horror, Cannibalism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gore, Blood, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, and Death of parent
belladonnashrike's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.75
I wasn’t scared of uzumaki but that’s more telling about me than it is about ito. the story was certainly creepy as hell but I just never get scared of supernatural or unrealistic horror. anything realistic (or more realistic sci-fi or fantasy even… like the invisible man film really scared me even though the science doesn’t exist) will get me. so I definitely wasn’t disappointed by my lack of fear, it’s very normal to me. the story was definitely creepy though. I would love to pick ito’s brain — what on earth is going on in there?
artistically, ito really excels in body horror & conveying emotion/story through the eyes. the panels containing one or both of those elements are my favorite and have definitely stuck with me. I also think people ignore his comedy when praising him, like of course he is clearly a master of horror but he’s also quite funny if you pay attention!
a little thing that I really enjoyed throughout reading was the little tiny spirals in the background of panels. they’re unnoticeable if you’re not looking, but from the beginning there are spirals in the blades of grass and wood grain - it’s really some fantastic subtle storytelling on ito’s part. as an artist I really loved that attention to detail.
finally, I loved how the story itself was also a spiral… you don’t realize it at first, but when it hits you… damn.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Blood, Gore, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Violence, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Grief, Medical trauma, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent