| Title | : | Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Vol. 3 |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1591160480 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781591160489 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 250 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 1999 |
Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror, Vol. 3 Reviews
-
Well, I had only just posed the question of why nobody is leaving town in my review of volume 2 when volume 3 gave me the answer. *lol* So now I knew. Actually quite a smart way of solving that problem.
In this final volume chaos is descending on Kirie's town and due to more and more strange things happening, the outside world is beginning to notice as well and people try to help - with disastrous consequences.
Where the previous two volumes were a collection of strange and horrific incidents happening to individuals and painting the scene of a cursed town, the spiral is now cramping it up to 11. In fact, I'm not too sure at least one element wasn't a bit too over the top: .
Anyway, the pieces are clicking together and since by now we know all the things the spiral can do to people, the main theme, here, is the people's descent into chaos and insanity as well as pure survival and what people are willing and capable of doing to others in such situations.
I have to say that the ending did give answers though it also left a question or two and, as is usually the case, the path leading to the resolution was more enjoyable than the actual ending but it was still a great comic (manga) since it successfuly envoked this haunting atmosphere in which nobody was really safe. The art, as mentioned in my reviews for the previous two volumes, did a great job of underlining that in all its black-and-white glory.
-
Whoa... and I thought first two volumes were crazy. This one takes crazy to a whole new level.
But anyway, a great ending to a really great series. If you're into creepy and unique stories, I would definitely recommend picking up this one, and hopefully, you'll like it just as much as I did. -
Re-read:
I've changed my mind. I don't mind about the end or the twists. The huge crazy was still cool but slightly less impactful this time.
I'm just reading it for the phi. :)
Original Review:
I'm of two minds on this volume. The truly horrific increase was awesome, and I loved how utterly fucked the whole town was.
And then, I also really enjoyed the last issue. These are two different likes. I have to separate them for my own enjoyment.
I would have been perfectly happy with it ending on number 19. It was dark, crazy, and had that last little lilt of joy in the very last frame. So sweet in an utterly horrific way.
And then number 20 comes around and turns it all into a ? For Shame! No. No.
Well, that's all fine and dandy in the big view of things... but what really chaps my hide is that number 20 was actually awesome all by itself! It spoke to me on a whole new level and freaked me out all over again. I want to make it an alternate reality special. That would be very nice.
Alas.
Still, my enjoyment of all this wacked-out horror extravaganza is not lessened. Not much, anyway. It was CRAAAAZZZZYYYYYY good.
:)
Gotta pick up more of Junji Ito asap. :) -
after volumes 1 and 2, i genuinely thought i had a handle on the scope of ito’s horrific work with the spirals.
after all, what could be worse than seeing your father squashed into a bone-crushing curve, or witnessing your pregnant cousin drill holes into unsuspecting people’s necks to nourish her bloodsucking fetus, or having your classmates (and homeroom teacher) turn into enormous mollusks?
oh, how naïve i was.
just when i thought things couldn’t possibly get any worse for the people of kurôzu-cho, the book has the audacity to, in fact, GET WORSE.
in that sense, uzumaki bears a striking resemblance to 2020!
last thing i’ll say is that the ending to this whole saga really unexpectedly put me in my feels. kirie was a great protagonist, and i found myself rooting for her and shuichi. -
Son üç günde üç kitaptan oluşan manga Uzumaki'den aldığım tadı anlatmaya kelime bulamıyorum. Ne yazık ki bitti. Benim için artık bir korku klasiği olarak yerini aldı. Bundan sonra yazar / çizer Junji Ito'yu çok yakından takip edeceğim. Korku, gizem, manga ya da bunlardan birini seviyorsanız kesinlikle kaçırmayın. :)
-
In Uzumaki (spirals) a town is taken over by spirals. Spirals, you say? What is scary about that? Look at an ear, that's a spiral, nothing scary about that. Clouds spiral sometimes. Dust in the wind can spiral. Cat fur can kind of spiral. Your hair can kind of spiral. Gradually, all you and the townspeople see are spirals and you and they are driven mad by spirals. Yes, that happens, it does, in Ito's masterpiece. And with spirals! Uzumaki!
It is kind of a neat trick to make an abstract image/a design principle/an idea scare the living bejeebus out of you. But it's true, it happens, and it's an amazing artistic accomplishment, because you thought it could only happen with words ala Stephen King novels or Hitchcock movies, with music and images and dialogue. But this is manga, comics horror. Mostly images.
And it works. This is an amazing ending to a great manga horror series. Spirals! And a surprise ending it didn't really need to make it great, I could have done without it, but it was still great, maybe even greater because of it. The drawing is amazing, and the accumulative effect of all the spirals taking over and driving a whole town insane really works! You will see spirals everywhere, AHHHHHH! -
Me ha ganado con ese final ominoso y de puro horror cósmico.
Aunque confirmo una vez más que el manga y el anime tienen ciertos códigos de narrativa que muchas veces carecen de sentido o rayan en la absurdez total. 😅 -
3.5* STARS!
Uzumaki is Japanese for Spiral.
The final conclusion about the spiral curse in Kurōzu-cho. Our main leads, Kirie and her family moved to their new 'junk' house after the storm in the previous volume. Kirie's family isn't alone. Her neighbor stated there's a rumor about other family who suffered skin disease. It's the spiral curse again.
In the next chapters, the spiral curse is getting more intense and crazy. Kurōzu-cho already destroyed by the storm but there's some survivors. Also there's the snail person. Anyway, Kirie's family and friends kicked from the 'junk house' because it's the only house that survive the hurricane.
They couldn't leave Kurōzu-cho and walking in circles. Meeting new strangers who hope will find a way but instead infected with the spiral curse. Towards the ending, I still didn't find answers for this spiral curse. Everything turns into spiral and make my head dizzy. Let's just say the ending didn't like what I expected. Kinda frustrating. -
Well....... WTH was the book about???? :S
thinking, trying to remember...................................... oh SPIRALS and what else?? thinking... OH I KNOW SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS etc.
I'm just sitting wondering what to say about it. I guess I will just nag.
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
THIS SERIES WASTED maybe 5 HOURS OF MY LIFE
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
I have NO IDEA FROM WHAT PART OF BRAIN THIS STORY CAME FROM
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
It was about obsession at first but then it turned to I dunno what SPIRALS if thats the word.
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
Wondering why would someone bother drawing such a book or a publisher publishing it
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
I KEEP wondering what the story is about and what was the point of the last book or the whole series.
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
I HOPE THEY BAN THIS BOOK WORLDWIDE
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
The book was SICK
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
The characters were unrealistic mentally and physically
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
The book wasn't funny AT ALL (not like the first)
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
As a whole its a 0.2 stars series 0.1 for book one 0.1 for book 2 0.0 for book 3
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
the book SUCKED
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
Nothing else to say but SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS SPIRALS AND SPIRALS
-
Çok manga kültürü olmayan biri olarak, en sevdiğim seri oldu.
Tomie'ye devam edeceğim... -
More Gore, More mysteries and too many Spirals.
The entire series progresses gradually in an incremental manner. As you go deeper, the intensity increases. SPIRAL indeed.
It seems Junji Ito was so obsessed with Spirals that he has made this novel one.
The ending is quite a shocker and a disappointment for me. Although people claim it's a perfect ending, I didn't like the concept that the curse was broken only to be started again in few years.
There's no explanation on Why only Spirals, why not squares? Why is it haunting just the town of Koruzochu ?
It seemed promising and the concept itself spirals in the end probably the way Junji wanted to represent it.
Not really my cup of tea. Rated for the immersive story line and the graphics -
I enjoyed the first two volumes more. The ending was a bit of a let-down. And I am left with all these unanswered questions. Like the answers provided by the author don't make sense. And most of the creepy and gorry stuff was also absent in Volume 3. I'll still recommend this series. This was the first ever manga series I read and I am not gonna let the stupid ending ruin the crazy journey.
-
I don't know. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to read about people turning into snails and whatnot.
-
Uzumaki finishes up with this final volume. While the weirdness stayed consistent, the body-horror elements took somewhat of a backseat to more action-based scenes, and the episodic way it progressed earlier now only serves the overarching storyline, which makes sense considering everything needed to get wrapped up. Unfortunately, nothing in here quite touches the two “pregnancy” chapter from volume 2, which is not to say this is bad, but that was REALLY good. Still, volume 3 gives us a satisfying ending to what I can easily say was one of the most enjoyable comic-reading experiences I’ve had in a long time.
-
A nice conclusion though it doesn’t say much about the origins of the spiral city. I will definitely check out the other manga by Junji Ito.
Time spent: 1hr 20min -
I appreciate the ending.
-
Üçlemenin en karmaşık çizimleri bundaydı 🥺
-
الان که دارم نظرمو می نویسم دارم تصمیم میگیرم کدوم یکی از مانگاهای این نویسنده را بخرم...آرت خیلی خوبی داشت و ایده اش خیلی جذاب بود اینکه هر چپتر داستان خودش را داشت خیلی خوب بود و باعث نمی شد داستان یکنواخت باشه
در نهایت اینکه یکی از بهترین مانگا هایی بود که در این سبک خوندم -
this is the last volume of the story, and probably the most disturbing one of them all. as you're reading the first and the second one, things get super bad and you (probably) think to yourself - hey, this can't get any worse at this point! and then volume 3 comes, and it sure as hell does get worse for these people!
if you are like me (and also if you're not, this is a fair question), at some point you asked yourself why the hell do these people stay in this god-forsaken, cursed as fuck town. and this volume definitely answers that - because they have no choice.
so, in this volume things just keep getting worse and worse, and everyone keeps getting more desperate and i was on the edge of my seat for this entire volume. at this point, i had given up on trying to guess how this ends or where the story is going - this story managed to one-up me every time i thought i knew.
and then the end of the book comes, and if i'm being perfectly honest in the very moment i finished this, i was a little disappointed. it ended so underwhelmingly in a way, and so quickly, and i was just staring at the book for a few seconds. now, when my brain had a few moments to process, i realized that while slightly underwhelming, it was the scariest possible conclusion to this already scary story.
all in all, i loved this series, and i thought this was an amazing and very strong conclusion to the story :) -
Ok this one was equally icky and creepy, and I think sometimes that Japanese writers get to the most twisted ideas in the world of horror. So when finishing some creepy story you can be sure that somewhere behind the scene there's this Japanese guy giggling like mad.
-
Birazcık saçmalamamış mı ?
-
Un muy buen cierre para una obra magistral. El primer epílogo pone para mí un broche de oro y el segundo es muy divertido. El dibujo es indescriptible, algunas de las espirales tienen vida propia y, por efecto óptico, se mueven ante tus ojos.
-
Hmm j'imagine bien un prof avertir ses élèves de faire preuve de créativité et de ne pas se lancer dans des 'depuis la nuit des temps' pour un projet d'écriture et se retrouver face à ÇA.
Bref, ça se lit bien mais je suis traumatisée sur un temps pi ça m'enlève toute envie de goûter à des 🐌. -
See my reviews of Vol. 1 & 2 ... more of the same... :-) Since, despite being nearly 700 pages all together, this can easily be read in less than 3 hours, it's definitely worth checking out.
-
Soooooooo this will be a review on the series as a whole. While I found the third volume not-as-good-as-the-prequels it was still amazing, disgusting and horrifying. Which it is to be expected from Junji Ito of course.
I found out about Ito’s genius from an YouTube video that I will link here:
https://youtu.be/lIIA6QDgl2M
I was intrigued, nevertheless, since I consider horror to be one of the hardest and best genre to experience full on. If there is anything that life actually taught me, is that I can get scared thru video games (oooh yeahh) and comics surprisingly (the video talks about this topic more so I won’t stop here).
So I read “The enigma of Amigara Fault” first. And I was not impressed. From a person who is quite familiar with the genre (or at least a person who experienced dark and twisted thoughts, like so many others) an other disabled mind isn’t such a surprise nor did it scare me.
I was disappointed and considered his fame overrated. I saw his illustrations before, but out of context, i couldn’t care for them.
And then I read Uzumaki.
While the entire narrative is still composed out of short stories (like the enigma of Amigara Fault and so many others of his works), the stories are linked together, and provide a much slower and torturing experience.
Uzumaki got me throwing away the phone in disgust. Closing my eyes. Look behind my back. Feel my stomach turning upside down. Thinking about it when I wasn’t reading it. Looking for lighter works (something I never do). I can’t imagine the Mind who created this hell hole and I do truly don’t want to. All I can say is that if you want to risk and look into the eye of the tornado, you’ll have to expect a spiral.
The symbol of the spiral is so rich in history and using alike, so the fact that Ito managed to twist it completely while still keeping its original sense it’s terrifying and compelling at once.
All i can say is that you are gonna see me picking up more of his works, that fascinates me and correlates with my mind in a strange, swirling way. -
Oh. My. Gawd.
HOW is this NOT an american movie yet??? (I see there IS a Japanese interpretation, but haven't been able to locate a copy- but like "The Ring" (Ringu) and "The Grudge" before it... this has AMAZING pottential for an American Horror Movie...
REAL Horror, not that blood-n-guts stuff they pass off as 'horror' nowdays...
This is the story of a village. A village infected with SPIRALS.
Oh sure. Go ahead. Chuckle.
Go, "yeah... AND?"
But really.
Think about it.
...what happens when something as simple, no... as MUNDANE, as a 'spiral' becomes greater than just one aspect of the world, one pattern... and begins to take OVER?
It's HORRIBLE.
I couldn't stop reading untill I had gotten through the trilogy- TWICE.
It would take some translating... but this, like many other 'surreal' movies (like "Ink" and "Pan's Labyrinth" would make an EXCELLENT movie that would make your SKIN crawl.
You have spirals on the skin over your fingertips you know.
...and they don't stop there.
Don't think too long, too hard, about it... or YOU could get infected, too. -
So weird. Like, really weird.
My favorite part about this series? I love the psychological aspect - Junji Ito spins such a tale with enough mystery to let my overactive imagination jump in, take over and just run wild with the possibilities of ways this story could continue or mutate.
I love manga and decided to give this one a shot for a spooky October read. I absolutely loved it, the story AND the artistry. It's so fine line, so detailed and in all black and white. In fact, I went right into Sensor and have on hold everything else they have by Junji Ito so I can read it all! -
İlk iki cildi sevmeme rağmen, üçüncü cildi de elimdeyken bitireyim dedim. Ama demez olsaymışım. Seriyi peş peşe okuduğum için olsa gerek, başım dönmeye ve midem bulanmaya başladı. Her çizimde sarmal yapılar görmekten bıktım. Konu desem hâlâ güçsüz ve altyapısız. Sarmal fikri hoş ama olaylar hep yarım ve eksik. Maalesef bu seri olmamış....
-
Ah and here we try to explain the spirals and their origins.
But the answers aren’t even close to as satisfying as the rising dread of Volume 1. -
[Note: This review is intended to cover all 3 volumes of the book, but I'll eventually get around to doing separate write-ups for the individual volumes.]
Junji Ito's "Uzumaki" is a brutally terrifying read that somehow manages to walk that fine line between the kind of creeping, disquieting horror associated with J-Horror films and the go-for-the-throat shock value that the grotesque American monster movies typically possess. The reason I'm making movie comparisons here is not only because, of course, this is a manga - with the familiar cinematic pacing and still-frame shot panels - but also because, though episodic and segmented into installments, Ito's work "feels" like a movie. That is to say, it's simply too visceral an experience to think of it in terms of a written work, and though images from this book will linger in your mind long after you've put it down as they would with any horror novel, you're very likely to experience them firsthand, uniquely, as I did - through the peculiar lens of synthesized art and language, woven together here with such consummate grace as to have a lulling, spellbinding effect. And that, not surprisingly, amplifies the horror tenfold.
The events that unfold in "Uzumaki" are, essentially, outrageous. The concept is so strange and far-fetched - a town is haunted by the spiral shape, its citizens driven mad by the aching beauty of the pattern - that one would expect that in having to consciously suspend disbelief, the element of horror would be diminished. As the reader comes to discover, however, that simply isn't the case. No, despite the fantastic plot premise and seeming ridiculousness of a shape being scary, Ito manages to plow right through the reader's guard and catch him unawares. Ito has very likely set things up this way on purpose, luring the reader into a false sense of security and then proceeding to make the reader truly fear what he or she was previously scoffing at. It's this quality that draws me time and again to Ito's distinctive brand of horror: he capitalizes on the fact that, as rational human beings, we will fear what we do not understand. And in this case, the reader will not understand why the silly spiral pattern has suddenly become an aspect of palpable dread.
The three volumes, when read in proper order, build quietly and escalate in horror with each subsequent release. Things in the sleepy lakeside town are unsettling. Whispers of madness and strange events abound, and throughout the first volume, these lulling moments of calm are broken only by explosive moments of violence, generally self-inflicted and always grotesque in nature. The story focuses on two high school teenagers, a young boy/girl couple. The horrific events unfold slowly around them as they desperately search for clues and a way to help the town from its descent into madness, and toward the end of the book, they come face to face with the horrors on a more personal level. The ending is absolutely terrifying, but as with all great J-Horror, it's purposefully ambiguous. Sharing that won't spoil anything - in fact, let it serve as a fair warning. Not having everything wrapped up in a perfect little ribboned box is generally a lot more disquieting, and this is no exception.
Although not necessarily relevant to the book's review, I'll take a moment to touch on the 2000 film version of "Uzumaki," having already referenced the J-Horror film genre a fair amount. The film covers the first two volumes of the book faithfully, though the hospital mosquito scenes are missing. It comes as close as possible, I think, to capturing the subtlety and nuance of Ito's thickly-inked artwork, and adds a new layer of atmosphere all its own in the stuffy grays and muted greens and browns, blanketing the sky above the town with a perpetual, suffocating sheet of ash-colored clouds. There's also something unique in watching the film version of the story - a detective character actually discovers fairly early on the reasons behind the spiral's presence in the town and its maddening influence on the citizens. Without spoiling the film for those who want to watch it, I'll say that, despite this new plot development, the ending is perhaps even creepier than the book version. For the added dimension of color and haunting ambiguity, I highly recommend watching the film prior to reading the book. Nothing was lost in knowing some (not all) of the events that would occur, and I feel that my experience of Ito's work was further enriched by having viewed it prior.
Anyway, by the book's third volume, the word "catastrophic" will come to mind. Without risking spoiling one of the more gruesome elements of the third installment, I'll just say that when limbs contort, minds bend in turn...and that slugs should fear one another as well as salt. For anyone who's read it, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the "crawl in and dine" scene was one of the most disturbing things I've ever heard of, let alone seen drawn. If anything I've read or seen can said to have been imprinted in memory, then for me, it's surely that nasty image and the sounds and implications of what was not shown along with it.
In conclusion, I firmly believe that this is Ito's best work. His Tomie stories are iconic, Gyo was strange and shocking, and the various collected shorts for the stand-alone Museum of Terror anthology were all memorable and eerie, but it's this, with its slowly rising din and climactic cacophony, that really made a lasting impression in my mind. From a writer's standpoint - novelist, manga-ka, or any other kind - this is a flawless masterwork of horror, and should be studied for both technique and subsequent effect. The concept is inimitable, and no one has even tried. Ito's tone and pacing, both in his artwork and through his writing, is seamless and perfectly suited to the subject of the tale and the events that unfold. No event is insignificant to the whole, though finding a common thread of meaning among them is, amazingly, quite troublesome. It's the simultaneous bludgeoning of the mind and the senses in reading "Uzumaki" that makes it work, makes it linger - makes it unforgettable.
