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Uzumaki episode 2 was released on October 6, 2024, and the fandom finally started criticizing the pacing issue of the anime series which went unannounced in the first episode. Moreover, the pacing issue was even worse than in the premiere episode because Uzumaki episode 2 squeezed 5 chapters into a single episode and missed some content.
However, unlike the first episode where crucial panels were missed, this chapter made sense as panels that were connected weren't missed. Even though the animation of the episode looked decent at first glance, everything seemed to lack care when compared to the manga chapters. However, the bright side was that the previously missed panels could be featured in future episodes.
Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed in this article solely belong to the author.
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Comparing Uzumaki episode 2 to its corresponding chapters
Uzumaki episode 2: The lukewarm tale of Kazunori and Yoriko
The short story adaptation in the episode was of chapter 5 titled Twisted Souls. The short story covers the tale of Kazunori and Yoriko, two high school students who loved each other but due to the conflict between their parents, they couldn't announce their love publically.
In the episode, Kazunori called his and Yoriko's parents 'twisted,' but the episode didn't explain why this was the case. In the manga chapter, it was revealed that the families of both of these berated each other for being a failure, which was the reason why they were twisted. However, even though this wasn't explained in the episode, the story wasn't confusing.
The key aspect of this short story was its adaptation of horror panels like the one where Kazunori and Yoriko twisted onto each other. Unfortunately, every panel, including the one mentioned, lacked detail and was 'lukewarm' when compared to the source material which had detailed panels that spoke 'horror.'
Uzumaki episode 2: Medusa and Jack-in-the-box
The other two chapters that were adapted included chapters 6 and 7. There wasn't anything wrong with the former chapter, titled Medusa, which showed Kirie getting closer to the spiral 'curse' as her hair started becoming the spiral. The only complaint about this part was how it was heavily CGI-based and might have failed to capture the true image of the horror from the manga panels.
Chapter 7, titled Jack-in-the-Box, tells the tale of Mitsuru Yamaguchi who claimed to be Kirei's lover. This part was also squeezed into a few minutes as his gift, the clown, opened when he died. However, in the manga, after Mitusuru's death, Kirie took his present and it opened up to remind her that Mitsuru died because he was madly in love with her.
Uzumaki episode 2: The Snail and the Black Lighthouse
Chapter 8, titled The Snail, was already previewed in the previous episode and might be the best animated one from this episode. Katayama's Metamorphisis into a snail was one of the key details from Uzumaki episode 2 that could go down as one of the best Junji Ito short story anime adaptations.
Similar to this, chapter 9, titled The Black Lighthouse, was also decent animation-wise but it failed to develop enough lore around the black lighthouse. Moreover, the spirals that appeared when Kirie was climbing the stairs didn't fit well with the entire scene and seemed 'amateurish.'
Final thoughts
Uzumaki episode 2 was indeed a rollercoaster of emotions but for every wrong reason. Where the fandom was expecting things to get better in this episode, the reverse happened and the future of the series doesn't look that bright. However, this was another reminder that horror cannot be transformed from a paper to a motion picture, especially the one from Junji Ito.
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