Uzumaki (vol. 2)
Review by Dindrane
Story:
Art:

Written and Drawn by Junji Ito
English Adaptation by Yuji Oniki
Touch-up Art and Lettering by Steve Dutro
Cover Design, Graphics, and Layout by Izumi Evers
Published by Viz Communications, Inc.
Contents: contains Uzumaki installments as published in PULP 5:8 through 6:1
Price: $15.95

My advice: Buy it.

Reader's advisory: Uzumaki contains horror elements and some disturbing themes

Uzumaki continues its investigations of the troubles plaguing the seaside town of Kurozu-cho, all revolving around a unique form of haunting: spirals driving people mad and mutating them into monsters. As we readers are drawn deeper into the spiral of terror in this seaside town, we meet a shy fellow with a serious crush on Kirie...what will happen if he dies for her? Then follows a kind of cautionary tale about being a sluggish student or about picking on such a person.... Next, we visit a "haunted" lighthouse, and while healing in the hospital, more terror strikes, this time to one of Kirie's relatives. Lastly, we weather a storm with Shuichi and Kirie.

The characterization and writing style are solid. You learn more about the main characters as you go along, and while Shuichi is at this point still a bit mysterious, it works. Kirie is a bit less cluelessly annoying in this volume, and her courage is starting to emerge. I look forward to seeing her become a real hero soon. Even the ghosts of cremated tainted people don't get relief.

The plot is just as deliciously surreal as the first volume. While the plots seem stranger in general than in the first volume (snail people? living lighthouses?), there is no shortage of suspense or the uncanny: the story following the fate of Kirie's pregnant cousin, and her...fetus...is particularly bizarre, but terribly...terrible (in a good way).

The artistic style is the same as the first volume, which is to say that the characters are drawn in a hauntingly lovely style that contrasts wonderfully with the horrific subject matter. The frightening images are all that much more effective when contrasted with the lovely doe eyes of the heroine, and the realism is truly chilling at times. Not for the faint of heart, for certain, though as with the previous volume, the horror elements are more psychological and surreal than bloody or gory. Ito knows how to push buttons, not having to rely upon entrails or horror clich?s to do it for him.

Overall, Uzumaki 2 lays the groundwork for an interesting world where anything is possible. There's real fright and reality distortion here; you'll long to know what the deal is with the uzumaki and where Kirie and Shuichi will go from here. Not quite as chilling as the first volume, Uzumaki 2 is still plenty interesting and promising enough to keep you reading to the last page, and drive you mad when you realize you've read all there is for this installment.