The good news is you can only die once. After episode 1 of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki, if you thought it couldn’t get worse, episode 2 says…HOLD MY BEER. In this chapter, we are introduced to a new focal point within the small town, Kirie. Through her, we begin to learn the nature of the infection, how it works, and how it preys hungrily on insecurities, anxiety, fear. And I will say this, there is plenty of that in the people of this town. As Kirie moves through the episode she becomes infected. More specifically, her hair becomes infected with the spirals and it becomes a magnet for evil, madness, and a path for the infection to spread much faster to the other people of this bedeviled town.
As we travel through the series, we see how the spirals infect different people in different ways, based on their anxieties or fears. One character becomes a snail (with spicy results). One character is so in love with their partner, they twist themselves together to become permanently part of their love, turning both into a melange of meat and bone. As we progress further into the story, we learn where the infection originated. Which (no spoilers) I can’t say, but once you realize, you begin to see how pervasive the spirals are, and you understand the town was likely doomed on contact.
