#Uzamaki spiral into horror

[ari-grace-the-space-case]

I finally got a chance to sit down and re-read uzamaki by Junji Ito. A friend was kind enough to lend me their copy as I only have the 3rd volume in my own collection.

I wanted to re-read it before diving into the new show adaption as my memory of it is pretty hazy. I read a bulk of Ito's work in the late 2000's via fan scanlations that were available at the time.

I'd like to take some time to re-read Gyo and Tomie as well, and kinda compare the experiences.

I was pleasantly surprised at how much I actually was able to recall as I started reading, coming back to the additional spiral galaxy chapter felt like unlocking a long lost memory.

Im not really saying anything revolutionary or particularly insightful in this post, but more just using it as a space to post my own unedited thoughts about coming back to the work and Ito's work.

I feel like Uzamaki as a whole really still holds up well and is worth it's praise. Particullary It's probably the best example out of Ito's work that show's his mastery of surrealism to invoke dread, which I think in his earlier short stories he was exploring, but didn't quiet hit all the time.

But i think Ito is great example of "practice makes perfect" just by the sheer volume of stories he's come up with.

(I think the short story about the musical pop stars with the catchy melody comes to mind for me as not being as strong, or the beached sea creature, that story was showcased in the anime adaption of his work on netflix and felt really flat and even a little silly without the use of his atmospheric hatching technique)

but how the story of Uzamaki ends, with the main characters twisted up in a solemn embrace in face to their fate in the spiral, with no answers to the Spiral's mystery still feels satisfactory and an excellent execution of the overall sense of Unknowing horror that is the spiral.

I also really loved Ito's use of value in the book over all. I'm probably paying more attention that more so as Im trying to get a better grasp of value in my own work.

The way he uses hatching to build up focal points in the page layouts is really striking, even in really simple scenes.

One that sticks out in my mind the most is after Kirie discovers her fathers ceramic abominations, the firing shed's silhouette is all blacked out with the entrance as the only source of light with her father standing in the doorway, and Kirie looking back disturbed.

It's a simple scene but the atmosphere is so heavy and foreboding. It's impressive how he was able to fit so much feeling into that one panel with that composition of dark and light.

I also didn't realize until after I had finished reading the book, how well the layouts flowed. I was able to read through it pretty easily and never got stuck on a panel transition throughout the whole work, which helped make the story so immersive, despite it's absurdity. Every panel placed with such intention and detail.

I hope to one day gain that kind of understanding of layout to my own work.

I'm really glad I decided to sit down and re-read it, even if now I don't know If Ill visit the Anime adaptation, especially with how poorly it sounds the second episode turned out.

but it was great reminder of how much I love the comics medium and what is has the ability to do.

[differentcloudqueen]

So, I was scrolling, looking for a particular post and I saw this. Normal people think, "beautiful!" I thought of Uzamaki. I stared horrified at those colorful snails on the wall. No joke. I don't find most of Junji Ito's manga collection scary, but there are some creepy scenes that disturbed my spirit forever. I had to take a week break to get over the scene where the student and teacher slowly morphed into snails and then mindlessly mated. When I recovered and picked it back up, I got smacked again towards the end when their fellow villagers turned desperado and and ate them "fresh" out of the shell and grilled the other. Not gonna lie, I was fine with their eggs getting smashed. I was at least spared the trauma of human baby snails. My bed is next to a wall and I stared at my wall for weeks, visualizing a human snail crawling up my walls. I have a lot of empathy and the horror they must have gone through losing their humanity, becoming mindless, and getting Graped. In the end, they scurried off into the woods together because they had no place among humans anymore. Only to show up later and get grilled on some cannibal type shit. The only other Junji Ito manga that kind of spooked me was that creepster with his chair. That said, this made me want to make a spiral world. Mostly empty, of course. I think it would be neat. Then hit the town with a meteor at the end of gameplay because...if you already read manga, Uzamaki had one of those "and everybody died" endings.

AMR Bioluminous Set

Shine bright like a seashell

I was going to do more, but meh; I’m over it – I can’t stand making lights in TSRW; I wish that little yellow ball light points thing moved freely like the slots do, with just a slide of the mouse. >_<

Anyways, here’s 4 items for you: 

I think they’d work superbly in tandem with all the sunken stuff in Island Paradise, and the mermaid props/decor from Showtime and Seasons.

Includes….

Jellypole Floor Lamp

Has a fully recolorable variation, and several non-recolorable variations, too, just because.

Shell Lights A and B

A is the big nautiloid wall lamp, and B is the pointy conch shell wall lamp.

Both have fully recolorable variations as well as non-recolorable variations.

Coral Floor Lamp

Once again, includes recolorable and non-recolorable variations–that I think look MUCH better, frankly. I wanted frozen sherbert so badly, I can’t even.

Download set (sims3packs AND packages)

[uberdoot]

Rereading Uzamaki for the season, and I just realized something that probably should have been more obvious to me but... Uzumaki is one of the only cosmic horror stories I've seen where there isn't a big Cthulathotep at the end of the line, or behind the scenes. There aren't even little tiny Yog-shaggulhus on the way there. There's just the influence of a shape, and any "monsters" are either mutants who were corrupted by the "permeating force" of the spiral or selfish cruel people who were probably nasty before the spiral anyways.

Goes a long way to make it feel more unknowable which is, like, the whole point. "OH NO BIG MONSTER IS GONNA EAT ME" is a familiar fear humans have had for forever, but "geometric pattern slowly kills me as I conform to its shape" isn't exactly a classic.

There's a bunch of cosmic horror I have yet to consume, but the only other example I can think of that does this is the movie "The Endless". If anyone has other examples to share, It'd be much appreciated!

[mrs-evadne-cake]

Is there a movie you're looking forward to seeing? (Coming out this year or something you've missed up until now)

I’m really, really hoping that The Lodge- During a family retreat to a remote winter cabin over the holidays, the father is forced to abruptly depart for work, leaving his two children in the care of his new girlfriend, Grace. Isolated and alone, a blizzard traps them inside the lodge as terrifying events summon specters from Grace’s dark past.

Is good. I love winter/ isolation horror so this pushes all my buttons.In an similar vain I’m stoked to see Scare Me-  The plot follows Fred (Josh Ruben), an aspiring writer who rents a snowy cabin for a weekend as an intended writer’s retreat. The story ideas don’t flow so easily, though, despite him trying his best to spark his imagination. It so happens, though, that his cabin neighbor is a best-selling horror novelist, Fanny (Aya Cash). When a storm causes a blackout in the neighborhood, Fanny shows up at Fred’s door and challenges him to tell a scary story.

I also love aqautic horror, so am looking forward to Sea Fever- The crew of a trawler fights for survival against a parasite after they become marooned at sea.

And I haven’t had a chance yet to see Jennifer Kent’s The Nightingale -  Clare, a young Irish convict, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness and is bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence the man committed against her family. On the way, she enlists the services of Aboriginal tracker Billy, who is marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.

Because I know it’s going to be an excellent but incredibly harrowing watch based on scoping it out. Not A Movie But: Uzamaki :  A town of people slowly go insane over increasing obsessions with spiral shapes: patterns in the clouds, everyday objects, hair, insects, skin.

 Is being made into a limited series- this one was the things that really scared the shit out of me as a kid and nothing except the original has ever done it justice. Tentatively Excited For:

New Mutants

The Golden GloveCandy Man

[anniec1369]

My Junji Ito Uzamaki pin looks so dope on my bag... #junjiito #uzumaki #enamelpin #japanesehorror #mangaart #spiral #horror #horrorchick #horrornerd #snarkmastergeneral #nerd #shenerd #fairygoremother #shenerdroom https://www.instagram.com/p/B71jNBuFQ_4/?igshid=h1xcu630j9qs

[sakanaguitar]

New GIF tagged anime, black and white, horror, 3d, manga, japanese, surreal, spiral, junji ito, uzamaki, shallow lagoon, azami kurotani via Giphy http://ift.tt/2t9tWAO

/Gif collection of “ぐるぐる” (bﾟv`*)

[old-ultra-violence]