Uzumaki
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Uzumaki: Spiral Into Horror! |
| Abbreviation(s): | Uzumaki or Spiral |
| Creator: | Junji Ito |
| Date(s): | August 29, 1998 (first chapter released), September 30, 1999 (finished) |
| Medium: | manga, anime, film, videogame |
| Country of Origin: | Japan |
| External Links: | at Wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Uzumaki is a horror manga trilogy about a small fictional town that is contaminated by the spiral pattern, driving everybody and everything within its borders to go mad with obsession over spirals and spinning, and more often then not, turn into a spiral themselves. The main characters are Kirie Goshima and Shuichi Saito, a couple of eighteen-year-olds from the main town who are present at many of the disaster sites caused by the Spiral.
Fandom Activity
Due to the obscurity of the manga, the fandom is extremely small, and most fanartists are not active in the fandom community. The fandom appears to have been far larger from approximately 2000, when the live-action film adaptation was made, to 2009, however has drastically decreased in numbers and activity. Large parts of the Internet accredit Tumblr user clausus-intra-spiralus with the very gradual revival now in progress.
Uzumaki fan artists are known to recreate two particular panels in the manga in their art, this one (gore/body horror warning) and this one.
Community Fandom
As of 2000, the Uzumaki fandom has been divided into two 'sides,' and a third was added circa 2013. The community fandom is the oldest part of the fandom and makes up the smallest portion of it; it is the side that make fanart, write fanfiction, make edits, write music, and discuss theories with each other. They have their own fanon separate from the other sides of the fandom, and consider Tumblr users clausus-intra-spiralus and icecreamhazard to be the most outspoken among them. In addition, the community fandom have separate views and interpretations on the main characters and the narrative arc than the other sides.
Movie Fandom
The movie fandom is the second-oldest side of the general Uzumaki fandom, and makes up the second-largest portion of it. This side has existed since a live-action film adaptation of the manga came out in 2000. Due to major narrative and characterization differences in the movie, the movie fandom are considered a separate part of the Uzumaki fandom, and sometimes even a separate fandom in and of themselves. Many members of this fandom are also part of the community fandom, as many people who have seen the movie have also read the manga. Movie fans may or may not draw fanart, write fanfiction, make edits, and discuss theories like the community fandom do; however, their subject is the movie, whereas the community fandom's subject is the manga.
Reviewing Fandom
The reviewing fandom is the most recently created side of the Uzumaki fandom, and makes up the largest portion of it. This is the side that writes reviews of the manga--those who write reviews of the movie are still considered part of the movie fandom, not the reviewing fandom. There is tension and considerable amounts of debate between the reviewing fandom and the community fandom, due to drastic disagreements on characterization and the narrative arc. Common themes include Kirie's age, the depth and development of the characters, and the importance of Kirie to the Eternal Spiral itself. Clausus-intra-spiralus has claimed that the reviewing fandom created the movie, however it is completely unknown as to whether the crew of the movie had ever written or read reviews of the manga.
Main Characters
Kirie Goshima: She is the main character, and a witness to many of the destructive events taking place in Kurozu-Cho. Contrary to popular belief, she is not the center of what happens, but merely present at many disaster sites and deaths by pure coincidence. She is eighteen years old, and a high school student until some point between chapters 8 and 9. When faced with the horrors of the Spiral, Kirie responds more with irritation then with genuine fear, and acts as the stronger and more rational side of the main couple.
Shuichi Saito: He is Kirie's boyfriend, a recluse who is generally shunned by Kurozu-Cho. He desperately wants to leave town, and it is implied he is capable of seeing the future and maybe the Spiral itself. He is also eighteen years old, and also a high school student until he drops out after his parents kill themselves. As of chapter 2, Shuichi is severely mentally ill, and in addition, he refuses to eat or sleep, causing him to be the weaker and more volatile side of the main couple.
Chie Maruyama: She is a close friend of Kirie introduced in chapter 14 as a temporary replacement for Shuichi, who has become catatonic and unresponsive. Chie is a reporter who came to Kurozu-Cho to do a story on the disaster taking place there, however finds the town in rubble and herself stranded with no way of escaping. Refusing to accept her fate, she stays with Kirie, Shuichi, and the Goshima family--however, after a failed escape attempt alongside them, she is killed when she is sucked into a row house and presumably crushed or suffocated to death.
Pairings
KiriChi: The shipping of the main characters, Kirie Goshima and Shuichi Saito. This is a canon pairing, who appear to have become an official couple before the start of the plot. They are, as the main couple, the most prominent pairing in the fandom.
ShuiKiri: The shipping of the movie versions of Kirie Goshima and Shuichi Saito. The difference in ship name is due to the difference in the characters' natures, as this version of the ship is considered toxic and pedophilic. It is canonically one-sided, on the part of movie!Kirie.
TadaShui: The shipping of the deuteragonist, Shuichi Saito, with the main character of a different manga by the same author, Tadashi from Gyo. It gained popularity due to tumblr users clausus-intra-spiralus and icecreamhazard. Because it is a crossover pairing, it is not canon.
ShIchiro: The shipping of the movie version of Shuichi Saito with the movie-exclusive character Ichiro Tamura. They are a relatively minor ship, and not canon.
KiriShuiChie: The shipping of the three main characters of volume 3, Kirie Goshima, Shuichi Saito, and Chie Maruyama, as a threesome. It is not a canon ship.
Kurozu-Fault: The AU shipping of Kurozu (the personification of Kurozu-Cho) with Amigara (the personification of Amigara Fault from Ito's other manga The Enigma of Amigara Fault). Because it is both a crossover and entirely AU ship, it is not canon. It gained popularity due to tumblr user icecreamhazard.
Fanfic Examples
- "Junji Ito Crossover: Uzumaki/Gyo" by NOT_Kirie_Goshima (Ao3)
- "A Day in the Life of the Guy Who Owns This Town" by NOT_Kirie_Goshima (Ao3)
- "Fall Into the Spiral" by NOT_Kirie_Goshima (Ao3)
- "Completion" by sashocirrione (Ao3)
- "Uzumaki [Spiral]" by Sakura_no_Miko (Ao3)