46 pages 1 hour read

Junji Ito, Transl. Yuji Oniki

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror

Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Adult | Published in 2000

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Chapters 1-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 1 Summary: “The Spiral Obsession Part 1”

Kirie Goshima introduces her hometown, Kurouzu-cho, a village where many strange events have occurred. As Kirie walks to the train station to meet her boyfriend, Shuichi Saito, she notices Shuichi’s father staring at an empty snail shell. She tries to talk to him, but he is so fixated on the shell that he does not notice her. After Kirie and Shuichi meet at the train station, the latter begs the former to run away with him. Shuichi believes Kurouzu-cho is contaminated with spirals, but Kirie doesn’t take him seriously.

The next day, Mr. Saito contracts Kirie’s father, a potter, to create something for him in a spiral pattern because he is collecting spiral shapes. Kirie teases Shuichi about his father’s new hobby, but Shuichi is grave. He tells Kirie that his father’s eyes have begun spinning independently of one another. Kirie is bemused, and Shuichi invites her to dinner to see his claim for herself.

When Kirie and Shuichi reach the Saito household, they find Shuichi’s parents arguing. 0Mr. Saito claims he no longer cares that he lost his spiral objects, because he can express spirals through his body. Kirie watches Mr.