English Dub Review: Uzumaki “Episode 3”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Kurouzu Hospital is in an uproar.  Bloodthirsty pregnant women and creepy babies are surrounding Kirie, and her life is in danger.

Our Take:

After watching last week’s episode, I noticed that the series has gained a bit of backlash regarding the animation style.  Following a stellar display in the first episode, the second episode took a bit of a dip in its quality, notably the stiff character movements.  It turns out that the animation crew got screwed over during the show’s production, as it was originally announced as being animated by the companies Drive and Akatsuki, but that wasn’t the case.  The first episode of Uzumaki was actually animated by Fugaku, while the second and third episodes are credited as being produced by Akatsuki.  So, you can say that it’s another unfortunate case of the animation department being overshadowed by the industry’s selfish greed.

I didn’t actually catch wind of this until after watching the second episode because I was so drawn into the show’s psychological and unsettling concept.  After reading about it, I realized how much of a difference there was between the first and second episodes regarding its animation.  But it still did wonders in matching the black-and-white art style of the source material and proving how frightening innocent things can be with its spirals.  Unsurprisingly, the third episode further proves this theory, as Kirie and Shuichi find out how terrifying a hospital can be while Kirie recovers from the incident in the previous episode.  In addition to pregnant women drinking people’s blood, the episode also has talking babies that grew mushrooms at the end of their chords.  I don’t think I remember watching that episode of “Rugrats”.

Of course, that didn’t stop there.  The second half of the episode has Shuichi and Kirie surviving a series of typhoons plaguing Kurouzu, with one of them being obsessed with Kirie.  The storms resulted in them and Kirie’s family moving into a shelter for safety, but, as it turns out, it couldn’t keep them safe from the spiral’s curse.  The animation for the character movements did look a bit stiff sometimes compared to the first episode, but it still compensates with its black-and-white artistry in its unsettling imagery.  However, it also appears that its narrative impact of Uzumaki may have waned a bit as we’re seemingly nearing the end of this surreal journey.  But I’d be lying if I said I’m not enjoying this messed-up ride this Halloween season.