Are you interested in angels, demons, ghosts, spirits, and monsters? Are you curious about their origins, influence, and how to protect against the unknown? If so, then welcome to Southern Demonology, the podcast that explores all of this and more. In the past, there have been a few anime series that featured the amazing artwork of Japan's ultimate horror manga creator or manga ka, Junji Ito, namely the Junji Ito collection and Junji Ito Maniac. Now, both of these had a few standout moments, but they were ultimately let down.
See, Ito san is a master of his craft, and he has created some nightmare-inducing works over the years, such as Tomai, The Hanging Balloons, and especially the Enigma of Amigata Fall, just to name a few. The anime series dulled the whore with way too much comedy. And while you can definitely find some silly moments mixed in with the macabre, in my opinion, the emphasis was just way out of kilter. However, that's a big however. I am so happy to announce that there is now something out there that does honor to Itosan's work. And that is the brand new anime Uzumaki, meaning Piral. Hello all.
If you follow along with anime news, not that I expect you to, then over the years you may have seen reference to a new work in production that attempts to bring Uzumaki to life. And by life, I mean that the entire anime is set in black and white and looks like a manga suddenly spring to life. I have been so looking forward to seeing this thing come to reality. And last week, the very first episode dropped. In fact, it's being aired by Adult Swim, followed by a release on HBO Max the following day.
If you haven't heard of it before, this work depicts a small town where spirals have begun showing up. For example, the two main characters are walking home, and the boy points out the whirlpool and eddies of wind that have been popping up across town. Now, that doesn't sound particularly creepy, but that is where you're wrong. The boy's father has become fascinated with spiral and has even stopped going to work just so he can stare at his collection of anything with the spiral shape.
And if the father looked long enough, then his eyes can even start to spin independently of each other in their sockets. And from there, things only continue to escalate at an accelerated pace. This anime captures perfectly the Lovecraftian horror that just oozes from Itosan's work. You can see just how horribly things can go if even the smallest bit of an eldritch deity's essence casually comes into contact with our reality and how that taint, ever so slowly at first, begins to manifest and corrupt all that its ever-widening blemish touches.
Even the opening sequence, typically called an OP, reinforces this mood. Most anime spend gobs of money on great music and flashy animation to lure in new viewers. Uzumaki simply shows a black screen with a spiral that seems to beckoning you inside. The best in oh so few horror shows and movies not just show you the horribleness, but rather inflict that dread and unease onto the watcher. And I am very proud to say that Uzumaki does that in spades, and I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you for listening to Southern Demonology. Find us online at Southern Demonology.
com, which offers links to all of our social media and episodes. Southern Demonology is solely owned, produced, and edited by myself, and the intro and outro music are composed by me as well. If you have a moment, please rate, like, and share this podcast, as it is the best way to help support my work. As always, I am JJ, and it has been a pleasure to speak to you today.