The Confusing Spiral: The Adaptation of Junji Itō’s Uzumaki in the Eyes of Non-Japanese Audiences

Abstract

This paper concerns Internet user narratives concerning the 2000 film adaptation of Junji Itō's manga, Uzumaki, of the same title and their characteristic traits. The focus are the individual testimonies of Internet users who make up the non-Japanese, English-speaking audience of the film, and the image of reception of it that they paint. A closer analysis of narratives about Uzumaki reveals a variety of ideas and attitudes regarding not only Japanese popular culture, but cinema and adaptations in general as well as specific patterns of response—including the technical aspects of the film text and more comprehensive cultural nuances.