Adult Swim’s highly-anticipated television adaptation of Junji Ito’s acclaimed horror manga, Uzumaki, has been delayed once again. The anime show’s director, Hiroshi Nagahama and his production team asked the programmers behind Cartoon Network’s nighttime programming block for the extension, Collider is reporting.
Nagahama and Adult Swim haven’t yet committed to a new date for when the series will air. Uzumaki was previously scheduled to premiere in October 2022.
The anime show was originally announced by Adult Swim in 2019. Since then, updates on the project’s development have been limited.
Uzumaki was first delayed over a year ago, as the COVID-19 pandemic had significantly slowed its production. At the time, fans of Ito’s manga were excited to see the television series unique animation, which captured his signature style.
But to capture that same level of detail throughout the entirety of the show, however, the mangaka and the project’s production team realized they needed more time beyond the originally planned October release.
Ito released a statement on his official Twitter account about the delay in the animated television series’ production. It reads: “In order to replicate the quality of the intricate designs and detailed line work of Mr. Ito’s classic manga, Director Hiroshi Nagahama and the production team have asked for additional time to recreate Ito’s masterpiece properly.
“As much as we’d like to deliver this show to the public as soon as possible, we don’t want to compromise its quality by delivering a mediocre final product,” the statement added.
The latest production delay in Uzumaki‘s adapted television show comes after the last adaptation of Ito’s stories – Junji Ito Collection received criticism for simplifying his designs. As a result, viewers expressed their belief that the horror anthology series wasn’t as macabre and interesting as the mangaka’s original stories.
Uzumaki, which was first released in 1998, is often considered to be Ito’s greatest masterpiece. It was first adapted into a live-action film in Japan.
The manga is set in the fictional town of Kurôzu-cho, a seemingly normal place. However, the town is actually dealing with a supernatural phenomenon that involves spirals.
Kirie and her boyfriend Shuichi lead normal lifes. However, they soon begin to notice how the town’s citizens, including her father, have become entranced by the spirals, so they start to consider leaving altogether. As the spiral’s curse grows, more of the town’s residents are no longer able to handle their normal routines, as their lives turn into a nightmare.
While fans of Ito’s manga will have to wait for more updates on when Uzumaki‘s television adaption will broadcast, Ito is working on another television project that’s based on his work.
Twenty of his creepiest stories will be featured on television for the first time, as they’ll be animated for a Netflix anthology series. The project, which is titled Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre, will be released next year.