Let's start with the positives: The animation looks absolutely incredible - the combination of hand drawn rotoscope and CG gives this series an extremely fluid and surreal look. Even in black and white everything and everybody looks vibrant and full of life. The voice acting was top notch. You can feel the horror and despair during every scare. The music is haunting and Colin Stetson was a perfect choice. So why is this a 3/10? This is the worst direction I have ever seen from an anime. The pacing is absolutely abysmal. Cramming four chapters of material into a 22 minute episode has got to be the most asinine decision I have ever witnessed. There is no sense of dread, there is no build-up to any of the shocking moments. They just happen with no warning and no rhyme or reason. Unless you've read the manga going into this, you will have absolutely no idea what's going on and you will have no reason to feel any attachment to any of these characters. It comes across as silly rather than scary which is not a recipe for success for a horror. Stellar efforts by the animators, voice actors, and composers are wasted by a clueless director and a studio who clearly did not have the budget to honor the promising trailer they put out. Uzumaki is easily the most disappointing thing to ever come out of Adult Swim, and there is simply no way the show can be redeemed in measly 22 minute increments.

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