|
is a ''seinen'' horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. Appearing as a serial in the weekly manga magazine ''Big Comic Spirits'' from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were compiled into three bound volumes by Shogakukan and published from August 1998 to September 1999. In March 2000, Shogakukan released an omnibus edition, followed by a second omnibus version in August 2010. In North America, Viz Media serialized an English-language translation of the series in its monthly magazine ''Pulp'' from February 2001 to August 2002. Viz Media then published the volumes from October 2001 to October 2002, with a re-release from October 2007 to February 2008, and published a hardcover omnibus edition in October 2013. The series tells the story of the citizens of Kurôzu-cho, a fictional city which is plagued by a supernatural curse involving spirals. The story for ''Uzumaki'' originated when Ito attempted to write a story about people living in a very long row house, and he was inspired to use a spiral shape to achieve the desired length. Ito believes the horror of ''Uzumaki'' is effective due to its subversion of symbols which are normally positively portrayed in Japanese media, and its Lovecraftian theme of protagonists struggling against a mysterious force stronger than themselves. The manga was adapted into two video games for the WonderSwan and a Japanese live-action film directed by Higunchinsky. The manga has received generally positive reviews from English-language critics. It was nominated for an Eisner Award in 2003, and placed in the Young Adult Library Services Association's list of the "Top 10 Graphic Novels for Teens" in 2009. ==Plot== ''Uzumaki'' follows a high-school teenager , her boyfriend , and the citizens of the small, fictional Japanese town of , which is cursed by supernatural events involving spirals. As the story progresses, Kirie and Shuichi witness how the spiral curse affects the people around them, causing the citizens to become obsessed or paranoid about spirals. Eventually Kirie is affected by the curse as well, when her hair begins to curl into an unnatural spiral pattern, drains her life energy to hypnotize the citizens, and chokes her whenever she attempts to cut it off. Shuichi is able to cut her hair and save her. The curse continues to plague the town, until a storm conjured by the curse destroys most of its structures. The only remaining buildings are ancient abandoned row houses, which the citizens are forced first to move into, and then begin expanding as they grow more and more crowded. Kirie and Shuichi devise a plan to escape Kurôzu-cho, but when they attempt to escape, their efforts are unsuccessful. After returning to the town, they discover that several years have passed since they left. The other citizens have expanded the row houses until they connect into a single structure forming a spiral pattern. Kirie and Shuichi decide to search for Kirie's parents, which brings them to the center of the spiral. At the center, they fall down a pit, within which they discover the corpses of Kirie's parents and an ancient city completely covered with spiral patterns. Shuichi urges Kirie to move forward and find a way to stop the curse, but she replies that she does not have the strength and wishes to stay with him. The two embrace each other, and their bodies twist and wrap together as a result of the curse. As they lie together, Kirie notes that the curse ended at the same time it began, and concludes that the curse is eternal, and all the events will repeat when a new Kurôzu-cho is built where the previous one laid. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Uzumaki」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|