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In what will likely go down in history as one of the saddest developments in anime, Adult Swim‘s long-delayed anime adaptation of Junji Ito’s Uzumaki went from critical acclaim to utter disappointment in two episodes because of a staggering drop in animation quality. Although io9 reached out to Adult Swim to inquire about why the show experienced such a perplexing dip in quality as reactions emerged yesterday, the anime’s executive producer has broken his silence on the whole ordeal in a now-deleted social media post.
In a BlueSky post (first spotted by Comic Book Resources) that was later screenshotted and spread online, Uzumaki producer Jason DeMarco revealed that Adult Swim was, to put it mildly, “screwed over” with the Ito anime.
“It’s fine, we knew this would happen. I can’t talk about what went down, but we were screwed over, and the options were A) not finish and air nothing and call it a loss, B) Just finish and air Episode 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C,” DeMarco wrote in the first of a series of posts. “After waiting so long, it makes sense people would be mad. Unfortunately, I can’t tell them who to blame it on… but someone is definitely at fault here, and we all just had to do our best when things imploded. Maybe others would have made different choices. We did the best we could with what we had.”
Jason Demarco said some stuff regarding the quality dip with Uzumaki over on Bluesky: pic.twitter.com/l3Yq3Z1JoU
— CN News/Schedules (@CNschedules) October 8, 2024
He continued: “But again, a lot of people worked very hard on this show, and I didn’t think the actions of just one or two people should be the reason it never saw the light of day. Maybe that’s the wrong choice. I truly don’t know. But those people have a right to be annoyed and disappointed. I’m glad you are digging it.”
As DeMarco alluded to in his now-deleted post, folks are rightfully annoyed and disappointed with the sheer drop in animation quality with the Uzumaki anime. Especially considering that the show was initially supposed to come out in 2019, before a series of delays saw it gain the reputation of having a cursed production. Following the release of Uzumaki‘s second episode, some fans wised up to something being amiss on the production side of the show by highlighting the change in producer credits between the two episodes. Moreover, eagle-eyed fans registered that much of Uzumaki‘s promotional material centered solely on the show’s premiere episode, with very few showcasing scenes from the limited series’ other three episodes.
Aside from fan disappointment stemming from Uzumaki being the latest in a failed attempt to adapt his works into an anime, it also stings knowing the show was delayed multiple times—one of which was for the studio to specifically take more time to ensure their result lived up to the artistry of Ito’s manga. The whole matter becomes even more perplexing when you consider the high praise both Ito and DeMarco lent the show in the lead-up to its release.
the uzumaki quality difference side by side is so jarring pic.twitter.com/A7KQ6FAaGe
— vance (@vancethot) October 6, 2024
As of the time of publication, Uzumaki still has two episodes left. While the above information will likely not provide solace for anyone who hoped the show would finally break the curse fans associate with Ito anime failing to live up to their hype, fans can take comfort in knowing that the memes chronicling this phenomenon have been hilarious.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
