'Uzumaki' Finally Gets Real Trailer And Release Window, Leading Fans To Hope Highly-anticipated Ito Adaptation Is Imminent

It has now been four years since Toonami dropped a hypnotic teaser for an Uzumaki anime that sent the internet into hype overdrive, and at long last, eager fans have finally gotten a glimmer of good news.

Over the weekend at San Diego Comic-Con, Adult Swim showed yet another trailer, this one featuring what appears to be a full scene from the project. More excitingly, Jason Demarco, a Senior VP at Cartoon Network and the co-creator of Toonami, promised the series will be out later this year.

It's natural to be skeptical — Uzumaki has apparently (and fittingly) been a nightmare to develop. Since the announcement of the adaptation in 2019, the show has been delayed twice, once to 2022, and another an indefinite postponement.

Furthermore, horror-manga master Junji Ito's work has been famously difficult to adapt on screen. Still, the first teaser seemed to promise that Toonami and director Hiroshi Nagahama were on track to capture the moody, chilling nature of the spiraling manga, and while many were frustrated by the delays, they were hopeful that the extra time was getting put to good use.

The teaser seemed to confirm that the extra time was well worth it, according to early reactions online. Many praised the fluidity of the animation and the fidelity to Ito's original manga.

One Twitter user, @adamsyzm, drew praise for noting how the latest teaser seemed to capture the humor in Ito's work.

He noted how scenes from the manga's famous opening chapter, about a father who gets obsessed with the shape of spirals, are treated with some humor in the teaser.

The main characters in the teaser even comment on this, as the girl laughs at the boy's seemingly-ridiculous tale. Though the boy admits it sounds funny, he adds, "You can't know how creepy it is until you see it with your own eyes."