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Uzumaki anime’s executive producer Jason DeMarco recently took to Bluesky account to address fans’ concerns about the sudden dip in the animation quality of episode 2.
Despite the anime being in production for over 5 years, there were many issues and setbacks, according to DeMarco.
The team was ultimately faced with three options, i.e., to cancel the show, air only the first episode, or complete all four episodes despite the issues.
In the end, they chose the third option out of respect for the hard work invested in the series, even though they anticipated some backlash.
“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 ep 1 and leave it incomplete or C) run all four, warts and all. Out of respect for the hard work we chose C.“
DeMarco shared that while the decision to continue airing the episodes was made, he understands fans’ disappointment. He mentioned that the problems stemmed from actions of one or two people but did not elaborate further.
“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.“
However, he felt it would be unfair to those who put their blood, sweat, and tears into the series if it never saw the light of day.
DeMarco stressed that while fans have the right to feel disappointed, the team did their best with the circumstances they were given.
Despite the hurdles, DeMarco said he remains glad that some viewers are still enjoying the series.
“But again, a lot of ppl 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 ppl have a right to be annoyed and disappointed. I’m glad you are digging it.”
Uzumaki was initially set to premiere on Toonami in 2020, ahead of its Japanese debut. However, the production faced multiple delays. Initially postponed to 2021, it was later rescheduled for October 2022. In June 2022, another delay pushed the release date further.
The anime finally started airing on Sep 28, 2024.
Cast includes:
- Uki Satake as Kirie Goshima
- Shinichiro Miki as Shuichi Saito
- Toshio Furukawa as Kirie’s Father
- Takashi Matsuyama as Shuichi’s Father
- Mika Doi as Yukie Saito
- Mariya Ise as Azami Kurotami
- Katsutoshi Matsuzaki as Katayama
- Wataru Hatano as Okada
- Tatsumaru Tachibana as Tsumura
- Kouichi Toochika as Yokota
- Ami Fukushima as Shiho
- Gen Sato as Boy 1
- Shunsuke Takeuchi as Boy 2
- Anna Nagase as Girl
- Kōsuke Okamoto as Attendee 1
Hiroshi Nagahama is directing the 4 episode Uzumaki anime at Studio Drive, with Colin Stetson composing the music. The mini-series is coproduced by Adult Swim along with Production I.G. USA.
Uzumaki is a Japanese horror manga series written and illustrated by Junji Ito. Appearing as a serial in Shogakukan’s weekly seinen manga magazine Big Comic Spirits from 1998 to 1999, the chapters were compiled into three bound volumes published from August 1998 to September 1999.
Source: X
