As Uzumaki episode 2 gets compared to a PS2 game, one of the horror anime's producers addresses the animation downgrade: "We were screwed over"

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Uzumaki's animation controversy has been addressed by one of its producers

A woman with a spiral eyeball in Uzumaki
(Image credit: Junji ITO, Shogakukan / Production I.G., LLC/Adult Swim)

After a creepy, pitch-perfect first episode, all signs were pointing to new anime Uzumaki picking up where it left off and delivering a horror masterpiece in the second episode.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen. In fact, all the latest instalment is notable for is a severe downgrade in animation, with viewers pointing to multiple janky moments across its runtime. They range from a bizarre running animation, to a clear drop in art quality. See for yourself below.

Fans of Junji Ito's original manga have, inevitably, not been kind to the latest efforts. One on Reddit even compared the animation to a "PS2 era game." Ouch.

Speaking out on Bluesky in a series of now-deleted posts (H/T CBR), Toonami co-creator and Uzumaki executive producer Jason DeMarco addressed the complaints – and hinted at behind-the-scenes issues driving the new anime's dropoff in quality.

"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 continued, "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."

"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."

Uzumaki is currently airing on Adult Swim. For more on when to expect new episodes, check out the Uzumaki release schedule. Then dive into our picks for the best anime you should be watching in 2024, plus the latest on Jujutsu Kaisen season 3, Solo Leveling season 2, and Demon Slayer Infinity Castle trilogy.

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Bradley Russell
Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.