After fans complained about a noticeable decline in animation quality after Uzumaki's first episode, an executive producer apparently took to social media to explain that the team was "screwed over" during the making of the Adult Swim anime.
While the posts are no longer live on his Bluesky account, a Redditor took a screenshot of what appears to be a number of posts from Jason Demarco, executive producer of Uzumaki and Senior Vice President of Anime & Action at Warner Bros. Animation. In the alleged posts, Demarco claims that the team was essentially left with a no-win proposition, and chose the option they felt was best.
"It's fine, we knew this would happen," reads the apparently since-deleted post. "I can't talk about what went down but we were screwed over and the options were A) not finish it 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 allegedly goes on to concede that it's understandable for fans to be upset, especially given the fact that they've waited through a number of delays over the years for the adaptation of Junji Ito's magnum opus.
"After waiting so long, it makes sense people would be mad," Demarco continued. "Unforunately 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 with what we had."
"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," the thread concludes. "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."
IGN has reached out to Adult Swim and Demarco to confirm the veracity of the posts and to request further comment, but we haven't heard back yet. We'll update this post if and when we do.
The situation exploded in the wake of Uzumaki episode 2's release, as fans were shocked by a sudden decline in the animation quality compared to the premiere episode and in the trailers leading up to release. IGN's 8/10 review of the premiere even praised the animation when it added "additional flair to images that are already horrific on the page."
But it didn't take long for fans to notice a marked difference in this past weekend's episode. Some even posted side-by-side comparisons, highlighting the stiffness and lack of depth in the animation quality in episode 2, and posts on X/Twitter featuring clips of the anime quickly went viral.
My day is ruined... https://t.co/vHLW1HWoOZ pic.twitter.com/dgJtIFvxCZ
— _doffylamingo (@doffylmingo) October 6, 2024
If Demarco's posts are indeed legitimate (and they haven't been denied by either Demarco or Adult Swim), it's a shockingly candid statement about what went wrong. But, given the furor from fans, it's little surprise the discourse would merit a reponse of some sort.
If you looking for more Junji Ito in the meantime, check out our breakdown of his 13 most terrifying manga stories.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
