Azami Kurotani (黒谷 あざみ Kurotani Azami) is a high school student from Midoriyama-Shi who goes to the same school as Kirie Goshima in Kurôzu-Cho and she was friends with Kirie until she was eaten by The Spiral.
Appearance[]
Azami is a "pretty" girl (as described by Kirie Goshima) with straight bob-cut black hair that has thick fringes where her thin eyebrows peek out from under, wide brown eyes, she appears to be wearing lipstick that is depicted with bright red lips (on the cover of the first volume) and she is shorter than Kirie.
Personality[]
Azami is first introduced as being a friendly and cheerful girl who is the subject of rumors at her school but addresses them with Kirie Goshima in an attempt to dispel them, which leaves Kirie unconvinced. She is excitable and enthusiastic, but deeply irritated by the constant interest from boys her age, and shows them no mercy when turning them down. Though given the abuse she endures after said rejection, her coldness is likely well-founded. When affected by the spiral curse, she becomes obsessed with Shuichi Saito, who was repulsed by her connection to the spiral. Azami ignores his advice for her to leave Kurôzu-Cho and save herself so that she can stalk him. As the spiral further eats at her head, she becomes more malicious and sinister, tricking and manipulating a boy with a crush on her into luring Shuichi to her. Her intentions towards Shuichi were most likely sexual, as demonstrated by when she climbed on top of him and only got off once he convinced her to look in the mirror.
Plot[]
The Scar[]
Kurotani's scar before she is corrupted by the spiral
Azami was a transfer student from Midoriyama-Shi and one of Kirie Goshima's close friends, supposedly since about grade 10. She was very popular at school with all the boys wanting to go out with her and all the girls being jealous of her. Eventually, the girls started a rumor about Azami: that there was a scar on her forehead that had the power to attract boys, and that she used that power to get boys obsessed and then break their hearts. Kirie later sees the scar, although Azami explains that she'd gotten it in elementary school when she'd fallen while trying to impress a boy she liked.
Azami's scar starts expanding.
After school that same day, Azami insists on meeting Shuichi Saito, although Kirie is very reluctant to let her, explaining that Shuichi has become eccentric and antisocial after the suicides of his parents. However, Azami still persists, and Kirie gives in. When they visit Shuichi, first greeting her with cordiality, his demeanor quickly changes when he senses that the curse has begun to take root in her, falling over in terror and screaming that Azami "is a spiral." Azami is shocked, and Kirie even more so, and they both leave. From then on, Azami begins to stalk Shuichi, staying at his house banging on the door for hours on end, and eventually convincing her parents to rent her an apartment in Kurôzu-Cho so that she can harass him more often.
Azami’s scar grows bigger
Shuichi warns Azami to get out of Kurôzu-Cho, insisting that her scar is a spiral and that she'll die if she stays. Azami does not heed his warning, and her scar becomes a quickly growing spiral digging into her face.
One night, Azami convinces a boy named Okada to bring Shuichi to her somewhere in a park, by means of telling Okada she'll go out with him if he succeeds. Okada feigns having a crush on Kirie and convinces Shuichi to meet him in the park. However, Shuichi calls Kirie first to tell her what happened, and Kirie shows up as well, which was not part of Azami's plan. Azami attempts to keep Kirie out of her plan by showing her now half-eaten face, and runs off to the park to do whatever she'd planned on doing to Shuichi.
Azami’s half-eaten face by the Spiral.
She reveals to Okada that she'd never intended to keep her promise to him, and that she only wanted Shuichi. Okada, furious, takes off her hat and whacks her with it, then noticing her face, half-eaten by a Spiral. Azami cackles and eats Okada with the Spiral. Shuichi manages to scramble up a tree before she eats him, too. Once Kirie arrives at the scene, Azami herself is being eaten and vanishes without any trace of her existence.
Death[]
Azami vanished from existence as she was eaten by the Spiral.
Etymology[]
- The name Azami is written in hiragana (あざみ), which has no special meaning. However, when written in kanji (薊), it could possibly mean "thistle".
- Azami's surname Kurotani means "black" (黒) (kuro) and "valley" (谷) (tani).
Trivia[]
- During the ending sequence of Uzumaki, a picture of a man who shot himself in the eye and forms a spiral wound is a reference to the scene where Azami's scar grows bigger and now on her eyes.
- The panel in which Azami left eye is sucked into her spiral wound is one of the most well-known parts of the manga, if not the most.
- Azami is one of the many characters who were cut from the movie.
- Azami’s spiral face has probably been the inspiration for the That’s Not My Neighbor doppelgänger 42.