Umezu Kazuo,author Rafting class and cat eye boy One of the greatest horror cartoonists of the 20th centuryth Century, dead. An announcement last night from his art company UMEZZ said the artist died on October 28th. Earlier this year, the artist reportedly collapsed at home. His family held a private funeral for him.
To say that Meizu was a force in the 1920sth The horror comic of the century feels like an understatement. There are few artists whose work is as influential and unique as his. His comics influenced an entire generation of horror artists, from This is Junji and Indian Western artists, e.g. Katie Skelly and Trevor Henderson. The Queen of Comics herself, Rumiko Takahashi He briefly served as one of his assistants. However, no one combines horror, absurdity and drama quite like Umezu throughout his oeuvre.
Born on September 3rdRD In 1936, the artist grew up in the mountain city ashram. He began drawing as a child, while also absorbing supernatural stories, especially those of snake women. Like many of his generation, he was inspired to draw manga after reading the works of Osamu Tezuka. His first published comic at the age of 18 was based on Hansel and Gretel.
Umezu soon joined the growing Gekiga movement, an artistic shift from manga that emphasized manga as a serious art form similar to literature and film. His comics stand out for incorporating supernatural and supernatural elements into their stories. At the same time, he began writing comics for shoujo manga anthologies such as “Girls’ Book” and “Rainbow”.
It was here that Umezu’s style began to take root. Like other horror artists of his generation, such as his colleague Hideshi Hino, he combined the aesthetics of shoujo manga of the era with the grotesque and supernatural. The effect is unparalleled. The high level of emotion in shojo manga stories is perfect for heightening the tension and exaggerating the horror present in his stories, e.g. Reptiles. One of the most striking things about his works is that they are always about children, never adults, facing these horrors. Adults are often evil forces, often combined with supernatural horror. Japanese horror comics are never the same.
Many of his early horror comics featured wandering protagonists, e.g. big snakethe story of a mysterious supernatural young woman who encounters various supernatural evils, and cat eye boywhich tells the story of a boy with cat eyes who also encounters various supernatural evils. These comics are similar to Shigeru Mizuki Brother Kitaro, It tells the story of a supernatural protagonist who comes into contact with evil. However, the difference between Umezu and others like Mizuki is that Umezu is willing to fully embrace darkness and violence. The people Orochi or Cat-Eyed Boy encounter are violent and scary people. These stories often end with their subjects meeting a horrific end after committing a horrific act. From this point of view, and his slightly more realistic style of painting, his comics are closer to American EC horror comics than Mizuki’s monster-themed works.
Soon after, Umezu switched from publishing in girls’ magazines to publishing in boys’ magazines, and his career skyrocketed. In the late 1960s, he began to create his first masterpiece, Rafting class. The comic tells the story of an entire elementary school being sent to an apocalyptic future and how young children deal with this horror. a core lord of the flies“Drifting Classroom” explores so many fears; nuclear disaster, generational conflict, self-reliance in an uncertain world, etc. It is impossible for such a work not to touch the nerves of a generation of readers.
But horror is not all of this artist’s painting abilities. He is also famous for his funny cartoons Chen Cheng. Works like My name is Shenwu and fourteen Demonstrating his science fiction abilities. Admittedly, this is a science fiction novel with horror overtones. My name is Shenwu Addressing fears about industrialization and artificial intelligence, fourteenspiritual successor Rafting classaccompanied by the destruction of mankind. These works resonated with Japanese readers as much as his horror comics. This comic won him the 1974 Shoggukan Manga Award.
As iconic as Umezu’s work is, the author himself is equally unique. To call him a personality would be an understatement. The author, considered the god of horror comics, is known for wearing a red and white striped shirt everywhere. His house in Kichijoji became the center of a lawsuit after neighbors objected to a candy-striped paint job. As expected, he won the case. He has a similar cabin near Nagano, complete with an indoor slide.
In addition to comics, his works have been adapted into a variety of media. Several adaptations Rafting class exist, including one from the Japanese cult film director house Nobuhiko Obayashi. musical adaptation My name is Shenwu The musical debuted in 2016. Motherthe main character is of course wearing his iconic shirt.
After retiring from comics in 1996 due to tendonitis, Umezu began to appear in every corner of Japanese media. He has made guest appearances in the film adaptation of his work “Snake and the Silver-Haired Witch” and in Obayashi’s adaptation of “Drifting Classroom”. Additionally, he memorably appeared in the film adaptation of tokyo zombiesas an expert in black magic.
In recent years, artists have begun to exhibit My name is Shingo The first new work after retirement. In 2016, he was awarded the Angeloume Succession Award, an award honoring the great comics of the past for My name is Shenwu. Kazuo Umezu was said to have been in the planning stages of a new manga when he died.
Few artists had the same impact on the 20th centuryth Century horror comics and the like Kazuo Umezu did it. His blend of supernatural and girly aesthetics while still having a childlike perspective is unique to him. However, it has also been associated with generations of horror artists and will continue to do so into the future. The image he presented to the media was as innocent as his caricature. As influential as the work big snake Worked at Junji Ito’s tomit’s hard to imagine Ito’s many silly photos without Umezu’s own photos. There is no one like Kazuo Umezu, and there may never be another.
Kazuo Umezu (aka Kazuo Umezz)’s “Drifting Classroom,” “Cat Eyes,” “Orochi” and “My Name is Shingo” are currently available in print and digital editions from Viz Media.
