Image via Kazuo Umezu's Website
©楳図かずお
Famous horror manga author Kazuo Umezu passed away last week on October 28. He was 88 years old. His family and close friends held a private funeral.
Umezu's art company UMEZZ released a statement about his death, saying “Umezu wanted to spread his work worldwide, to be read by everyone forever. He believes in the intrinsic artistic value of his work. Hopefully that desire will forever exist in everyone's hearts.”
Shogakukan and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions also released an announcement. joint statement, saying”Umezu left behind legendary works not only in horror, comedy and science fiction manga but also in film and in the recent 101 acrylic paintings of”Kazuo Umezz: Art Exhibition great”, with his transcendent expressive technique the boundaries of manga.”
Umezu was born in Wakayama City in 1936, but grew up in Nara Prefecture. He started drawing his own comics in fourth grade. He made his professional manga debut as an 18-year-old third-year high school student with the books Bessekai and Mori no Kyōdai, published by Tomo Books. Although best known for his horror and supernatural manga, Umezu also draws comedy manga such as Makoto-chan, and also publishes horror manga in shōjo magazines, such as Reptilia, serialized in Kodansha's Shōjo Friend magazine.
Viz published Umezu's The Drifting Classroom manga in 2006 to 2008 and released the manga digitally in 2013, along with a new deluxe hardcover release in 2019-2020. His other manga include Cat-Eyed Boy and Orochi, among others. Umezu initially retired from manga drawing in 1995 after completing the 14-Sai manga. He then began directing in an autobiographical film titled Mother, which premiered in Japan in September 2014.
Umezu's science fiction manga My Name Is Shingo ran in Shogakukan's Weekly Big Comic Spirits in the 1980s. His most recent work is Zoku Shingo: Chiisana Robot Shingo Bijutsukan (Sequel Shingo: Small Robot Shingo Art Museum) , the sequel to My Name Is Shingo, includes a series of 101 acrylic paintings. The work, four years in the making, debuted in January 2022 at an art exhibition showcasing Umezu's work titled”Kazuo Umezz Great Art Exhibition”. The exhibition is being held at Tokyo City View from January to March 2022 and to be held at Osaka's Abeno Harukas Art Museum in September to November 2022. 27th Annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper honored Umezu with a special award for the work in 2023.
The Japan Agency for Cultural Affairs awarded Umezu the Commissioner for Culture Award in March 2019, which honors “individuals with outstanding achievements in cultural and artistic activities.”
Source: Comic Natalie
