Kazuo Umezz (b. 1936)

Alias:
Kazuo Umezu
楳図 かずお
楳図かずお

Birthplace:
Kōya, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Born:
September 3, 1936

Kazuo Umezu or Kazuo Umezz (楳図 かずお, Umezu Kazuo, birth name 楳図一雄; born September 3, 1936) is a Japanese manga artist, musician and actor. Starting his career in the 1950s, he is among the most famous artists of horror manga and has been vital for its development, considered the "god of horror manga". In 1960s shōjo manga like Reptilia, he broke the industry's conventions by combining the aesthetics of the commercial manga industry with gruesome visual imagery inspired by Japanese folktales, which created a boom of horror manga and influenced manga artists of following generations. He created successful manga series such as The Drifting Classroom, Makoto-chan and My Name Is Shingo, until he retired from drawing manga in the mid 1990s. He is also a public figure in Japan, known for wearing red-and-white-striped shirts and doing his signature "Gwash" hand gesture.

Additional information:

The Search Form


Author:
1995  Drifting School

Comic Book:
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition

Creator:
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition

Director:
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition

Novel:
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition

Original Story:
1968  The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1990  The Curse of Kazuo Umezu
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
1996  Baptism of Blood
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Diet
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition
2016  My Name is Shingo

Screenplay:
1968  The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1990  The Curse of Kazuo Umezu
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
1996  Baptism of Blood
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Diet
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition
2016  My Name is Shingo

Story:
1968  The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1990  The Curse of Kazuo Umezu
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
1996  Baptism of Blood
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Diet
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition
2016  My Name is Shingo

Theme Song Performance:
1968  The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
1980  Makoto-chan
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1990  The Curse of Kazuo Umezu
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
1996  Baptism of Blood
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Diet
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition
2016  My Name is Shingo

Writer:
1968  The Snake Girl and the Silver-Haired Witch
1980  Makoto-chan
1985  Evil Heart
1987  The Drifting Classroom
1990  The Curse of Kazuo Umezu
1993  Kazuo Umezu's Terror Zone: Horror!
1995  Drifting School
1996  Baptism of Blood
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Death Make
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Diet
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: House of Bugs
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Present
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: Snake Girl
2005  Kazuo Umezu's Horror Theater: The Wish
2006  Cat-Eyed Boy
2006  God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand
2008  Orochi - Blood
2008  Tamami: The Baby's Curse
2014  Mother
2015  Tales of the Bizarre 25th Anniversary Spring Special: Popular Manga Artist Competition
2016  My Name is Shingo

Creator:
1976  Cat-Eyed Boy

Novel:
1976  Cat-Eyed Boy
2002  Long Love Letter

Writer:
1976  Cat-Eyed Boy
2002  Long Love Letter

About the Movie Section

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Additional data for Film Titles come from The Open Movie Database (OMDb).

At least one plug-in comes from IMDb.

Data are -- hey, it's a plural -- subject to the limitations of their sources. (For example, TMDB search results currently max out at 20.) I am limiting myself to free data sources for now. (No, a "free trial" is not free.)

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  • Regarding those polls wherein "franchise" movies were submitted as one project until BFI's policy changed to regard them separately, I treated them as ties and renumbered the affected lists accordingly (e.g. the Godfather films).

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Filtering is applied here to film projects flagged as "adult" by TheMovieDB. Pending "popular demand" I am contemplating a login and profile system with preferences (such as whether to allow adult images to appear) and permissions (such as data entry).

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Whether or not he still clings to an award which he won in 1986 as a film critic for his college's newspaper, Jeffrey Hartmann is not responsible for the texts of overviews and biographies supplied by external data sources.