allylaughsrainbows preguntó: What would you say are your favorite works by Kazuo Umezu? I've had issues finding some of his manga but Cat Eyed Boy and Drifting Classroom are very special to me.
Cat Eyed Boy is definitely my favourite. It’s clearly influenced by Kitaro, but pushed in a darker, more cynical direction. The Drifting Classroom is another excellent one.
Aside from that in English you have three of his ‘Scary Book’ releases which are stand alone, creepy Japanese horror stories more akin to what Junji Ito would later put out. I was lucky enough to get them 10 or so years ago when they were dirt cheap, but now they’re around $40 each. https://amzn.to/2GG6rCv
Reptilia is another collection, this from not by Dark Horse. It’s a collection of three different horror stories, including ママがこわい which you see posted on here a lot. This one is the only one that’s still available at its original price. https://amzn.to/2GFB1vX
Orochi is also available, but Viz chose to jump straight to the last volume making it something of a pointless read. The rest of the Kazuo Umezu I have are Japanese releases, because that’s pretty much all there is and there doesn’t seem to be much interest in translating his stuff.
There’s also a couple of French editions of stories that haven’t made it into English yet. The most notable one is publisher Le Lézard Noir, who is currently translating Watashi wa Shingo (Je suis Shingo), among others. Glénat also did Senrei (Baptism).
Thanks! That could be some really useful information for French followers. I’ve noticed the same with Shigeru Mizuki and Junji Ito too. There seem to be quite a few French releases of manga that aren’t released in English, or France gets them first.
