Kazuo Umezu throws a party to honour... himself

by Chris MaGee

There's a certain selfish wisdom to throwing a party for yourself. You get to make sure the people you want their get invited, that your favorite foods get served and that all the music played is basically what you have on your iPod. Yessir, nothing says that you don't trust your friends and loved ones than prying the party planning duties out of their hands. I mean, hey! Kazuo Umezu did it!

The 72-year-old artist behind such horror manga as "The Drifting Classroom", "Cat Eyed Boy", "Orochi: Blood" and "Tamami: The Baby's Curse" (of which the latter two have recently turned into films) gathered his fans and creative disciples together this past September at the Star Pine's Cafe in Kichijoji, Tokyo for a night of dancing, goofy costumes, comedy skits and a Q&A session with Umezu for what he called Umezz Festival '08.

All I can say is with the pics posted by Umezu and his associate, manga artist Demerin, I can only dream of what the after party for this event must have been like.

I wonder if Umezu Festival '09 doesn't pan out if I should go for broke and plan Chris MaGee Festival '09... It's a thought. Thanks to Kaiju Shakedown and Same Hat! Same Hat! for this story.