SAME HAT!

AX ANTHOLOGY UPDATE

2009-11-24T18:18:00.000-08:00

Sean Michael Wilson, cartoonist and editor of the upcoming AX Anthology from Top Shelf, was nice enough to stop by the comment thread of a previous post to give an update on the excitedly-awaited tome's progress. He said:

Two things to tell you: the AX book interior is now complete - Top Shelf will soon begin the final design stage and wrap it up in the cover, etc. It is, of course, looking super good!

Second thing, is that a French edition of the AX collection will soon be agreed on. I will help put that together too.

And... (third thing!) I may soon have some very good news to tell about ANOTHER classic gekiga book to come out in English.... watch this page.

Exciting stuff all around. The bad news is that Amazon currently lists the book as not coming out until July 2010. Hmmmm. I'll keep you posted as I hear more from Sean and Top Shelf!

WANT TO BUY ORIGINAL SHINTARO KAGO ART?

2009-11-24T10:01:00.000-08:00

I'm back, babies! Just got home from a week visiting my girl friend, and also fighting off a head cold. With the holiday shopping season (?) right around the corner, I return to you guys will some awesome news.

Shintaro Kago is selling original B&W and color illustrations via mail order, and he's shipping to overseas folks! All the details are available on this page, which includes ordering and shipping instructions!

The pieces aren't cheap, ranging in price from 10000 YEN (~$115) for B&W to 30000 (~$330) for full color ones. Plus shipping. That said, this is a great opportunity to snag something direct from the man himself... and for what are totally fair prices (actually a big low considering the size of 10" x 14").

My wallet is a bit stressed out right now, but I decided to go for it and grab one and pinch pennies later. There are tons of amazing pieces, but I opted for an B&W one I could put on the wall and not have to worry about folks calling the cops on me:

If you're in the art/gift buying mood anytime soon, go check them out!

UPDATE! Since I posted this Kago has sold 3-4 drawings and started adding additional ones to the site for sale :) Keep checking back!

I'M IN A BOOK!

2009-11-16T15:49:00.000-08:00

I recently had the pleasure of contributing a small written piece to THE UNKNOWN PORTRAITS, a new book of illustrations and stories by the art duo kozyndan! They are friends-of-friends, but I'm still not quite sure how I managed to sneak into the project. I just received my copy this past weekend, and it is a great looking book!

DETAILS ABOUT THE BOOK:

Originating from a found photo album unearthed in a Venice Beach thrift shop, kozyndan were inspired to create imagined personae documenting the essence of these lost photographs. This clothbound hardcover is comprised solely of small, detailed graphite portraits, each piece captures the surreal humour and irreverence that has become a trademark of kozyndan's distinctive style of artwork.

Illuminating select portraits are short stories inspired and imagined by a community of artist friends and writers including Pasha Malla, Mark "frosty" McNeill, Ryan Sands, Mariko Tamaki, Maggie MacDonald, Nick Flanagan and Porous Walker.

Hardcover. 8.5 x 8.5 inches.
150 pages. Over 100 illustrations.

You can buy a copy direct from their site!

For my part, I chose to tackle an illustration titled "Samurai Sam"... Their portrait of "Sam" features a charmingly lame white guy with horn-rimmed glasses, tombstone teeth wearing a yukata, and flanked by a stream of sakura swirls:

I decided to write up a faux-obituary for this imagined dude, with a number of self-indulgent Japan nerd references that folks will hopefully enjoy. Extra points to anyone who recognizes the last name:

It was a real treat to be a part of what turned out to be a lush and creepy book of illustrations. As part of the project, Kozy did small portraits of each contributor! Here is me, looking like a mentally-disturbed individual:

They even sent me the original art for my wall!

The pieces (done in pencil) are all really surreal, trippy and charming. (How do they get these details with just a pencil?) Here are a few of the other choice portraits:

Many thanks again to kozyndan for making me a part of this project, and hope folks check it out!

SHINTARO KAGO AT COMITIA

2009-11-16T14:09:00.000-08:00

This past weekend in Tokyo was Comitia 90, an insane 1-day event of epic proportions. Billed by many as the premiere con for indie manga talent, lots of cartoonists, manga nerds, and cool people were in attendance... including Shintaro Kago!

About.com's manga guide and Same Hat buddy Deb Aoki was at Comitia with a group of American cartoonists/manga fans and was lucky enough to meet Shintaro Kago! From her tweets it sounds like she was able to meet the man AND buy an original pen drawing from him.

Here is a photo of Kago (seems to be rocking the winter yukata & swine flu mask):

[photo by Deb Aoki, click for bigger version]

Wish I could have been there! Maybe the Spring DESIGN FESTA in Tokyo in May??

"GWASHI! KAZUO UMEZU DESU"

2009-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

Other sites have already reported this news, but I wanted to post it here for folks that haven't heard yet. A new documentary about the life & work of Kazuo Umezu is coming out very soon! The film is titled "Gwashi! Kazuo Umezu Desu".

I read that the footage was filmed over the course of 3 years by Koji Ito, one of Umezu's staff/webmasters, and shows us Kazuo Umezu's daily life (including his lawsuit over the Makoto-chan house), creating manga and art, in addition to "exploring Japan's issues with creativity and art appreciation." From the trailer it looks like the doc also features interviews with other manga artists, authors, and pop culture talking heads.

GWASHI! KAZUO UMEZU DESU debuts properly on 11/23 in Tokyo's Tollywood Theatre, and plays through December. Umezz and company have created a new site just for news about the film, so check it out! The boys from Tokyo Scum were able to see an advance screening of the film and say it's rad... and will be interviewing Uncle Kaz very soon in person!

SAME HAT COMMUNITY HALLOWEEN PROWESS

2009-11-06T00:33:00.000-08:00

You guys are awesome! I ended up staying in on Halloween and drinking an abundance of whiskey-- too lazy to put together a good costume. I DID come up with a costume for next year, as a juggalette (look it up!) or maybe Shaggy 2 Dope. I have to stay true to my Michigan roots, you know?

Not to be outdone by anyone, Same Hat readers rocked the manga/horror angle like mad geniuses. Here are their radical costumes!!

TOMODACHI (from 20th Century Boys)

as worn by Johnny Landmine

SAMARA (from Ringu)

as worn by M

SUEHIRO MARUO BOY

as worn by Dreed

LYCHEE HIKARI CLUB

as worn by Diana & friends

NEKOME KOZO

as worn by Dr. Senbei (Tokyo Scum Brigade)

GEGEGE NO KITARO

as worn by voidmare (Tokyo Scum Brigade)

HORROR MANGA MAKE-UP

as worn by Jaclyn

KAZUO UMEZZ

as worn by Jaclyn

and because it's simply awesome...
ANDREW WKs!

as worn by Helvin

HORROR MANGA MAKE-UP FOR HALLOWEEN

2009-10-28T15:00:00.000-07:00

Halloween is this weekend, so I have to ask... is anyone thinking about dressing up as anything horror-manga related? If so, I want to provide this still awesome tutorial on horror manga make-up! I've posted it every Halloween since we started :)

I remember in a previous year, reader Jaclyn dressed up as Umezz himself. If you decide to dress up, post a comment here and pic-- I'll send a copy of MY SEAT IF YOUR BEHIND to anyone who happens to share a horror manga-related costume, and a copy of EA2 to the best one if a bunch of folks post stuff.

BTW, The best indie comics costume I've ever seen was someone as Scissor Sniper from Kazimir Strzepek's The Mourning Star. I will try to track down a photograph. Does anyone have any favorites they have seen?

CATERPILLAR COVER BY SUEHIRO MARUO

2009-10-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

As mentioned in previous posts, Suehiro Maruo's most recent Edogawa Rampo adaptation, Caterpillar (芋虫 - Imomushi), is being released as a collected hardcover book. Turns out that it was released this week in Japan by EnterBrain. The cover features a beautiful painting, original to this release.

On sale for 1,260円. You can find more details on the EnterBrain site.

SHINTARO KAGO QUESTION FROM A READER

2009-10-27T15:55:00.000-07:00

Earlier today, reader Bradley posted this comment about Shintaro Kago:

I was wondering if anyone knew what Kago collection [Abstraction] was from? I went to TacoChe recently and just grabbed most of the Kago stuff they had, but alas none of them featured his formalist stuff.

I actually don't know which exact books/publications that story (and each of his other formalist experiments) came from. We're talking Multiplication, Blow-Up, Labyrinth and Drunkard Condo Syndrome. Does anyone else know?

VIA TOKYO SCUM: UMEZU MEETS ARGENTO!

2009-10-27T09:55:00.000-07:00

Many thanks to the Tokyo Scum Brigade for posting this gem of a video clip. Here we have a clip from a travel special in 1994 where Kazuo Umezu goes to Rome and meets SFX artist Sergio Stivaletti, and gets a guided tour of the horror shop/museum Profondo Ross by its owner, director Dario Argento!

For more details and a link to the complete TV show, please check out their recent post.

What a strange but perfect team-up, huh? I never really realized how much Argento looks like a child murdering undertaker... pretty awesome! Also, Umezz's coat is something to behold. Thanks to the TSB for uploading it!

STEVE OLIFF'S ORIGINAL COLOR GUIDES FOR AKIRA

2009-10-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

Alternative Press Expo 2009 was a blast, and a great excuse to hang out with a bunch of friends and pick up some cool minicomics. Manga is not really the focus of APE, but this year Viz had a booth to promote their SIGIKKI line (and had a promo copy of Taiyo Matsumoto's GOGO MONSTER in English), and Fanfare/Ponent Mon and Last Gasp were pushing their new manga books.

However, there was one surprising and amazing manga-related find at APE, which I was alerted to by Dash Shaw. Groundbreaking and mayoral comics colorist Steve Oliff had a table, and was selling the the majority of the 2000+ original color guides for the Epic color edition of AKIRA. Each page was reasonably cheap ($30) and lush, with the extra importance of having been one of the first ever uses of computer coloring for comics.

For this process (as I understand it), Steve hand-colored each large xerox of the original B&W page using markers, colored pencils, airbrushing, felt pens, and gouache; This work was done in conjunction with guidance and approval from Otomo himself. The color guides were then used by their company Olyoptics as guides for computer color separation.

I had first really learned properly about all of Oliff's work from this interview by Frank Santoro at Comics Comics blog. Steve also wrote a fascinating essay about the experience working on the color edition of AKIRA. From that essay:

About this time, I was given 4 pages to color as a test for a big series. Something called Akira from Japan, written and drawn by Katsuhiro Otomo. Comics in Japan are black and white, but for the English translation they wanted it to be in color. I'd never heard of Akira, but I decided to pull out all the stops on my color test. It was great art and good paper, so I used every trick I had. Airbrush, colored pantone film, colored pencil, rich saturated felt pens, paint, everything I could think of. I don't know what the other colorists' samples looked like, but I know they couldn't have looked anything like mine. Needless to say, I got the job. They flew me to New York to meet the artist and his editor. On the flight east I looked at the pictures in the two collected volumes of Akira that my friend Ken Macklin had loaned me. Parts of it had been translated by a friend of Ken's, but not much. I met with Archie Goodwin, Otomo (the artist/writer) and Yuri-san (Otomo's editor), and we talked about color styles, then we went to get sushi and drink beer.

I picked up two of the original pages, but I saw dozens and dozens of remarkable and beautiful others that I wanted. Not only were the pages stunning and rad, they also represent a major leap forward made in the 80s in the history of manga publication in English.

Here are the pages I snagged:

DETAILS:

And the other page:

DETAILS:

I know Dash, Anthony, and Aaron all bought pages as well, so I'll post those if they happen to send photos along too.

UPDATE! Dash posted the two (awesome!) color guides he bought at APE; Scenes of Kaneda inside the hospital, and more pink beams of destruction from space! Check 'em out here on Comics Comics Blog.

UPDATE 2! Our buddy Aaron Mew also posted a picture of the coloring guide be bought at APE. It's a bit more fleshy and less explosive, really amazing. Check it out HERE.

VIMEO LOOK AT ISSUE 2

2009-10-21T00:28:00.000-07:00

Still not quite sure if you wanna buy a copy of ELECTRIC ANT #2: Exquisite Corpses? Here's a video preview of the book, shot at my kitchen table tonight!

For full details on contents/contributors for Issue 2 please click here. Only $12 for 136 pages of Japan/comics/fiction/interviews goodness. BUY IT!

[I'll give a coupon code for 2 dollars off for the first buyer to name the song playing in this video!]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EDOGAWA RAMPO

2009-10-20T11:52:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give a quick happy birthday shout-out to one of my all-time favorite authors, Mr. Edogawa Rampo. October 21 marks his 115th birthday, and with the recent Japanese releases of Suehiro Maruo's manga adaptations of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island and Caterpillar, Rampo continues to be relevant and prevalent in Japanese popular culture.

Here was my tribute post last year, with a photo of his grave (marked with his birth name, Hirai Taro).

As it's already 10/21 in Japan, Google has marked the godfather of Japanese mystery fiction's birthday with a commemorative doodle:

I actually have that exact book (少年探偵団 - Shounen Tanteidan, Youth Detective Squad) sitting on my desk in front of me. I've been reading it slowly to try to get steeped in Rampology this month as I get back to work on Panorama Island.

Which was also made into a Japanese TV show:

With accompanying toys:

UPDATE: Same Hat friend Ho-Ling has just posted his translation of Edogawa Rampo's One Person, Two Identities. Check it out right here.

ON SALE NOW: ELECTRIC ANT #2

2009-10-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

The site has now been updated and you can now order your copy of ELECTRIC ANT #2: Exquisite Corpses!

UPDATE 10/19/09: I just mailed out all online orders posted through last night. Check your mailboxes! And if you haven't ordered yours yet... what are you waiting for?? :)

The book is $12 + shipping, and I will send it anywhere in the world! If you can't use Paypal/Checkout or want to buy multiple copies, just send me an email at electricantzine[AT]gmail[DOT]com!

Orders begin shipping on Monday after Alternative Press Expo this weekend!

DETAILS:
Features:
TAKING TAKARAZUKA REVUE (BY STRATEGY)
Including an interview with Zehra Fazal, who spent a summer backstage!
WELCOME TO DAS HAUSE
...Or the story of how I was in a gay German horror flick without knowing it
PLANET X RISES! (PART 1)
A jam comic featuring 18 stars of indie comics
THESE BLOODY MOMENTS
Two dozen graphic depictions of violence from film, TV, books, and games
TRAINING FOR GODDESSES
A tale of dominatrix school from within the Holy Mountain
GOLDEN HALVES
Two Tokyo photographers using a plastic half frame camera
FEATURE COMIC: EMPIRE
By Anthony Ha & Anthony Wu. Asian Citizen Kane... in space!

Miscellanea
I WAS MADE TO LOVE YOU
seeing the light after 10 sensual years
BELLY BUTTON
Her belly button is a corporoglyh
THE CAPTION GAME
Minutes to learn, a lifetime to master
4-KOMA CORNER
Gag comic strips for the whole family(!?)

7" x 8.5" digest, 136 pages bound like a paperback.
$12, Color cover inside & out, B&W insides.
Cover painting by Hellen Jo
40+ contributors

Issue #1 is still on sale, or you can buy both together for $2 off!

ELECTRIC ANT #2 PREVIEW

2009-10-15T15:21:00.001-07:00

Electric Ant #2: Exquisite Corpses goes on sale tomorrow via the zine site... I'm extremely excited, and hope that you guys like it. I give a special thanks on the Credits page to the Same Hat and EAZB community for all the support, and I really hope you guys enjoy it.

I'll post one last time tomorrow when the book is officially on sale! In the meantime, check out this preview of the issue (via Google Books). You can browse and search up to 20% of Electric Ant #2 right here:

Click here for a full table of contents & contributors. There is also a "PROMOTE" page with code to add a simple banner or preview to your own site/blog. Thanks for bearing with me, lemme know what you think of the preview in the comments!!

WANT AN ELECTRIC ANT #2 POSTCARD?

2009-10-08T16:05:00.000-07:00

I just ordered 500 postcards featuring the Electric Ant #2 parasitic twin cover by Hellen Jo, with ordering info on the back. Do you want one? Just fill out this form to send me your info (or anyone cool you think would want it):

UPDATE: Thanks to folks who signed up! I have to take the form down now, since 125 people signed up in just a few days. Once I see about postage costs and how many cards I have left, I'll maybe be able to put up the form again. For you that signed up, I'll start mailing cards next Wednesday! Thanks again :)

Reminder: Electric Ant #2 will be available in just over a week via the site! $12, 140 pages. I'll post some previews this Sunday from the issue.

UPDATE! I have now mailed all 130 postcards to folks (internationally and domestic) that signed up! Check yout mailboxes, and many thanks for your interest and support!!

CHAPTER 4 OF SUEHIRO MARUO'S IMOMUSHI

2009-10-07T22:30:00.001-07:00

Four months, and four chapters of Suehiro Maruo's sick and exquisite Imomushi. Chapter 4 marks the conclusion of Imomushi, and was published in the September Issue of COMIC BEAM.

I was a bit sad to see the story end so quickly, but with such a short story as source material, Maruo was able to weave quite an interesting manga. Most of the substance and tension is stuffed into this final chapter, which is gorier and more violent than 99% of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island.

Maruo's adaptation of Imomushi pulls no punches in delivering Edogawa Rampo's bleak tale, though I have to admit the final moments of the story work slightly better in prose than manga form. That said, read as a complete manga, Imomushi is a steamy and great piece of upsetting work.

Check out my first post for details on the plot of Edogawa Rampo's short story, The Caterpillar.

CHECK OUT THESE PANELS FROM THE FINAL CHAPTER:

To celebrate the completion of the story, this month's Comic Beam came with a Imomushi folder :)

Things take a turn for the cruel and psycho-sexual immediately.

Three blind men in the street; all the secondary characters are super odd and malformed in this manga.

OUCH.

The doctor pays a visit, how will Tokiko explain what has happened?

Lt. Sunaga's descent into Johnny Get Your Gun-esque sensory deprivation

yurusu... yurusu... YURUSU!!!

That is what I call a moment of realization.

So goddamn good, Mr. Maruo! My hat is off to you on this panel.

Final moments.

Fans of this golden streak of Suehiro Maruo x Edogawa Rampo, fear not! The author's bio section in the back of the issue mentions that Maruo's next piece (serialized in COMIC BEAM) will be another Edogawa Rampo adaptation/collaboration. I wonder which short story it will be? The Twins? Red Chamber? The Finger?

I am guessing whatever Maruo chooses, it will be adapted another 4-chapter manga... with a book collecting it with Imomushi sometime early 2010 in Japan? That is just a guess though, we'll see what happense! Needless to say, I personally strongly hope that Imomushi will have the chance to see publication in English at some point in the future!

UPDATE: That was the fastest I've been proven wrong in a while. My buddy Monika posted in a the comments a link to a new release on the EnterBrain site. Seems I was wrong, they are releasing Imomushi as a standalone tankoban this month! 148 pages and the same size as their Panorama Island release. How cool- thanks Monika!! :) Time to send some emails!

ELECTRIC ANT #2: EXQUISITE CORPSES!

2009-10-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've been a little sparse on Same Hat lately, and for that I apologize. But I haven't been sitting on my thumbs doing nothing... I've been working on the second issue of my zine, Electric Ant!

The giant second issue (EXQUISITE CORPSES) is now at the printers, and will debut at Alternative Press Expo in two weeks! Here's the cover for this issue, painted by the always radical Hellen Jo:

You can check out the full details of Issue 2 and the contributors on the updated zine website! It features a science fiction futurism comic, a long feature on the Takarazuka Revue (with an interview with an American actress that studied backstage at the theatre), a body horror jam comic with 18 indie cartoonists, articles about transsexual bars in Shinjuku, dominatrix training, gay german horror films, drawing games, Tokyo photography, and much more! It's 136 pages, $12.

I'll post again when the book goes on sale on 10/17/09. You guys were super awesome supporters of the first issue, and I hope you dig this one as well!

More SAME HAT action coming tonight,
-Ryan

PS: I wanted to say a major thank you to the guys at Tokyo Scum Brigade for holding down the fort this month with their awesome Umezz Carnival coverage. You guys are awesome!

LAST GASP TO PUBLISH TOSHIO SAEKI ART BOOK

2009-10-02T17:57:00.000-07:00

Some exciting news for fans of Pop Art, bloody muzan-e imagery, and the deviant sexual arts!

Last Gasp will be publishing a hardcover, large-sized book (11¾" x 14½"), showcasing the art of master erotic draftsman, Toshio Saeki! Onikage is 56 pages of vibrant colors and nasty surrealism. Check out details and preorder it on Last Gasp's Onikage site.

I got to see an advance proof of pages from this book, and it's really lush and funky! Fans of the genre definitely know of Toshio Saeki (or at least, recognize his visual style from the internet or from visits to Japan / Kinokuniya shops in the US). But he's mostly been woefully unavailable and unknown in the United States. It's a shame, since Saeki's sensibilities and style influences and relates so closely to the aesthetics of some our favorites: Suehiro Maruo, Kazuichi Hanawa, and Hideshi Hino.

The book is notable, not only for being the first art book properly released by an English publisher, but for its super-unusual format. To show off not just Saeki's art, but also his process, the book features a number of vellum overlays. From the site:

While most images are shown here in full color, we have presented some in their original black and white format, with overlays reproducing Saeki's method for adding color to these pictures. Saeki typically does not apply color directly to his black and white artwork, but instead uses these overlays to enumerate the precise values of the colors he wants. He works with the terminology of the four-color printing process: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK).

For example, he indicates a woman's skin tone should be reproduced with 10% magenta, while her nipples should be 60% magenta. Most of the men in Saeki's artwork have a skin tone that is 30% magenta, 20% cyan, and 50% yellow (no black). He calls this method chinto printing - the picture is complete only after it has been printed. It is a modern version of the ukiyo-e, a genre of Japanese woodcut prints or paintings produced between the 17th and 20th centuries. Ukiyo-e were works of collaboration between the eshi (artist) and the surishi (printer). Saeki is paying homage to this style, and considers himself an eshi. It is our hope that by illuminating this technique, it better helps the reader to appreciate Saeki's unique style, deep philosophy as an artist, and his immense talent

How weird and cool, huh? Here is an example:

Though it's a pricey book, it seems like a great addition to any fan of surrealist, ero-guro-nonsense art. I am hoping to get some pics of the physical book itself to show the overlays and size. According to their Twitter, Last Gasp shipped advanced copies of Onikage to the New York Art Book Fair. I'm not sure when the actual release date is-- will update this post once I find out :)

Umezz Carnival 2009 Special Live Event

2009-10-01T20:25:00.000-07:00

[This is the fourth in a series of guest posts by the awesome guys from Tokyo Scum Brigade! Dr. Senbei and Voidmare attended the Umezz Carnival 2009 this past weekend and are guest posting here with reports. Please enjoy, and many thanks, guys!! -Ryan]

The word "rock" gets thrown around so liberally in Japan that I have to admit I was skeptical going into Umezz Carnival 2009's grand finale, "Special Rock Live." The ultra-raw and energetic yet somehow highly refined sound (think 1 part Preschool, 1 part Guitar Wolf, 2 parts Umezu) was only my first pleasant surprise of the night. Believe me when I say it's not easy to pogo, take pictures and write a report at the same time!

SET LIST
1st Half
1. Hebi Shojo- Played live, this sounded a lot like The Cure's Killing an Arab. If only you could have been there to witness the dance that went along with this costume!

2. Kimura no Niisan- What a banger! Kazz had a bat wing jacket on for this song, accessorized with his best stuck-out tongue Gene Simmons poses!

3. Super Police- This might have been my favorite song of the night. The chorus was almost as killer as Kazz's Super Police dance moves.

4. Electric Love Song- Originally penned by Kazz for Haruo Chikada (see this post), this was a major hit in the late 70s. They played this so hard and fast that Kazz wound up getting lost in the middle and, after a few failed attempts at jumping back in, cut the band off midway through the song. A sincere apology to the crowd and a few bows to his band mates later, he went completely nuts in round two and took back Electric Love Song all for himself.

5. Papa Mama Rock- Kazz mentioned how much heavier the wireless mic was than a normal one, but he didn't let it stop him from all manners of fist pumping action.

6. Gwash!! Makoto-chan- The final song before the first intermission. Kazz was visibly exhausted at this point, but still gave a great performance. If you didn't know better, the raw power would have tricked you into thinking it was a live cover by Iggy and the Stooges. When the song finished the crowd, comprised mainly of women under 35, was going bonkers.

Intermission
Just in time! I almost broke a thumb feverishly trying to clear space in my memory card while everyone else in the joint dashed for the merch table.

The MC's intro to the second half of the show was cut short by HONEY☆K in an Orochi nurse outfit! She stared at him for a while before pointing to a stain on the wall which she then proceeded to mash her finger, then head against before disappearing into the crowd. This creepy little skit set the stage for one of the night's hightlights!

2nd Half
7. Shinjuku Gurasu- The Makoto-chan Mushis traded in their usual duds to join Kazz in this reenactment of an amazing scene from the movie Orochi. Demerin's deadpan demeanor was a perfect fit for the father, and she kept her cool even while kicking ass on the classical guitar! Her intense finger picking coupled with her moustache stole the show on this one. Not one to be outdone, Kazz picked up on this and started hamming his performance up towards the end.

For those of you who haven't seen the film, check out the song in this rehearsal video:

8. Otogibanashi no Yokohama- Nice tune. Nice new costume.

9. Samba de Makoto-chan- This is where Kazz started to lose steam. He managed to make it through the song without incident, but needed a few hits from the oxygen tank afterwards. While ~~HONEY☆K~~ Orochi attended to a worn-out Kazz, rhythm guitarist Mitsuwa lead a cheeky audience Q&A session on his behalf.

Q. What's your favorite food?
A. Apples.

Q. How do you write your name in kanji?
A. Easy, just four strokes: K A Z Z (in English)

Q: What's your favorite rock group?
A: Umezu Kazuo and the Umevinz. Duh. Next Question.

Q: What kind of babes do you like?
A: Girls in sweats and t-shirts.

Q: What time do you usually wake up and go to bed?
A: That's kind of a silly question; He never sleeps, so he never wakes up.

Q: Are you working on another manga?
A: Yes, but I'll never let you see it.

Q: Beef or chicken curry?
A: Seafood. Next!

Q: Can you introduce the band members?
A: Quit trying to get ahead of the show here! Who are you?

Umevins/Megvins
Drums: Megumi (Art Storm Employee)
Bass: Aki (Goonies, etc.)
Lead Guitar: Baki (Gastunk, Mosquito Spiral)
Rhythm Guitar: Mitsuwa (BLUE MOVEe, Tokyo Bravo)
Keyboard and Backup Vocals: HONEY☆K (PUGS, Pomegranate)

Had I done my homework on the band before the show, I wouldn't have been as surprised by their kiler sound given the talent behind it. Gastunk were a great band!

10. Old Rockin' Band- As the band members were introduced, they were instructed to 'get old' in English, which meant putting on wigs and hunching over like fogies. If these guys had been out to pasture, their gritty and dirty sound would have would have spoiled the earth! In true old rockin' fashion, Kazz took a few more hits from the oxygen tank as the song wound down.

11. Makoto-chan Ondo- What's that? You say you've never heard this one before? Join the club--no one had until this concert! Kazz wrote this song specifically for the event, and to celebrate he called his beautiful Gwash! dancers to the stage. After teaching the audience how to do the dance steps, they led everyone in this matsuri ode to Makoto-chan. A-sore! A-sore! A-sore sore sore!

12. Happy birthday Kazz!- First Orochi did her best Marilyn Monroe erotic birthday song for Kazz, then Baki led the audience in a sing-along. Naturally, "to you" was replaced with "Kazu."

13. Gwash!! Makoto-chan (standard version)- This time around they toned it down a bit and gave a full dance number much like this.

Encore!
You know that Umezu wasn't going to end his first concert in 20 years without an encore!

14. Nekome Kozo Theme- In an effort to buy time for Kazz, who was utterly devastated at this point, Kurobe attempted to kill the audience with obscene amounts of wah-wah on a few solo licks. Kazz came out, kicked out the final jam, and said goodbye with just a hint of tears in his eyes.

Don't be so jealous! The best news is that Kazz enjoyed himself so much that he promised to hold another concert next year! If you can't wait that long, buy his CDs Yami no Album and Gwash!! Makoto-chan: Umezu Kazuo's World on Amazon! I wish I were a pro-wrestler just so I could make Yami no Album's brutally evil うしろを見るな！(Don't look behind you! Track 14) my entrance music. You can hear of 45 second sample of it and all the other songs if you click 試聴する next to the track list.

See you at Umezz Carnival 2010!

	Click here for way more photos from the event!
Umezz Special Rock Live

THIS POST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

UPDATE: FROM DEMERIN'S BLOG
Demerin has posted her own (Japanese) reports from the event, including lots of pics and this video of Umezu in action:

I CAN DIE HAPPY NOW.

2009-09-23T23:43:00.000-07:00

Guess who has now most definitely heard of Same Hat? The king, our spiritual uncle and pretty much favorite dude on the planet: Kazuo Umezu!!!

Today on his Twitter and Blog, Umezz (or perhaps simply his webmaster Demerin) name-checked Same Hat and the recent series of guests reports by the TOKYO SCUM BRIGADE boys. I have talked briefly online to Demerin before via YouTube, and passed along the latest posts hoping she'd give them a look. It also sounds like the TSB guys spoke to Umezu's people while at the Rock Event this past weekend!

Regardless of how exactly it came about, getting Same Hat name-checked on Umezz.com is a dream come true. Now to meet the man! You can check out the original post here. Many, many thanks again to Tokyo Scum Brigade for sharing the wealth with all us Umezz fanatics.

For new folks, you can check out all my earlier Kazuo Umezu posts here!

REPORT FROM UMEZZ CARNIVAL 2009: Part 3 of 3!

2009-09-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

[This is the third in a series of three guest posts by the awesome guys from Tokyo Scum Brigade! Dr. Senbei and Voidmare attended the Umezz Carnival 2009 this past weekend and are guest posting here with reports. Please enjoy, and many thanks, guys!! -Ryan]

The latter half of the discussion kicked off with a showing of a rare Geki-mation from the mid 70’s. What is "Geki-mation"? Too stilted to be considered animation but still far enough over the poverty line to entertain the kiddies, its Reading Rainbow-esque production is charmingly rudimentary.

Yokai Den: Nekome Kozo (Legends of Japanese Monsters: The Cat Eyed Boy) was one of the rare gems to use this style of animation. Little is known of its twelve episode run from back in 1976, though it still purportedly exists on a Laser Disk in someone’s attic. Thankfully someone had the forethought to archive it on Youtube before disk rot set in. While this isn’t the episode shown at the event, it does a better job of conveying the mix of live action props over painted backgrounds.

NEKOME KOZO MINI CONCERT

Umezu is infamous for his manga, but few fans outside of Japan, or inside for that matter, are familiar with his musical career. He is an active lyricist, having penned the words for the Nekome Kozo theme song seen above, among others. He is also one hell of a showman.

Kurobe, Umezu’s guitarist, sauntered onto the stage, doing his black cat strut while his cherry red Gibson hollow body mewled out a wah-wah intensive version of the Nekome Kozo theme. Mic in hand, Umezu sprung into action, delivering a non-stop flurry of punches, kicks and jumps in time to the music while belting out his lyrics. For a man of seventy-three, Umezu still has the moves and he’s not shy about showing them off.

GHOSTWRITER OF POP

Umezu’s work has brought him into musical circles across all genres. He has written songs for Haruo Chikada, a progressive musician who was always one step ahead of the curve during his prime in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s when he collaborated with major players such as ELO.

The two met thirty years ago when Umezu drew Haruo, along with other famous musicians, as a guest character in his serialized manga Makoto-Chan. When Haruo caught wind of his unlicensed appearance he paid a visit to find out what Umezu was up to. Haruo played right into Umezu’s hand—The manga had been a viral marketing scheme to find musicians to record the Makoto-Chan theme song Umezu had written.

The honor eventually went to folk singer Kanbe Toshie of Iruka fame, but Umezu was taken by Haruo’s rambunctious onstage antics—Jumping off amps is right up Makoto-Chan’s alley. Likewise, Haruo was impressed by Umezu’s dreamy, doleful lyrics. The two teamed up to produce hits like Lady Hurricane and Electric Love Song, and in 1977 went on to destroy Japan’s image of the manga artist as a sullen homebody with their legendary Makoto-Chan live at Kyoto’s Doshisha University.

Of course, a concert poster isn’t going to do us any good by itself! Umezu had one last trick up his striped sleeves for us. The staff lined up on stage while Demerin and another assistant, wearing Mushi costumes, flanked Umezu.

Who's ready to do the Makoto-Chan dance!?

We wish that you, the reader, could have been there to experience it firsthand with all your senses. Umezu used musical notation to instill silent pictures with the tension one would find in the soundscape of cinema. We’re taking that one step further. Load up this YTMND VoidMare lost all of his hair trying to make and dance along at home! Originally we had the entire show as one big animated GIF, but the internet just couldn't handle it. If you scan through the Picasa album fast enough you can get the same effect, but don't cry to us after you have an epileptic fit!

Dance steps courtesy of Demerin

Umezu Kazuo is an artist in the truest sense of the word. His voice, both on paper and in song, is peerless in its strength of expression. His words pull you into a weird world that is not unlike your own, one veiled in the darkness of a child’s innocence warped by the realities of adulthood.

Umezu will be unleashing his voice to the world on the 23rd, where he promises to perform Electric Love Song live with his band. TSB will again be on site to bring the spectacle to you! See you after the break.

Umezz Carnival Music Discussion and Presentations

Umezz Carnival Dance 1

THIS POST WAS BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

GUESS WHO IS ON TWITTER?

2009-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

...the one & only KAZUO UMEZU!

Most likely it's his webmaster Demerin, but how cool is this? Looks to be announcements from the blog, here's hoping that they respond to @umezz tweets :)

[Also: I post Same Hat and Electric Ant Zine news, random crap, etc here: @remoteryan.]

REPORT FROM UMEZZ CARNIVAL 2009: Part 2 of 3!

2009-09-18T08:09:00.000-07:00

[This is the second in a series of three guest posts by the awesome guys from Tokyo Scum Brigade! Dr. Senbei and Voidmare attendws the Umezz Carnival 2009 this past weekend and are guest posting here with reports. Please enjoy, and many thanks, guys!! -Ryan]

Having pushed our way past the merch table and made a general nuisance of ourselves by photographing anyone and everything in the vicinity, it was time for the main event— An extended talk with Umezu Kazuo himself detailing his history as a manga artist and the people he traumatized into collaborating with him, including his aloof fellow panelist and assistant, Demerin Kaneko.

The talk was lead by the face of modern urban ghost stories and V-Cinema director, Hirokatsu Kihara.

SETTING THE INDUSTRY STANDARD

Hirokatsu Kihara (HK): You’ve been writing manga since before many of your fans were born. You debuted in 1955—10 years after the war, or to put it in perspective, right around the time Toei released Godzilla. When did you start drawing?

Umezu Kazuo (UZ): I’ve been at it since elementary school. By the fourth grade, I had my nose so deep into manga that I began to drift away from my family.

I wrote my first real manga, Mori no Kyoudai (The Brother and Sister in a Forest), at the age of fourteen in the eighth grade. I have a deep connection with the number fourteen—hence my other manga, Fourteen.

HK: How did you improve your skills to a professional level at such a young age?

UZ: Nowadays you can learn from professional manga classrooms, but at the time we had to make do with correspondence courses and books detailing what pens and techniques famous authors used. These gave me a base. You have to remember that manga was still a young and flexible medium. Weekly serials were such an insane notion that no one dared consider them. I had room to innovate.

HK: I like the way you use musical notation to supplement your sound effects.

UZ: In a scary scene of a movie, the music will go 'dun-dun-DUN!' You can’t experience the same feeling of mounting dread with just text, so I included notation to give it a soundtrack. Barring that, I attempt to compensate for the silence with blood-curdling art work.

HK: It seems like music was always a part of you.

UZ: In my second year of high school I gave up writing manga. The pay was lousy! Anyway, one of my classmates taught me how to play piano. I would sneak into the school music room through the window, even though I could have just used the door!

Years later I realized that people should stick to what they’re good at, and the only thing I was good at was manga!

HK: I’m not good at anything so I don’t know if I can follow your advice. What brought you back to manga?

UZ: I was inspired by my senior class trip. Or, should I say, by the people who went on it. I get motion sickness riding anything so I opted to stay home. When my classmates came back, they told me that they saw my manga on sale in Atami! That was news to me. I don’t know how it found its way to a hot spring resort town. I made some calls and ended up getting thirty thousand yen for my two books, Kyoudai no Mori and Betsu-Sekai (Another World).

HK: That was serious coin back in the day. Remember that items at the supermarket were priced one, five, or ten yen at the time. What did you do with your newfound fortune?

UZ: I gave it all to my mother. There was nothing a kid could do with money in the mountain town I grew up in. I had no concept of money, especially spending money.

YOU GUYS WANNA SEE A DEAD BODY?

HK: Tell me about your hometown.

UZ: I grew up in a place called Gojo City in the Nara mountainside. It looked like a tiny Edo-era villa—It could have used as the set of a period piece. As kids we were amazed at the only three-story building in town. It was unbelievable! That was a skyscraper to us.

Demerin Kaneko (DK): What did people do for fun in the boonies?

UZ: Well, it wasn’t on purpose, but a lot of us got hit by trains! The train in my village only ran once an hour, but people would still somehow manage to get hit walking along the track on a regular basis. Especially if they were walking across the bridge—no escape.

One such accident occurred by my house. I rushed to the scene to see my first dead body, unaware that the shock of doing so would change my life. The man’s torso was wedged between the tracks, his lower body nowhere to be seen. Yet the real shock was the blood, or rather the lack there of. When people get killed in movies there’s always fountains of blood, but the ground around the body was clean. Traveling down the track, all I could find were the minced remains of the lost lower body, scattered in chunks like human meatballs.

HK: How did you and the village react?

UZ: It shook me to the core. Not because of the shock of seeing a body, but because I knew the face connected to it. His death was a suicide, not an accident, and it bothered me that someone who appeared so happy and active could be hiding such darkness.

HORROR STARTS AT HOME

HK: You were the first to write horror comics for girls. From the outside, Shojo seems like a narrow genre.

UZ: Both Shojo and Shonen manga have their strengths. Shojo draws from everyday experiences and emotions—hate, love, fear. Shonen is more open and allows for dramatic settings and story telling. The scariest things are those closest to us, which makes Shojo the perfect vessel for fear!

HK: The real world settings really get under your skin. Where do you get your ideas from?

UZ: Most of my writing is based on hometown legends. Kitsune Me no Shojo (The Girl With Fox Eyes), for example, was a real local legend warning about a shape-shifting fox that played tricks on people. I grew up listening to these cautionary tales.

My parents used to tell me, "If the village comes under attack by a monster snake, attack its tail, not the head!" Years later I saw a TV special where a team of reporters travel into the depths of Africa to tame an anaconda. The bumbling crew couldn’t get their hands around the giant snake, until one of the natives came up from behind and rubbed the serpent’s tail into submission. I remember thinking, “All that nonsense mom and dad fed me was true!”

HK: I think the tradition of frightening folklore lives on today as urban legends. You’re responsible for your fair share of those, am I right?

UZ: Oh, you mean the Omi-Chan boom. One of my early manga, Omi-Chan ga Konya mo Yattekuru (Omi-Chan Strikes Again Tonight), was about a women named Omizu who drowned in a swamp. Parents warned their children, “Don’t go near the water or Omi-Chan will drag you under with her gnarly hands!” This didn’t stop girls from swimming there, though.

The name became synonymous with “ghost” all throughout Tokyo. Mitsuko, Misaki, Miyu—Any girl with a “Mi” in her name was subject to being teased with the nickname “Omi-Chan.” Kids these day have Hanako-Chan. Back then there was Omi-Chan.

THE BLACK CAT

DK: There’s a certain “I heard this story from my brother’s friend” kind of quality to your stories. Do you have any real life scary stories for us?

UZ: Aside from seeing a train-mangled body as a kid? Well, I saw another one as an adult just a few years back. There was a huge crowd gathered around to get a glimpse of the carnage. But while the men looked on from a distance, high school girls formed a tight circle around the body. It confirmed what I had always known to be true —girls are horror. And no sequel is complete without a trilogy… I wonder when the next one will come out?

I do have a story, and while I wouldn’t call it paranormal, it’s definitely unexplained.

I have one of those black cat clocks hanging from the wall in my house—you know, the ones with the swinging tail and shifting eyes? Anyway, his name is Kurobe. One day I came home and Kurobe had stopped moving. At first I thought the batteries had died while I was out, but the truth was far stranger. Comparing it to the other clocks I had in my house, I could tell that it had stopped at the exact moment that I entered the house.

This odd phenomenon continued. At first it was just when I came home at night. But as time went on it would happen more frequently, triggered at times by a casual glance at the clock. I would look up from eating, or away from the TV, and there would be Kurobe, hanging still under my gaze.

DK: Maybe he’s trying to tell you something. "Play with me…" You have an affinity for cats that tends to spill over into your manga as well.

UZ: Nekome Kozo (The Cay Eyed Boy) started its run in 1960. It was my first serialized manga, meaning it had my first character designed to have mass appeal. The series focused more on the story than the characterization. The cat eyed boy that watches from the shadows…

At the time Shigeru Mizuki was gaining steam as a horror writer for his Yokai stories. I wasn’t going to let him beat me at my own game! Shigeru might write stronger characters, but Nekome Kozo gave you the chills like nothing else.

The chewing gum wrapped in mini-manga was proof of his popularity. Character goods were virtually unheard of at the time. Having a character strong enough to move merchandise was a great honor. Some say a manga has made it big when an anime version is released, but the success of its goods shows you the public’s love for your character.

The man can't GWASH!, hence the big fake hand he's always sporting.

The report will pause here for a short intermission. We’ll be back with the lost Nekome Kozo animation, pop songs penned by Umezu, and the Makoto-chan dance!

Umezz Carnival 2009 Discussion

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MATCHBOX ART SHOW IN LATVIA

2009-09-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

I got a rad and unexpected email from David, who runs the comics magazine kuš! in Latvia. He worked to curate a crazy show featuring TINY pieces of art by 150+ artists from 38 different countries. The show, from what I have read on ArtSlant, was part of Survival Kit, a series of art events in Riga, Latvia.

This included a number of European artists, some Americans and also Same Hat indie manga favorites like Kago and Ichiba. [A full listing of participating artists is available on the exhibit blog.]

Here is the show explanation from their blog:

kuš! invited artists from all over the world to create a drawing about a last match on a tiny paper which fits into a matchbox. the whole exhibition fits into several matchboxes and therefore demonstrates that out of something small you can make something big.

So that's what 150 matchbox-sized pieces looks like...

Shintaro Kago

Daisuke Ichiba

Minoru Sugiyama

Shinya Komatsu

Tom Gauld

Shaun Tan

Check out their Flickr gallery to see all 151 pieces in the show. The show runs this week Saturday (9/19/09) at Lacplesu iela 37 in Riga. Thanks for sharing this with us, David!