500https://i.ur.com/X5L9yaD.png The Umezu narrator is not actually voiced by Kazuo Umezu unfortunately. The Curse of Kazuo Umezuhttps://anilist.co/staff/97777/KazuoUmezu is a 1990 OVA brought to us by Takahashi Studiohttps://anilist.co/studio/917/TakahashiStudio. Im assuming its an adaptation of two of Kazuo Umezus stories but I have absolutely no idea which collection they are from. 440https://i.ur.com/0C3xM3F.png EDIT: There definitely isnt a collection literally titled the same exact thing. EDIT 2: AND IT DEFINITELY DOESNT SHOW UP IN THE OVA ITSELF IN OVA FORM. HOLY SHOOT IM A BUFFOON. 440https://i.ur.com/69RRZNd.png Even as one of the more famed horror mangakas and one of the primary inspirations for Junji Itohttps://anilist.co/staff/97410/JunjiItou I think barely any of Kazuo Umezus stuff has officially been translated. The CatEyed Boyhttps://anilist.co/manga/35550/CatEyedBoy/ is available on the Kindle I believe and The Drifting Classroomhttps://anilist.co/manga/30970/TheDriftingClassroom/ got like a complete hardcover treatment just this year. But beyond that youre probably going to be looking at out of print stuff from eighteen years ago at exorbitant prices. https://i.ur.com/Ry6KsX2.png Kind of hope after Viz reaches the bottom of the Junji Well they start further tapping into the Umezu one. I first started my journey into Umezu with a little short manga called Fourteenhttps://anilist.co/manga/42549/Fourteen/. And it ended up being one of the simultaneously strangest yet entertaining reads Ive had in quite a long while. It was about a chicken scientist who... actually you know what lets not get into it again. 100https://i.ur.com/v8Fzn2j.png Point is after my incredibly strange introduction to Kazuo Umezus works I really wanted more. And then ran into the problem I described before. But I did notice that hey theres this thirty year old horror OVA with the mans name in it... 440https://i.ur.com/IKqa8av.png And also one of the characters is just straight up named Umezu. ...and depending on where youre approaching it from its pretty good If youre approaching it from the position of wanting a good interesting and wellwritten plot... well youre probably going to be disappointed. 440https://i.ur.com/hDiXdsh.png 440https://i.ur.com/w1JhMZV.png But If youre approaching it from the position of wanting to see a ghost that basically just causes nonsensical and immediate decapitations and the severing of limbs the moment you look at it too long? Hell yeah man. Speaking seriously though... this is actual horror. 440https://i.ur.com/f4WuHTa.gif Why is the teddy bear bleeding? Because its funhttps://www..com/watch?v=St8iEpkcDJc Youve got that old horror OST going youve got a girl whose head like bends back as she turns into a horrible nightmare monster youve got pointlessly creepy stuff like cuckoo clocks for some reason flooding with blood and I just love all of it. 440https://i.ur.com/BQiziVA.gif Though I guess I should actually talk about the stories themselves... The first one is about a girl freaking out because she thinks the new girl that joined her class is a vampire and there is literally a scene where she has Umezukun one of the boy students set up a videocamera to record what happens when shes asleep and its just like oh man I remember this its horror Haha I sure hope we caught footage of the vampiOH FUCK 440https://i.ur.com/AsuivlK.gif Definitely liked the first story overall more than the second story. Not that I dislike the second story but again why does a ghost staring at you equal random decapitations or limb severings? 440https://i.ur.com/rfQMrw5.png 440https://i.ur.com/3sT83E0.png While it was a somewhat cool visual at first the question but why though? immediately follows. Still though the second story is just a couple girls exploring a haunted house. A haunted house. A horror anime... with a haunted house. 440https://i.ur.com/GLkoTRe.png 440https://i.ur.com/KcAm7QW.png Do you even have any idea how original this concept is??? Im not even being sarcastic. I was absolutely ecstatic pretty much through this whole OVA. Conclusion Its not for everybody certainly. 440https://i.ur.com/eKDeitA.png Obviously if youre an Umezu fan I would assume most would consider this an inevitable required watch. Additionally its of course not guaranteed that just because you like horror means youre gonna like this. I went probably a bit too heavy on that because horror anime is a fucking wasteland. Its just so rare to find completely pure horror. Oh its a psychological series but with horror elements Oh its a supernatural series but with horror elements Oh its an action series but with horror elements Oh its a mystery series but with horror elements All I want is just the sight of characters just being absolutely horrified/terrified at the sights theyre witnessing. 440https://i.ur.com/4ym7KcH.png And then possibly they end up getting brutally killed. And from this I got that. And for that I am deeply thankful. I give it an 8 out of 10. Thank you Kazuo Umezu. 440https://i.ur.com/TSjyhET.jpg