Umezu Kazuo no Noroi (The Curse of Kazuo Umezu)

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Japanese: 楳図かずおの呪い

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Information

Type: OVA

Episodes: 1

Status: Finished Airing

Aired: Mar 1, 1990

Producers: Takahashi Studio

Licensors: None found, add some

Studios: None found, add some

Source: Manga

Genre: Horror

Duration: 43 min.

Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)

Statistics

Score: 6.19¹ (scored by 3,498 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #8709²

² based on the top anime page. Please note that 'Not yet aired' and 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #6899

Members: 8,340

Favorites: 35

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6.19

Ranked #8709Popularity #6899Members 8,340

OVA

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Episodes: /1

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Synopsis

"Do not toy with the supernatural."

Two stories of the consequences that descend upon humans who venture beyond the safe confines of their ordinary worlds.

When a gorgeous girl named Rima transfers into Masami's class, she's not only jealous, but also deathly frightened of her. While the boys in class are tripping all over themselves to get to Rima, Masami's having nightmares of a ghastly visitor and finding scars on her body come morning. She asks a friend to help her get evidence to confirm her suspicions about the new girl. But if a picture is worth a thousand words, a video must be worth far more. The truth can set you free, but it can also be more terrifying than anything you can imagine.

Shy Miko and her more outgoing friend Nanako are enjoying their summer vacation, trying to make the most of their youth. But when horror-movie marathons just aren't thrilling enough, Nanako sets her eyes on a new target: an abandoned mansion at the edge of town, said to be haunted. With two other friends in tow, a reluctant Miko and a gung-ho Nanako enter the mansion. Soon, everything that can go wrong starts going wrong. Only luck or a miracle will allow them manage to escape the mansion with their lives, their sanity, and even their sense of reality.

(Source: Hanako)

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Umezu, Kazuo

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Reviews

Sep 23, 2023

HaGriDoS

Recommended

Tbh,im completely surprised.I thought this will be a pile of trash but it was actually fine,well besides the first story which was bad,very bad,but the second creeped me out which not happens often.
The second story reminded me of old Scooby Doo movies,it basically was one but for adults.
The sound is very good,it makes half of work in setting up the mood which modern horror animes unfortunately lack.
I dont have much to say about the first story besides it was weird and not good kind of weird.
The only bad thing i have to say about the whole anime is its look, i couldnt ...

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Nov 30, 2022

KamuiX1999

Recommended

Wow, this was something completely different! Why isn't there more horror anime like this? It's basically a great '80s/'90s type horror anthology, just in an animated form, that tells two genuinely creepy tales. It doesn't have any of the usual anime tropes of the time whatsoever, it just wants to tell some great horror stories in the most authentic way possible. The animation literally looks like Umezu's artwork come to life, which is a beautiful thing to see. The soundtrack is incredibly effective as well. The more I see (and read) of Kazuo Umezu's work, the more it saddens me that his stuff isn't as ...

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May 13, 2022

Kamezuki

Mixed Feelings

“Umezu Kazuo no Noroi” is a 1-episode horror OVA that tells two creepy stories from author Kazuo Umezu in a “Tales from the Crypt”-like style. Both stories offer distinctly horrific visuals paired with dainty shoujo character designs and eerie music. However, they’re clumsily put together (especially the second one), important events and elements of the plots are left unexplained, and more time is spent showing characters with horrified expressions than the horror content itself.

The first story is about a girl who is plagued by nightmares and a mysterious wound on her neck after a new student transfers in to her school. This one has some ... impressively disturbing imagery, and the story progresses naturally for the most part, although the timeline and point of view get confusing towards the end. Also, one major issue is that a certain character is inexplicably present in key places when supernatural events occur even though they had no logical reason to be there, which made it difficult to suspend my disbelief. Also, there’s some odd dialogue in this one: when the older male teacher introduces the new transfer student, for example, he repeatedly makes comments to the class that she’s beautiful.

The second story features the standard “teens explore a haunted house” kind of theme. This story also has terrifying visuals, at least when the horror actually gets going. Most of the time we just see close ups of people gasping or screaming instead, and there are also a number of stereotypically “creepy” items thrown in, like a music box and a doll. No time is given to establish the significance of these items in this case, however. We also don’t get any information about why the house is haunted, or who might be haunting it, or the haunter’s motivations. Some of these topics are briefly brought up, but then swiftly brushed away. There are some odd actions, pieces of dialogue and all-too-convenient item placements (things the characters suddenly need just happen to be right there for them to use) in this story as well. The way it ends is particularly strange, with the characters making a mindbogglingly dumb decision in order to reach the climax. And for a lot of the events that occur, it’s difficult to tell if the characters are hallucinating them or if they’re actually happening.

As for technical aspects, character designs are done in an aesthetically pleasing, delicate shoujo style. Sometimes characters' faces look odd, though, like they're malnourished. The animation isn't the best, but it gets the job done. The background art isn't detailed, but sometimes to accentuate the horror aspects, the background will change to just black or red, like the characters are in a void.

The direction is not that great. As previously mentioned, there are way too many scenes of characters with their eyes wide open and mouths agape, and with the way scenes are pieced together, it's sometimes difficult to tell what's going on. However, bookending the OVA with a zombie-like host (perhaps Umezu himself?) introducing and commenting on the themes of the stories is a nice touch, as is the comedic interstitial that features super-deformed characters from both stories (although the latter feels a bit out of place). Speaking of Umezu, there are multiple references to him in both stories, which is also kind of interesting.

The voice acting is okay. Characters are good at screaming and sounding shocked.

The music is all instrumental and does a good job of setting the mood, but it's not particularly memorable and not something I'd listen to outside of this anime.

As far as objectionable content goes, there is a fair amount of body horror, blood and gore in this OVA.

Overall, both stories in “Umezu Kazuo no Noroi” are too vague to be all that frightening, and they don’t stand up well to scrutiny. However, they have a nice aesthetic to them, and the creepy visuals, when they actually show up, are intense and memorable. Thus, although it has some issues, this OVA is watchable, and I think it would be particularly suitable for viewing during the Halloween season.

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Umezu Kazuo no Noroi Episode 1 Story 2 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Feb 1, 2012	4 replies	by Dekom »» Mar 5, 3:06 PM
Poll: Umezu Kazuo no Noroi Episode 1 Discussion AlexSadist-sama - Feb 1, 2012	12 replies	by Dekom »» Mar 5, 2:57 PM
The Current Score For This Anime Is Perfect AlabastreAizo - Aug 17, 2013	6 replies	by removed-user »» Sep 4, 2021 4:39 AM

Umezu Kazuo no Noroi

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Umezu Kazuo no Noroi

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Information

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Synopsis

Background

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

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Staff

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