Shūzō Oshimi Explained

Shūzō Oshimi
Native Name:	押見 修造
Native Name Lang:	ja
Birth Date:	March 19, 1981
Birth Place:	Gunma Prefecture, Japan
Nationality:	Japanese
Occupation:	Manga artist
Awards:	Tetsuya Chiba Award

is a Japanese manga artist who publishes works primarily for Kodansha. He made his debut with Superfly in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine. He is best known for his manga Drifting Net Cafe, The Flowers of Evil, Happiness, and Blood on the Tracks. His works have been adapted into many different media including television drama, anime, and live action film. In 2001, he won the Tetsuya Chiba Award.

Background

Oshimi's hometown is in the countryside of Kiryu, Gunma, which also served as the setting of his manga The Flowers of Evil.^[1] While growing up there, the main places he would visit were the riverbank, the stairs of his junior high school, and the bookstore.^[2] Oshimi currently resides in Tokyo.^[3]

Career

Oshimi debuted with Superfly in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Magazine. He would go on to start his first series Avant-Garde Yumeko in the magazine. His works have been adapted into many different media, with Drifting Net Café and Inside Mari into television dramas,^{[4] [5]} The Flowers of Evil into an anime,^[6] and Sweet Poolside into a live action film.^[7] In 2001, he won the Tetsuya Chiba Award.^[8]

Influences

In his childhood Oshimi would read modernist poems from authors like Sakutarō Hagiwara and Mitsuharu Kaneko.^[9] Oshimi also thought that surrealist artists like André Breton, Max Ernst, and Paul Delvaux were cool.^[10] His favorite artist is Redon,^[11] and he also likes Francisco Goya.^[12] In his youth, Oshimi heavily identified with the protagonist of Tetsu Adachi's Song of Cherry Blossoms and it would later influence his manga The Flowers of Evil.^[13]

Themes

Oshimi's narrative style consists of stories presenting quirky, clumsy main characters, usually a boy and a girl couple, and how their relationship unfolds as the narrative progresses. He also presents uncommon, uncomfortable and, sometimes, disturbing situations through which the protagonists take part. This narrative style has been seen in all of the author's works, including his best-known work, The Flowers of Evil.

Oshimi likes to explore themes such as coming-of-age and perversion, combined with his experiences in his youth. He thinks that the end of adolescence is hard to define, and is up to an individual to discover, such as in The Flowers of Evil.^[14] He also believes that perversion is a characteristic of every person that is surrounded by stigma which he wants people to think about.^[15] Oshimi also wants to explore the female perspective in his gender-bender manga Inside Mari, because to him, girls are "half of the world".^[16]

Works

• – Independent work, first published in the "Avant-Garde Yumeko" collection.
  • – Published by Kodansha, single-volume.
• – Published by Kodansha, single-volume.
• – Published by Kodansha, 4 volumes.
• – Published by Kodansha, 2 volumes.
• – Published by Futabasha, 7 volumes.
• – Published by Kodansha, 11 volumes.^[17]
• – Published by Ohta Publishing, single-volume.
• – Serialized in Manga Action, published by Futabasha,^[18] 9 volumes.^[19]
• – Published by Kodansha.^{[20] [21]}
• – Serialized in Feel Young, published by Shodensha, single-volume.^[22]
• – Published by Futabasha. It is an art book featuring art from many of Shūzō Oshimi's works.^[23]
• – Serialized in Big Comic Superior, published by Shogakukan.^[24]
• – Serialized in Web Comic Action, published by Futabasha, single-volume.^[25]
• – Serialized and published by Weekly Young Magazine, single-volume.^[26]
• – Serialized in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, published by Kodansha.^[27]
• – Spin-off manga to the 2024 live-action film Doku Musume, which features a character designed by Oshimi whom stars in this work.^[28]

Notes and References

1. Book: Oshimi. Shuzo. The Flowers of Evil Vol. 1. 8 May 2012. Vertical. 978-1-935654-46-9.
2. Book: Oshimi. Shuzo. The Flowers of Evil Vol. 2. 10 July 2012. Vertical. 978-1-935654-47-6. 158.
3. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 2, p. 126
4. Web site: Manry . Gia . Drifting Net Cafe Drifts Into Dramafication . Anime Vice . 20 February 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150220084200/http://www.animevice.com/news/drifting-net-cafe-drifts-into-dramafication/641/ . February 20, 2015 .
5. Web site: Shuzo Oshimis Inside Mari manga gets live action series. Anime News Network. 14 January 2018.
6. Web site: The Flowers of Evil Suspense Manga Gets Anime. Anime News Network. 20 February 2015.
7. Web site: Sweet Poolside Manga by Flowers of Evil's Oshimi Gets Live-Action Film. 1 September 2013. 20 February 2013. Anime News Network.
8. Book: Flowers of Evil, Volume 9. 978-1939130280. Oshimi. Shuzo. 22 April 2014. Kodansha USA .
9. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 1, p. 140
10. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 2, p. 34
11. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 1, p. 44
12. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 2, p. 96
13. Book: Oshimi. Shuzo. The Flowers of Evil Vol. 3. 23 October 2012. Vertical. 978-1-935654-48-3. 68.
14. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 3, p. 172
15. Oshimi, The Flowers of Evil Vol. 1, p. 172
16. Book: Oshimi. Shuzo. Inside Mari Volume 1. Crunchyroll. 194.
17. Web site: The Flowers of Evil. Vertical. 11 April 2015.
18. Web site: Crunchyroll Adds Inside Mari, Silver Nina, Love Theory Manga - News. Anime News Network. 6 January 2014. 8 January 2014.
19. Web site: http://www.futabasha.co.jp/booksdb/book/bookview/978-4-575-84856-4.html. ja:ぼくは麻理のなか 9. Futabasha. 28 September 2016. 10 September 2016. Japanese. Inside Mari 9.
20. Web site: Flowers of Evil's Shūzō Oshimi to Launch Happiness Manga. 7 January 2015. 22 January 2015. Anime News Network.
21. Web site: Shūzō Oshimi's Happiness Manga Ends in March. 8 February 2019. 9 May 2019. Anime News Network.
22. Book: Waltz Edition Notice. 9781634428033. 14 May 2021. Oshimi. Shuzo. 6 April 2021. Denpa, LLC .
23. Web site: Femme Fatale - Oshimi Shuzo Art Book - Shuzo Oshimi BOOK. 5 May 2021. CDJapan. en.
24. Web site: ja:毒親描く「血の轍」スペリオールで完結、押見修造は新たなマンガ賞の審査員務める. https://natalie.mu/comic/news/540166. Comic Natalie. Natasha, Inc.. 8 September 2023. 8 September 2023. ja.
25. Web site: Miss Kusakabe. 14 May 2021. Comic Action. ja.
26. Web site: ja:押見修造、8年ぶりにヤンマガに帰還。特別読み切り『りり』を無料公開！. https://yanmaga.jp/columns/articles/1128. 28 June 2021. 11 July 2021. YanMaga Web. Kodansha. ja.
27. Web site: Shūzō Oshimi's 'Welcome Back, Alice' Manga Ends on August 9. 7 July 2023. 8 August 2023. Anime News Network.
28. Web site: Tai . Anita . The Flowers of Evil's Shūzō Oshimi Designs Doku Musume Film's Character, Launches Spinoff Manga . Anime News Network . 15 January 2024.