Is that his real name? I read somewhere that the meaning of the name is "The maggots have gushed forth" Pretty cool name for a guro mangaka..
Yeah thats where I read it, so is it his name or not?
Probably not. Almost no manga artist uses his real name as his pen name.
I e-mailed Uziga not too long ago. Haven't gotten a response yet but I'm sure the guy's got a lot of shit goin on. His e-mails prolly packed full of flames ^_^;
At no. 4, what, not even like Akira Toriyama and other "regular" manga ka?
At no. 5, I've often wondered what he's like, Ive seen some images of him like, biting into girls necks and sitting in baths of fake (I hope) blood. Before that I pictured him as a normal guy but I guess he really is quite a weirdo!
I think in his manga that little weird thing with a knife and a big red nose is supposed to be him.
I've read his bolog wiht the help of babble fish.
I think he is just a normal guy who likes to shock people.
Even if you don't like what he draws you gotta admit, that motherfucker can draw.
I met Uziga on several occasions a few years ago in a kind of Guro-Artist dinner party. Uziga isn't his real name, and he was a nice guy from my impressions. I also remember the food they served was incredibly overpriced and we got a piece of burnt fish in return =)
> a kind of Guro-Artist dinner party
Consider me intrigued.
Yeah, that's supposed to be him. Kind of a self-carricature or something like that. It's at the end of his afterword to MAI-CHAN, for example. I'm really curious what he wrote there so it will have to be translated eventually.
Ditto. It's no that unusual that artists with similar sensibilities get together like that. Even in the USA there's regular dinners of most of the famous horror directors, both old and new. The new Showtime series MASTERS OF HORROR is a result of those dinners ...
I have to say it was a memorable experience. I got to meet a lot of artists, including Menazor, EZ6 and Tsepesi. There weren't just artists involved that dinner though. There was a woman dining with us that runs her own S&M club.
There were interesting stories being told. Uziga once drew a manga where the character looked like Multi from "To Heart". To Heart fans wrote to him with death threats, and stuff like "Don't kill MY Multi!". Those people seriously freaked him out.
May I ask what your function as an attendee at that dinner was?
Also, has Uziga ever publically stated anything about moral concerns regarding "Modern Stories"?
I heard that he had written in his livejournal (before his account was suspended for reasons I don't know)that he was soon planning on having his work translated and published in the US (YES!! THERE IS A GOD!!)
Sure, Modern Stories of the Bizzare was graphic, but is it really any worse than the 2 movies made about the same incident? Is it any worse than movies and books about Dahmer, Manson and Gacy? Is it any worse than Lizzie Borden and Richard Ramierez action figures?
FHauyt, are you an artist?
>May I ask what your function as an attendee at that dinner was?
I was an artist. One of the many... many artists invited to the function. There must have been around 30-40 people. Some of the artists are guro-related, but there were those who did body-modification and scat art.
>Also, has Uziga ever publically stated anything about moral concerns regarding "Modern Stories"?
I don't think he has publically. This was his latest manga I'm guessing. I got a chance to ask him about some of his older stuff during that time, but I haven't spoken to him since then, which was about 3 years ago. I've tried to get in personal contact with him a few times after that, but he's a busy person...
> Sure, Modern Stories of the Bizzare was graphic, but is it really any worse than the 2 movies made about the same incident? Is it any worse than movies and books about Dahmer, Manson and Gacy? Is it any worse than Lizzie Borden and Richard Ramierez action figures?
I wasn't trying to start this argument, yknow? It's been lead countless times before and it's pointless, to me.
Just curious about what the author himself thinks about it.
I see. Thanks for providing insight.
I am amused by the warning message on the starting page of Uziga's website. I just noticed it for the first time, though it has probably been there forever. Or maybe just the English part is new.
"The works found on this site contain graphic depictions of blood, guts,and extremely cruel and disturbing acts of sexual violence. The maintainer of this site, Waita Uziga, publishes these images as a form of self expression,and nothing more. It is absolutely NOT the intent of this site to promote anti-social behavior or violent crime. Acts such as those depicted here must NEVER be carried out in the real world. Individuals who are unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality or the difference between right and wrong are strictly forbidden from entering this site. If you do choose to enter, then please do so at your own risk, and with a sense of responsibility for your own actions. Thank you."
I wonder if he or his host has been getting some heat.
>I heard that he had written in his livejournal (before his account was suspended for reasons I don't know)that he was soon planning on having his work translated and published in the US (YES!! THERE IS A GOD!!)
Great news but don't get your hopes up. Even if it's true, it'll probably take many years for the deals and contracts to be finalized. For example, Hideyuki Kikuchi (not a guro artist) wanted some of his books to be published in the US. That was in 1998/1999. Now, in May 2005, the first volume of his VAMPIRE HUNTER D series has finally been published in an English translation. Just to give you an idea how horribly long these things take ...
Also, Uziga's books (or rather whoever publishes them in the US) would get decked with obscenity trials immediately. If I were Uziga I'd have the books published in the UK instead, where there's less fascist censorship nonsense, at least in regards to books and comics. Creation Books (UK) have already published the extremely graphic ULTRA GASH INFERNO by Suehiro Maruo and may finally publish their forever delayed anthology of Jun Hayami stories called BEAUTY LABYRINTH OF RAZORS later this year.
>Sure, Modern Stories of the Bizzare was graphic, but is it really any worse than the 2 movies made about the same incident?
Of course not and I don't think anyone here would whine about MODERN STORIES. However, those 2 movies - especially CONCRETE - have caused quite a controversy. The DVD of CONCRETE is now out of print, a mere year after it was released. Coincidence? Doubt it. And when I asked a Japanese friend of mine to rent and copy the DVD for me he told me that video stores had to remove it from their shelves because of protests! So I wonder if there's been any pressure on Uziga because of his manga. It's still in print so that's reassuring.
As for CONCRETE, I have been informed that the rights have been sold for a North American R1 DVD release. Still working on finding out which company will release it. All I know is that Unearthed Films, who released the GUINEA PIGS series and will soon release RED ROOM, wanted to license it but were told it's already been sold to someone else.
> I wonder if he or his host has been getting some heat.
It's pretty common for Japanese websites to have disclaimers and warnings all over the place. I've even seen "Sorry, this site is in Japanese only" on websites where I would never have believed there would have been a need to put up such a notice...
I guess they're just very polite and considerate?
Yeah. I can imagine how the conversation would go.
American Publishing Company Guy: Mr.Waita, we've read your works
Uziga: So, we gonna get em published soon?
Guy: Ummm..Yes, but lets talk about cuts first
Uziga: >_<'
>Guy: Ummm..Yes, but lets talk about cuts first
They would have to cut everything ... This kind of strongly sexualized murder and gore is very problematic in the USA. At least that's what I've been told by several film distributors. Both Synapse and Unearthed had to pass on EAT THE SCHOOLGIRL, a little direct-to-video film that could probably be called live-action guro. It's basically about a guy who works in a telephone sex club during the day and kills girls at night. Then he jerks off onto their bleeding and twitching corpses. I guess the only reason why the GUINEA PIG movies could be released is because while lots of girls are brutally tortured and murdered in them, they are not being raped at the same time. So that apparently makes it OK. There are no definitive laws about these things because - theoretically - any work of fiction would and should be legal because of the free speech and free artistic expression laws. However, small distributors and publishing companies are very scared of obscenity trials, which can take many years to settle and cost lots of money in lawyer fees, even if they should win them. So they usually consult with a lawyer on every new film they want to license. If it's too risky, they'll pass. I'm sure it's the same way in the comic/manga publishing industry. Even Eros Comix are obviously scared and they have reason to be because they had some legal trouble in the mid 90ies when some of their comics (not mangas) were seized by police in a comic shop in Texas as "child pornography". So that explains why they now like to leave out loli-themed chapters from their mangas, like they did with SEX PHILES for example. And it also explains why anime distributors like Anime 18 cut Nin-Nin's sex scenes out of LA BLUE GIRL or any nude scenes with Onimaro out of TWIN ANGELS or all the underage stuff from the first episode of UROTSUKIDOJI 4. However, why LITTLE MONICA STORY got an uncut release but HOOLIGAN got cut I will never understand.
A recent Supreme Court decision said that "Virtual Child Pornography which does not involve real children" is not illegal and is protected by the First Amendment. So I'm guessing that anime underage sex is ok.
But yes, it would prolly be hard for Uziga to find a publishing company that'll translate and publish his works uncut.
actually, Uziga was talking to barker about getting GAME OVER printer through whatever publisher barker uses.
P.S. look at the team for "the suffering", a PS2 game released by midway.
wow. For some reason I can not type correctly tonight. Sorry for the typos.
