Only in his late-thirties, Shuzo Oshimi is already considered a seasoned veteran of the Japanese comics community. Winner of the most important comics awards for newcomers, the Tetsuya Chiba Award in 2001, Oshimi has been penning quirky slice-of-life dramas now for over a decade for major manga publishers including Kodansha. After drawing nine series, Oshimi's star began to rise in 2008 with the release of his first hit, Drifting Net Cafe . This horror-themed homage to the legendary Kazuo Umezz work, The Drifting Classroom , was adapted into a live-action series, and propelled Oshimi onto an international stage. He would soon reach new heights in 2009 with The Flowers of Evil.