Ask John: What Has Yasuomi Umetsu Done?

Question:
My question is on Hurricane Polymar. I seem to be the only person that likes this film. If you ask me, aside from the lack of a story, it’s brilliant. Are there any more volumes than number 1 that have been produced, and if so, are they/will they be available in America?

And here’s my next question, sort of Hurricane Polymar related. I really like Yasuomi Umezu’s character design and was wondering if you know what other work he has done, besides Kite, Gatchaman, and Hurricane Polymar. I see that someone named Yasuomi Umetsu is credited with Lily C.A.T. Is this his early work, or is this someone else?

Answer:
The Shin Hurricane Polymer OAV series was only two episodes long, if I recall correctly. As far as I know, there is no more of this series in Japan to bring over to the US. Shin Hurricane Polymer was based on a classic Tatsunoko TV series from the early 1970s, also called Hurricane Polymer.

Yasuomi Umetsu has had more of a prolific career than most people realize. He is well known for providing the character designs for Megazone 23 part 2, the Presence segment of Robot Carnival, Ellcia, the Casshan OAV series, Shin Gatchaman and Shin Hurricane Polymer OAV series, the Yellow Star episode of the Cool Devices series, Kite, Mezzo Forte, Kimera, Lily C.A.T., Tenshi Nanka Jyanai, and the Dreamcast game July, but he has also worked on shows including the Lensman TV series and movie, Zeta Gundam and Char’s Counterattack, Dagger of Kamui, Megazone 23, Outlanders, Urotsukidoji, Junk Boy, Graveyard of Fireflies, Akira, Angel Cop, U-Jin’s Shin Angel, Kodomo no Omocha, both Yamamoto Yohko OAV series, Lupin III: Dead or Alive, Landlock, Hen (known in the US as Strange Love) and Spriggan, among other lesser known shows.