Osamu Tezuka

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Image:Osamu Tezuka Stamp.jpg Dr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚 治虫 Tezuka Osamu, November 3, 1928 - February 9, 1989) was a Japanese manga artist and animator born in Osaka Prefecture. He is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion.

His prolific output and his pioneering techniques and genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the god of manga." The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation (anime) was invented by Tezuka, who based it on cartoons of the time such as Betty Boop by Max Fleischer and Mickey Mouse by Walt Disney. As an indication of his productivity, the Complete Manga Works of Tezuka Osamu (手塚治虫漫画全集, published in Japan) comprises some 400 volumes, over 80,000 pages (in fact, his complete opera includes over 700 mangas in about 170,000 pages); even so, it is not quite comprehensive.

He was formally trained as a physician, but devoted his life to the production of an enormous body of manga work, the vast majority of which has never been translated from the original Japanese and is thus inaccessible to Western audiences. He began his career as a manga creator while a university student. His medical and scientific knowledge enriched his sci-fi manga, as well as Black Jack, a series about a genius rogue surgeon. Image:Tezuka-osamu-clock-kyoto-stn.jpg Famous creations include Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu in Japan), Black Jack, Princess Knight, Phoenix (Hi no Tori in Japan), Kimba the White Lion (possibly an inspiration for Disney's The Lion King), and Adolf. His "life's work" was Phoenix—a story of life and death, concerning an eponymous phoenix whose blood endows those who drink it with immortality.

Tezuka headed the animation production studio Mushi Pro ('Bug Production'), which pioneered TV animation in Japan. The name of the studio derives from one of the kanji ("虫") used to write his name.

It is well-known that many of the yet-to-flourish young manga artists once lived in the apartment where Tezuka lived, Tokiwa-so. (As the suffix -so indicates, this was probably a small, inexpensive apartment.) The residents included Shotaro Ishinomori, Fujio Akatsuka, and Fujiko Fujio (both of the duo).

He was a personal friend (and apparent artistic influence) of the most famous Brazilian comicbook artist, Maurício de Sousa.

Osamu Tezuka died of stomach cancer at the age of 60. In an afterword written by Takayuki Matsutani, president of Mushi Productions, that was published in Viz Media's english language release of the Hi no Tori manga, it is said that his last words were "I'm begging you, let me work!"

In 1994 the city of Takarazuka, where Tezuka grew up, opened a museum in his memory. In 1997 stamps were issued in his honor.

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Early life

Osamu Tezuka was born the eldest son of three children on November 3rd, 1928, in Toyonaka City, Osaka. He was tormented by his classmates because of his skinny disposition and weak nature. His mother comforted him regularly and told him to look to the blue skies, this made him extremely confident. Realising how much he loved the environment, Tezuka adored insects and wished that all humans would take care of it. Referring to the development of manga in his early years he and his family often created it alongside animations. Tezuka then made a further realization that he can use manga to convince people to care for the world. And thus, after surviving World War 2, he created his first piece of work (aged 17), Diary of Ma-Chan and then Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island), which began the golden age of Manga, a craze next to the American comic books at the time.

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Manga & anime (partial list)

The years cited beside each title refer to the period of manga serialization.

  • Diary of Ma-chan, 1946. Tezuka debuted with this four-panel newspaper strip, published in the Osaka edition of Shokokumin Shimbun (Mainichi School Children's Newspaper). He was only 17 years old when he produced this work.
  • Shin Takarajima (New Treasure Island), 1947. This is the manga that made Tezuka a household name in Japan. It is an action-adventure drama inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's book, about a boy named Pete whose discovers a map to Treasure Island and embarks on a voyage to find it. The Western-style art and fast-paced storyline attracted much attention, and it became a best seller with 400,000 copies sold, laying the groundwork for the manga craze and its modern style.
  • Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor Leo), 1950-54. Better known in most of the world as Kimba the White Lion, this manga established one of Tezuka's most iconic creations. His first full-scale long serial, Jungle Taitei follows the adventures of Leo the lion as he seeks to succeed his father, killed by a hunter, as king of the jungle. In 1965, Tezuka's Mushi Productions, financed by NBC Enterprises, produced a 52-episode anime series loosely based on the manga. This was followed immediately by a 26-episode sequel, produced by Mushi Pro alone. This sequel was dubbed into English in 1984 under the title Leo the Lion. A full-length animated film based on the last half of Tezuka's original manga was released theatrically in 1997 under the title Jungle Emperor Leo.
  • Metropolis, 1949. One of Tezuka's early science fiction works, about a private detective, Higeoyaji, who tries to take care of Mitchy, a gender switching robot, after its creator is killed. It would be made into a 2001 animated film. This film was heavily influenced by the Fritz Lang film Metropolis (1927), while the manga had only been slightly influenced. It is said that Osamu Tezuka never even saw the movie but was inspired by the poster of the film.
  • Captain ATOM, 1951-52. A science fiction manga about the coexistence and conflict between humans and aliens from another planet. Astro Boy made his debut in this manga as a supporting character. After Astro Boy became popular, Tezuka rewrote Captain ATOM as an episode of Astro Boy.
  • Tetsuwan ATOM (Astro Boy), 1952-68. A sequel to Captain ATOM, it made Astro Boy its main character. Eventually, Astro Boy would become Tezuka's most famous creation. In 1963, Astro Boy made its debut as the first commercial animated program on Japanese television. The 30-minute weekly program received high public and critical acclaim, and led to the first craze for anime in Japan. In America, the TV series was also a hit, becoming the first Japanese animation to be shown on U.S. television, although the U.S. producers downplayed the show's Japanese origins. Several other Astro Boy series have been made since. Columbia Pictures (Sony) has announced that a CGI-animation Astro Boy movie is currently in production.

Image:Princess Knight.png

  • Ribbon no Kishi (Princess Knight), 1953-56. A gender-bending adventure drama about Princess Saphire, a girl who must pretend to be a boy. The manga was inspired by the themes and styles of musicals by the all-girl Takarazuka Revue, which Tezuka had watched in his youth. Ribbon no Kichi itself established many of the themes and styles of later shōjo (girls' manga), such as its affinity for androgynous heroes, and is sometimes referred to as "the Mother of all shōjo." It was made into an anime TV series in 1967, and the anime has been dubbed into English and sporadically broadcast on TV in the United States and other English-speaking countries. The anime is also known in English as "Choppy and the Princess." A new musical version of Princess Knight will be performed in August 2006.
  • Hi no Tori (Phoenix), 1956-89. Tezuka's most profound and ambitious work, dealing with man's quest for immortality, ranging from the distant past to the far future. It remains unfinished. Phoenix has been filmed several times, most notably as Phoenix 2772 (1980).
  • W3 - Wonder Three (Amazing 3), 1965-1966. This story features 3 animals from outer space and a human trying to save the earth.
  • Ayako, 1972-1973. The story of the Tenge family and its fall, from the end of the WWII to the 70s. Major events and some characters of this story are based on true events and inspired from real persons.
  • Black Jack, 1973-83. The story of Black Jack, a talented surgeon who operates illegally, using radical and supernatural techniques to combat rare afflictions. This is the longest of Tezuka's works. Black Jack received the Japan Cartoonists' Association Special Award in 1975 and the Koudansha Manga Award in 1977. Three Black Jack TV movies were released between 2000-01. In fall 2004, a TV anime was aired in Japan with 48 episodes currently scheduled.
  • Buddha, 1974-84. Tezuka's unique interpretation of the life of Buddha. The critically acclaimed series is often referred to as a gritty, even sexy, portrayal of the holy-man's life.
  • Unico, 1976-1979. Unico is a baby unicorn with the power to grant a wish to anyone who finds him. The gods, however, are jealous of Unico and order the West Wind to banish him to the Hill of Oblivion. The West Wind can't bear to subject Unico to such a fate, and thus continually spirits Unico from one place to another to escape the wrath of the gods. Tezuka's manga was serialized in Sanrio's "Ririka" (Lyrica) magazine. Unico also appeared in a TV special and two feature-length anime films made for Sanrio by the Madhouse animation studio.
  • Don Dorakyura (Don Dracula), 1982. A canned anime series. It was supposed to have 26 episodes, but only 8 were produced. The main character, Don Dorakyura, lived in Transylvania, but moved to Japan to get rid of vampire hunters, such as Prof. Rip Van Helsing. He lives with his daughter, Chocola, and his henchman, Igor.
  • Tell Adolf (Adolf), 1983-85. A manga set in the pre-World War II era, it revolves around three people with the name Adolf—one a Jew, one a Nazi, the third being Adolf Hitler himself.
  • Broken Down Film, Unknown. A short anime made in 1985 which parodied ancient cartoons, and the techniques used by animators to fake a 'film break', by having a Wild West cartoon, supposedly made in 1885, continually have faults with the tracking and the film running too fast, as well as the occasional break in the film, rendering it impossible sometimes for characters to do anything...
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See also

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External links

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