Italian Manga

Translations

  • For Italian language news & resources visit Osamushi.it

In the 1960s and 1970s, Italy was the first Western country to air many of Tezuka's animated works, so many of the current generation of manga readers grew up watching Princess Knight, The Mysterious Melmo and other series with little US presence. For this reason, Tezuka manga has been selling better in Italy than in any other Western nation, though France has recently caught up.

The following manga by Osamu Tezuka are currently out in Italian:

  • Adolf
  • Ayako
  • Buddha
  • Black Jack
  • Dororo (partial)
  • Joe e il capitano (Joe o tezuneta otoko)
  • Kimba
  • *Kirihito <= latest release
  • MW
  • Phoenix
  • Princess Knight
  • Osamu Tezuka: Una Biografia Manga

There are three good Italian online stores which carry Tezuka manga. None have a complete selection, but between them they cover everything:

  • Unilibro.it , best selection and easiest web page.
  • Internet Bookshop Italia, also good selection
  • Gullivertown , best prices, a little less selection

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    Hazard Edizioni:
    This major Italian publisher of Fumetti (comics) has put out manyTezuka works including:

  • Adolf published as La storia dei tre Adolf, was first printed in Italian from January to November 1998.
  • Ayako, a late three volume series treating the impact of the second world war on traditional Japanese family structure, printed in three volumes in Italian from June to September 2004, now complete. See our Ayako page.
  • 25 volumes of Black Jack - this release (March 2002 to March 2005) is now finished, and the early volumes are already going out of print and hard to find. This release reproduces the original Shounen Champion edition, and is the most complete version of Black Jack available in any language. A complete issue-by-issue index, including a list of the eight excluded issues, may be found here.
  • Buddha in fourteen volumes, released from January 1999 to September 2002, now complete.
  • Princess Knight the comlete story in three volumes (2001-2002) published as La Principessa Zaffiro, released from May to November 2001
  • Kimba the White Lion began to be released by Hazard in May 2005.
  • MW is another late Tezuka social commentary, treating the themes of military corruption, homosexuality and Chrisitanity. It was printed in three volumes in Italian from February to June 2005, and is now comlete. See our MW page.
  • Phoenix began to be released by Hazard in 2005 and Kirihito began a four volume release mid-2006.

    For Hazard's index of all their Italian Tezuka series as well as a brief bio of Tezuka and the history of his works’ translation into Italian go here.

    Kabuki publishing:
    Kabuki publishing printed two volumes of Dororo from June 2001 to July 2002, then stopped - this edition is far from complete.

    Star comics:
    Star comics printed a special one-shot edition of Joe e il capitano (Joe o tezuneta otoko) in November 1994.

    Coconino Press:
    This fumetti publisher has translated the five-volume manga biography of Tezuka, published as Osamu Tezuka - Una Biografia Manga. Covering Tezuka’s whole life from early childhood and playfully narrated by Shunsaku Ban, this is a fabulous resource and an absolute must for any Tezuka fan who can read even a tiny snippet of Italian. This was printed in Italian in 2001. You can order the Italian volumes at the Coconino Press site.

    For more information, try the following pages:

    ANIMATION IN ENGLISH
    Tezuka Manga in translation OVERVIEW
    Tezuka Manga in French
    Tezuka manga in English
    Tezuka manga in Spanish
    General series information - descriptions and summaries of Ayako, MW, Rainbow Parakeet and more

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