English Manga

Translations

Check out the Free Weekly Astro Boy manga iPod magazine, soon to be followed by iPod releases of Phoenix and Black Jack.

Tezuka manga printed in English:

The English translations discussed in detail below are listed by publisher. To get further discounts, or to order manga or anime from several different publishers at once, we recommend rightstuf.com.

  • DIGITAL MANGA PUBLISHING (DMP):

The newest US company to venture into Tezuka Publishing, DMP will soon release Swallowing the Earth, one of the earlier examples Tezuka's turn toward dark, adult subjects in the later 1960s. Their release will feature an introduction by Tezuka's closest American friend Fred Schodt, the author of the Astro Boy Essays.

  • VERTICAL, INC.:

Vertical, Inc. is not usually a manga publisher, but is rather a group specializing in translation of modern fiction (primarily novels) from Japanese to English. They have produced a beautiful hardcover edition of Tezuka's Buddha, which won an Eisner Award for Best Foreign Work.

Buddha
Tezuka's manga biography of the Buddha, Vertical's most succesful release, published in Eight volumes in hard cover and paperback. Available at Vertical, Inc.'s Buddha page. The site also includes title-specific links to Amazon and other online booksellers.

Ode to Kirihito
Vertical's second project was Kirihito, the third of Tezuka's doctor stories. It is part of Vertical's project to translate his more mature and adult series. For more info, see our Kirihito page.

Apollo's Song (aka. Song for Apollo)
Vertical's third Tezuka release, this science fiction reincarnation story explores the life of a boy driven to hate love. Recommended especially for first-time Tezuka readers, it serves as a microcosm showcasing many of Tezuka's usual signatures, including sci-fi, fantasy, mythology, war stories, historical work and his Star System. For more information, see our Apollo's Song page.

MW
An extremely dark series from late in Tezuka's exploration of the psychology of evil, MW describes the twisted romantic relationship between a young, handsome multiple murderer and a Catholic priest. See our MW page.

Dororo
Vertical's latest project is Tezuka's beloved samurai story Dororo, published in three volumes. A transitional piece between the early and middle parts of Tezuka's work, Dororo served as a prototype for Black Jack. See our Dororo page.

Vertical's next project will be a complete release of Tezuka's long-awaited Black Jack.

  • DARK HORSE GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Though Dark Horse is primarily a publisher of American comics, they have published multiple manga series over the years, and representatives of the company have repeatedly expressed a dedication to producing English translations of manga by Osamu Tezuka. They are responsible for many of the most important, and most risky, US releases of Tezuka work, and Tezuka fans everywhere are eternally grateful.

While the Dark Horse website does not have a page for each individual series, all of their Tezuka works can be found by searching for Tezuka at the Dark Horse Comics website. Their graphic novels cannot be ordered directly through their website, but can be ordered easily through most online booksellers and anime retailers - we recommend Rightstuf.com. All of Dark Horse's publications of Tezuka's work have been in trade paperback format, with outstanding notes and introductions.

Astro Boy
The issues of Astro Boy were reprinted out of their original order in this twenty-three-volume set of paperback graphic novels from Dark Horse, but included in each volume are explanations and background information presented in comic format, drawn by Tezuka himself. All twenty-three volumes are currently in print. This is the only edition of Astro Boy currently available in licensed English translation.

Lost World
All of Lost World is available in a single trade paperback, still in print from Dark Horse. This is the only edition of Lost World currently available in licensed English translation. This manga is one part of Tezuka's "science fiction trilogy," along with Metropolis and Nextworld.

Metropolis
Metropolis is also available in one slim volume, still in print from Dark Horse. This is the only edition of Metropolis currently available in licensed English translation. This manga is one part of Tezuka's "science fiction trilogy," along with Lost World and Nextworld.

Nextworld
The Nextworld manga is available in two volumes from Dark Horse; both are available and in print. This is the only edition of Nextworld currently available in licensed English translation. This manga is one part of Tezuka's "science fiction trilogy."

  • VIZ GRAPHIC NOVELS:

Phoenix
Available at the Phoenix page of VIZ's online store.
VIZ has nearly completed its release of the Phoenix manga. The first Phoenix volume VIZ released was actually chapter 2, Future, which was released in a very large paperback simple called 'Phoenix: a tale of the future'. Later on, they started a fresh release starting with Volume 1 and continuing in publication order. Ten volumes have been released and the eleventh and final volume of the original series will be released Sept 19th 2007. Following this volume was a twelfth volume containing the older chapters of Phoenix, which are rough versions of Phoenix predating the first volume of the standard edition; these volumes, 'Dawn' and 'Egypt, Greece, Rome' were printed in a single collection.

Black Jack
OUT OF PRINT: These issues of Black Jack were first serialized by VIZ in Animerica Extra and in single issues, then released in two volumes, Black Jack, and Black Jack 2 two-fisted surgeon, in 19??. These volumes are now out of print, and VIZ is not currently publishing any new issues of Black Jack. Being out of print, the volumes are hard to find, but they are still avaible on the VIZ website, and Right Stuf still has copies of volume 2. We also recommend trying ebay.com or a used book finding service. Volume 1 contains the origin of one of the series' more important characters, Pinoko, but other than that there is no plot continuity between the two volumes, so you can easily read volume 2 without volume 1. Unfortunately, this is the only licensed English translation of Black Jack.

In July 2007, Viz published a selection from Princess Knight in their monthly shoujo anthology Shoujo Beat. No announcement has been made but it is hoped that this will be the prelude to a complete release.

Cadence Books, a now-defunct subset of VIZ media, released Tezuka’s Adolf, a commentary on the social impact of the second world war, in a beautiful five-volume edition.
Some volumes of Adolf are available at VIZ's site or at rightstuf.com. This edition is out of print, and volume 1 is particularly difficult to find. VIZ has confirmed that this edition will not be reprinted because it predated digitization - they have not ruled out the possibility of bringing out a new edition at some point.

BILINGUAL MANGA EDITIONS:

  • KODANSHA:

Princess Knight
Princess Knight is one of the foundation works of shoujo or Girls’ comics, depicting the fairy-tale adventures of Sapphire, a princess born with both a male and female soul. This was put out by Kodansha in an excellent bilingual Japanese/English edition but is now out of print. Hunt for it the way you would for any out of print title - it is usually not available on Kodansha’s own homepage. This shoujo manga index does not let you order the volumes, but has cover pictures and ISBN numbers. NOTE: this series is available in Italian (see below).
Some of the series can be found at Planet Anime, but not all. It has been out of stock at times, and may soon be out of stock permanently. amazon.co.jp, Amazon's Japanese store can get all of it for you. But order soon, because no more copies of the bilingual edition are being printed, since Kodansha cancelled the bilingual line. The manga can also sometimes be found at Manga Direct.

  • Japan Times

In 1990, Japan Times released Tezuka's 1953 adaptation of Crime and Punishment in a bilingual Japanese/English edition. This is a very early Tezuka series, written in a period when most of his work was sci-fi or childrens' adventure, but Crime and Punishment introduces some of the darker themes whichh will become prominent in his later work. Though now out print, this rare edition can be ordered online from thisShitajiki seller - web page in English. For more information, see Tezuka World's Crime and Punishment page.



For more information, try the following pages:

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

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