The Influence of Tezuka's Works on Modern Anime

[Bigdog]

I have noticed that in recent years, animation has been more and more influenced by Osamu Tezuka's pen than previous.

In games like Pokemon, Shinx and its evolutions are influenced by Kimba the White Lion while in Shin Megami Tensei, a certain demon looks like Astro Boy.

In anime I have loved as a child, I noticed that Naoko Takeuchi 's Sailor Moon ,Dragon Ball and Rurouni Kenshin have been collectively influenced by Tezuka's Melmo , Monkey King and Dororo in various degrees of homage. IN Sailor Moon, Usagi and the other senshi have the ability to take disguises in the same way Melmo could change her age and not coinciednetally tackled issues like feminism , rape and homosexuality in the teenage setting. Not sure of the second , but both authors tackled the same character as a parody. For the final one, Kenshin and the main samurai warrior have a serious streak to them that borders on deadly. Also in the midst, Yu-Gi-Oh! was inspired by "The Three Eyed One's concept of a possessed bullied teen , but in the spin of Ancient Egypt.

While in Western animation, The Three Eyed One ,Melmo and Astro Boy/Dororo have played a big role. Take Avatar : The Last Airbender, WITCH, Robot Boy, Samurai Jack, PPG for example. Avatar most noticeably takes the tattoo idea from TTEO and inversed it. Instead of being from an evil civilization, Aang is from a peaceful civilization influenced by Tibetan Buddhism , leading a life in the path of enlightenment and fighting to restore balance while trying to live his people's belief that life is sacred in his actions. There is also reincarnation, with the added bonus of advice from the previous incarnations, so there's a total Phoenix/Buddha influence.

Witch takes the Magical Girl genre into a Western spin and Robot Boy is an amalgamation of the Teenage Robot, Jetter mars and Astro Boy. Samurai Jack has the influence of Dororo & Akira Kurosawa while PPG follows a tongue in cheek model of superheroines who are like Astro Boy . Then there's the Teenage Robot which is the best homage to Astro and retro anime I've ever seen .

I might have missed many more but this is all I got. I don't recall ever seeing this much influence of Tezuka's works in animation before his death and it seems that many have came out of the gutter at once . Maybe it's because of the Astro Boy generation , but I love it and it's why I'm his fan.

[Jeffbert]

Not to mention that Sailor Moon uses the same type of inadequate disguises/costumes as Ribon no Kishi; DD & Nylon immediately saw through Sapphire's costume & ran to check COFFIN TOWER to see if Sapphire was there.

[Bigdog]

I'm afraid that I am not versed in the likes of Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight). I hope I get the first volume as a b-day gift from my older sis alongside Sailor Moon volume 2 since it peaked my interests because of my love for Sailor Moon going back to my childhood. I have not seen any heroine from the Magical Girl subgenre as good as Cutie Honey or PK in concept in awhile since I have not seen anything that is not kiddified and watered to the extreme.

I loved how Takeuchi tackled the inconvenient transformations in her comics and if that's any indication, perhaps Ribon no Kishi will be amazing. The only problem I've had with Sailor Moon was the same problem I have with Power Rangers and Super Sentai in general but magnified: the Sailor senshi's faces are clearly shown for all to see ,some of those in the public at some instances even see their faces like friends. They also have the same hairstyles, color coordination and same voices which should make their disposal easy for the villains but nothing really happens. How can their parents and siblings [if any] not realize this ? Mind you I've only read the first volume so maybe it will be answered?

I wished "The Three-Eyed One" was released in the states on DVD subbed and the manga was picked up because it reminds me so much of my favorite shows/manga Avatar and Yugioh. I wonder if there's any official releases of it abroad with English subs?

Have they ever made Ribon no Kishi into an anime?

[strobe_z]

Funny you should ask... I just finished sorting out the Princess Knight Series section on the website. Everything you could possibly want to know (and more!) - http://tezukainenglish.com/bm/series/pr ... ndex.shtml

[Manetoys]

I always thought My Life as a Teenage Robot was what you'd get if the writers of Powerpuff Girls wrote for Astro Boy

[astarisborn94]

Which is exactly why I bothered to look at what started all of these things, especially Astro Boy. No doubt has Tezuka been incredibly influential and I would think that his catalogue is worthy of being digged into.