Tezuka In English Discussion Forums

The Tezuka Star System has always wowed me, the concept of developing characters to "perform" and then be reprised in similar,
and sometimes disimilar roles in future works. Just incredible.

What was thinking? Where did he get that? Was that an idea
inspired from film or theater, or somewhere else?

And who else has a Star System? CLAMP definitely comes to mind.
(and were they inspired by Tezuka to do that?)

Any thoughts or comments in general on that?

thanks,

David

CLAMP has a bit of a star system, but not much, since usually they have direct cross-overs rather than alternate versions of people. The Subaru and Seishiro that appear in X-1999 are the same ones as the ones in Tokyo Babylon, not alternate versions. The only real alternate universe thing they've done is Tsubasa.

Leiji Matsumoto kind of has a star system, in that he has the same characters appear in multiple incarnatinos in the backstory sections of his Harlock Saga, but it's hard with him sometimes to tell if a character is supposed to be the same or if they just all look alike, since his character designs don't have much variety. Also he really only has 4 character designs, while Tezuka has dozens, so I must say the Leiji-verse gets dull for me after a while without sufficient variety.