Introduction

by **pomocho** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:28 am

Mine is a convoluted story -- and I'll apologize in advance if it is a boring one.

I have an interesting relationship with the works of Tezuka. I am actually a sort of "lapsed fan" of anime and manga, who lost interest in these genres after my teenage years. During that time, I went to college, got my degree(s), and entered the academy as an instructor and (hopefully) future PhD student in English literature. As you could tell, my foci and interests have shifted quite a lot over the years, and though I feel this transition has made me a little more critical of some of the stuff I once thought was golden, I still cannot shake the quality artistry and storytelling of "classic" anime and manga -- specifically, the retro, the old-school, the lost and forgotten.

Let me explain: when I was into this stuff, I spent most of my energies on older shows and comics that, at the time, was not at the vanguard of cool. In fact, I found myself more drawn to the works of Matsumoto, Yokoyama, and Ikeda than the established (and more marketable) material that everyone else raved about. Through and through, I was more attracted to the older -- and, in my opinion, more refined -- examples of the anime and manga genre. One figure who I always wanted to explore more of was Osamu Tezuka. At the time, I had only experience the fascinating Blackjack OVA and the near-transcendent Phoenix 2772 (hacked-n-dubbed though it might have been). I also found, through various channels (this was before YouTube, Torrents, and the DVD revolution, kids!) some VHS copies of various shows from the fifties and sixties -- in raw Japanese, of course, but better than nothing. I never read any of his manga -- translated manga was rare back then, and nobody was even looking at that old stuff.

Lately, though, I have found myself re-exploring some of the anime and manga of my past -- and re-encountered Tezuka's work. I was delighted to find out he had been translated -- and, to my admission, I went crazy. I ordered the first volume of Phoenix, Ode to Kirihito, Apollo's Song, and the flawed-but-interesting Nextworld. I am definitely planning on getting more -- and have also looked into buying some of the translated manga of older series (that To Terra book looks really interesting).

At this moment, I am not only exploring a casual fan interest in Tezuka's work, but have also considered working on a short academic paper for conferences and publication. I would love to discuss some of my ideas on these books with you guys and possibly collaborate with many of you. But above all, I just want to have a place to discuss my newfound enthusiasm for an artist I just recently rediscovered.

When I was younger, I was the only person I knew into all this stuff. Now things have changed.

To now discuss Tezuka with others is the greatest gift of all.

by **cmoon** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:57 am

Welcome to the forums...

Obviously it is a great time to be a English-reading Tezuka fan (in fact this is true for a lot of manga) since we are now for the first time seeing so much of this stuff available for the first time or receiving much more serious treatment than before (so maybe taking a break wasn't such a bad idea.)

I was thinking of, for instance, how horrible it might have been to be a fan of Lone Wolf & Cub during its original US printing, only to never get the whole story arc. Or perhaps more relevant to us, those two VIZ volumes of Black Jack. Now we're finally going to get all of Black Jack; and we already have all of Phoenix, Buddha, enough Astro to keep anyone happy I think (I don't think it is all of us, but it is definitely enough!), etc. etc. with quite a bit more of the way. Read between the lines and I think we might even get Leo out of Vertical if we keep pestering them. and are patient.

As far as more serious study. I think Tezuka is deep enough to deserve it. He doesn't just throw out themes but seems to explore the same territory with new variants and a more penetrating vision in every story. For instance, the ideas he first explores in Leo are very much the same ideas that show up in the mature Phoenix stories, but yes, of course, they have matured and become a philosophy of sorts. The fact that we know what a Tezuka story is when we read it, and that he's very capable of both being a great story-teller and thinker (and getting the rest of us to think) is certainly enough to justify whatever academic study you had intended of him.

Speaking of Tezuka study himself, what would be nice is an English translation of the biography written of him, and there's also a comic of his life work, only in Japanese of course. Well, I can dream...

Oh, and lastly, as MOD it is my job to point out that we do have forum rules which you can read on the main forum (they are stickied.) Most people miss 'em.

by **strobe_z** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:34 pm

Welcome pomocho.

It's always nice to be able to welome more Tezuka fans to the forum. I know we're out there, but it's sometimes hard for people to realize that they're not alone in the English-speaking world when they're fans of Tezuka.

Oh, and just to touch on something cmoon mentioned, I can't think why anyone would not be happy about Astro Boy manga - I'm pretty sure all of it's been translated into English.

by **cmoon** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:45 pm

That could just be me--I was thinking the 23 volumes or so of it that Dark Horse put out wasn't complete. Regardless, it is more than enough Astroboy for me.

by **pomocho** » Sun Mar 30, 2008 7:50 pm

Thank you, both.

As you could probably tell, I'm from an era where the only Tezuka manga printed in English existed only in Japan, and most of what I was able to find of his consisted solely of hack-n-slash children adaptations of his work, and the occasional oddity like the dubbed Phoenix 2772 anime. I am, frankly, quite pleased to see that a wide selection of Tezuka manga are now available, specifically many of his often-ignored masterworks (in the west, anyway): Phoenix, Buddha, the forthcoming Blackjack--heck, I've even read that Princess Knight might be coming out soon.

I am a little surprised that so little has been written on Tezuka in American academia, as he is a figure whose oeuvre is more mature, philosophical, and rich in meaning than the majority of the works that came in his wake. I will keep my eyes open for anything interesting during my research -- we'll see.

Thanks for the welcome, guys. I look forward to discussing these works with you as I experience them. Keep in mind that I am just now being acquainted with many of Tezuka's works. I have not read much of his Phoenix saga, have read nothing of Buddha, know next to nothing about Blackjack, and eagerly look forward to going through Ode to Kirihito and MW (when I buy it). So this will be new territory for me.

by **cmoon** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 12:02 am

by **Pinka** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 6:22 pm

Hi there i hope you enjoy your time here

a english version of Princess Knight manga is comming out? SWEET!
thanks for the info!

Buddha has been translated into Dutch to but i just don't have the money to buy all volumes : (
Black Jack has yet to be released here in Holland ( why oh why? )

by **Princess Sapphire** » Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:05 pm

by **Potato** » Fri Apr 04, 2008 5:33 am

[Evil laugh] Velcome. Vee hope you eenjoy your stay at zeez forums. Vile you caaaaaaaaan. Hahahaha. Ahahaha.

*cough* o.O Sorry.

Welcome to both newest members.

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