Kimba / Jungle Emperor

[cmoon]

[cmoon]

I've spoken a bit with the fellow who runs kimbawlion.com and am under the impression that the 80's series is a bit out of control, with most of humor from Kimba gone (though hopefully I'll get to see some of it.) Only a few episodes were completed under Tezuka's direction before his death, so who knows?

Went back and reread some of the manga, which leaves me even more confused. While Kimba is clearly toned down from the manga, a pretty high ratio of fluff, and a garbled translation, it still may be closer to the tone of the manga than anything else. I am REALLY enjoying season 2, but after going back and rereading the manga, I've realized it doesn't just completely ignore the manga's plot, it actually ignores the whole feel of it. It may be that season 2 is more a reaction to all the concessions made over season 1, and ended up going too far the other direction. Again, I'm enjoying it, but despite claims that season 2 is closer to what Tezuka envisioned for the anime, it ultimately ends up having less to do with the manga than Kimba did. WEIRD!

So here I'm stuck. I'd take the manga over either season 1 or 2, but both have some pretty serious strengths, and honestly, both seasons AND the manga have their weaknesses. I love them, but I keep wondering how to introduce people to this work...? Probably best to start with something else by Tezuka.

[KimbaWLion]

[cmoon]

[Ash]

I got the German version of the manga yesterday (actually, #2 is still in backorder, but it shouldn't be long) and just started it.

At the moment I have some problems with some sudden scene changings, which feel kinda awkward. Usually I have no problem following Tezuka, but in 2 or 3 chapters I really had stop a bit to understand what was going on.. I'm kinda interested in how the story turns out though, because at the moment all I can predict is Kimba's trial to go back to Africa, but the appearence of Kenichi and Shunsaku make me wonder whether the story won't go another way.

I was surprised that the manga is just 3 volumes, I always assumed it was much longer. Not that Tezuka need that much pages, as he can usually tell impressively much with few pages.

[cmoon]

Again, this comic is really early. The step between things like Lost World is not so great, yet the overall effect is very significant. Leo definitely has all the problems of Tezuka's early manga, but here (for the first time I think) he gets the formula right, and in its whole, the story works (yes, there's a huge story in those three volumes--if he had rewritten them later, it would have been more like the size of buddha!)

There are definitely continuity errors. At one point when they introduce the backstory of why Leo's ancestry is smarter than other lions, there is a portion where it seems like something else is going to develop out of it, then they just drop for like a hundred pages or so. Was there something lost/edited?

Like the earlier stories, there are parts of Leo that are missing...or at least, there were some parts in an earlier version that have been lost. This may at least in part explain continuity errors, but I suspect it also just shows how Tezuka was still developing his abilities.

Either way, I'm thrilled your reading it. With all its faults this is still one of my favorite stories. Once you have read this, do give some attention to the Kimba/onward leo animes, though you will have to slog through some less than stellar moments with both series. *hopes KimbaWLion doesn't read that*

[Huscheli]

Actually the Kimba manga was what got me interested in Tezukas works. When I saw in a preview that it was going to be released in Germany back in 2000 I really looked foreward to it because it looked so cute and I love animal comics. When I finally bought it I was very surprised first (I knew it was old, but compared to all the manga/comics I read before it's style really was different) but later on was very pleased. I loved that it wasn't just "cute" but also very serious. Well I was very happy with it and wanted to read other Tezuka stuff. Unfortunately there wasn't anything else avaiable besides Astro Boy in German that time (which I wasn't really interested in because I thought I wouldn't like it because of all that robot stuff...silly me) so I didn't buy anything else until I bought Kirihito in French, which was a big jump (stylwhise and storywhise) lol but well...I still like the Kimba manga very much.
I bought the DVD set later on but I'm not that happy wiht it. I've never seen the anime before and it was just to non-manga-ish for me, since most episodes were just some other stories. It's not bad but I was much more happy with the Jungle Emperor Movie I bought later.

[cmoon]

The animated series (kimba and onward leo) both have remarkably good stuff in them, but also a lot of throw away stuff--often in the same episode. This requires a certain kind of patience that not everyone is into. Technically Kimba itself is classic, but so many people talk about the good achieved in NOT allowing Tezuka to do what he wanted, I disagree. The discontinuity offered through an English dub (that was unaware of the storyline) did much to hurt ther series, plus edits that neutered a few of the better episodes. Nonetheless, Tezuka does somehow push his ideas past the censors, edits and mistranslations--and some of these ideas are great extensions of the ideas found in the manga. Ironically, without the edits and censors, Onward Leo also suffers, but this also has a few moments which add considerably to the manga. Ultimately I feel if one loves the former, they should dig their way into the animated films, regardless of the problems.

Of course there is a huge Kimba fan base, and before I piss them off entirely I should say that despite its problems, they should dig their way into the manga for its consistant vision and more coherent plotline.

Amazing, the movie (which is the most consistant) is the one thing I have the least use for. Don't ask me why, but I find it without much spirit. It is OK, but really nothing more than a slow, plodding visual reenactment of the manga. Suddenly I understand why Tezuka felt the need to do with his TV series what he had NOT done with the manga.

[Huscheli]

[cmoon]

[Huscheli]

[cmoon]

[Ash]

[cmoon]

[Ash]