Toppei (★★★)

Also known as トッペイ (Toppei)

Status: Primary Star (★★★)

Toppei’s main role is as a central character in Vampires (1967-69), a supernatural drama series noted for being the first story in which Tezuka focused deeply on evil characters and the dark side of human nature, and the first in which Tezuka had himself play a major role in the story. Toppei is a young vampire from a tribe of vampires who turn into wolves when there is a full moon. He and his friend Tezuka work with researchers who study vampires, to try to treat the problem, but unfortunately Toppei’s transformation is witnessed by Makube Rokuro, the first sinister version of Rock Holmes, who tries to force Toppei to serve his criminal schemes.

After a brief conflict early on, Makube winds up saving Toppei’s life, and toppei, beholden to him, starts helping him in his crimes, a tension which will continue for the rest of the series. Toppei is basically a good and sweet young man caught up in unfortunate events, but Tezuka also used this story and the theme of animal transformation to explore the violent and primitive drives of the human subconscious, and we see the animal instinct play out in Toppei. Toppei’s character design also features in other Tezuka stories, includingBlack Jack where Black Jack chooses Toppei’s face as the one to give a friend who needs plastic surgery to escape his enemies (Mutual aid, French vol. 4 #3), an interesting fact given that he uses Rock (Makube)’s face for the same purpose in issue 1.

Distinguishing Features

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Manga Appearances

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