Zephyrus

Secondary Star (★★)

Despite the masculine name, Zephyrus is one of Tezuka’s archetypal females. Her first appearance was as a set of beautiful septuplets in the 1968 story Swallowing the Earth, but her best known roles are that of the Black Queen in Black Jack, and the role which bears her name, that of the spirit of the west wind (Zephyr), in Unico. She is known for her beauty and her femininity. In Swallowing the Earth, which is a satire about gender relations in a male-dominated society, she was also known for her vengeful hatred of men, which made her appearance as the Black Queen something of an ironic twist. The Black Queen, real name Dr. Kuwata (married name Dr. Suzuki), appears in two issues of Black Jack, “Black Queen” (Jan 13th 1975) and “The Last Train,” (Jan 16, 1978, French ed. vol 9 #5). Both have been printed in the French editions, but not in English. She is a lady doctor specializing in amputation, and infamous in the medical community for being heartless and unemotional, earning her the nickname, “Black Queen,” a reference to the infamously heartless Dr. Black Jack. She meets Black Jack and they hit it off well, enough for her to be considered one of Black Jack’s romantic interests. Fortunately or unfortunately, she is already engaged to Rock, and the stories of both issues show her facing the choice between the two men, but as a background to more pressing decisions in which she must choose between her life as a wife and a woman and her medical career.

Long-time Tezuka readers may recognize Zephyrus from the Black Jack stories ‘Black Queen’ (1975) and ‘The Last Train’ (1978), where she plays an icy female surgeon attracted to the dark doctor. Appropriately, the Zephyrus in these Black Jack stories is engaged to Rock Holmes, a.k.a. Makube Rokuro, the same dark master of disguise from Vampires whose techniques Zephyrus borrows for some of her own schemes. These techniques are then in turn borrowed back by Rock in a more mature form in the 1969 Vampires part two. A softer version of Zephyrus appeared as Hayame in ‘Karma’ in 1970, widely considered the strongest volume of Phoenix. Another, friendlier later version of Zephyrus appears in Unico in 1976 as an airy spirit who protects the young unicorn and helps him flee the fates who want to destroy him; kind, but still icy due to her airy nature. Some may also recognize the ancient ruined kingdom of Mu, seen in many Tezuka series, from Astro Boy to The Three-Eyed One.

ゼフィルス白いロングヘアーに、なまめかしいボディでセクシーさを誇る美女。 初出演は『地球を呑む』（1968年）。 同作中における「ゼフィルス」は、変装で外見を統一した複数の女性を含んでおり、そのうちのひとり「ミルダ」の素顔による演技も「ゼフィルス」の出演としてカウントすることがある（公式サイトであるTezukaOsamu.netのキャラクター名鑑がこの説を採っている）。 ゼフィルスという名はギリシャ神話の西風の精ゼピュロスに由来しており、『 ユニコ （リリカ版）』（1976年）では実際に「西風の精」役で登場した。 他の出演作でも、文字通り「人外」の美女として登場することが多い。 なお、手塚の短編の中に『ZEPHYRUS（ゼフィルス）』（1971年）という題のものがあるが、これは彼女と関係なく、 同名の蝶を扱った話である。

Zephyrus
On white long hair, and beauty boasts a sexy with voluptuous body. First appearance is “to drink the Earth” (1968). “Zephyrus” in the same is operating and, includes a plurality of women who unify the appearance in disguise, acting by the true face of One “Miruda” of which also is sometimes to count (official site as a performer of “Zephyrus” character Directory of TezukaOsamu.net are taking this theory). Named Zephyrus is derived from the seminal Zephyrus of the west wind of Greek mythology, “Unico (Lyrica Version)” appeared in (1976), the actual “west wind of the seminal” role. In other feature films, often appearing as a beautiful woman of literally “evildoer”. In addition, there are those entitled “ZEPHYRUS (Zephyrus)” (1971) in the Tezuka short, this is no matter with her, dealing with the same name of the butterfly story.