Futureman Kaos (Manga)

Also known as 未来人カオス (Mirai Jin Kaosu)

Futureman Kaos (1978-79), Osamu Tezuka’s science-fiction tale of friendship and betrayal was originally serialized in Weekly Shonen Magazine from April 1978 to January 1979.

What it’s about

Best Friends Forever…

As childhood friends, Koji Suhami and Jo Daigo jointly decide to take the entrance examinations to the prestigious Milky Way Academy – a prestigious institution whose graduates are all but assured of an important posting in the Space Emigration Bureau.  However, when only Koji passes the test, a mysterious figure approaches the dejected Jo and tells him that if he kills Koji, his entrance to the academy and subsequent important job are guaranteed.  Driven by greed, Jo accepts the offer and kills his childhood friend.

Afterwards, a mysterious young girl transports Koji’s corpse to outer space – where he is restored to life using an android body and sent back to Earth.  Finding ten years have passed since his earlier demise, Koji also discovers that his old friend is now the Director-General of the Space Emigration Bureau.  Jo, learning of Koji’s return, exiles him to the desolate prison planet known as Chaos.  After a meteor shower annihilates all life on Chaos, Koji, now known as Kaos, is left all alone until an alien pilot makes an emergency landing on the planet.  The two eventually become friends and when the alien pilot is eventually rescued, Kaos is taken along, albeit as a prisoner and a slave yet again.

This marks a beginning of a life of exile and wandering.  Over the course of his interstellar adventure, Kaos will visit desolate planets, tyrannical civilizations, and will eventually make his way back to Earth and into a final showdown with his old friend Jo.

Betrayed!

What you should know

Despite being often referred to as “Space Robinson Crusoe”, Futureman Kaos (1978-79) is in fact much more than that.  Although Tezuka did model much of Kaos’ life of exile on Daniel Defoe’s classic novel, in Futureman Kaos (1978-79) Tezuka seems much more interested in asking a question about the true nature of friendship.

Hard at work on Chaos

Drawing inspiration from the biblical story of fratricide, Cain and Abel, Tezuka uses Koji Suhami and Jo Daigo’s childhood friendship to explore the depths of betrayal – posing questions as to the value of and limits to friendship.  Throughout his solitary adventure, Kaos repeatedly gains and loses companions, finds aid from enemies and is betrayed by those he thought of as friends.  Tezuka also seems interested in discovering if a friendship, once lost, can ever be regained.  In fact, the final confrontation between Kaos and Jo hinges on the question of whether or not a friendship can be salvaged even in the face of the ultimate, mortal, betrayal.

Tezuka also explores his favourite themes, of reincarnation and the nature of life.  Although it lacks the depth and breadth of his masterpiece Phoenix (1967-88), by having Koji die and be resurrected in an android body, through Futureman Kaos (1978-79) Tezuka is able to ask some pointed questions about what it means to be human.  Are Koji and Kaos really the same person?

Finally, sharp-eyed fans will notice something familiar in terms of Tezuka’s artwork in the series.  Ever the film-buff, the fact that Star Wars (1977) was released in Japan in June 1978, shortly after Futureman Kaos (1978-79) began serialization, doesn’t seem to have escaped Tezuka.  Especially later in the series, many of the spaceship designs bear a striking resemblance to George Lucas’ epic space opera.