Lost World (1948), the opening act in Osamu Tezuka's early "science-fiction trilogy", was originally published by Fuji Shobo as as a book-length adventure split into two parts. Both Volume 1 (subtitled "The Earth") and Volume 2 (subtitled "The Universe") both hit the shelves at the same time on December 20, 1948.
Tezuka's samurai-era short tale of revenge and redemption, Tales of Summer Grass (1954) was originally published in the June 1954 issue of Manga Shonen.
Originally published from January to October 1963 in Shonen Book, Osamu Tezuka’s The Shinsengumi (1963) is another of Tezuka’s samurai-style series, including Castle of Dawn (1959-61) and I Am Sarutobi (1960-61), which draw on well-known characters and events from Japan’s feudal history.
What it’s about
In Kyoto, in the late 1800s, the son of a local book-binder, Kyujuro Fukakusa sees his father murdered before his very eyes and vows to have his revenge. … Read the rest
While exploring a cave at Mt. Shaugi, Mustachio and Astro discover the remains of Prof. Ryotaro Felini, an old friend of Dr. Ochanomizu's and a noted conservationist, as well as his pet cat, Chiri. When Mustachio is later woken up by the "Red Cat", an suddenly anthropomorphic Chiri, he is told that humans threatening to despoil the last virgin woodland in the greater Tokyo area will pay the ultimate price. He then visits Mr. Condo, a local developer, and discovers that Felini had approached him in an attempt to preserve Sasagaya Forest. However Condo betrayed Felini's trust and the furious environmental activist vowed his revenge. After Astro unmasks the Red Cat, the very-much-alive Felini reveals that he faked his own death, and every animal in Tokyo goes crazy and begins terrorizing the humans. When his beloved Chiri is killed by accident, Felini goes off the deep end and threatens some kidnapped children with dynamite. With no other choice, Astro gives him an electric shock, but it sets off the dynamite and he is mortally wounded. On his death-bed Dr. Ochanomizu tells Felini that the construction project has been stopped and Sasagaya Forest is safe. With that, Felini dies happily and is buried in the forest he fought so hard to protect.
When the human engineers at a robot factory become overly lazy, a large, unfinished robot named "Frankenstein" is prematurely activated and it begins to run amok. Going on a rampage through town, Frankenstein eventually falls in with some gangsters who use him to commit crimes. This proves to be the spark that enflames a group of robots who feel they've been mistreated by humanity into launching a coup d'état - taking Dr. Ochanomizu and Kenichi prisoner in the process. Deciding Frankenstein is the key to stopping the madness, Astro defeats him in battle and has him repaired. Now a "good robot", Frankenstein rescues Dr. Ochanomizu and Kenichi, and reveals that the robot rebels are, in fact, human beings. After the dust settles, it's decided that the whole mess was caused by humans and Astro Boy is proclaimed a hero.
When Astro's friend Tamao starts acting crazy, Kenichi takes him, kicking and screaming, to see Dr. Ochanomizu. He examines Tamao and discovers a strange vapor-like mist emanating from the boy's head. After capturing it in glass bottle, they discover that gaseous beings from the upper stratosphere have descended to the ground on a mission of conquest. As a gas, the brings are able to enter human bodies and manipulate them against their will. When Astro discovers a plot to poison the water reservoirs, he stops flow of water through the pipes. However, the public misunderstands the situation and attempt to destroy Astro Boy in retaliation. Eventually, Dr. Ochanomizu develops a plan to freeze the gas people, and, after Astro detonates a bomb in the stratosphere, they fall to the ground as harmless snow.
Osamu Tezuka's take on the French literary work, Cyrano the Hero (1953) was originally published over 7 monthly instalments, from April to November 1953, in Shonen Illustrated [少 年画報] - sandwiched in between the first and second runs of Tezuka's cowboy adventure, The Cactus Kid (1951-54).
Originally serialized in Shonen Illustrated [少年画報] from May 1965 to August 1967, Ambassador Magma (1965-67) is Osamu Tezuka’s most recognizable entry in the long line of “giant robot” or mecha stories in Japanese manga adventures,
The Mysterious Underground Men (1948), was originally published as a stand-alone book by Fuji Shobo and released on February 20, 1948. One of his earliest feature-length works, Tezuka considered it his very first “story manga”.
Ongoing Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is connected from chapter to chapter and must be read in chronological order for it to be understood properly.
Chapter Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is self-contained to a single chapter. There may be an overarching plot, but the stories can generally be read in any order and be understood
Book: an all-in-one self contained story published as a one-off.
Supplement: an an all-in-one self contained story published as a stand-alone supplement to a regular weekly/monthly periodical.
Short Story: an all-in-one, self contained story that was published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical
Anthology: a collection of all-in-one, self contained stories that were published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical but are generally grouped together.
