Osamu Tezuka "Shin Takarajima" fully revised version, Shogakukan Creative, pp.2-3 (2009)Original Source: ©︎ Tezuka Productions
Osamu Tezuka’s impact
Osamu Tezuka—who became famous among manga-loving boys throughout Japan due to his hit work "Shin Takarajima" [New Treasure Island] (written by Shichima Sakai, drawn by Osamu Tezuka and published by Ikuei Publishing in 1947)—had a major effect on subsequent generations.However, based on research in recent years, it has been found that many of the expressive ideas and themes once thought to have been pioneered by Tezuka after the war actually already existed in the children’s manga world of the 1930s. Here, based on our understanding of the richness of children’s manga before Tezuka, we would like to consider Tezuka innovations that should be re-examined.
Kazutoshi Arai "Dontarō to Sazen" [Dontarō and Sazen], Nisshōkan Shoten, pp. 52-53 (1934)Original Source: -
Frame layout
Both "Shin Takarajima" and "Norakuro"—Suihō Tagawa’s hit work from before the war—basically used a layout in which each page was divided into three landscape-oriented frames, which was occasionally switched to two-frame pages or frames that occupied an entire page or two-page spread. However—as shown by the works of Kazutoshi Arai—akahon manga (manga books that were released by publishing companies involved in inexpensive entertainment documents called akahon and were distributed not only to bookstores but also to street stalls, toy stores, general stores, etc.)frequently used more irregular frame layouts that did not really sacrifice much readability.
Kazutoshi Arai "Dontarō to Sazen" [Dontarō and Sazen], Nisshōkan Shoten, pp. 54-55 (1934)Original Source: -
Seika (Kennosuke) Nīzeki "Shōnen Yūkan Teichō" [Brave Captain Boy], Hakubunkan (1934)Original Source: -
Frame linking technique
In "Shin Takarajima", readers are smoothly guided from one frame to the next. In addition, as a technique to get readers to empathize with specific characters, the manga sometimes shows the protagonist finding something outside of a frame and then switches to a shot depicting the found object from the protagonist’s view in the next frame. This technique—which essentially applies the method of linking shots often found in movies—was already used in the works of Seika Nīzeki (Kennosuke), Noboru Ōshiro, and other manga Tezuka liked to read as a boy.
Seika (Kennosuke) Nīzeki "Shōnen Yūkan Teichō" [Brave Captain Boy], Hakubunkan (1934)Original Source: -
Keizō Shimada "Nekoshichi Sensei" [Mr. Nekoshichi], Dainippon Yūbenkai Kodansha, pp. 64-65 (1940)Original Source: ©︎Keizō Shimada
The USA’s cartoon style
Keizō Shimada—who enjoyed popularity second only to Suihō Tagawa thanks to "Bōken Dankichi" [Dankichi, an Adventurous Boy] (Dainippon Yūbenkai Kodansha, 1933-39)—did more than Tagawa to directly make the USA’s comic and cartoon/animation style his own. "Nekoshichi Sensei" [Mr. Nekoshichi]—which featured a feline protagonist similar in shape to Felix the Cat—was serialized by the "Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun" (currently known as the Mainichi Shimbun) from 1939 to 1940. This work was also released as a separate book by Dainippon Yūbenkai Kodansha, but the episodes that were not printed in the book include one where Nekoshichi Sensei meets Disney characters.
Noboru Ōshiro "Kasei Tanken" [Expedition to Mars], reprint version, Shogakukan Creative, pp. 50-51 (2005)Original Source: ©︎Noboru Ōshiro
Science fiction
The children’s manga boom following "Norakuro" was eventually viewed as a problem by educators, and, in 1938, this culminated in the Home Ministry—which was responsible for censoring publications—releasing the "Jidō Yomimono Kaizen ni Kansuru Shiji Yōkō (Instructional Guidelines on the Improvement of Children’s Reading Materials)", banning a huge number of akahon manga. Partially because the Instructional Guidelines promoted the publication of scientific reading material, the number of akahon manga dealing with scientific subject matter increased, and these works included "Kasei Tanken" [Expedition to Mars] (written by Tarō Asahi, drawn by Noboru Ōshiro, and published by Nakamura Shoten in 1940), a masterpiece that garnered the high praise of Tezuka himself.
Suihō Tagawa "Norakuro Buyūdan" [Norakuro: Tale of Heroism], pp. 158-159 (1938)Original Source: © Suiho Tagawa / Kodansha
Characters who could be injured
Tezuka is sometimes said to be responsible for introducing manga-like characters who were realistically injured and sometimes even died at a time when it was far more common for manga to depict characters who immediately recovered after being flattened or walked away from massive explosions with nothing but soot on their faces and dejected expressions. However, before Tezuka, "Norakuro Sōkōgeki" [Norakuro: All-Out Attack], "Norakuro Kesshitaichō" [Norakuro: Suicide Corps Captain], and "Norakuro Buyūdan "[Norakuro: Tale of Heroism]—three Norakuro works written from 1937 to 1938—depicted injuries that were more realistic and serious than in previous manga works.
Takashi Haga "Yukaina Koguma" [Happy Cubs], Nakamura Shoten, pp. 112-113 (1939)Original Source: -
Coming-of-age stories
Takashi Haga’s "Yukaina Koguma "[Happy Cubs] (Nakamura Shoten, 1939)—which was based on the pattern established byErnest Thompson Seton’s “The Biography of A Grizzly”and is an example of educational manga created in line with the Instructional Guidelines—used realistic designs and told a story through separate frames and speech balloons to portray the physical and emotional growth of cubs. As is also shown by Tezuka’s "Janguru Taitei" [The Jungle Emperor] (Gakudōsha, 1950-54), coming of age was an important theme for children’s manga after the war, but there were already attempts to depict this during the war.
Osamu Tezuka "Kitarubeki Sekai" [Next World], Fuji Shobo (1951), pp.48-49, Reprinted by Meicho Kankokai (1980)Original Source: ©︎ Tezuka Productions
Multi-layered stories
As has been discussed so far, many of the themes and expressive ideas commonly thought to have been pioneered by Tezuka actually existed in children’s manga before and during the war. At the same time, there were a number of manga elements that were extremely rare before Tezuka but that he did a great deal to firmly establish. One example is the multi-layered story structure. This is shown in "Kitarubeki Sekai" [Next World](Fuji Shobō, 1951), in which the overall framework of the story includes the arrival of aliens as well as the Cold War. Set against this backdrop, multiple protagonists act according to their own agendas, resulting in a series of intertwined episodes that advance the plot in parallel. This splendid example of storytelling had a major effect on later writers.
Osamu Tezuka "Metropolis", Ikuei Publishing (1949), pp. 124-125, Reprinted by Meicho Kankokai (1980)Original Source: ©︎ Tezuka Productions
Sexual characters
As we mentioned, characters who could be injured and had chance of realistically dying appeared in "Norakuro" before Tezuka. However, it is also important to note that Tezuka’s early work repeatedly depicted the characters in ways intended to suggest their sexual desires. For example, in "Lost World" (Fuji Shobō, 1948), a doctor artificially creates a human-shaped female from a plant because he wants a “bride”. Similarly, in "Metropolis" (Ikuei Publishing, 1949), the boss of an evil organization violently rams their hand down the throat of the protagonist—an artificial human—to flip a gender-changing switch that is located there for some reason.
Osamu Tezuka "Tsumi to Batsu" [Crime and Punishment], Toukōdō (1953), pp. 8-9, Reprinted by Meicho Kankokai (1980)Original Source: ©︎ Tezuka Productions
Delving into inner psychology
In "Kitarubeki Sekai", Tezuka depicts the way the sanity of a young man is gradually threatened by the so-called “caged-bird punishment,” which involves leaving him in a space with a certain amount of light 24 hours a day, where nothing is done to him and he is not allowed to do anything except eat, and having him endure this punishment day after day. Similarly, in "Tsumi to Batsu" [Crime and Punishment](Tōkōdō, 1953)—a manga adaptation of Dostoevsky’s novel of the same name—Tezuka uses various techniques in an effort to depict the complex psychology of the protagonist. Tezuka’s attempts to create works that defied the idea than manga is “for kids” laid the groundwork for the story-driven manga of post-war Japan.
Credits: Story
Text: Hirohito Miyamoto(Meiji University)
Edit: Nanami Kikuchi, Natsuko Fukushima+Yuka Miyazaki(BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.)
Supervisor: Hirohito Miyamoto(Meiji University)
Production: BIJUTSU SHUPPAN-SHA CO., LTD.
Written in 2020
Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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