Manga Monday: Short speculative fiction from the God of Manga

No one represents the beginnings of the manga art form quite the way Osamu Tezuka does, and his anthology Clockwork Apple gives the reader a taste of the suspenseful.

In 'Miraculous Conception' a scientist and his domestic android are working on Saturn's moon Titan. They've lived alone together for seven years, and slowly they've fallen in love. After holding a wedding ceremony for themselves, the scientist Hiroshi is killed by escaped convicts who have decided to use his science station as a hideout. A tragedy, to be sure, but what explains the increasing waistline of the android?

The titular story 'A Clockwork Apple' shows the reader a town under siege. The roads in and out of town have been closed indefinitely for repairs, and cars are turned back by force if they try to get out. Food could be an issue, but the main employer in the area has plenty of supplies for its cafeteria, and the stores have a large stockpile of rice. Everyone seems okay with the situation and doesn't question it, except for Shirakawa, whose wife serves bread instead of rice. Even the pharmacist, who took a sample of the rice to the next town over to run a few tests, hasn't been seen in days. Is Shirakawa descending into madness, or is there a conspiracy at work?

Readers of Tezuka's Black Jack will find 'Sack' eerily familiar. The narrator meets a wonderful woman named Rika. After a whirlwind romance, he travels to her home to ask her mother for Rika's hand in marriage. Strangely, her mother doesn't have a daughter named Rika. Her only daugher, Mari, is a perfect copy of Rika, though, even though she professes to have never met him before. At a later meeting, Rika begs him to prevent Mari's surgery on the 20th, but can't explain why. Is there something sinister going on?

These stories of the late 1960s and early 1970s give the reader a snapshot into the thoughts and fears of postwar Japan. Throughout the collection weaves a distrust of the government and authority, as well as an undying optimism for the future, even if there are many ways for it to be derailed.  Once again, Tezuka is able to mine the depths of the human psyche, and reveal more than a traditional author ever could.

Highs: Whether a statement about the follies of war or a creepy suspense story, all of Tezuka's works leave an indelible mark on the reader.

Lows: Even with the footnotes, it's hard to be familiar enough with the era in Japan to fully follow a few of the narratives.

Verdict: Best suited for a reader very familiar with manga in general, Clockwork Orange is a masterpiece.

Further Reading: Black Jack, A*tomcat, A Bride's Story

Manga Monday: Like mother, like daughter

Osamu Tezuka revisits the realm of Silverland from his beloved shojo classic in The Twin Knights.

The Twin Knights is the sequel to Princess Knight. Although it takes places years later, there are a few spoilers from the first series. The review of Princess Knight Volume 1 is here. Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: In the tradition of Krypto and Lockjaw...

Another work of Osamu Tezuka is back for another generation to love, A*tomcat.

Tsugio is like so many other little kids out there. He loves his manga, he gets picked on by bullies, and he brings a kitten home to the chagrin of his parents. Of course, this little kitten is hardly perfect, and eventually he's told to get rid of it.

On his way to drop the kitten off 'somewhere far away,' Tsugio is hit by a car. The (rightfully) concerned drivers run to his aid, and while Tsugio will be fine, poor Atom hasn't survived. Thankfully, our reckless drivers are actually aliens in disguise, and are able to pull Tsugio's memories of Atom and recreate him just as he was.

Well...the kitten is just like AN Atom...

A*tomcat is an adorable story of Tsugio and his kitten-cum-superhero friend. Atom helps protect him from bullies, rescues the girl (both human and feline) and even breaks up a smuggling ring, all while keeping up his adorable kitten alter ego. Not one of Tezuka's most serious stories, even here we see Atom dealing with being an orphan kitten and not quite fitting in with either other cats or his human companions. This is an adorable book, deserving to be in the collection of any manga fan.

Highs: The peeks into the story of Atom, as an American reader who didn't grow up with the comics, are a welcome look into one of the first, and most enduring, manga.

Lows: This is hardly deep material, and fans of Ode to Kirihito might be put off by the topic.

Verdict: A wonderful children's piece, with enough depth to entertain adults as well.

Further Reading: Unico, Pluto

Manga Monday: Only a master blacksmith could dare to make Black Jack's scalpels

Doctor Black Jack operates out of spite, and is reminded to always be humble, in Black Jack Volume 5.

Note:  Black Jack Volume 5 is, of course, the sequel to Black Jack Volume 4. The Vertical edition is published not in chronological order, but in the preferred order of Osamu Tezuka, so spoilers are not generally a problem. The review for Black Jack Volume 1 is here, and the review for Black Jack Volume 4 is here. Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Even Doctor Black Jack makes mistakes sometimes

From pickpockets to fugitives to yakuza, our favorite unlicensed doctor works on all types in Black Jack Volume 4.

Note:  Black Jack Volume 4 is, of course, the sequel to Black Jack Volume 3.  The Vertical edition is published not in chronological order, but in the preferred order of Osamu Tezuka, so spoilers are not generally a problem.  The review for Black Jack Volume 1 is here, and the review for Black Jack Volume 3 is here.  Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Can someone raised as both a boy and a girl ever be comfortable in her own skin?

Princess Sapphire comes up against pirates, goddesses, and even Satan himself in Princess Knight Volume 2.

Note: Princess Knight Volume 2 takes places after the events in Princess Knight Volume 1. The review for Princess Knight Volume 1 is here.  Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Does Doctor Black Jack perhaps have a soft spot for children?

The more human side of Black Jack comes out, whether dealing with lonely widows or treating young children in Black Jack Volume 3.

Note:  Black Jack Volume 3 is, of course, the sequel to Black Jack Volume 2.  The Vertical edition is published not in chronological order, but in the preferred order of Osamu Tezuka, so spoilers are not generally a problem.  The review for Black Jack Volume 1 is here, and the review for Black Jack Volume 2 is here.  Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: A young angel's slip-up causes all sorts of trouble

It's a great time to be a manga reader in the US.  Even though recent years have seen the demise of both CMX and Tokyopop, and now even Bandai is pulling out of the DVD anime business, other publishers such as Vertical and Yen Press have really stepped up to bring us a variety of manga that has never been available before on Western shores.  Vertical especially, with both the Osamu Tezuka classics as well as current gems like The Drops of Gods and Twin Spica, has added tremendously to the depth and spectrum of the genre.

There's also been a resurgence in the shojo genre on store shelves.  The most prominent series would, of course, be the Kodansha re-release of Sailor Moon in the original, unflipped format and with the Japanese names intact.  Beyond that, both Magical Knight Rayearth and Cardcaptor Sakura have received the omnibus edition treatment.  Tezuka, as is often the case, wrote one of the earliest entries in the genre with the 1950's Princess Knight series.  Serialized in Shojo Club, it is where many of the common themes of shojo manga first appear.  Vertical, in its recent trend of releasing Tezuka's manga in the US, has split the series into two volumes

In Princess Knight Volume 1 we learn about the terrible predicament poor Princess Sapphire has found herself in.  Before her spirit was sent down to be born, a mischievous angel-in-training named Tink causes the poor princess-to-be to receive both the wild heart of a boy and the refined heart of a girl.  So Tink is sent to follow the Princess to Earth and retrieve the misassigned boy heart.

To make things worse, Princess Sapphire was mistakenly announced to her kingdom as PRINCE Sapphire With a throne that can only be inherited by a male heir, and an evil uncle waiting in the wings to steal the throne for his son, the King and Queen make the heartbreaking decision to keep up the charade, keeping Sapphire's public presence strictly princely.

But Sapphire has a girl's heart as well, so along with the fencing lessons and horseback riding, Sapphire's mother makes sure that she has plenty of time to follow the more gentle, womanly pursuits of reading poetry beneath the trees and dancing lessons.

Eventually, though, her uncle becomes determined to steal the throne for his son, and he and his cronies work to show 'Prince' Sapphire for the young woman that she is.

There's all sorts of stories tied together in Princess Knight.  There's the Cinderella effect of Princess Sapphire going to a ball in a dress and falling for a handsome prince from the next kingdom over.  There's an evil witch who wants to steal Sapphire's girl heart for her own daughter.  There's the fact that Sapphire and her parents are truly worried about what would happen to their kingdom if their nephew comes into power.  And there's poor Tink, the angel-in-training who caused this whole problem in the first place.

At its heart, Princess Knight is just like its titular character.  It has a sweet, romantic side, as well as an action-packed, royal intrigue side.  It helped work out the formula used even today in countless shojo and shonen manga, from Ranma 1/2 to The Story of Saiunkoku, balancing the romance with action.  While not perfect by any means, Princess Knight Volume 1 is worthy of shelf space next to so many of Tezuka's books that formed the manga that we enjoy today.

Highs:  Tink is such a sweet little sidekick to Princess Sapphire, and even as you want Sapphire to keep both of her hearts, you still want Tink to earn his place back in Heaven.

Lows:  It's a little bit insulting how all of Sapphire's bravery and strength is tied to that boy heart of hers.  And why does no one notice that a certain swan has human legs?

Verdict:  Besides the boys' role vs girls' role mess that a book like this is almost certain to provoke, Princess Knight Volume 1 is a fun read, especially if the reader keeps an eye out for all the standard manga themes of today.

Further Reading:  Dororo, A Bride's Story

Manga Monday: A woman who steals others' lives, and the consequences of those actions

As a person grows, she can be likened to the stages of an insect's life.  As larva, she absorbs her surroundings, eating voraciously, like a child learning about her environment and developing many talents at once.  As a pupa, the insect cocoons herself away from the world, focusing and changing, as a person might in High School and college, slowly focusing down into one or two fields.  Then, as an adult, the insect springs forth, fully formed and ready to face the world in her new form, as a graduate would be ready to enter her chosen field. 

But what about when someone doesn't want to grow up?  Such is the case of Toshiko Tomura, in Osamu Tezuka's Book of Human Insects.  She's made a life of absorbing field after field of interest, not caring who might be in her way, and after achieving fantastic success, throwing it all away to pursue a new field.

And she doesn't just take on the field she's pursuing.  She chooses one of the most promising rising stars in the field and steals everything away from them.  She stole the troupe right out from under the director while she was acting.  She stole the blueprints from an amazing architect she dated.  And she stole the research from an author, submitting her book first and stealing an award out from under her.  She leaves a trail of broken careers, and broken people, behind her.

We meet several of the people whose lives she's stolen, both in flashbacks and in the current time, including the architect and the director.  The victims never really regain their momentum, and end up simply working along in middling jobs afterwards.

But when a paparazzi becomes fixated on her, and makes it his job to follow her, we learn that perhaps the saddest character in this story is Toshiko herself.  Even though she takes great pleasure and pride in each metamorphosis, as well as some glee in the idea of swindling people out of their own work, she never is able to come into her own talents.  She still runs back to her mother's home for comfort between transformations, and has a bizarre, infantile existence there.  Since she can never stay in one adult form, she can never really become her own person, either.

Osamu Tezuka gets accused of both misogyny an racism in several of his books.  Some of the stores in Black Jack show indigenous people with the stereotypical big lips and kinky hair of earlier cartoons.  Ayako has the main character of a girl who has been locked in a shed for almost all of her life, and therefore has very twisted relationships with the family members who interact with her.  Even Dororo has the majority of the female characters as either victims of the men in their lives, or demons themselves.  I do believe that this is more a product of the times in which Tezuka was raised and wrote, rather than a personal opinion of the women in his life.

In prewar Japan, a woman's role certainly was in the home, and she was still treated as property, as women were treated in American and Europe in centuries past.  In a society such as Japan, with even now the strong emphasis on conforming to society's expectations, women generally didn't have a chance to be anything else.  So when a woman with as much ambition as Tomura hits the scene, odd things are bound to happen.

Highs:  Tezuka has always been great at understanding human motivation and portraying full, well-rounded characters.  As damaged as some of the people here are, they can hardly be accused of being stock, one-dimensional characters.

Lows:  The problem with any book like this is the characters who don't get their stories told.  There are so many side characters that inevitably can't be given their own side stories, but it leaves the reader wondering exactly where they came from.

Verdict:  A very strange read, but worth the time to decipher the threads woven together to make the whole.

Further Reading:  Ayako, Pluto

Manga Monday: Everyone has a past, even demon hunting orphans

Hyakkimaru and Dororo travel on, defeating evil spirits in Dororo Volume 2.

Note: Dororo Volume 2 is, of course the sequel to Dororo Volume 1.  The review of Dororo Volume 1 is here.  Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Black Jack may not have very many friends, but he'll do anything for the ones he has

Black Jack's skills are stretched to the limit treating children, presidents and even whales in Black Jack Volume 2.

Note:Black Jack Volume 2 is, of course, the sequel to Black Jack Volume 1.  The Vertical edition is published not in chronological order, but in the preferred order of Osamu Tezuka, so spoilers are not generally a problem.  The review for Black Jack Volume 1 is here.  Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Fighting demons to make himself whole

Osamu Tezuka is a legend in the field of manga for a reason.  Besides having been one of the men who developed the form from the traditional  4-panel comic strip to the graphic novel of today, he is also considered the creator of entire genres of the medium.  He helped get adults reading comics again with titles like Black Jack and Ayako.  He created the fictionalized biography Buddha years before Maus and Persepolis were taught in university classrooms.  He even created the half-boy, half-girl in manga idea with Princess Knight before Rumiko Takahashi began Ranma 1/2.  As he revolutionized shojo manga with Princess Knight, he also helped to create shonen manga with Dororo.

In Dororo Volume 1, Hyakkimaru has had a very unfortunate beginning.  His power-hungry Daimyo father promised a temple of 48 demons each a piece of his unborn son in return for being the ruler of the land.  They made good on their end of the deal, and when his son was born with no eyes, ears, limbs or internal organs.  And yet, his son refuses to die.

When he orders his son done away with, his mother sent him downriver in a basket.  Thankfully, while his father's prayers were answered and he comes into tremendous power in the area, so too do his mothers prayers for his safety.  Doctor Honma found the baby along the river, and was astonished at the the little creature inch its way across the floor to look for food.  Dr. Honma used a combination of medicine and magic to create the pieces that Hyakkimaru lacks, and raised him as a son.

Ever since Dr. Honma found Hyakkimaru, though, demons have been plaguing his house.  Eventually, when Hyakkimaru is old enough to look after himself, Dr. Honma has no choice but to ask him to leave.

Hyakkimaru eventually finds out his origins; a ghostly voice tells him the circumstances surrounding his birth.  And so begins his journey throughout the countryside, destroying the demons he fines to regain all that was taken from him.

Along the way, Hyakkimaru manages to pick up our titular character.  Dororo (babytalk for 'thief') is helped out by Hyakkimaru, and Dororo takes a liking to our hero,  He declares that he is the world's greatest thief, and that he is going to steal Hyakkimaru's sword.  That's going to be quite a bit more difficult than normal, as the sword is part of his arm prosthesis, but that doesn't deter our little sidekick.  Of course it's just a little street kid's excuse to tag along after a big brother figure, but Dororo's so likable that it's hard to mind.

Since this is such an early series, flaws that might be annoying in current manga are more easily forgiven here.  Panels of fight scenes are so cluttered that it's often hard to figure out where our heroes are in them, or what exactly is happening.  While a kid tagging along after the hero has been done over and over again, this might be given a pass the same way Ranma ½ is tolerable as a harem show because it is one of the first.  Also, anyone who has read manga, or any fantasy books at all, should know that something's up when Dororo won't bathe in front of Hyakkimaru.

Even when taken on it's own merit, without the Tezuka name attached, Dororo: Volume 1 is a good read.  As with many good shonen manga stories, there is more depth to it than it initially appears.  Themes of loss and rejection weave their way throughout many of the stories, along with the idea that everyone is flawed in some way.  The world is a hard place, and the heroes don't always get the credit and the credit that they are due.  They keep on, however, for their own reasons, and perhaps together they might both get a bit closer to what they're searching for.

Highs:  Watching Hyakkimaru's joy at regaining pieces of himself

Lows:  Many Americans new to manga might find the Japanese demons off-putting

Verdict:  The epitome of classic shonen, it's also a fun, compelling read

Further Reading;  Ode to Kirihito, Moribito

Manga Monday: Do self-aware robots deserve human rights?

It’s a scary thing when a new author gets his hands on a venerated series. So much can go wrong when another author tries to follow the vision of another.  Sometimes, the author interprets the series and characters differently than most of the fans, and takes the series in a completely different direction ‘to make it his own.’  Others simply don’t have the writing and plot skills to live up to the original author’s quality.  Readers always want more stories from worlds gone by, though, so the reader can’t help but be excited and hope that the source material is respected.

So far, all that and more have been done in Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka Volume 1.

This isn’t a child’s book. The series is nominally a sequel to Astro Boy, but it is absolutely intended for adults who grew up watching Astro Boy as children.  Topics such as human rights, the death penalty and the emotional and psychological effects of war are addressed in just the first volume of this series.  It’s a much darker series than Astro Boy ever was, but it’s so far from the main storyline of Astro Boy that it still works.

The story focuses on Europol robot detective Gesicht, a detective robot, and one of the 7 most advanced robots in the world. They all fought in the same war as Astro Boy (or Atom, as he was known in Japan and is referred to here) and each has come out of the military different.

The story starts with the murder of Mont Blanc, a beloved robot. Det. Gesicht is put on the case to find his killer. Along the way, we meet North No.2, a robot with a passion for music who never wants to again, Brando, a Turkish robot wrestler who raises a family of little robots off prize money he wins as a fighter, and the wife of a police robot who was destroyed/killed in the line of duty.

We also meet a Hannibal Lecter type robot, the only one to have killed a human.  He’s being housed in the basement of the building in which he was captured, that has now been turned into the one and only prison for robots.

There’s a lot going on in this book, and not much of it is happy. Robot rights is a new concept, and hasn’t pervaded the public mindset yet. This story blurs the lines between humans and robot and what it means to be each.

Highs: Well paced, well plotted and unforgettable characters

Lows: Minimalist artwork at times help drive emotional impact, but at others can be ambiguous

Verdict: A must read for fans of literary manga

Further Reading: Ghost in the Shell, Black Jack Volume 1

Manga Monday: Chasing justice and a cure around the world

There’s a horrible condition in a rural backwater of ‘Doggoddale’. Called monmow, it deforms the patient, making them look more like a dog than a man. There’s many different theories as to what might be causing it, but no cure. This is the world in which we land, in the Osamu Tezuka manga Ode to Kirihito.

A candidate for president of the Japanese Medical Association (JMA), Dr. Tatsugaura, has studied Monmow and is convinced that it is a virus native to Doggoddale. Feeling threatened by a young, well-liked intern named Kirihiro Osanai, he sends him to do some on-the-ground research. While he’s there, he does end up contracting monmow, but by force of will is able to keep from succumbing to most of the mental effects of the disorder. But he does turn into the half-dog, half-human spectre that is associated with the disease.

While he is there, he does discover that it is almost certainly not a virus that is infecting these people, but rather a contamination of the groundwater, but Dr. Tasugaura wants nothing of this. He’s built his career and his hopes of advancement on the idea that monmow is a virus, and goes so far as to delete Kirihito from the records at M University Hospital to stop word from coming out.

What ensues is a trek around the globe for Kirihito, seeing some of the best and some of the worst that humanity has to offer. Throughout, he battles both the disorder and society to keep his humanity intact, and people along the way both help and hurt this. We meet members of a demented circus and missionaries, as well as normal rural townsfolk. We also meet Kirihito’s fiancé, who never gives up on him, even when the rest of the world seems to have.

There’s a lot of subtle imagery and depth to this story. The fact that the disease makes the sufferer look like a dog, instead of simply deforming him, for example, shows how their humanity is being stripped away. To become deformed, especially when it involves the face, affects one’s self-identity. Taking on the aspect of a dog, on top of changing that self-identity, makes the victim take on the aspect of a creature that is considered less than humans. It’s that stripping off of his humanity that causes so many of the emotional problems suffered by the victims, as well as perhaps some of the discrimination that the outside world has against them.

There are also a few pages in which Christianity is called into question. The victim Sister Helen is grieved that the church will excommunicate her. Kirihito tells her that he believes that Jesus especially would never turn his back on her. He points out that there are many passages in the Bible in which Jesus and his disciples accept, if not actively seek out, unfortunates and care for them. To some extent, it could be seen as a criticism of the church, as a separate entity from Christianity.

This is a magnum opus of a graphic novel. Along with helping to firm up manga as an art form, the complexity of the story helps cement manga’s place as a true form of literature as well. I can’t help but think that if American publishing companies would put out stories such as this, or the Black Jack stories, in weekly or monthly publications, perhaps print media wouldn’t be at death’s door.

Highs: Fantastic pacing, a compelling story, and lots of layers of social commentary

Lows: Some of the panels can be a little hard to follow, as the standard form of manga writing was still being developed

Verdict: A must-read for any manga lover who is beyond the shojo/shonen stage

Further Reading; Black Jack Volume 1, A Contract with God

Manga Monday: If Dr. House didn't even bother with the medical license

Osamu Tezuka is known as the Grandfather of Manga.  His involvement in the genre even predates the word manga.  Though the only work of his that’s widely known in the US is Astro Boy, one of his most beloved series has now come to American shores.  The publisher Vertical has been bringing out several of the classics of the formative years of manga, and one of these is Tezuka’s Black Jack series, and it all starts in Black Jack Volume 1.

Black Jack is an anomaly of the medical community.  He refuses to get a medical license, and is not affiliated with any hospital.  He has an almost magical talent in the operating room, but no one can make him practice on a patient that he doesn’t want to work on.  

On top of that, he only practices on people who are willing to give whatever they have to be cured.  When he’s working with millionaires, he’ll charge them exorbitant fees for his services.  When he’s working on normal people, however, he only charges what they can give.  In one story, a barkeep needed help, and all he asked for was a month of free drinks.  He’s not exactly cold-hearted, he just wants people to value his work, and to really be willing to give something that is of worth for his talent.

Each chapter is a self-contained story, with only a little bit of a continuing plot or characters.  Pretty much only he and his assistant Pinoko are seen more than once.  It fits his personality, though, since he does seemingly have a problem connecting with people.  As the stories go on, we get to learn a little bit about his backstory and how he became the person he is, but he always remains a bit mysterious.

Originally published in a men’s magazine in the 1970s, some of the art reflects on the prejudices and mindset of Japan at the time.  Americans aren’t always seen in the best light, and people of African descent are drawn in a much more cartoonish manner.  There doesn’t seem to be any real malice intended, it’s simply a product of the environment in which it was created. Also, one story involving a woman who has a hysterectomy shows very old-fashioned ideas of gender and gender identity.  Occasionally the medical stories brush the border to horror, but there’s nothing to keep one up at night.

The entire Black Jack series, along with most of the rest of Tezuka’s work, is very special in that they show the evolution of comics from the newspaper strip to continuing stories that was pioneered in those days.  One can see the innovation with frame layout, and the more mature and intricate storylines that became popular at the time.  What happened then still continues to shape manga to this day, as well as comics around the world.

Highs:  Great stories in speculative fiction genre

Lows:  Relatively simple and old-fashioned art, though very well executed

Verdict:  A must-read for any fan of comics

Further Reading:  Ode to Kirihito, Amazonia