Last week, the manga-blogging community produced dozens of essays, reviews, and podcasts exploring the career of Osamu Tezuka, one of Japan’s most prolific and influential artists. I encourage you to explore the complete archive for our “movable feast,” which includes over 100 links to articles about Tezuka. In particular, the archive is a terrific resource for readers looking for more information about Tezuka’s work in translation.
As we conclude the feast with a final round of links, I want to thank everyone who contributed to this month’s MMF. It’s been a privilege to be your host, and to read the many creative, insightful essays that Tezuka’s work inspired. Thank you for this very special opportunity! Now, on to the links…
Otaku Ohana blogger Jason Yadao files a brief but informative assessment of an early Tezuka title, Crime and Punishment (1953). “This is, indeed, Tezuka’s adaptation of the 1866 novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky,” he explains. “Before you start having horrifying flashbacks to that time you had to write a 1,000-word essay for your world literature class about the novel’s prevalent themes and how they applied to 19th-century Russia, though, you have to realize that this is very much an early-’50s Tezuka production.” Expect puns, talking animals, speeches about mankind, and, yes, the story of a young man who murders a pawnbroker.
Over at playback:stl, Jason Green takes a trip in the WABAC machine to 1997. His mission: to recover Black Jack fan letters from the pages of Manga Vizion, where Black Jack made his North American debut.
Manga Connection also sings the praises of Black Jack, which was her introduction to the weird and wonderful world of Tezuka. “Did I mention that Black Jack’s side kick Pinoko (or “the wife” as she prefers to be called) is fashioned from…a tumor? And somehow, it works within the story and doesn’t seem completely outlandish,” she observes. “If that not a series selling point, I don’t know what is.”
At All About Manga, editor Daniella Orihuela-Gruber shares her dream of publishing an English-language edition of Rainbow Parakeet, which chronicles the adventures of a phantom thief.
Linda Thai, hostess of Something Deeper: Anime, Manga and Comics, declares MW “mortally wicked.”
An all-star team of pundits, librarians, and manga lovers joins me for a two-part conversation about women, sex, and sexuality in Tezuka’s manga. Click here for part one; click here for part two. (N.B. Part two has one tasteful but NSFW image near the beginning.)
In the latest Manga Out Loud podcast, Ed Chavez joins Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson for a spirited discussion of Tezuka’s seinen manga.
After reading Metropolis and Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Johanna Draper Carlson (Manga Worth Reading) concludes she’d rather read a contemporary artist’s take on Tezuka than the original.
On the review front, Anna (Manga Report) tackles the second volume of Princess Knight; Justin (Organization Anti-Social Geniuses) puts The Book of Human Insects under the microscope; Justin’s colleague, Sweetpea, revisits MW, the first “serious” manga she read; and Lori Henderson (Manga Xanadu) goes mano-a-mano with Apollo’s Song.
The March 2012 Manga Movable Feast
Next month’s feast will be hosted by Ed Sizemore and Johanna Draper Carlson. On the menu: Jiro Taniguchi, author of Summit of the Gods, The Times of Botchan, and The Walking Man (to name just a few of this prolific author’s manga). Please stay tuned; more details about the Taniguchi feast will be posted at Manga Worth Reading very soon.
Well…it was fun while it lasted I say
Kate, you did a great job with Tezuka^^
Thanks, Justin, for being such an enthusiastic and inspired contributor to the discussion! I enjoyed reading all of the essays the Anti-Social Geniuses produced last week.
Definitely true.. ^_^ Thanks for being a great host Kate!
Thanks, Linda! I had lots of big pairs of shoes to fill, thanks to the awesome job done by previous hosts. I loved your post on Triton of the Sea, BTW. I’d definitely help Kickstart an English-language edition of that series. Talking animals for the win!