Osamu Tezuka - Selected Manga and Anime

Selected Manga and Anime

For a more complete list, see List of Osamu Tezuka manga and List of Osamu Tezuka anime

The years cited beside each title refer to the period of manga serialization.

• Metropolis, 1949. One of Tezuka's early science fiction works, about a private detective, Higeoyaji, who tries to take care of Mitchy, a gender switching robot, after its creator is killed. It would be made into a 2001 animated film. The 2001 film was heavily influenced by the Fritz Lang film Metropolis, as well as Tezuka's manga. It is said that Tezuka never even saw the 1927 film but was inspired by the poster of the film.

• Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor), 1950–54. Better known by these other names in the English speaking world as Kimba the White Lion, this manga established one of Tezuka's most iconic creations. His first full-scale long serial, Jungle Taitei follows the adventures of Leo the white lion as he seeks to succeed his father, killed by a hunter, as king of the jungle. In 1965, Tezuka's Mushi Productions, financed by NBC Enterprises, produced a 52-episode anime series loosely based on the manga. This was followed immediately by a 26-episode sequel, produced by Mushi Productions alone. This sequel was dubbed into English in 1984 under the title Leo the Lion. A full-length animated film based on the last half of Tezuka's original manga was released theatrically in 1997 under the title Jungle Emperor Leo. A New 30 minute short was shown on Fuji TV on September 5, 2009. It was directed by Goro Taniguchi creator of Code Geass and Planetes.

• Tetsuwan ATOM (Astro Boy), 1952–68. A sequel to Captain ATOM (1951), with Atom (Atomu in Japanese, renamed Astro Boy in the U.S.) as its main character. Eventually, Astro Boy would become Tezuka's most famous creation. He created the nuclear-powered, yet peace-loving, boy robot first after being punched in the face by a drunken GI. In 1963, Astro Boy made its debut as the first domestically produced animated program on Japanese television. The 30-minute weekly program (of which 193 episodes were produced) led to the first craze for anime in Japan. In America, the TV series (which consisted of 104 episodes licensed from the Japanese run) was also a hit, becoming the first Japanese animation to be shown on U.S. television, although the U.S. producers downplayed and disguised the show's Japanese origins. Several other Astro Boy series have been made since, as well as a 2009 CGI-animated feature film Astro Boy.

• Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight), 1953–56. A gender-bending adventure drama about Princess Sapphire, a girl who must pretend to be a boy—and whose body, in fact, has two human souls; a boy's and a girl's. The manga was inspired by the themes and styles of musicals by the all-girl Takarazuka Revue, which Tezuka had watched in his youth. Ribon no Kishi itself established many of the themes and styles of later shōjo manga (girls' manga), such as its affinity for androgynous heroes, and is sometimes referred to as "the Mother of all shōjo manga." It was made into an anime TV series in 1967, and the anime has been dubbed into English and sporadically broadcast on TV in the United States and other English-speaking countries; also known in English as Choppy and the Princess. The series was the first anime produced in color, and the quality of the show's art is still impressive, even today. In spite of the series' obscurity in the United States due to legal and distribution problems, the series has turned out to be one of Tezuka's most popular creations practically everywhere else. It's known in Spanish-speaking countries as La princesa caballero, in Germany as Choppy und die Prinzessin, in Italy as La Principessa Zaffiro, in Portugal and Brazil as Princesa e o Cavaleiro, in France as "Prince Saphir" and in Poland under no less than five different titles, including Czopi i Księżniczka. A new musical version of Princess Knight was performed in August 2006 starring the members of the all-female pop group Morning Musume. An excerpt from the manga will be published in the June 19, 2007 issue of Shojo Beat from VIZ. The entire manga had previously been released in bilingual (English/Japanese) volumes from Kodansha Bilingual Comics. As of 2011, Vertical acquired the rights to Princess Knight for the North American market.

• Hi no Tori (Phoenix), 1956–89. Tezuka's most profound and ambitious work, dealing with man's quest for immortality, ranging from the distant past to the far future. The central character is the Phoenix, the physical manifestation of the cosmos, who carries within itself the power of immortality; either granted by the Phoenix or taken from the Phoenix by drinking a small amount of its blood. Other characters appear and reappear throughout the series; usually due to their reincarnation. The work remained unfinished at the time of Tezuka's death in 1989. Phoenix has been filmed several times, most notably as Phoenix 2772 (1980). Baku Yumemakura was influenced by Phoenix (manga). Baku Yumemakura would go on to write the script for Boku no Son Goku.

• Twin Knight, 1958. Twin Knight was a sequel to Princess Knight, and takes place several years after the end of the original series. In Twin Knight Princess Sapphire is now Queen Sapphire and is married to Frantz, her love interest in the original series. The main characters in Twin Knight are the twin children of Sapphire and Frantz, Prince Daisy and Princess Violetta. In keeping with the theme of the original series, following Prince Daisy's kidnapping, Princess Violetta must pretend to be both of them, all the while trying to discover the whereabouts of her brother. Although Twin Knight was originally published under the same Ribon no Kishi title during its short run, the title was changed in 1960 when the series was collected into a single volume. Ever since then it has been regarded as a separate series. No television version has ever been produced.

• Kureopatora (Cleopatra: Queen of Sex), 1970. The movie told the story of Cleopatra and her numerous romantic encounters with Julius Caesar and the other men in her life. When the film was released in the United States, American distributors released it under the title Cleopatra: Queen of Sex with an X rating in an attempt to cash in on the success of Fritz the Cat. In actuality, the film had not been submitted to the MPAA, and it is considered to be highly unlikely that it would have received an X rating if it had been submitted. One critic described it as "kid stuff with naked breasts.." The film was not a success in Japan (partly due to financial troubles Tezuka's film company was having at the time), and is rarely seen today.

• Buddha, 1972–83, is Tezuka's unique interpretation of the life of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The critically acclaimed series is often referred to as a gritty portrayal of the Buddha's life. The series began in September 1972 and ended in December 1983, as one of Tezuka's last epic manga works. Nearly three decades after the manga was completed, an anime film adaptation was released in 2011.

• Black Jack, 1973–83. The story of Black Jack, a talented surgeon who operates illegally, using radical and supernatural techniques to combat rare afflictions. Black Jack received the Japan Cartoonists' Association Special Award in 1975 and the Koudansha Manga Award in 1977. Three Black Jack TV movies were released between 2000-01. In fall 2004, an anime TV series was aired in Japan with 61 episodes, releasing another movie afterward. A new series, titled Black Jack 21, started broadcasting on April 10, 2006. In September 2008, the first volume of the manga had been published in English by Vertical Publishing and more volumes are being published to this day.