On January 3rd, 2022, it was announced in Japan a manga will be published for the first time in March of this year. When he was between the ages 13-14, Osamu Tezuka had created a manga story with his younger brother and sister. The main character is snowman-shaped and named “Mama” as the character goes on adventures involving things such as treasure hunting. Titled “Mama Detective Story”, only a few pages have ever been publicly shown to the world. This will be available for pre-order on the official website of the publisher 888 Books in Japan.
Osamu Tezuka is considered the Godfather of manga and anime, forever changing the manga and animation industry to become what it is today. Throughout his career, Tezuka created and wrote more than 700 manga series consisting of around 170,000 pages of drawings, and another 200,000 pages of anime storyboards and scripts. Though he came from a family of doctors, lawyers, and military men, his interests in art was always encouraged. His father was an engineer, but he used to draw manga before he married, and he also collected manga books over time. Tezuka’s father had bought a movie projector, which is how Osamu was introduced to his greatest influences in art and animation, Walt Disney and Max Fleischer.
These are just a few pieces of works Tezuka is best known for creating:
- Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor), 1950-54. Later released as the animated series Kimba the White Lion in the U.S.
- Tetsuwan ATOM (Astro Boy), 1952-68
- Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight), 1953-56
- Hi no Tori (The Phoenix), 1956-89. Tezuka’s personal favorite and the series he worked on continuously from its inception until his death.
- Black Jack, 1973-83
- Buddha, 1974-84
Through his work, Tezuka initiated a new way of telling a visual story in manga form through dynamic action, as if you are part of the characters world.
“I felt [after the war] that existing comics were limiting. Most were drawn as if seated in an audience viewing from a stage, where the actors emerge from the wings and interact. This made it impossible to create dramatic or psychological effects, so I began to use cinematic techniques. French and German movies that I had seen as a schoolboy became my model. I experimented with close-ups and different angles, and instead of using only one frame for an action scene or the climax (as was customary), I made a point of depicting a movement or facial expression with many frames, even many pages. The result was a super-long comic that ran to 500, 600, even 1,000 pages. I also believed that comics were capable of more than just making people laugh. So in my themes, I incorporated tears, grief, anger, and hate, and I created stories where the ending was not always happy.” -Osamu Tezuka
Manga is virtual. Manga is sentiment. Manga is resistance. Manga is bizarre. Manga is pathos. Manga is destruction. Manga is arrogance. Manga is love. Manga is kitsch. Manga is a sense of wonder. Manga is … there is no conclusion yet.
-Osamu Tezuka-
In February 9, 1989, Tokyo, Japan, Osamu died of stomach cancer.
Hopefully this manga will make its’ way outside of Japan so that the rest of the world can also have a chance of owning their own copy of this manga collection. It will be fascinating to see the beginnings and growths of someone who has done such amazing works of art in writing and drawings.
What do you think of this? Would you want this as part of your manga collection if you were able to own your own copy? Let us know!
Sources: LiveAbout, 888Books, and Twitter @Musicrobita
ClownfishTV.com strives to be an apolitical, balanced and based pop culture news outlet. However, our contributors are entitled to their individual opinions. Author opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of our video hosts, other site contributors, site editors, affiliates, sponsors or advertisers. This website contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. We disclaim products or services we have received for review purposes, as well as sponsored posts.
