Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito

[O2Destroyer]

"After completing the publication of Buddha, Japanese manga master Osamu Tezuka's eight-volume biographical masterpiece, in January, Vertical Inc., a small U.S.-based publisher of contemporary Japanese literary and genre fiction in English, will publish Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito in December 2006. "Most people are familiar with Tezuka as a children's writer because of Astro Boy and Kimba the Lion, says Anne Ishii, director of marketing and publicity at Vertical. "We have a bigger picture of Tezuka as an adult writer. He's done quite a bit of adult manga and we want to introduce this to American audiences."

Kirihito, pronounced Kirishto in Japanese, is the Japanese pronunciation of Christ. The book is an ode to humanity. In the story, a young doctor searches for the cure to a disease that turns its victims into dog-like animals. Humanity, reflected by the qualities of compassion and nonviolent philosophy, is contrasted with a sense of beastliness, which Tezuka portrays through animal violence and the eating of raw meat. "There's a very humanist message at the core of the book." Ishii says.

Originally published in Japan in 1970 as a three-volume work, Vertical's Ode to Kirihito will be a single-volume, 800-page edition. Kirihito will feature the same trim size as Tezuka's much-acclaimed Buddha biography, which is also published by Vertical. Ishii says in Kirihito, Tezuka addresses social issues such as racism, class differences and misogyny, just as he does in Buddha, but in a more modern context. Ishii also notes that Tezuka's drawing style in this story is different from Buddha and Astroboy—less comical and exaggerated."

(original article here: http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6305371.html )

[strobe_z]

ok, I'll bite... that's great news! I'm really glad to hear that Vertical is going to give more Tezuka manga a go. I'd hope they think about doing Ayako as well. It seems to hinge on how well Kirihito does though, so we'll see I guess.

Thanks for the info!

[O2Destroyer]

Well the way I look at it, this is less work you have to do!

The one thing I am a bit disturbed by is the idea that comes not just from Vertical but all the US publishers of tezuka which is that 'there is this whole other side of tezuka none of us have seen', namely the more adult stuff. Strangely, Buddha, Phoenix and Adolf are all in print. If anything, it is just the reverse--it is Tezuka's stuff for the younger crowd that is not in print.

That said, Vertical are clearly trying to build a foundation, a base of knowledge that includes Tezuka as a serious artist/author/creator, one that will probably be aided more by Kirihito than by the titles I'd like to see in print (haha, that's what strobe_z is for! Either way, having a BIG 800 page story from Tezuka at the end of the year will make a nice Xmas present for myself.

[strobe_z]

I agree... Tezuka's "Boy Adventure Series" manga is sorely under-represented. There's a bunch of stuff like Ambassador Magma, Triton of the Sea and Number 7 that I'd love to see printed.

In anticipation of Vertial's eventual "Tezuka Line" (hopefully), I've decided to move Ayako way down the translating 'schedule'. The stuff I'm trying to present at my site is going to be stuff that seemingly has no chance of being published in English. If Vertical is going to go for stuff like Kirihito, Ayako, Barbara, MW, etc... well that's just great!

Incidentally, I'm a bit surprised that Vertical will release Kirihito as one 800-page book. Basically that's the size of 2 Buddha volumes. Makes me excited for Christmas though!