Ravex in Tezuka World

Produced in time for what would have been Osamu Tezuka's 80th birthday, Ravex in Tezuka World is a short animation featuring characters from Tezuka's body of work meeting an animated version of the musical trio Ravex. It was included as an extra DVD with the group's debut album.

I first reported on this a couple of years ago, and in reading that now I'm kind of surprised at how unfavorable my initial reactions where! I was kind of harsh on it when this project was first announced.

Well, it's taken awhile for me to see it, but it's out there now thanks to a recent fansub. You're on your own if you want to see it for yourself, but I thought it would be fun to give it a quick review with some screenshots right here on ABW for those who are curious. After finally seeing it, I can say that it's at the very least worth being curious about because watching this is kind of bizarre! Whether it's good or bad, it sure is different, so let's go through the the whole story.

Click on the images for a bigger look. Feel free to leave your comments because I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say.

Continue reading "Ravex in Tezuka World"...

Osamu Tezuka Manga Movable Feast

Manga Critic

Be sure to check out The Manga Critic for a huge celebration into the life and work of Osamu Tezuka. Many reviews and articles are being collected and anyone is able to participate. This is going on right now and new content is being added throughout the week. Here's some more info.

From February 19th through February 25th, I will hosting a week-long tribute to legendary manga-ka Osamu Tezuka, creator of Astro Boy, Black Jack, Buddha, Dororo, Jungle Emperor Leo, MW, Ode to Kirihito, Phoenix, Swallowing the Earth, and many other titles. Everyone is encouraged to participate, whether they wish to review one of the many Tezuka titles available in English, write an in-depth article about Tezuka’s star system, or trace his influence on other famous manga-ka.

Seems like Tezuka tributes are becoming a common occurrence! All is as it should be.

Continue reading "Osamu Tezuka Manga Movable Feast"...

Manga Artists Make Tezuka Tributes

This week marked the 23rd anniversary of Osamu Tezuka's passing. He died on February 9th, 1989. While it's much better to celebrate the life of someone rather than mark the occasion of their death, I mentioned on Twitter that the best way to pay homage to Tezuka's legacy on that day would be to draw something.I was happy to see my message spread around a bit, and a number of people did do a Tezuka inspired drawing.

It looks like I wasn't the only one with that idea, as several Japanese manga artists have also created new illustrations of famous Tezuka characters

 Here is one I really like by Keiichi Tanaka, creator of a story called "Doctor Chichibuyama".

You can find more at Anime News Network.

I drew some cool anime-esque robots for another project that I'm working on, but you'll have to wait a bit before you get to see those!

Continue reading "Manga Artists Make Tezuka Tributes"...

Melmo Figures

Officially licensed by Tezuka Productions, these two Marvelous Melmo figures stand 3.5 and 5.5 inches tall and are made of PVC plastic.

Older Melmo is a little risque, but they're out there if you're into that stuff!

Continue reading "Melmo Figures"...

Astro Boy and the God of Comics - Live!

A new live theater stage production based on the life and work of Osamu Tezuka is set to debut in Washington D.C. next month. Natsu Onoda Power, who wrote God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga will be bringing "ASTRO BOY AND
THE GOD OF COMICS" to the Studio Theater starting on February 15th, 2012.

Here's a brief description from the show's creator herself:

Astro Boy and the God of Comics combines three narratives — the fictional story of Astro Boy, the story of how the Astro Boy series was created, and the story of the series’s creator, Osamu Tezuka. It’s about a little boy robot who tries to be “human” and fails (and eventually come to terms with his identity... he is a robot and he is proud); it’s about a comic book series that becomes a national icon; it’s about a cartoonist who is admired as the “god of comics”; it’s about a young artist transforming the dehumanization of World War II into something hopeful. It’s really about “trying to be human,” whatever it means in all these different situations. I am hoping to explore this theme in the staging too... what does it mean to be “live theatre with real humans”?

You can read the entire text on the Studio Theater website, or by clicking the link below for an archived version.

Sounds like a very exciting project! Wish I could go see it. If anyone in the Washington area is lucky enough to be able to check it out, please let me know what you thought of it.

Trying to Be Human: Astro Boy and the God of Comics
Natsu Onoda Power is a director, writer, and designer. As rehearsals for Astro Boy and the God of Comics approach, Literary Director Adrien-Alice Hansel chatted with her about the inspiration behind her newest work, which combines Tezuka’s life, the history of Japanese animation, and the fictional world of his greatest creation: Astro Boy, a crime-fighting boy robot.

AH: You’ve literally written the book on Osamu Tezuka (God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga) and now you’re exploring his life and cartoons theatrically for Studio 2ndStage. Why are you drawn to Tezuka’s work?

NOP: I’ve loved his work since I was a child. He is a genius at borrowing techniques from other art forms, like theatre or film, to make his comics alive and interesting. One of the most interesting things that he does is what he calls the “Star System” — he “casts” his comics from an ensemble of fictional “stars” (really, stock characters) that he has created. It’s like the Star System in film, where an actor brings all kinds of associations with him/her into a character, making the character all the more complex. Tezuka is also a master storyteller. He can create absorbing narratives, but will always pull you back and make you aware that you are reading a comic book. It’s really Brechtian.

What do you hope to explore in the story of Astro Boy?

Astro Boy and the God of Comics combines three narratives — the fictional story of Astro Boy, the story of how the Astro Boy series was created, and the story of the series’s creator, Osamu Tezuka. It’s about a little boy robot who tries to be “human” and fails (and eventually come to terms with his identity... he is a robot and he is proud); it’s about a comic book series that becomes a national icon; it’s about a cartoonist who is admired as the “god of comics”; it’s about a young artist transforming the dehumanization of World War II into something hopeful. It’s really about “trying to be human,” whatever it means in all these different situations. I am hoping to explore this theme in the staging too... what does it mean to be “live theatre with real humans”?

That’s fascinating—the idea of playing with real humans and real action on stage. Astro Boy, like some of your other work, will feature live animation—actors drawing while the audience watches. Why do you think it’s so engaging to watch people draw on stage?

I am obsessed with watching skilled people carrying on a task. I love great acting for that reason, but I also enjoy watching people draw, paint, cook, knit, build things. I once stood outside watching a person spread plaster on a wall on stilts for an hour. It was completely mesmerizing. There is magic to witnessing an object come into existence in front of you. Sort of the same idea as an open kitchen.

You describe this play as a sort of high tech/low tech retro-sci-fi piece. Can you talk a little bit about the aesthetic you’re going after and how you and your design team are hoping to achieve it?

Astro Boy gives us a vision of the “future from the past”... an image of the early 21st Century from the perspective of the 1950s-60s. I just love this. Growing up, I was also obsessed with Tex Avery cartoons from the 50s (“The Farm of Tomorrow,” “Cars of Tomorrow” and the like). It is completely anachronistic. Astro Boy periodically has to “change his vacuum tube” because they sometimes fail... like an old TV. I am trying to do something similar with the staging. We will use video (Jared Mezzochi, who is doing projection design for the show, is the master of high-tech), but mix it with low-tech elements like drawing. It should be clunky and cartoony. Not at all slick. My goal is to make the show look like it was an animation made by Tex Avery or Tezuka in the 50s/60s: “The Theatre of Tomorrow.”

Continue reading "Astro Boy and the God of Comics - Live!"...

Astro Baby

This PVC toy is most likely a bootleg and was found on dinodirect.com. Looks more like a baby dressed up as Astro than it looks like the actual Astro, but I have to admit, it's kind of cute. I guess.

Continue reading "Astro Baby"...

About Comments

Back when I was moving and could not update AstroBoy World very often, I was getting bombarded with spam comments. There were dozens of them. I tried to delete them as soon as possible, but when I had limited access to the Internet, there wasn't much I could do about it. So, unfortunately I had to disable comments completely. It wasn't a big deal since I wasn't able to update the site at all during that time so there was nothing new to comment on, but didn't like stopping people from legitimately discussing the posts that were already here.

I definitley did not miss getting the constant stream of comment notification e-mails my phone was getting only to find it was just some automated garbage trying to sell things!

Anyway, comments are back now, so go ahead and post! The difference now is that in order to leave a comment, you have to have a Google or OpenID account. No more anonymous posters will be allowed. I was kind of annoyed at all the anonymous posting going on anyway, especially when there would be more than one Anon in the same blog entry and nobody knew who was talking. So please get yourself set up with an account and use it to share your thoughts!

Continue reading "About Comments"...