91-545: Urasawa may refer to: Naoki Urasawa (born 1960), Japanese manga artist and occasional musician Urasawa (restaurant) , a Michelin Guide 2-star restaurant located in Beverly Hills, California Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Urasawa . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
182-676: A humanoid robot named Atom. Tezuka received several letters from many young boys. Expecting success with a series based around Atom, Tezuka's producer suggested that he be given human emotions. One day, while working at a hospital, Tezuka was punched in the face by a frustrated American G.I. This encounter gave Tezuka the idea to include the theme of Atom's interaction with aliens. On 4 February 1952, Tetsuwan Atom began serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine . The character Atom and his adventures became an instant phenomenon in Japan. Due to
273-549: A Japanese cover of Bob Dylan's " Girl from the North Country " and "Guta lala suda lala" from his series 20th Century Boys at the Japan Expo , and the following day he joined rock band Hemenway on stage. Urasawa's second album, Mannon ( 漫音 ) which he wrote and produced himself, was released in 2016. Urasawa wrote a demo for a song titled "Kanashiki LA Tengoku" ( 悲しきLA天国 ) and sent it to musician Mike Viola , who finished
364-590: A body of comics. His characters were modified to appear in different works, similar to how actors modify their personality and appearance to suit different performances. Influenced by film, he created bipartite characters that were constituted by the performer (or the stock character) and the performance (or the role played by the stock character). In doing so, Tezuka created space for intertextual history, references and commentary. The Star System utilized "the crossover between celebrity, actor and character" and also enabled Tezuka to involve intertextuality. Tezuka invented
455-479: A calendar featuring illustrations of "beautiful women" by the artist. On December 27, Urasawa co-hosted a special radio program about Osamu Tezuka alongside Chiaki Kuriyama for Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. In 2019, he designed the official posters of the 2019 Osaka Women's Marathon and a classic car charity event organized by Toshiaki Karasawa for reconstruction after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. On January 23, 2019, Japan House Los Angeles presented
546-443: A cartoony, Disney-esque slapstick style towards a more realistic drawing style; at the time the themes of his books became focused on an adult audience. A common element in all these books and short stories is the very dark and immoral nature of the main characters. The stories are also filled with explicit violence, erotic scenes, and crime. The change of his manga from aimed at children to more 'literary' gekiga manga started with
637-538: A comic book numbering 200 pages, that attached him to fame. The akahon is characterized by the use of senkashi paper and "bright red covers", both of which enabled easy circulation. Tezuka departed from the typical expectations of akahon by introducing complexity in The Mysterious Underground Man and morality in Magic House and Vampire Devils . Moreover, he used romaji (English) titles alongside
728-493: A crucial investment because Mushi Pro only had four episodes in the can and only enough resources for one episode more. In the American localization, even more over the top sound effects were used to mitigate the obviously cheap animation. The use of sound would be further utilized and exemplified in other anime to follow, leading to many of the "stock" anime sound effects modern audiences are now used to. Selling to an American market
819-514: A degree in economics. When Urasawa visited Shogakukan to apply for a business job, he decided to bring some manga he had drawn out of curiosity. An editor from Weekly Shōnen Sunday did not give him the time of day, but the head editor of Big Comic Original happened to walk by and felt the work was better suited for Big Comic Spirits , and took Urasawa to their editorial department. He ended up submitting manga for their 1982 New Manga Artist Award, which his unpublished work "Return" won. It
910-622: A doctor. At a crossing point, he asked his mother whether he should look into doing manga full-time or whether he should become a doctor. At the time, being a manga author was not a particularly rewarding job. The answer his mother gave was: "You should work doing the thing you like most of all." Tezuka decided to devote himself to manga creation on a full-time basis. He graduated from Osaka University and obtained his medical degree, but he would later use his medical and scientific knowledge to enrich his sci-fi manga, such as Black Jack . Tezuka enjoyed insect collecting and entomology (even adding
1001-525: A documentary film about the rock band Zunō Keisatsu. Urasawa directed and illustrated the music video, and illustrated the cover art, for Kazuyoshi Saito 's March 2021 digital single "Boy". In November 2021, Urasawa's first one-shot for Shueisha, "Dr. Toguro Dokuro no Saigo", was published in Grand Jump to celebrate the magazine's 10th anniversary. By December 2021, his various works had over 140 million copies in circulation worldwide. He had an acting role in
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#17328849042801092-406: A female audience, had a large influence of Tezuka's later works, including his costume designs. Not only that, but the performers' large, sparkling eyes also had an influence on Tezuka's art style. He said that he had a profound "spirit of nostalgia" for Takarazuka. When Tezuka was young, his father showed him Walt Disney films and he became a Disney movie buff, seeing the films multiple times in
1183-476: A large number of erotic sketches of anthropomorphic animals. Tezuka is known for his imaginative stories and stylized Japanese adaptations of Western literature. Tezuka's "cinematic" page layouts were influenced by Milt Gross ' early graphic novel He Done Her Wrong . He read this book as a child, and its style characterized many manga artists who followed in Tezuka's footsteps. A key component of Tezuka's style
1274-491: A movie trailer for that story, and after I compose this movie trailer in my mind, there comes a point where I'm so excited about it that I have to write the story. And then I imagine, 'Where do I start to begin to tell this narrative?' and that's usually the first chapter." He does not plan the story out in advance, claiming that it tells him where it wants to go, and that if the story does not keep surprising even him, then he can not continue making it. He also does not determine
1365-512: A movie, and acknowledged his work as adult-oriented, stating that even as a child he never liked manga aimed at children. However, he noted that he and Otomo both prefer to have their work called manga and not gekiga. When asked where he gets ideas from, Urasawa said "I have been illustrating all my life. Inspiration is everywhere, when I get in the bath, when I get out. It's whether you are perceiving these ideas and whether you are able to catch them." He also said that he does not worry about what
1456-417: A new animation studio, Tezuka Productions , and continued experimenting with animation late into his life. In 1973, Mushi Productions collapsed financially; the fallout would produce several influential animation production studios, including Sunrise . In 1967, in response to the magazine Garo and the gekiga movement, Tezuka created the magazine COM . By doing so, he radically changed his art from
1547-526: A nurse who had tried to take away his drawing equipment. Although Tezuka was agnostic, he was buried in a Buddhist cemetery in Tokyo. In 2014, it was reported that Tezuka's daughter, Rumiko Tezuka [ ja ] , opened a drawer to her father's desk which had been locked since his death. In it she found a half-eaten piece of chocolate, a handwritten essay about Katsuhiro Otomo in regard to his good work on Akira , sketches from his various projects, and
1638-745: A one-off special in November 2014, a first season was launched in September 2015, a second in March 2016, a third in September 2016, and a fourth in March 2017. After three years, the show returned in October 2020 with Neo added to the end of its title. The show won the December 2015 Planning Award as part of Quick Japan's annual TV of the Year awards, decided by broadcast writers. The June 9, 2021, episode on Yoshikazu Yasuhiko won
1729-461: A publisher for more of his work. Kobunsha turned Tezuka down, but Shinseikaku agreed to publish The Strange Voyage of Dr. Tiger and Domei Shuppansha agreed to publish The Mysterious Dr. Koronko . While still in medical school Tezuka published his first masterpieces: a trilogy of science fiction epics called Lost World (1948), Metropolis (1949), and Nextworld (1951). Soon afterward, Tezuka published his first major success, Kimba
1820-482: A publishing spot from Ikuei Shuppan if he would work on the manga. Tezuka finished the manga, only loosely basing it on the original work. Shin Takarajima ( New Treasure Island ) was published and became an overnight success, which began the golden age of manga, a craze comparable to American comic book Golden Age at the same time. With the success of New Treasure Island, Tezuka traveled to Tokyo in search of
1911-459: A row, most famously seeing Bambi more than 80 times. Tezuka started to draw comics around his second year of elementary school, in large part inspired by Disney animation; he drew so much that his mother would have to erase pages in his notebook in order to keep up with his output. Tezuka was also inspired by the works by Suihō Tagawa and Unno Juza . Later in life, he would state that the most important influence on his desire to be an animator
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#17328849042802002-417: A sequel to Master Keaton with Nagasaki and Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams , Urasawa began his currently ongoing Asadora! in 2018. Urasawa cited Osamu Tezuka as one of his heroes, being particularly fond of his manga Phoenix . "The Greatest Robot on Earth" and "The Artificial Sun" arcs of Tezuka's Astro Boy were his first experiences with manga at four or five years old. Around that same age
2093-621: A short, full color, left-to-right manga titled " Tanshin Funin/Solo Mission " to the February 2016 French comics anthology The Tipping Point to commemorate publisher Humanoids ' 40th anniversary. Re-titled Turning Point , the anthology was published in Japan in September 2017. He created a short three-page manga about 1960s British rock band the Beatles time-traveling to 2016. Released in June 2016 on
2184-521: A weekly serialization and the other having a semimonthly schedule, Urasawa had six deadlines a month and said the only time off he had was when sleeping or eating. Urasawa frequently collaborates with manga editor and author Takashi Nagasaki , to the point where Nagasaki has been called his "producer." The two met when Nagasaki was made Urasawa's editor upon his debut. Although the two continue to collaborate even after Nagasaki became freelance, they rarely socialize outside of work. Urasawa said that following
2275-400: Is a Japanese manga artist and musician. He has been drawing manga since he was four years old, and for most of his professional career has created two series simultaneously. The stories to many of these were co-written in collaboration with his former editor, Takashi Nagasaki . Urasawa has been called one of the artists that changed the history of manga and has won numerous awards, including
2366-553: Is a national treasure in Japan." With Happy! ' s ending, Urasawa began 20th Century Boys in Big Comic Spirits in 1999. It earned him the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category, and his third Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category in 2002. It ended in 2006 and was collected into 22 volumes. The story briefly continued as 21st Century Boys in 2007, which was collected into two volumes. 20th Century Boys
2457-417: Is his extensive use of quotations, which include his allusions to popular works and adoptions of trends. For instance, he incorporated multiple varieties of depth into one frame—mirroring a breakthrough technique in the realm of Hollywood film: deep-focus cinematography. Tezuka's Metropolis is an exemplar for his use of this technique, as well as for the cinematic "pans and close-ups and zooms" that created
2548-415: Is when he started to draw manga, and at eight he created his first complete story. Even at a young age, Urasawa saw the gulf between his work and that of a "real manga artist." He said that he could also identify manga that was "commercialized" and made just for the money, something he did not want to do. Thus he never thought of becoming a professional manga artist, and graduated from Meisei University with
2639-457: The yōkai manga Dororo in 1967. This yōkai manga was influenced by the success of and a response to Shigeru Mizuki 's GeGeGe no Kitarō . Simultaneously, he also produced Vampires that, like Dororo , also introduced a stronger, more coherent storyline and a shift in the drawing style. After these two he began his true first gekiga attempt with Swallowing the Earth . Dissatisfied with
2730-509: The 1964 New York World's Fair . In a 1986 entry in his personal diary, Tezuka stated that Disney wanted to hire him for a potential science fiction project. In January 1965, Tezuka received a letter from American film director Stanley Kubrick , who had watched Astro Boy and wanted to invite Tezuka to be the art director of his next movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey (which was eventually released in 1968). Although flattered by Kubrick's invitation, Tezuka could not afford to leave his studio for
2821-611: The Shogakukan Manga Award three times, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize twice, and the Kodansha Manga Award once. South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho called him "the greatest storyteller of our time", while Dominican-American writer Junot Díaz proclaimed Urasawa to be a national treasure in Japan. By December 2021, his various works had over 140 million copies in circulation worldwide, making him one of
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2912-694: The Will Eisner Hall of Fame . In 2020, Urasawa drew advertisements for the Samsonite Red luggage brand, and was chosen to create one of the official posters for the 2020 Summer Olympics . For the second year in a row, he drew the poster for the Osaka Women's Marathon. In June, Urasawa created the cover portrait for Universal Japan 's 250th anniversary release of music by Ludwig van Beethoven . He also appears in July 2020's ZK/Zunō Keisatsu 50 Mirai e no Kodō ,
3003-438: The best-selling authors of all time. Urasawa's first major work was illustrating the action series Pineapple Army (1985–1988), which was written by Kazuya Kudo. The first serial that he wrote and illustrated himself, and his first major success, was the sports manga Yawara! (1986–1993). He then illustrated the adventure series Master Keaton (1988–1994), which was written by Hokusei Katsushika and Nagasaki, and created
3094-586: The "kiss-scene" motif due to its rising popularity in Japanese film. Tezuka juxtaposed this with elements more customary to Japan, such as the "glorification of self-sacrifice": instead of the usual happy ending, one or more of his characters would meet their demise but specifically for the sake of others. Aside from these borrowed motifs, a signature characteristic of Tezuka's style is the Star System , which refers to his casting of characters into different roles across
3185-701: The 1989 Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category. That same year it was adapted into a live-action film and an anime television series. It ended in 1993 and was collected into 29 volumes. When Pineapple Army ended, Urasawa began Master Keaton for Big Comic Original in November 1988. He illustrated it, while Hokusei Katsushika wrote it. It ended in August 1994 and was collected into 18 volumes. An anime television adaptation began in 1998, before finishing as an original video animation in 2000. Likewise when Yawara! ended, Urasawa began another solo series in Big Comic Spirits . Happy! ran from 1993 until 1999 and
3276-566: The Air , Clockwork Apple , The Crater , Melody of Iron and Other Short Stories , and Record of the Glass Castle . Tezuka would become a bit milder in narrative tone in the 1980s with his follow-up works such as Message to Adolf , Midnight , Ludwig B (unfinished), and Neo Faust . Tezuka died of stomach cancer on 9 February 1989 after he was rushed into the hospital in Tokyo. His last words were: "I'm begging you, let me work!", spoken to
3367-456: The American market when a Mushi Pro representative went to discuss the next year's episode order only to find out that the Americans didn't need anymore, believing that 52 episodes were more than enough to cycle through indefinitely. Other series were subsequently adapted to animation, including Jungle Emperor (1965), the first Japanese animated series produced in full color. Jungle Emperor
3458-527: The Chinese story of Journey to the West . Produced by Toei Animation , Tezuka was officially credited as the director of the film. However, later crew accounts would prove that the manga artist was difficult to motivate to do work. Most of the direction was done by Yabushita Taiji instead. Tezuka was eventually given the task of storyboarding the film, so that he didn't actually have to animate anything and something in
3549-449: The December 2022 film The Flower in the Sky , portraying poet Haruo Satō . Fusanosuke Natsume said that prior to entering university, Urasawa's style showed influence from Shinji Nagashima and Osamu Tezuka 's 1970s work, but went on to claim that in 1979 it became aligned with that of Katsuhiro Otomo . Due to his skill at structuring panel layouts, Kazuhiko Torishima cited Urasawa as
3640-603: The Grand Prize in the entertainment category at the 2022 Japan Media Arts Festival . Beginning in July 2015, Urasawa started contributing to the " Musica Nostra " column series that was published in Shueisha's Grand Jump magazine. An art exhibition of Urasawa's work was on display in Tokyo from January 16 to March 31, 2016, before moving to Osaka from November 26 to January 25, 2017. It included illustrations, manga manuscripts, story notes, and childhood manga. Urasawa contributed
3731-449: The History of Manga in 2010, mangaka being the Japanese word for a manga artist, and Urasawa came in tenth. In 2011, Urasawa illustrated a picture book adaptation of Kosuke Hamada's story Red Oni Cries . Urasawa began writing a sequel to Master Keaton in 2012 titled Master Keaton Remaster . When asked why he went back to a series after so many years, Urasawa stated it was because with
Urasawa - Misplaced Pages Continue
3822-433: The Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney , who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works. Tezuka began what was known as the manga revolution in Japan with his New Treasure Island published in 1947. His output would spawn some of
3913-676: The Japanese equivalents, as well as a subtle color palette and intricate composition—all of which were unlike other akahon . Later, Tezuka's style—which favoured akahon —had to be reinvented to serve the demands of serialized magazines. He created the "single charismatic hero", an example of which is Atom, to capture and keep the readership's attention through the episodic narratives. Tezuka's complete oeuvre includes over 700 volumes, with more than 150,000 pages. Tezuka's creations include Astro Boy ( Mighty Atom in Japan), Black Jack , Princess Knight , Phoenix ( Hi no Tori in Japan), Kimba
4004-556: The Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum website. Tezuka was a descendant of Hattori Hanzō , a famous ninja and samurai who faithfully served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Sengoku period in Japan. Tezuka's childhood nickname was gashagasha-atama : "messy head" ( gashagasha is slang for messy, atama means head). As a child, Tezuka's arms swelled up and he became ill. He was treated and cured by a doctor, which made him also want to be
4095-482: The White Lion ( Jungle Emperor in Japan), Unico , Message to Adolf , The Amazing 3 , Buddha , and Dororo . His "life's work" was Phoenix —a story of life and death that he began in the 1950s and continued until his death. In addition, Tezuka headed the animation production studio Mushi Production ("Bug Production"), which pioneered TV animation in Japan. A complete list of his works can be found on
4186-832: The White Lion , which was serialized in Manga Shonen from 1950 to 1954. In 1951, Tezuka graduated from the Osaka School of Medicine and published Ambassador Atom , the first appearance of the Astro Boy character. That same year Tezuka joined a group known as the Tokyo Children Manga Association, consisting of other manga artists such as Baba Noboru, Ota Jiro, Furusawa Hideo, Eiichi Fukui , Irie Shigeru and Negishi Komichi. By 1952, Ambassador Atom had proven to be an only mild success in Japan; however, one particular character became extremely popular with young boys:
4277-417: The album features Hiroyuki Namba and other musicians. A single featuring a remix of T. Rex 's " 20th Century Boy " and Urasawa's "Bob Lennon (Kenji no Uta)" was released on August 19, 2009. Urasawa and Mitsuru Kuramoto wrote and performed "Nigero" ( 逃げろ ) under the name Urasawa ni Mitsuru ( 浦沢に美津留 ) to be the theme of the 2011 NTT Docomo TV show Tsubuyaki Sanshirō ~Ippon Nau!~ . In 2012 he performed
4368-511: The anime adaptation of Yawara! , he has requested that he be able to check the scripts for any adaptation of his works. Until 2018's ongoing Asadora! , none of Urasawa's manga had ever been legally available in digital formats . The author stated that he prefers physical books. However, his earlier works began receiving digital releases in 2022, limited to Japan. Urasawa is also a musician. He stated "A lot of artists really struggled to decide whether to become manga artists or rock musicians, so
4459-465: The anime industry such as repeated and reversed animation cycles of characters dancing, frames being held for a long period of time. This same screening also featured the first screening of Tezuka's Astro Boy initial two episodes eight weeks before its original broadcast on the 5 or 6 November 1962 at the Yamaha Hall . Astro Boy was first broadcast on New Year's Day 1963; this series would create
4550-556: The character 虫 'bug' to his pen name), Disney , and baseball —in fact, he licensed the "grown up" version of his character Kimba the White Lion as the logo for the Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. A fan of Superman , Tezuka was honorary chairman of Japan's Superman Fan Club. In 1959 Osamu Tezuka married Etsuko Okada at a Takarazuka hotel. Tezuka met Walt Disney in person at
4641-433: The director of the studio's first TV series, and it introduced Tezuka to the animators he would later poach for his own studio. In 1961, Tezuka entered the animation industry in Japan by founding the production company Mushi Productions as a rival of Toei Animation . His initial staff was composed of animators he had met while working on Saiyuki that he convinced to join by paying the animators more than double what Toei
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#17328849042804732-500: The distinctive "large eyes" style of Japanese animation , drawing inspiration from the eyes of the characters of the Takarazuka Revue, as well as from Western cartoon characters such as Betty Boop , Mickey Mouse , and Bambi , and from Disney movies. While the start of Tezuka's professional career involved four-panel comics like The Diary of Mā-chan and A Man from Mars , it was the akahon format of New Treasure Island ,
4823-450: The entire animation process much more efficient. Tezuka did not enjoy his time at Toei, and he especially did not like that he felt he had no control over "his" story or the ending. This film is recognized as a massive turning point in animation history. It introduced the use of simplified art style and limited animation as labor and cost savers. It introduced Tsukioka Sadao , one of Tezuka's assistants, to Toei where he would later become
4914-420: The experience of reading Asadora! to that of being able to go back and read 20th Century Boys for the first time again. The November 2018 issue of Monthly Big Comic Spirits , released on September 27, was given the special title "Urasawa Jack". It included Urasawa's one-shot " It's a Beautiful Day ", which adapted a story told to him by musician Kenji Endo, an interview between him and Shigeru Izumiya , and
5005-463: The first North American exhibit of Urasawa's work, titled "This is MANGA – the Art of NAOKI URASAWA". The exhibit ran until March 28, 2019, and featured more than 400 original drawings and storyboards. Urasawa participated in an artist discussion and book signing on opening day. The exhibit moved to Japan House London from June 5 to July 28, also attended by the artist. Urasawa was a 2019 nominee for entry into
5096-625: The first successful model for animation production in Japan and would also be the first Japanese animation dubbed into English for an American audience and also created the market for children's merchandise. This is in large part because Tezuka was able to undercut his competitors, cutting costs to 2.5 million yen per episode by using techniques that would later be adopted by the television anime industry at large such as shooting on threes, stop images, repetition, sectioning, combined use, and short shots. None of these methods were invented by Tezuka or Mushi Pro, but were instead refined there. During production,
5187-432: The following year. Urasawa began his first major serialized work, Pineapple Army , in 1985 in the semimonthly Big Comic Original . He was the illustrator of the series, while Kazuya Kudo was its writer. It ended in 1988 and was collected into eight tankōbon volumes. While working on Pineapple Army , Urasawa began Yawara! in the weekly Big Comic Spirits in 1986 which he wrote and illustrated himself. It earned him
5278-464: The goal of a big finish at the end for audiences to leave the cinema remembering. The script for the film was credited to Uekusa Keinosuke . The film was released as Alakazam the Great in 1960. That said, many of the animators were initially shocked at the amount they had to produce in such a short amount of time—amounting to a frame a day, thinking it undoable. However, Tezuka's simplified art style made
5369-457: The illusion of motion in his scenes. Nonetheless: Tezuka's dyadic visual jokes —which involve the arrival of creatures at emotionally-charged scenes —disrupt the tension, reminding the reader of "the framework of fiction" and promoting a safe "mode of identification" with the narrative. Tezuka's quotations of real trends mark a key aspect of his style: adaptation in response to the socio-cultural situation and interests of his audience. He involved
5460-737: The limited series Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams in a collaboration with France's Louvre Museum . It began in Big Comic Original in October 2017 and ended on February 20, 2018. In January 2018, Urasawa attended the 45th Angoulême International Comics Festival in France, where he received the Fauve Special Award and the Fauve Polar SNCF Special Award for mystery. The festival also held an art exhibit of his work, before it moved to Paris from February 13 to March 31. Urasawa
5551-507: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urasawa&oldid=1015443240 " Categories : Disambiguation pages Disambiguation pages with surname-holder lists Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Naoki Urasawa Naoki Urasawa ( Japanese : 浦沢 直樹 , Hepburn : Urasawa Naoki , born January 2, 1960)
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#17328849042805642-449: The manga industry, gave a live drawing demonstration, and performed two songs as a musician, and joined rock band Hemenway on stage the following day. Between 2013 and 2014, Urasawa contributed to the essay series " The Old Guys " that was published in Shueisha 's Jump X magazine. His contributions and those of the other 32 writers who participated were collected into a July 2015 volume of
5733-399: The most influential, successful and well-received manga series including the children's mangas Astro Boy , Princess Knight and Kimba the White Lion , and the adult-oriented series Black Jack , Phoenix and Buddha , all of which won several awards. Tezuka died of stomach cancer in 1989. His death had an immediate impact on the Japanese public and other cartoonists. A museum
5824-443: The original series he had a hard time making the story he wanted due to contractual obligation, and because people affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami said they had enjoyed the series, so he wanted to do something for them. Beginning in the March 2012 issue of Big Comic Original it finished in 2014 and was collected into a single volume. As a guest at the 2012 Japan Expo in France, Urasawa talked about how he entered
5915-479: The page or panel layouts in advance. Having drawn manga for over five decades, he just follows his instincts, explaining "When I start to structure a story narratively, the question of tempo — developing a character moment-to-moment and then jumping to a two-page spread — how do you determine where that happens? It's like breathing to me — I know when it feels right." For most of his career, Urasawa has written two different series simultaneously. With one of them being
6006-556: The production could get done. He did not follow Toei's deadlines, and after a year of working on the project and several weeks of threats from Toei's producers, he finally delivered his 500-page storyboard so the animators could do their job in the autumn of 1959. That said, the crew found the storyboard to be entirely unpractical, lacking pacing and a clear plot for a 90-minute film, instead something that would be better told through an open-ended weekly comic like what Tezuka had been producing. This ran counter to Toei's "climax method" that had
6097-418: The readers want, and simply draws stories that he finds interesting. The artist said that while manga is often looked at as simple, he makes sure to use subtleties to show dramatic expressions and convey emotion, claiming "You won't find two expressions that are the same" in his work. On his storytelling process, Urasawa states, "When I start a new project, I start with the larger arc of the story. I visualize
6188-475: The result, he soon after produced I.L. . His work Phoenix began in 1967. Besides the well-known series Phoenix , Black Jack and Buddha , which are drawn in this style, he also produced a vast amount of one-shots or shorter series, such as Ayako , Ode to Kirihito , Alabaster , Apollo's Song , Barbara , MW , The Book of Human Insects , and a large number of short stories that were later collectively published in books such as Under
6279-413: The rise of Mushi Pro was a short one and it was sliding into bankruptcy. Tezuka's financial model was unsustainable and the company was deeply in debt. In two desperate attempts to earn enough money to pay investors, Tezuka turned to the adult film market and produced A Thousand and One Nights (1969) and Cleopatra (1970). Both attempts failed. Tezuka stepped down as acting director in 1968 to found
6370-620: The same name. In August 2013, Urasawa created his first "monster manga" titled " Kaiju Kingdom ", a 41-page one-shot published in Big Comic . Urasawa is the host of the NHK Educational TV documentary series Urasawa Naoki no Manben , which focuses on a different manga artist each episode and explores their individual styles. He coined the word "manben" from his childhood; his parents and grandparents used to tell him, "Don't draw man ga all day! You need to ben kyō (study), too!". It began as
6461-459: The sports manga Happy! (1993–1999). The thriller Monster (1994–2001) was his first to receive international acclaim and success, which continued with the science fiction mystery 20th Century Boys (1999–2006). Following the acclaimed Pluto (2003–2009), which is a re-imagining of Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka , one of Urasawa's biggest influences, he and Nagasaki created the mystery series Billy Bat (2008–2016). After two short series,
6552-402: The staff also found that while the short cuts were initially obvious, the use of soundscaping helped to mitigate it. The only reason Astro Boy was able to survive its inception is because Tezuka was able to sell the foreign rights to NBC Enterprises (an important distinction from NBC itself which was the entity Tezuka believed he was selling to). The American company ordered 52 episodes,
6643-524: The success of Tetsuwan Atom , in 1953, Tezuka published the shōjo manga Ribon no Kishi ( Princess Knight ), serialized in Shojo Club from 1953 to 1956. In 1954, Tezuka first published what he would consider his life's work, Phoenix , which originally appeared in Mushi Production Commercial Firm . Tezuka's first work to be adapted for animation was Saiyuki , a retelling of
6734-608: The track and invited Urasawa to Los Angeles to play on it. The people playing on the song are Urasawa, Viola, drummer Jim Keltner , and Mitsuru Kuramoto. It is included on the album The Best of Mike Viola which was released on January 22, 2020, with the performance credited to Monaka. In 2020, Urasawa was one of many people who submitted lyrics that were adopted by Sunplaza Nakano-kun into a new version of Bakufu Slump 's 1984 song "Murida! Ketteihan" ( 無理だ！決定盤 ) . Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka ( 手塚 治虫 , born 手塚 治 , Tezuka Osamu , ( 1928-11-03 ) 3 November 1928 – 9 February 1989)
6825-855: The true successor to Tezuka. When talking in 1997 about the future of manga, Urasawa opined that "Tezuka created the form that exists today, then caricatures appeared next, and comics changed again when Katsuhiro Otomo came on the scene. I don't think there's any room left for further changes." He has also expressed admiration for French bande dessinée artist Moebius and American novelist Stephen King . Although Urasawa's works like Yawara! had light entertainment with cute young girls, Natsume says Urasawa developed his own personal style with Monster , which he described as realistic, or directorially based, with cinematic panel layouts similar to Otomo and gekiga artists. Natsume also noted that many of his characters resemble famous movie stars. Urasawa himself described his approach to manga as similar to storyboarding
6916-591: The two are intertwined, they're synonymous!" Urasawa started playing guitar in junior high school inspired by folk rock singer-songwriters Takuro Yoshida and Bob Dylan . Urasawa wrote and performed the song "Bob Lennon (Kenji no Uta)" ( Bob Lennon (ケンヂの歌) ) , which was released on a CD included in the 2002 first pressing of volume 11 of 20th Century Boys . He released the limited single "Tsuki ga Tottemo..." ( 月がとっても… ) on June 4, 2008, and his debut album Hanseiki no Otoko ( 半世紀の男 , "Half Century Man") on November 29, 2008. Both were produced by Koji Wakui, while
7007-511: The website of Tokyo radio station InterFM897 , it coincides with the TV program KKBOX Here comes The Beatles and celebrates the 50th anniversary of the band's visit to Japan. On April 9, 2017, Urasawa began co-hosting a radio program with actor and comedian Junji Takada . Junji and Naoki airs Sundays at 5pm on Nippon Cultural Broadcasting and features both men talking about their lives, professions, and favorite hobbies. That year Urasawa also began
7098-456: The world. After World War II, at age 17, he published his first professional work, Diary of Ma-chan , which was serialized in the elementary school children's newspaper Shokokumin Shinbun in early 1946. Tezuka began talks with fellow manga creator Shichima Sakai , who pitched Tezuka a story based on Robert Louis Stevenson 's classic adventure novel, Treasure Island . Sakai promised Tezuka
7189-571: Was a Japanese manga artist , cartoonist and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture , his prolific output, pioneering techniques and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga " ( マンガの父 , Manga no Chichi ) , "the Godfather of Manga" ( マンガの教父 , Manga no Kyōfu ) and "the god of Manga" ( マンガの神様 , Manga no Kami-sama ) . Additionally, he is often considered
7280-547: Was a lawyer and his great-grandfather Ryoan and great-great-grandfather Ryosen were doctors. His mother's family had a long military history. Later in life, he gave his mother credit for inspiring confidence and creativity through her stories. She frequently took him to the Takarazuka Grand Theater , which often headlined the Takarazuka Revue , an all-female musical theater troupe. Their romantic musicals aimed at
7371-599: Was adapted into three live-action films, which were released in 2008 and 2009. While working on 20th Century Boys , Urasawa began adapting "The Greatest Robot on Earth" story arc of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy into the series Pluto . It was serialized in Big Comic Original from September 9, 2003, to April 5, 2009, and collected into 8 volumes. It earned him his second Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2008, Urasawa began working for Kodansha , serializing Billy Bat in Morning . It ran from October 16, 2008, to August 18, 2016, and
7462-402: Was also successfully sold to NBC Enterprises who almost made Mushi Pro clothe the wild animals featured. They were finally able to negotiate "than animals were permitted to be 'naked' in natural settings, and that the depiction of black characters was permissible, as long as they were presented as 'civilized'; evil characters could still only be white." In the late 60s and 70s, it was clear that
7553-467: Was collected into 20 volumes. Also in 2008, Urasawa and Nagasaki took guest teaching posts at Nagoya Zokei University , where they taught "Modern Expression Course: Manga Classes" two to three times a year, although the class met every month. Initially planned for only five students, he agreed to expand it to fifteen in an effort to create more "real artists." Oricon held a poll on the Mangaka that Changed
7644-532: Was collected into 23 volumes. It was adapted into two live-action television films in 2006. Following Master Keaton ' s end, Urasawa began Monster in Big Comic Original in December 1994. It earned him the 1999 Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize , and his second Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category in 2001. It ended in December 2001, was collected into 18 volumes, and adapted into an anime television series in 2004. Junot Díaz , Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner, praised Monster and proclaimed "Urasawa
7735-563: Was constructed in Takarazuka dedicated to his memory and life works, and Tezuka received many posthumous awards. Several animations were in production at the time of his death along with the final chapters of Phoenix , which were never released. Tezuka was born in Toyonaka , Osaka. He was the eldest of three children. The Tezuka family were prosperous and well-educated; his father Yutaka worked in management at Sumitomo Metals, his grandfather Taro
7826-401: Was drafted to work for a factory, supporting the Japanese war effort during World War II ; he simultaneously continued writing manga. In 1945, Tezuka was accepted into Osaka University and began studying medicine. During this time, he also began publishing his first professional works. Tezuka came to the realization that he could use manga as a means of helping to convince people to care for
7917-488: Was not Disney but the experience of watching the Chinese animation Princess Iron Fan as a child. Around his fifth school year, he found a description of a ground beetle , known as "Osamushi" in Japanese, in a book on insects. Its name so resembled his own name that he adopted "Osamushi" as his pen name. Tezuka continued to develop his manga skills throughout his school career. During this period he created his first adept amateur works. During high school in 1944, Tezuka
8008-434: Was only then that he thought about becoming a professional manga artist. It was a year after winning the award that Urasawa met Takashi Nagasaki , who would become his longtime editor and collaborator. After working as an assistant for Toshio Nobe , Urasawa made his professional debut in 1983 with "Beta!", which was published in a special issue of Golgo 13 . He then created the short serialized work Dancing Policeman
8099-558: Was paying them as well as paying for food. Their first film was Tales from a Certain Street Corner ( Aru Machikado no Monogatari ), an 'anti-Disney', experimental film. Just like on Saiyuki , Tezuka would often fall behind his own deadlines and the staff would have to pick up the slack only for Tezuka to take credit for it later. Tales from a Certain Street Corner was shown at a single special screening and featured many "tricks" that would be later standardized as labor-saving measures in
8190-486: Was the subject of the June 23 Wowow Prime TV program Nonfiction W Urasawa Naoki ~Tensai Mangaka no Owaranai Tabi~ , which followed him around Europe, including to the 2018 Angoulême International Comics Festival and meeting Klaus Voormann in Germany. Urasawa began Asadora! in Big Comic Spirits on October 6, 2018. South Korean film director Bong Joon-ho called Urasawa "the greatest storyteller of our time" and likened
8281-487: Was very restrictive, though. They were not to include any indication that the show was made in Japan, they were not to have any arc that lasted more than an episode, all street signs had to be in English, there could be no religious references, "adult" themes, or nudity. Tezuka agreed to this, claiming that it would fit better with the sci-fi setting by giving the sense of a "placelessness". However, he would soon be disappointed by
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