I am an early American adopter of the work of Osanu Tezuka. I was hooked as a child by the series Kimba The White Lion and Astroboy (aka Mighty Atom). I was watching the series as soon as they hit American TV in the 60's. It has been all down hill from there.
I didn't start reading Tezuka's manga until the 1990's when it was more readily available in the US, and it was eye opening. In a weird way it was life changing because the manga was and still is some of the greatest stories I've ever read. None of the anime adaptions (with the exception of Pluto, which is bsed on a managa based on an Astroboy story) has maintained the complexity of Tezuka's graphic work simply because the animation doesn't have the room to tell the stories right.
Over the last few weeks, I find I've been haunted by his masterwork PHOENIX which is multi-part time spanning tale about humanity from birth to death in a far-off future. The phoenix of legend always figures in in some way, either as a character or a symbol. The tales quietly reference each other and echo thematically, but they are all self-contained tales.
The series is out as a download at Amazon at 10 bucks a section, but the print edition is scarce and when I want to track to down the books years ago, I had a hard time, and probably over paid for some volumes. (For the record Tezuka never finished it and while we have the beginning and end pieces there are parts in the middle he never set to paper.
Trust me if you take the time to read it all (that's the important part because the individual stories do tie together thematically) it will haunt you too.
The other Tezuka tales that haunt me are:
ASTROBOY of course. I've read everything that has come out in English. The stories of a robot boy are all over the place because Tezuka was doing all sorts of things with them. Some are comedy, some tragedy, some action, some serious, some toss offs. It's all over the place much like any long running characters body of work. It inspired Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, a retelling of one of the best Astro stories about a robot killing off other robots that pays homage to the original and deepens the tale in ways Tezuka would have loved.
BUDDHA haunts me. It is the arc of the life of the man who would become Buddha. It's the journey of one man to enlightenment and what he discovers along the way. Covering 8 volumes in the American edition, it is a work that will stay with you long after it's done. At times a tad uneven, the work still manages to be greater than the sum of its parts with the tale revealing much about the nature of mankind and the individual human heart.
DORORO is the story of a ronin who travels with young man who is missing 48 body parts that were given to demons. The pair travel the world attempting to reclaim them. The source of both animated and live action adaptions, DORORO is a hell of an idea that ended up getting abandoned after it being canceled. I've read that Tezuka was unhappy with details of publication, however, what exists is really good and influenced generations of artists and storytellers because what is here is so gripping you want more or to try and do something similar.
BLACK JACK is a disgraced and unlicensed doctor with his own sense of right and wrong. Willing to do anything for the right price, he will help those who need it and make sure the privileged feel the pain of their existence, the stories are almost always thought provoking. There are hundreds of stories, almost all a dozen or so pages, the series has spawned both live action and animated adaptions. It's a great kind of fantastic noir with a heart
While Tezuka's work can be all over the place, you should wade in and try him because when he's good he's among the best to ever tell a story.
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After today the year end lists start.
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If you were curious about some of Oscar animated films on the short list here are some reviews and interviews:
QUINTA'S GHOST
THE GIRL WHO CRIED PEARLS
SNOW BEAR (with interview)
PLAYING GOD (with Interview)
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How do you know a rating on IMDB was cooked?
There are five IMDB reviews four of them are 10 out 10. It has 20 reviews one is a 1 out of 10, two are 7 out of 10 and seventeen are 10 out of 10. It is also not on Rotten Tomatoes
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As I said earlier there will be no Unseen Film Awards this year. I just couldn't do it. Largely the last two or three weeks have just been watching sports, odd TV shows and whatever randomly hit my fancy. I say that because I still have about three dozen 2025 FYC screeners yet to watch and little desire to watch them.
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What will the new year bring? Coverage of Dances with Films New York, Berlin, Rotterdam, and Sundance. After that who knows.
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As 2025 fades - I wish you all a glorious and magical, in all the right ways, 2026
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