Used with permission.
Osamu Tezuka’s influence on comics and animation is monumental. Before Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Chainsaw Man, and countless other manga and anime that found devoted audiences across the world, there was Osamu Tezuka. His storytelling, cinematic page layouts, and seemingly inexhaustible imagination helped invent the modern language of manga and influenced comics far more broadly.
A new documentary, TEZUKA! God of Manga, from Peabody Award-winning director Jason Andrew Cohn, explores that extraordinary legacy through interviews with many of the creators Tezuka inspired, including Akira creator Katsuhiro Otomo, Naoki Urasawa, Go Nagai, and others. The filmmakers are currently raising funds to complete the film through Kickstarter.
Boing Boing was given an exclusive clip from the film featuring Katsuhiro Otomo reflecting on Tezuka’s astonishing dedication to his craft. Otomo describes a creator whose relentless productivity wasn’t simply about working harder than everyone else. It came from an almost inexhaustible drive to keep making comics, a level of commitment that became both intimidating and inspirational for generations of artists that followed.
The Kickstarter will also feature a series of limited-edition collectible prints inspired by Tezuka’s work, created by an impressive line-up of contemporary cartoonists and illustrators. Among them are Matt Kindt’s take on Phoenix and Jeff Lemire’s haunting interpretation of Black Jack, alongside pieces by Ronald Wimberly, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Shinichi Ishizuka, Yuko Shimizu, Gurihiru, and others.
Tezuka reportedly created well over 150,000 pages of manga during his lifetime while simultaneously reshaping animation in Japan through works such as Astro Boy, Black Jack, Phoenix, Dororo, and Kimba the White Lion. The documentary traces not only those accomplishments, but also his setbacks, including the period when younger readers turned toward the grittier gekiga movement before Tezuka reinvented himself yet again.
Through this Kickstarter, the filmmakers plan to complete the documentary in time for the centennial of Tezuka’s birth in 2028. Based on the teaser and this clip, it looks like a fitting tribute to one of the most important cartoonists who ever picked up a dip pen.
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