Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga

As a tween, I sampled a fair amount of manga. Titles that circulated amongst my friends included Naruto, Bleach, Hana Kimi, Fruits Basket (a "shojou" favorite!). But even before this time, I was influenced by Japan. From my childhood, manga in the form of animated Saturday morning cartoons was very prevalent for my generation: Cardcaptor Sakura, Pokemon, Digimon, Yu-Gi-Oh!... Because of this, I am (and I feel many other in my generation) much more comfortable with Eastern comics and ideals than previous generations may be (things like honor, the nobility of the 'fight', the desire to master your profession).

Looking, then, at Osamu Tezuka's work as the genesis of manga was quite interesting for me. I caught a few cartoon episodes of Astro boy as a kid, but that was it. Seeing the ideas, morals, and storytelling that Tezuka displays through his comics was eye opening. They say he laid down the path for all to follow, and I can see evidence of that. The death of boy who is recreated as a robot by his father (Astro Boy) : Japan's obsession and advanced proficiency in robotics technology, and the popularity of Robot manga and anime. The tragedy of a boy loosing his entire family (Buddha): The now cliché tragic hero character in many shonen manga, and the hardened/stoic reservedness of character often displayed by characters concerning their past. The combination of horror, comedy and romance in a story (Black Jack): many modern mangas exploit violence or horror along with comedy almost passively, it seems.

I could be looking too deep, or it could be the truth. As it is, every new manga I read and every manga I reflect on seems to draw some sort of relationship back to Tezuka's work.