In most parts of the world, manga is just a term used to refer to comics that were originally published in Japan. In the strictest sense, however, manga consists of comics and print cartoons in the Japanese language that conforms to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. In the seventies, manga became very popular in Japan, more popular than the traditional anime, in fact. And this popularity can be mostly attributed to the “god of manga”, the legend, Osamu Tezuka.
Osamu was the eldest son of three children, and was born in November 1928 in Toyonaka City, Osaka. Even as a child, Osamu Tezuka was showed creativity and artistry. He attributes this to his mother, who always reminded him to be confident and keep reaching for the blue skies. His mother used to tell him stories and brought him to the Theatre, which became great parts of his artistic development as well.
One particular theatre where he drew his inspiration from was the Takarazuka Revue in Kobe. All the performers in the theatre were women and most of its romantic musicals were aimed at a female audience as well. This contributed to the comstume designing aspects of Tezuka’s works. The theatre forever remained close to his heart even as he aged.
He started drawing comics during his second year of elementary school. His love for insects inspired him to create manga as a means of reaching out to more people and convincing them to help care for Nature and the world. Around his fifth year in elementary school, he found a bug named “Osamushi”, this is where he got inspiration for his pen name. He even named his animation production company Mushi (insect) Production.
In the 1960s, Tezuka used and simplified Disney animation techniques in his works to reduce costs and to allow him to produce materials even on a tight schedule and limited resources, both material and human. It was in manga production, however, that he found his forte. His first works, Diary of Ma-chan and Shin Takarajima, inspired many other manga artists and drew much attention to manga in Japan. Among his most notable works were Astro Boy, Black Jack, and Phoenix. He also developed the Super Robot genre of manga, also known as “Mecha”.
Today, Japanese readers of all ages read manga. Ranges of these comics include action-adventure, romance, comedy, science fiction, horror, sexuality, and so much more. Manga is not only popular in Japan as well, it has also made its way to other Asian countries, and eventually, to the whole world. And this achievement can mostly be credited to the genius that is Osamu Tezauka and other amazing manga creators in Japan.