The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga Hardcover – October 1, 2009

The media could not be loaded.  Comics, Animation, Cartoons have certain "pockets" of influence. We have Russian, Franco-Belgian, American, British and Japanese.Japanese animation had great cross cultural influence between other schools, particularly American. Each influenced the other and inspired the other. Japanese animation has a charm like none other.Tezuka, was a talented artist, whose prolific output in for of graphic novels and Anime, changed the face of Japanese animation.This book does great justice to the master, its a really really large format book, with a hard bound cover, and a relief cut image of Astro Boy, encased in a plastic dust jacket.The book walks us through the life of Tesuka, as it happened, through numerous photographs, including from childhood, early drawings, manuscripts, book covers, posters etc from several of his works.Largely known for his influential character of Astro Boy and the monumental 8 volume work on Buddha, Tezuka's work spans a large range of genre, adventure for kids, science fiction, Spirituality, and later on to experimental subjects. One can learn about his deep love for drawing, his relentless working, and massive creative output.This is a great study of his life and works, and for someone interested in understanding and appreciating his works, this forms a solid framework and reference.Towards the end of the book, one can get glimpses of the unfinished works that he was working on during the later parts of his life. Also the photographs and details about the Tezuka Manga Museum is fascinating.The book also comes with a disc containing interesting documentary information.Anyone interested in Comics, Animation, Manga, Anime would love this book, and at this steeply discounted price, is there a reason not to get it?!.

Amazon had this book on sale for $2.66! An amazing steal! A friend told me about the sale and while I have never been into Manga and don't really know much at all about Osamu Tezuka, I figured for two dollars and sixty six cents, I could afford to learn. It's a lovely book with a heavy duty clear plastic protective cover. The book's contents are also interesting. Focusing on Tezuka's childhood and then moving on to his early work with things like Kimba and then to his more contemporary work with plenty of art and photos befitting a coffe table art book of this sort. I was surprised to find that the book comes with a DVD documentary on Tezuka. It's a fascinating look at his artistic process, how he holds up in a small apartment tenemant in a room with an old record player(on which he plays different records depending on what style of manga he's drawing) and a small television set. No one is allowed to come into his workspace but he allowed remote cameras to be set up to watch him in action. Even though I'm only two thirds of the way finished with the book, I have to say that I am really enjoying it. I can't say I would have been motivated to buy this book had it not been on sale at such a crazy low price. Not knowing anything about Tezuka, I also can't speak to whether or not the author gets is right although it seems like a well written and researched book. However, I can say that this is a quality book and definitely worth the regular asking price of 20 to 30 dollars.

My wife bought this for me as Xmas gift. The book looks a lot better in person. It's covered with thick transparent plastic sleeve. The Astroboy art on the cover is actually a die-cut thick cardboard sandwiched between the sleeve and red hard cover below it. The title of the book is imprinted on inside the sleeve instead on the red cover. It's definitely a top-notch good quality collector's book. Content wise, it contains massive information about Osamu Tezuka's life and his works from childhood to adulthood. On the backcover is where DVD is stored. It's a behind-the-scene on how Tezuka worked in 1985.Because they can only fit so much of his works into this book, you will need to stop by The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka, Hyogo, Japan, and grab some more of his collectable, excellent and hard to find print materials. The museum itself is already worth the visit if you are a big fan like me. I just wish I could read Japanese when I was there. So I highly recommend reading this book first and get an overall idea before you go.Overall, I love this book. It's well translated and well put together. The pages are all in color and the paper quality is good. It's a must have for Osamu Tezuka fan.

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My boyfriend is a huge fan of Osamu Tezuka's Buddha comics series, so I wanted to get him a cool coffee table book that features that comic as well as Astroboy, which he is also a fan of. The book is very comprehensive, detailing Osamu's childhood, his primary sketches, and all the details about the influences on creating his comics. There is also a dvd that accompanies the book. I don't know much about manga, but after flipping through the book, and seeing all the detail, it makes me more appreciative of the art of creating comics. The artist is very skilled and the book is well put together for anyone who is a fan of manga and Tezuka's work.

No question. One of the best values out there. So much for such a good price! This book is a very unique look at Tezuka's legacy and his popularization of highly stylized Manga / Anime for a (then) new generation. The DVD that came with the book offers a quirky but interesting look at Osamu Tezuka in his prime and later years. The book is relevant for lovers of manga as well as for a bit of historical analysis and nostalgia. The "tone" of this book is also interesting in that it offers an unique and at times curious cultural perspective of the Tezuka and his body of work.

Pour les amoureux de Tezuka, un ouvrage de référence. A noter que l'édition anglaise propose un dvd documentaire de trois quarts d'heure suivant le Maître au quotidien, dvd absent de édition française...

Dieses amerikanische Buch über Osamu Tezuka(1928-1989)-God Of Manga von Helen McCarthy erschien 2009 in zwei Versionen,mit(erkennbar an dem runden Aufkleber) und ohne DVD. Das über 270 Seiten starke Buch im dicken Pappeinband mit zusätzlicher abwaschbarer Folie und fett aufgeklebtem Astro Boy ist mehr eine hervorragende Biografie über Tezukas Leben und Werk als ein Artbook; in diesem Aspekt ist der Titel etwas irreführend. Denn auch wenn Tezuka je nach Quellenangaben eigenhändig zwischen 140.000 und 170.000 Seiten Manga schuf,so gibt es natürlich nur eine geringe Anzahl Farbarbeiten,auf denen er mit der Intention Seiten schuf,zu zeigen,was er wirklich drauf hatte. Er persönlich hielt sich selbst auch für keinen besonders guten Zeichner,aber das war wohl eher Understatement,denn immerhin war er trotz immensen Outputs niemals ein Seitenschinder,von denen es viele gibt. Das Buch ist immerhin so gut wie komplett in Farbe gehalten,obwohl der Großteil seines Werkes s/w war. Es stellt sein Leben vor und bietet einen ziemlich guten Überblick über sein Werk,natürlich wahrscheinlich nicht gänzlich lückenlos,aber immerhin so gut wie.Der Knaller der Edition ist jedoch die genau 45 Minuten lange DVD-Dokumentation des Buches,die 1985 oder 1986 entstanden sein muß. Sie zeigt Osamu Tezuka in einem unscheinbaren Appartement,das ihm 5 Tage der Woche lang als Zeichenraum diente,und dessen Betreten so gut wie jedem verboten war. Hier brütete er alleine über seinen Comics,und obwohl er über ein Studio mit 30 Mitarbeitern verfügte,zeichnete und tuschte er jeden Strich seiner Comicseiten komplett selbst. Was die Mitarbeiter dann so zu tun hatten,wird nicht so deutlich,nur,dass es trotzdem noch stressig gewesen sein muß. Tezuka selbst litt unter unsäglichem Stress und ungesunder Lebensweise,die teilweise seinen frühen Tod erklären. In einer Szene muß er nach Frankreich fliegen,obwohl am selben Tag Deadline für sein aktuelles Werk war und ihm noch 20 Seiten fehlten. Diese erstellte er während des Fluges,während des Essens,zwischen offiziellen Terminen,nachts und in den frühen Morgenstunden,wie immer allein. Bezeichnend auch eine andere Szene,in der er beiläufig erwähnte,bis morgen früh noch 32 Seiten fertigstellen zu müssen. Anders läßt sich so ein als übertrieben empfundenes Gesamtwerk(welches ja aber nachweisbar ist) von mindestens 140.000 Seiten auch nicht erklären. Umso besser für mich als Fan,denn trotz etlicher Bücher von Tezuka besitze ich doch höchstens 12.000 Comicseiten von ihm und darf noch etwas weitersammeln.

all the more so for being so unexpected and so good.Imagine a blend of Will Eisner, Carl Barks (of Donald Duck fame), Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Alan Moore and you aren't even beginning to approach the genius that was Osamu Tezuka who is one of the great graphic storytellers of the 20th Century. Tezuka created an enormous range of graphic stories (okay, call them comics if you want), enormous in terms of number, tone, and scope, from the most fun to the most adult seriousness, yet almost all with an amazing blend of playfulness and profundity that managed to evoke Tezuka's enormous humanitarian compassion and, perhaps, best exemplified in the 8-volume Buddha sequence which contains themes that can also be found in his Astro Boy (Mighty Atom) stories.Congratulations to Helen McCarthy and her editors for this lavish informative and beautiful book on the life and work of this wonderful gifted man. It follows his life and work from its beginning to its end, packing in a profusion of illustrations which never quite drown out the text which is sufficient without being either too little or too much. Together they provide a magnificent and deserved tribute to this man and his work.Quibbles? Well, a couple but do not let them put you off buying this book. Tezuka re-used a number of characters from book to book and it's right that this should be included but there is just a bit too much by including too many supporting characters that I lost interest in this chapter long before the end. Also it would have been nice to have English translations of the text in original samples for which there are no English language editions. Like I said, quibbles; and they are easily countered by all the many good things about this book such as the highlighting of Tzuka's major works on a decade by decade basis with a page for each work, plus the DVD.This is a terrific book about the genius that was Osamu Tezuka and, as December is only two days away as this is written, it would make a perfect Christmas present for the comic fan in your life.

Well illustrated, full of images & DVD. A good resource ! Defiantly with the money. Go and get it now.