Osamu Tezuka

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Osamu Tezuka was a legendary Japanese Mangaka and Doctor of Medicine. Tezuka made his manga debut in 1946 with The Diary of Ma-chan (マアちゃんの日記帳, Machan no Nikkicho) for the children's newspaper Mainichi Shogakusei Shinbun (Mainichi Elementary Schoolchildren's Newspaper) while he was a student at Osaka University. His breakout work, 'New Treasure Island' (新宝島, Shin Takarajima) was in 1947, followed three years later by 'Jungle Emperor' (ジャングル大帝, Jungle Taitei), which was serialized in Manga-Shonen.

From a very young age, Osamu Tezuka had been a great fan of Disney animation. Tezuka was also very successful in the animation field. Not only did he do the first TV anime (Astroboy, 1963), but he also produced the first Japanese color anime series (Jungle Emperor, 1965). Influenced by Disney and old movies, Tezuka has in turn influenced countless numbers of Japanese mangaka. Tezuka's works are being reprinted again and again, earning him the undisputed title of 'God of Manga.' In 1994, the city of Takarazuka, where he grew up, inaugurated The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum. And in 1997, postage stamps with his artwork were sold in Japan.

In 1971 the semi-annual Tezuka awards were established by the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. In 1997 a different award named after Tezuka, namely the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, was brought into life.

The impact Tezuka has had on Japanese Manga is almost impossible to exaggerate, because he created the present form of the medium. Maybe it stems from his medical education or from the Japanese character, but Tezuka had an enormous respect for life. This respect is a theme that can be traced throughout his work, reflected in his life's work, 'Phoenix'. He has reportedly made about 150,000 pages of manga in his life, and has been awarded many prizes for his efforts. Many of Tezuka's work have been translated into English as well as French, Italian, Korean, and so forth. Other characters Osamu Tezuka created include Unico and Black Jack.

In 1989 an asteroid was named after Tezuka and Toshio Ban, one of Tezuka's former assistants serialized a manga biography entitled The Osamu Tezuka Story (手塚治虫物語, Osamu Tezuka Monogatari and it was released in English in 2016.

He is considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga" and "the Godfather of Manga".

(Sources: MangaUpdates, Wikipedia)