Researching this week’s Making a Mangaka has been a lesson in joy and unimaginable heartache. With a life that would fill countless volumes of manga, this legendary creator has used our beloved medium to entertain, self reflect and, speaking from grave experience, warn future generations of the horrors of war. This week, I’m honored to explore the world of Shigeru Mizuki.

Name: Shigeru Mizuki (水木 しげる Mizuki Shigeru. Born 武良 茂 Mura Shigeru )

Born: March 8, 1922 – November 30, 2015

Place of Birth: Osaka, Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Speciality: The ugly side of humanity

Shigeru Mizuki and his beloved creations in his hometown of Sakaiminato. Flickr/Puffyjet

ABOUT

Born “Shigeru Mura” in Osaka, Japan, Mizuki spent much of his childhood in Sakaiminato, a coastal town in Tottori Prefecture. A childhood spent running street battles with the local kids, Mizuki also showed an aptitude for illustration. So much so in fact, that his elementary school teachers organized a special exhibition of his work, catching the eye of the local newspaper in the process.

When not illustrating or fighting perpetual wars with the various gangs of Sakaiminato, Mizuki was often found at the feet of Fusa Kageyama. “Nononba”, as she was affectionally known, would enchant the young ruffian with fantastical tales of ghosts, gods and Yokai. In fact, Nononba would have such a great influence on Mizuki, that he would go onto create a manga all about this kindly old lady and her endless tales of the supernatural. With life brimming with fun and adventure, not to mention an even brighter future as a professional artist, things couldn’t get any better for Mizuki. But that all changed on July 7th, 1937.

Mizuki aged 18, c. 1940

With the invasion of China, Japan had officially begun WW2. In 1942, Shigeru Mizuki was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army and posted to Rabaul, a city on New Britain island in Papua New Guinea. The young 21 year old was plunged into horrors that made Nononba’s stories seem like fairy tales. Battling malaria along with British and Australian forces, Mizuki became more than familiar with the true horrors of war when he witnessed his friends and comrades fall in hails of machine gun fire and bombing raids, one of which taking his dominant left arm.

While convalescing in a Japanese field hospital, Mizuki experienced something he had long forgotten, true acts of kindness. Members of the native Tolai tribe welcomed the young Japanese solider into their lives, gifting him land, a home and a potential wife. As the only member of his unit still alive, he received orders to commit suicide (an order he later recalled as ‘ridiculous’), so the prospect of a new life amongst new friends must have seemed very inviting. But with the war nearing end, and with it the imperial ambitions of the Japanese Empire, Mizuki was shamed into returning to his homeland by his military doctors.

Shigeru Mizuki returned to a changed Japan. With his brother on charges for war crimes, and his country under U.S. occupation, the battle-worn and forever changed young artist focused on rebuilding his life and his ability to draw. Trying his hand at a number of professions, including fish salesman, inn keeper (the inn in question being ‘Mizuki Manor’, the inspiration for his pen-name) and an artist for Kamishibai plays, Mizuki eventually discovered manga.

Here he comes to save the daaaaaay….Rocketman! 

In 1957, Mizuki published Rocketman, his first creation. Crudely drawn, with more than a passing resemblance to a certain Man of Steel, Rocketman kicked off a career that was as astounding as his rapid recovery. What followed was an herculean output of creative excellence. From the timelessly brilliant Hakaba Kitaro (1960–1964) to extensive manga histories of Japan, including a heavily critical work detailing Japan’s involvement in WW2, Mizuki found in manga the ability to both deal with the emotional turmoil of his war experiences and a way to voice his views of post-war civilization.

At the ripe old age of 93, Shigeru Mizuki passed away in 2015, after succumbing to heart failure. Leaving behind a body work that is as fresh today as when it was created, Mizuki not only reintroduced Japan to the world of Yokai, but strived to tell his country, and indeed the world, that we should keep war to the streets in childish play and prejudice on the pages of comic books.

Jigoku no Mizu

MY THOUGHTS

Today, even a cursory glance at the news will involve a heartbreaking bombardment of war, inequality and prejudice. With the horrors of WW2 still in living memory, the Nations of the world seem to be walking blindly into the mistakes that led us to catastrophe, over 90 years ago. Though Shigeru Mizuki, a veteran of that terrible conflict, may not be able to voice his dismay at our current social trajectory, his wonderful body of work certainly can.

Mizuki’s first major series, Hakaba Kitaro is a testament to the great man’s drastically changed view on humanity following his return to peacetime Japan. With both parents “dying” before his birth, Kitaro, is a child born into distress. After crawling from the womb and grave of his dead mother, he enters into a world of mistrust, prejudice and inequality. Mocked for only having one eye, plus his habit of muttering to himself by the human inhabitants of his world, Kitaro eventually develops anti-social behavior and learns to echo the manipulative behavior of the very people who mocked him.

This critique on humanity’s failings does not stop at the human characters either. The comedic half-Yokai, Nezumi-Otoko (Rat man), though generally good natured is a perfect example of selfishness and greed, with many of his scams having a much wider, negative effect on those around him. Indeed, the victims of his bogus “afterlife insurance” lament their lot in the bowels of Hell, reflecting on how life above is habitually wasted, with little hope for humanity’s future.

Kitaro no Vietnam Senki

It is, perhaps in the manga’s main antagonist that Mizuki really lashes out at humanity’s greatest failing. Nurarihyon, the most world’s most powerful Yokai is driven by an unimaginable hatred of humanity. Consumed by prejudice, Mizuki created the archetype racist who strives for the eradication of those he deems inferior. Considering Japan’s ally in the war he fought, Mizuki made it very clear that the actions of his country, once the terrible truths were revealed to the world, were definitely not in his name.

Much of Mizuki’s work not only shows a warning of the follies of war, it also serves to illustrate his frustration at the way the world was developing. At a time of great change in Japan, many were peddling a different narrative to Japan’s involvement in WW2. Mainly in response to Yoshinori Kobayashi’s revisionist history manga series Gōmanism Sengen, the enraged war veteran took it upon himself to create an accurate account, detailing the atrocities of the Japanese Empire.

His most personal work is undoubtedly his most powerful. 1973’s Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths chronicles the life of Private Maruyama, a fictionalized version of the author. A combination of illustrations and photographs, the manga serves as a reminder of the reality of war. Gone are the glorious, idealized visions of honorable combat, to be replaced with very real accounts of pain, loss and despair.

Owarai Team

Shigeru Mizuki was well aware of the social changes of post-war Japan. Though he appreciated it was a time of great change, he was also very astute to recognize the growing levels of inequality and prejudice, which were to him, the very building blocks of conflict. To counteract that, Mizuki created his own interpretation of Japanese mythology. In GeGeGe Kitaro, Hakaba Kitaro spiritual successor, the titular hero changes from the hateful scheming Yokai found in Hakaba, to an altogether kinder, more generous character, filled with hope and acceptance. 

Mizuki’s Yokai only appear during peacetime, they have no ethnicity or nationality which in turn, enabled the author to give his thousands of readers a glimpse of a tolerant world. Put simply, the overriding message Shigeru Mizuki wove throughout his entire body of work can be summed in four words…GIVE PEACE A CHANCE.

MANGA

Hakaba Kitaro (1960–1964)

Kappa no Sanpei (1961–1962)

Akuma-kun (1963–1964)

Terebi-kun (1965)

Hitler (1971)

Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths (1973)

The Miraculous Notebook (1973)

NonNonBa (1977)

Showa: A History of Japan, four volumes (1988–1989)

War and Japan (1991)

Urusei Yatsura

“A womanizer’s simple life is turned into an out-of-this-world romcom, when he accidentally becomes the fiancé of an alien “

Nutcracking time  

To say Katsuhiro Otomo was a game changer, is an understatement. With an early education gained within the enveloped darkness of a movie theatre, the multi-award winning Mangaka developed a vision of cinematic proportions. A vision that crossed mediums, languages and continents, and ushered the world of Japanese manga and anime into the lives of countless fans around the world.

Name: Katsuhiro Otomo (大友 克洋 Ōtomo Katsuhiro)

Born: April 14th, 1954

Place of Birth: Tome, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan

Speciality: Mind Power!

ABOUT

It’s safe to say that Katsuhiro Otomo is a movie buff. Growing up in Tome, Miyagi Prefecture, the young Otomo would travel miles to his nearest cinema to catch the latest blockbuster, exhibiting a dedication to the arts that would permeate much of his future career.

Graduating high school in 1973, Otomo undertook the tried and tested route of all young dreamers, a move to the big city. Tokyo not only offered a good college degree, but placed the imaginative, small town boy into the very heart and soul of manga. That same year, Otomo published his first work, a manga adaption of French novelist Prosper Mérimée’ novella Mateo Falcone, called A Gun Report.

Otomo would spend much of the 70’s juggling his college studies and creating short stories for manga magazine Action Deluxe. Then, in 1979, the young mangaka began work on his first serialized manga, Fireball. Though never completed, the themes of Fireball would not only pave the way for Otomo’s breakout work Domu, they would also dominate much of his career, both on paper and the silver screen.

Domu: A Child’s Dream was serialized from 1980 – 1983, but it wasn’t until the work was collected and published in book form that the world began to take note of this young creator. Winning the prestigious Niho SF Taisho award, Domu began to open up many doors for Otomo, not least offering him the chance to try his hand at directing.

1982 was a huge turning point for Otomo. Not only did he make his anime debut with Harmagedon, as writer and character designer, the year would also mark the publication of his most celebrated work, AKIRA. Taking 8 years to complete, with a total of 2000 pages of artwork, AKIRA would catapult Otomo’s career to the dizzying heights of global success.

Following on from his directorial debut with a segment in the 1987 anthology anime Neo Tokyo, Otomo felt ready to tackle the big screen adaption of his still running manga masterpiece, AKIRA. Though initially unhappy with the final product, 1988’s AKIRA anime was an instant cult classic, thanks to its iconic soundtrack, care of full time science professor Tsutomu Ōhashi, and visuals ablaze with fast paced action and unforgettable characters, all playing out under the vibrant glare of a cyberpunk neon skyline. 

Thanks to the global success of AKIRA, Otomo’s creative vision was in high demand. From a stint on DC’s Batman with the Black & White anthology to directing anime classics, including JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Steamboy and live action movies World Apartment Horror and Mushishi, Katsuhiro Otomo straddled the creative divide of manga artist and film director with ease.

In 2012, Otomo announced plans for a return to manga with a series set in the Meiji Era of Japan, and though currently in ‘development hell’, the series will mark his biggest manga commitment since AKIRA. With a career peppered with a plethora of cult classics, across a multitude of multi-media platforms, Katsuhiro Otomo can be forgiven for making his audience wait. After all, we know it will be worth the wait. 

MY THOUGHTS

The term ‘Renaissance man’, much like ‘genius’ is banded around with much abandon these days. But in the case of Katsuhiro Otomo, both terms are well deserved. Mangaka, screenwriter, artist and director, Otomo handles each of these responsibilities with a dedication bordering on the obsessive. But in the case of manga, what makes Otomo stand apart from many of his contemporaries is undoubtedly his scope for storytelling, a scope very much grounded in the world of cinema.

In his breakout hit Domu: A Child’s Dream, a tale of an elderly psychic serial killer, rampaging around his apartment block, Otomo introduces many of the themes that will permeate much of his future work. But it’s how he ‘directs’ the story that really stands out.

With the majority of the action taking place in a single location, a council run apartment complex, Otomo expertly guides the reader by employing a “bait and switch” method. Indeed, this playful approach is most apparent by introducing the protagonist halfway through the manga. This mash-up of sci-fi and “Hitchcockesque” suspense was unlike any manga at the time, more suited to a standalone ‘graphic novel’, or ‘movie’ than manga magazine serial.

Where Domu was an experiment in suspense, 1982’s AKIRA was an explosive treatment of the action blockbuster. At over 2000 pages, the manga is surprisingly quick to read, thanks to Otomo’s liberal use of epic chase scenes. But don’t let that fool you into approaching this as a mindless, Saturday night, popcorn laden offering of escapism.

At its very heart, AKIRA is a story about friendship. Strip away the themes of ‘playing god’, political intrigue and the breakdown of society and we see two ‘brothers’, ripped apart by the circumstances of their surroundings. Created at a time when “bosozoku” bike gangs were a common sight on the streets of Japan, it’s no wonder that Otomo chose to focus the story from the point of view of disadvantaged youths, forgotten by the corrupt system that made them.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s big screen anime adaption of AKIRA, burst onto the scene in 1988, forever changing the way the West viewed ‘cartoons’. A visual assault to the senses, the epic tale was burgeoning with arresting action scenes, exquisitely developed characters and an absorbing plot to rival the most iconic sci-fi epics of the age. AKIRA not only proved to be a dangerously effective “gateway drug” to Japanese manga and anime for millions around the world, including myself, it established Otomo as an adept, almost masterful auteur.

Reading the manga of Otomo, his talents as a film director are ever present. With wide angle vistas, panning shots and effective use of close-ups, each page works just as well as a movie storyboard as it does a comic book. But then, that’s what sequential art is. Visual storytelling in any medium, is only as good as its ‘director’, a fact Katsuhiro Otomo is only too aware of.

MANGA

A Gun Report – 1973

Short Peace – 1979

Highway Star – 1979

Fireball – 1979

Dōmu – 1980

Kibun wa mō Sensō – 1980

Sayonara Nippon – 1981

Akira – 1982

Visitors – 1984

Kanojo no Omoide… – 1990

The Legend of Mother Sarah (Writer only) – 1990

ZeD (Writer only) – 1991

SOS! Tokyo Metro Explorers – 1996

Batman: Black & White #4 (The Third Mask) – 1996

Hipira: The Little Vampire (Writer only) – 2001

Park – 2006

DJ Teck’s Morning Attack – 2012

“High school life of some eccentric students and their teachers” 

The caption on the left cover says ” Yonkoma manga of the 21st century started here”

Nutcracking time

So maybe even I can  make a Yonkoma manga of my life as a ninja!!