(JUAN.of.a.KIND)

tezukaspanels:

The memes about Tezuka I created went viral. More than I suspected they would.

There are people who wrote that they inspired them or that they have heard about Tezuka for the first time. I’m proud I have achieved that much.

But it appears we have some neigh-sayers in the audience.

So there is a complete list of sources for each meme:

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1. In 1952 Osamu Tezuka passes the national examination for medical practitioners after graduating from the medical department of Osaka University.

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2.1. Walt Disney met Tezuka at 1964 World Fair in New York and they talked about the possibilities of working together. Sources: here, here and here.

2.2. Stanley Kubrick wanted Tezuka to be the art director for 2001:The Space Odyssey. Sources: here and here.

Tezuka turned down both offers.

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3. Circulating manga in the elementary school. Source.

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4. Just one title - “New Treasure Island” - was sold in 400 000 copies in 1947. I wrote 1946 - my mistake. But it’s correct that Tezuka was 19 at that time and obviously it was in the post-war period. Source. 

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5. Drawing 10 panels each day. This is just rough statistics. This source claims he drew over 150 000 panels during his lifetime. He was 18 when “Diary of Ma-chan” was published - it was his first title to be serialized which IMHO marks the beginning of his professional career as a mangaka. He died at the age of 60. It makes 42 years of career. Let’s round it to 40.

40*365 = 14600 [days]

150000/14600 = roughly = 10 [panels/day]

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6. Assistants. The info about assistants comes from the interview with Jared Cook and Frederik Schodt published in VIZ Media 2008 edition of Phoenix vol.2: Future.

Sometime between 1970 and 1972 they visited Tezuka Productions in order to get the English translation rights. Here is what Jared Cook said:

He had at that time twelve, maybe thirteen assistants. (…) Matsutani was his peronal manager (…). He would ward off the editors when they were trying to break down the door (…).

Maybe in the future (pun not intended) I will publish more from this materials.

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The statements about inventing anime and manga genres are of course stretched. These are memes, not scientific study. But still, they have their bases.

7. Citation from the article about Anime on Wikipedia:

While the earliest known Japanese animation dates to 1917, and many original Japanese cartoons were produced in the ensuing decades, the characteristic anime style developed in the 1960s—notably with the work of Osamu Tezuka—and became known outside Japan in the 1980s.

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8.1. Shounen - shaped by “Astro Boy”

8.2. Shoujo - shaped by “Princess Knight”

8.3. Seinen - shaped by “Black Jack”

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9.1. Best-earning artist in Japan in 1961 - well, the source says he was the top-earner among painters and manga artists. But is it possible that some musician or director was earning more? Anyway, who cares, he was very wealthy and that’s it.

9.2. Doctorateeeeeeeee. Source.

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10. Well, this one is very complicated.

Source says that in 1954 Tezuka “earns an annual income of 2.17 million yen, which makes him the top earner in the painter category.”

But how much money this is excatly?

Here you have a scientific study (beware!) about historical exchange rates of yen.

If I read it right, the REAL (there was official one, making the yen very weak) exchange rate of Yen/U.S. dollar in 1954 was 4,8. It means that 2.17 million yen was equal to roughly 450 000 U.S. dollars. But in 1954 the dollar had much higher buying power. It was about ten times stronger than 2010 dollar, if I read this right. It makes 4 500 000 dollars including inflation.

This may be a little too much. Maybe I’m doing something wrong here.

Anyway, in 1954 Tezuka moved to his own new apartament in Tokyo. This alone proves that he was quite wealthy.

11. Lecture in the UN HQ. Source. Of course the rest is a joke.

UPDATE

I promise this is the last post which has such a long text. After all tumblr is meant for images.

The proof is in the pudding sources. I must say that, on top of your exceptional reviews of expertly selected Tezuka panels, you are doing a great service of educating the masses on a legendary icon whose immense cultural impact many are still not familiar with (most notably in the western hemisphere where the animated works of Walt Disney are generally more prevalent). And although I am a huge Tezuka nut myself, I have also learned a thing or two (and more) from this fantastic and informative meme that you have created (congrats on its rightfully deserved viral status). Thank you kindly and keep up the incredible work!