A Drifting Life

A Drifting Life is a graphic novel memoir by acclaimed mangaka Yoshihiro Tatsumi. It is written similar to the traditional style of Japanese "I-novels," in which an author writes an autobiography in which the main character has a fictional name, providing a strange sense of distance between the author and himself. It recounts the story of Katsumi Hiroshi (Tatsumi-sensei's fictional name) and his love affair with manga, from being an ardent fan of Osamu Tezuka's works, to drawing four-panel gag manga himself, through his long and varied early work career, until he eventually embraces the style he helped pioneer: gekiga ("dramatic pictures").

This is a hefty tome (even longer than the latest hefty tome I reviewed, Osamu Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito), at well over 800 pages. The read goes pretty fast though: a lot of it does feel like an autobiography put into manga (or gekiga) form. The text is saturated with names of magazines, manga, publishers, artists, and other such things. This can make the reading dry and monotonous at times, as Tatsumi-sensei does not spend too much time delving into the reasons behind why he writes manga. Much of the story is strictly who he worked for, how he ended up working for that company, some notable works published by that company, and how he stopped working for the company. Of course, this all takes place in a long narrative, stretching for over a decade, starting at the end of WWII. It also surveys the development of the gekiga form that Tatsumi-sensei is famous for helping to create and popularize.


The art overall isn't bad; it doesn't stun me like Ode to Kirihito's did, but he didn't feel unrealistic and too rounded like Metropolis's. It fit the tone of realism without being too dark and gritty (even though I like dark and gritty). The pacing was pretty packed with all the names and dates and information, but it didn't feel too cramped or rushed (although the volume has a sizable appendix with even more information).

Overall, I wasn't too big a fan of it. I'm not a big autobiography reader, but I found a lot of people recommending this, so I decided to check it out. Basically, it is a straight story of Tatsumi-sensei's work, almost like a narrative resume, although that sounds kind of harsh. The narrative flows together nicely, even if I would lose track of who's who amidst the constant barrage of names. I was saddened by the lack of psychological insight or real character drama; there were some family conflicts and conflicts about ideology, but overall most of the tension was involving money and work. What I liked most about the work was that Tatsumi-sensei including historical events in his account as well. I could somewhat trace the development of postwar Japan as I read this book, and the inclusion of many events important the Japanese people and of many popular films and manga works was really intriguing to me. I also felt these were the times when Tatsumi-sensei's artistic abilities came into full view. My absolute favorite was when he incorporated Akira Kurosawa's film Seven Samurai (Shichinin no Samurai); I've just recently seen that film, and when Tatsumi-sensei drew some of the scenes and characters from it, they looked almost identical to it (for instance, the depictions of Takashi Shimura and Seiji Miyaguchi). I also enjoyed the appearance of Osamu Tezuka in this work (since Tatsumi-sensei gained some early tutorship from him).


In conclusion, I'd have to say that I give Yoshihiro Tatsumi's A Drifting Life a 7/10. While I found the historical content very interesting and well-drawn, the story as a whole wasn't as intriguing to me, often for its lack of emotional and psychological aspects. If you are interested in the evolution of the gekiga style, or if you want to see the slow rise to fame of a mangaka, you should probably read this. If you're not extremely interested in those topics, I'd say this isn't a bad read, but it's not one I'd unconditionally recommend.

Thanks for reading. God Bless, and peace.

Nota Bene: All images are from Google Image Search.

きりひと讃歌 (Ode to Kirihito)

Ode to Kirihito is a medical drama manga from 1970-1971, written by acclaimed manga master Osamu Tezuka (creator of Astro Boy, Black Jack, and the recently-reviewed classic Metropolis).  It is the story of Osanai Kirihito, a young doctor intrigued by a strange ailment known as Monmow Disease, which turns all of its sufferers into animalistic creatures with dog-like physical features, cravings for raw meat, and difficult-to-control impulses.  Osanai goes to the town of Doggoddale (in the original Japanese, Inugamisawa), where it seems all (or at least most) of reported cases of Monmow Disease originate.  As Osanai investigates this ailment, a disturbing change occurs in him, and he is led on a wild odyssey around the world searching for the answers to this disease and trying to return home to Japan.  There are also many, many subplots, including the fate of Osanai's fiancee, Yoshinaga Izumi, the aspirations to authority of Osanai's superior, Dr. Tatsugara, the investigations of Osanai's coworker, Dr. Urabe, and the stories of numerous individuals Osanai meets on his journeys around the world.

The art is fantastic.  It's dark and edged; defining lines and expert shading abound.  All the art is drawn in the style of gekiga ("dramatic pictures"), a term coined by mangaka Yoshihiro Tatsumi to refer to serious comics, in contrast to manga ("irresponsible pictures").  One analogy is that it is like the term "graphic novel" in the United States.  In analogical form, manga : gekiga :: comic books : graphic novel.  In all, this means that the art is meant to be serious rather than whimsical, and its focus on shading, shadows, darkness, rigid lines, and more realistic imagery certainly portray that.

The story is very complex.  All the subplots blend into the main plot, and for the most part everything is resolved.  The weaving of the plots is truly masterful, and, unlike Metropolis (which I felt was rushed far too much), the plot makes progress, but it takes its time.  The pacing is focused and powerful.

It's hard to do justice to how much the manga makes the reader think.  This story is not for the faint-hearted: one major idea in the book is how physical depravity does not equal moral depravity; instead, they can often be opposing forces.  The morality is complex, to say the least; things are not black-and-white, although there is a lot of black.  Christian symbolism (even to the point of depictions of the Way of the Cross) are surprisingly common (it's rare for manga to reference Christianity), most often in connection with the intriguing (though not perfect) character of Sister Helen Friese.  Psychological illness is explored somewhat, although I believe every case of it in the book is violent, adding to the stereotype of the mentally ill as always violent.  What it means to be a doctor and the power of altruism are evident here as well.  This brief overview is just a glimpse into the fascinating, multi-layered world of this work.

I must say, I think this work far, far surpassed Metropolis, the other manga by the same author I've read.  Not only was the pacing much more effective, but the art blew me away.  Sometimes I couldn't believe I was reading the same mangaka who created the kid-friendly art of Astro Boy.  This is a dark, deep, complex, questioning work.  Even though sometimes it may seem like a work that portrays the world as hopeless, on the whole it is positive about the goodness in humans and the dignity of humanity.  That's not to say that all the humans in the work are good: far from it; moral depravity is rampant, especially in regards to the terrifying character of Master Mahn (just thinking about him makes me sick).  The Christianity (actually, Catholicism: the Christian character is a nun in a convent) present here took me by surprise, but I think it was portrayed very well.  While I'm a bit wary on some parts of the Christian character, overall I think it's a positive view of Christianity (for those who actually live it out, that is).

In conclusion, I must say that I was blown away by Ode to Kirihito.  While for now I'm giving it a 9/10, further reflection may up that score to a 10: we'll see.  It is a complex and challenging work.  While I'd love to recommend this manga to everyone, I have to say: Ode to Kirihito is NOT for the weak-hearted.  Totaling 822 pages in the single-volume edition, it's a hefty tome.  That's just a mild reason for my caution, though; the content can be very disturbing at times. WARNING: This manga portrays much moral depravity (in a negative way, but it's still present) including, but not limited to, racial discrimination, murder of the innocent, prostitution, rape, bestiality, sexual perversions, and disregard for common decency.  That's just some of the very blatant stuff that can be summarized easily: there is much more that can be disturbing, but is hard to explain succinctly.

My final comment is this, then: I give Ode to Kirihito a 9/10, and I'd highly recommend it, but only for those who are up for reading a work which can be very disturbing at times.  Read at your own risk.  But if you are able to get through it and reflect on it, I think you'll find it to be a fascinating and worthwhile read.

Thanks for reading.  God bless, and peace.

Nota Bene: All images from Google Image Search.  Thanks to Wikipedia for background information on this work and on the concept of gekiga.

メトロポリス (Metropolis)

Metropolis is a 1949 manga classic by master mangaka Osamu Tezuka (creator of such famous series as Astro Boy and Black Jack).  It explores the effects of strange "black spots" that appear on the Sun one day; one of the most important effects is that these spots allow for the creation of synthetic cells, to the point of making an artificial being, Michi.  The manga follows, in intertwining plots, the story of Michi, the effects of these black spots, and the search for a dastardly criminal by the name of Duke Red, along with his governmental subordination group, the Red Party.  Overall, it is a tale of the danger too much technology poses for the human race, among other themes.  A lot happens in a very, very short amount of time across these 160 pages; I feel the plot moves too fast, leaving each page cramped with events and dialogue, sometimes crowding out the art.  I also feel the very quick plot does not give ample time to deeply explore the characters and connect strongly with them (which I think is a major part of a good work of art), besides a few somewhat endearing characters.  In general, I feel Metropolis is a work with a tight, complex plot, good artwork (even if it's not my favorite style), and a needed message, but I feel it all moves too fast, not leaving enough room for either strong character development or too much exploration of the theme.  In conclusion, I would give Metropolis a 7/10: it's worth reading, even if it's just for its status as a classic in manga.

A Deeper Look

As mentioned above, probably the biggest theme of Metropolis is the danger that too much technology can pose for the human race.  In our increasingly technology-obsessed society, this is always something to keep in mind: technology can be a great tool, and but it can also be a corrupting force and a devastating destructive power.  This is shown most of all by a sequence near the end of the manga: the robots with artificial intelligence created by Duke Red were used as meaningless slaves by him to do his dirty work, and if one displeased him, he would destroy it.  When Michi, who recently learned of his/her (it can change gender) being an artificial being, learns of this cruelty, he/she helps lead a rebellion of the robots against the humans who heartlessly used them.  While never explicitly shown, it is assumed that the humans defeated the robots, especially after Michi's synthetic body fell apart.  His/her existence was only possible because of the man-made black spots on the Sun; when those were removed, his/her body made of synthetic cells could not sustain itself.  I guess it shows that, even though technology can be dangerous in and of itself, humans can still overpower it (although when they use it on each other, it can be devastating, such as in the second volume of Tezuka-sensei's (I've been informed that is the proper way to refer to a mangaka) Phoenix). 

This theme of the dangers of technology has been a common one in the past century (see, for instance, the film version (I haven't read the original yet) of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot or the sci-fi film trilogy The Matrix; even Satoshi Kon's anime adaptation of Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel Paprika deals with the idea of not letting technology completely overwhelm our humanity).  Even the namesake of Tezuka-sensei's work has that theme.

Speaking of the namesake: Tezuka-sensei was inspired to write this manga partially based on a single screenshot of the female robot in the classic 1929 German silent film Metropolis.  While Tezuka never saw the movie (at least not before he wrote his manga), that one screenshot inspired him, and he adopted the name as well (though the story is very different).  Another work of the same name is an anime film from 2001 called Metropolis, which is a loose adaptation combining pieces of both the silent film and Tezuka-sensei's manga.

In my opening section, I lamented how cramped the work can feel at times.  This is due to the fact that Tezuka-sensei had a 160-page limit when he wrote this manga.  Even though the original draft was longer (including more character development, especially for Emmy, and more theme development, such as more coverage of the robot rebellion), he had to cut it down to make it fit the limit.  Sadly, I feel like this reduced the quality of the work: I think I would have found it a much greater work if it were longer and more fleshed-out.

While overall I did not feel too impressed by the majority of this work, it did have some very good parts.  Even though there was little time spent on character development, I did become somewhat attached to them, especially Michi, Emmy, and Mustachio.  It is a mark of a good artist that I was able to become connected in so short a space (although these characters are not too high on my list of most connected characters).  I also enjoyed the times when Tezuka-sensei broke the fourth wall: for instance, once Mustachio is asked to describe recent events, and he says, "For the details, you'll have to ask the people reading this comic."  Also, there are some giant "rats" caused by the radiation of the black spots, and their scientific name is "Mikimaus Waltdisneus."

In conclusion, I think Tezuka-sensei created an entertaining work with many bits of comic relief, a very quick-moving and somewhat complex plot, a still-relevant theme, and a few characters you could get connected to.  While I wouldn't go so far as to call it a masterpiece, it definitely ranks as a classic, and all in all a good read.

Thank you for reading.  God bless, and peace.

Nota Bene: All images in this post come from Google Image Search.  I would also like to thank Wikipedia and Tezuka-sensei's afterword in the print version of Metropolis for providing me with background information regarding this manga.