Osamu Tezuka

A master of Japanese animation, Gisaburo Sugii talks candidly about his career and creative process in this rare and exciting piece of film.

The animation was produced for the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum, thus it features scenes from the "life and nature" of Tezuka Osamu's childhood, themes that are central to the museum as a whole, through exchanges between the boy Osamu and the carabid beetle (Osamushi) who provided the origin for the artist's name.

A Japanese TV documentary, NHK Tokushu Tezuka Osamu: Sosaku no Himitsu (Secrets of Creation.), was originally released as a book-mounted DVD, with cooperation from Tezuka Productions. Screened in Japan in 1986, it was filmed as Tezuka prepared for the Hiroshima International Animation Festival in 1985. It shows him working in his private studio and with his team, and gives glimpses of his wife, colleagues and old friends.

This work was submitted in a special animation competition as part of a PR project for a power company, but was unfortunately not adopted. The reason is very clear: the setting of the story is the exhausted earth. There couldn't be a more instructive setting for a power company that uses enormous amounts of the earth's resources. Additionally, a girl robot discovered by the main character can store sunlight and convert it into energy; in other words, the robot does not require a power-generating company. In addition to this, the robot destroys herself to protect the established solar power generation system in space. The unsuccessful outcome of the competition for Tezuka Osamu was only natural, and it is clear that he created this piece, as it was intentionally, as he managed everything from the original story to the screenplay, animation, narration, etc., all the while knowing that the competition was sponsored by a power company.

Filmed in Japan, this program looks beyond the stereotypes to objectively examine the history of manga, how manga are drawn, and manga's influence on Japanese life as illustrated by cosplay bars, where people dress up as their favorite characters; manga kissa, 24/7 manga cafes; and Comicket, the twice-annual comics market that draws hundreds of thousands of visitors. The program also introduces viewers to a cross-section of mangaka icons: Vagabond creator Takehiko Inoue; Naoki Urasawa, author of The Pushman and Other Stories; Jiro Taniguchi; Yoshihiro Tatsumi; and Kan Takahama.

An anthology of strange horror tales featuring yokai. It begins with astronauts finding a katana on the moon.

Based on the Osamu Tezuka manga

Reboot of the original Manben series from 2014-2017. Naoki Urasawa is returning to visit eight different manga authors, observe them in their daily work and discuss the creation of manga.