Why didn't Tezuka create characters who look Japanese?

[UraniumxAtom]

Yes, Tezuka was a big fan of Disney and Fleicher and this fandom shows in his art style.

I second that. Its what I've read, anyway. I could find out more if I had bought that gigantic book on Tezuka from the bookstore here a month ago, though... But it was like, a 50.00 book! D':

[AprilSeven]

[QUOTE=Dragonrider1227;98607]Yes, Tezuka was a big fan of Disney and Fleicher and this fandom shows in his art style.

I second that. Its what I've read, anyway. I could find out more if I had bought that gigantic book on Tezuka from the bookstore here a month ago, though... But it was like, a 50.00 book! D':[/QUOTE]

What was the name of that book? I sometimes get 30% off coupons from Barnes and Noble!!

[Faram45]

I have calculated that buying all 23 Astro Boy volumes from amazon would cost about $100
Oh the limits of money.

[avatargirl]

Thanks- Faram45 agree with you ASTRO BOY is the greatest anime created and my favorite

[The Tawashi Bus Hat]

I have calculated that buying all 23 Astro Boy volumes from amazon would cost about $100
Oh the limits of money.

If you buy 5 at a time, you only pay for 4.

:3 Amazon likes to give special discounts on manga when you buy a bunch at once sometimes.

As for the discussion pertaining to the thread, I think Tezuka drew his characters the way he did because Tetsuwan Atom was directed towards a young audience, and therefore needed to look cute or funny. I mean, look at Dragon Ball. Very few characters actually look Japanese.

Disney influenced his style greatly <duh>. For instance, in Snow White the two main characters of Snow White and the Prince look SUPER REALISTIC. But, you get to the animals and the dwarfs, the more comical characters, and they are styled in a way that makes them cute. I mean, you could never tell if the dwarfs were American, Polish, German, or French, could you?

Heck, all that really mattered was that he was happy with his designs. You look at the anime nowadays and almost none of the characters look Japanese. (Case in point - Sailor Moon <shivers>.)

[avatargirl]

HEY- i like Sailor Moon

[MightyAstro]

Yes if I was given a choice of only allowed one other Japanese manga/anime in addition to anything Tezuka I would pick Sailor Moon.

[BlueCore]

I wonder if this was to make everything more "internationally appealing" or look more "Disneyesque."

May have missed a thread here that discussed that, so sorry if I'm being redundant! It's especially noticeable in the Pluto manga -- where other characters based in Japan (but not created originally by Tezuka) are drawn with Asian features.

I'd also love to know how to pronounce names like Ochanomizu. I found out I was referring to manga as "main-guh" instead of "mahn-gah." (my New Yawk way of thinking, I guess).

I can't figure out this guy's name for the life of me --->

this forum is like Astro Boy University!

This may be a little off topic but aprilSeven, I LOVE your new avatar!!!

[Tetsuwan Atom]

While it is true that because of his disney style many caractures don't look Japanese it's kinda no suprise that many characters in his Adult works actually look Japanese.
The famous Kirihito Osanai was his name in Ode To Kirihito but also appering in MW and other stories did actually look Japanese

Also note the similarities with Golgo 13


as was as his buisness partner




also Yuki from MW does look pretty Japanese

that are probably be the best examples, defenetly the best for keeping it down to English releases only.

[BBally]

As I understand it, Tezuka was a great devotee of Disney - supposedly he saw Pinocchio and Bambi nearly 80 times each - and he modeled his characters after the Disney style. He also liked Betty Boop and the comic strip Bringing Up Father (by George McManus).

Every artist has his influences. And, just like Tezuka was influenced by Disney, other artists were influenced by Tezuka. The "big-eyed" type of character is still popular in manga today.

It's also been said that Tezuka was a big Superman fan too

HEY- i like Sailor Moon

Me too