A Wide Range of Possible Expression from Tezuka's Manga to Gekiga , from Azuma Hideo to Doraemon

Abstract

ABSTRACT: In his seminal work Manga wa naze omoshiroi no ka: sono hyōgen to bunpō ( Why Is Manga So Interesting?: Its Expression and Grammar , 1997), Natsume Fusanosuke (1950–) refined his ideas for his "theory of manga expression" ( manga hyōgenron ). In the present translation, which consists of chapters 3 and 4 from that work, the author describes changes that took place in the expression of faces and bodies from the time of Tezuka Osamu ( Astro Boy ) through the gekiga revolution in the 1960s and 1970s up into the 1980s and 1990s. Looking at creative character designs by a diverse range of artists, including Saitō Takao, Azuma Hideo, and Fujiko F. Fujio ( Doraemon ), Natsume argues that changes over time indicate the development of the industry's studio system as well as vacillations in Japanese society and readership up into the 1990s. To do so, Natsume demonstrates his unique method of manga analysis by "copying" and playing with those pictures to further drive home his point.