Phoenix (火の鳥, Hi no Tori, "Bird of Fire") is an unfinishedmanga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 parts, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The story was never completed, having been cut short by Tezuka's death in 1989.
Several of the stories have been adapted into anime and a live-action film, along with a musical production by the Takarazuka Revue. As of 2008, the entire manga series is available in English-language translations.
Overview
Phoenix is about reincarnation. Each story generally involves a search for immortality, embodied by the blood of the eponymous bird of fire, which, as drawn by Tezuka, resembles the Fenghuang. The blood is believed to grant eternal life, but immortality in Phoenix is either unobtainable or a terrible curse, whereas Buddhist-style reincarnation is presented as the natural path of life. The stories spring back and forth through time; the first, Dawn, takes place in ancient times, and the second, Future, takes place in the far future. Subsequent stories alternate between the past and future, allowing Tezuka to explore his themes in both historical and science fiction settings. Throughout the stories there are various recurring characters, some from Tezuka's famous star system. A character named Saruta appears repeatedly, for example, in the form of various ancestors and descendants, all of whom endure harsh trials in their respective eras.
Tezuka began work on a preliminary version of Phoenix in 1954, and the series continued in various forms until his death in 1989. As it progresses, the stories seemed to be converging on the present day. Due to Tezuka dying before the manga's completion, it is not known how this would have played out. Scholar and translator Frederik L. Schodt, who knew Tezuka in life, wrote that he fantasized about a secret ending, "waiting in a safe somewhere to be revealed posthumously".[2] This was not the case, and Tezuka's final intentions with Phoenix remain unknown; its episodic nature leaves each volume highly accessible nonetheless. Many of the Phoenix stories feature an intensely experimental layout and visual design. For example, Universe tells the story of four spacefarers who are forced to leave their spaceship in separate escape pods. The panels of the story are organized such that each character has his own vertical or horizontal tier on the page, emphasizing the astronauts' isolation; the tiers combine and separate as characters join and split up. In an astonishing sequence after one character's death, he is represented for a number of pages by a series of empty black panels.
After several aborted attempts at a first chapter in the 1950s published in the magazines Manga Shōnen and Shōjo Club,[3] Tezuka began Dawn in 1967, serialized in COM.[4] The serialization of Phoenix would continue throughout his career, moving to Manga Shōnen after COM's closure in the mid-70s. The final volume, Sun, was serialized in The Wild Age.
Dawn (黎明編, Reimei-hen)
The first volume, originally serialized in 1967. This story takes place in 240–70 AD, in the era of Queen Himiko of the Yamatai. Using her army, led by feudal general Sarutahiko, to invade the Kumaso, she seeks the Phoenix and eternal youth.
Future (未来編, Mirai-hen)
Cover of Phoenix: Future, C0M Masterpiece Comics edition, printed in 1968.
The second volume, originally serialized in 1967–68. In Phoenix's chronology, this is the final story chronologically, taking place near the end of mankind. In 3404, the world has become super-modernized, but humanity has reached its peak and shows decline. A young man named Masato Yamanobe is living with his girlfriend, Tamami, a shapeshifting alien. Pursued by Masato's boss, Rock, they eventually take shelter at the isolated base of mad scientist Dr. Saruta, who attempts to preserve life on Earth with the assistance of his robot, Robita. Eventually, nuclear war breaks out.
Yamato (ヤマト編, Yamato-hen)
The third volume, originally serialized in 1968–69. This story takes place in 320–50 (Kofun period), and is based on the Yamato-takeru-no-mikoto legend.[5] The decadent king of Yamato is trying to have his own version of Japan's history written. Meanwhile, a "barbarian" tribe, the Kumaso, is writing an unbiased history. The king of Yamato sends his youngest son, Oguna, to murder the barbarian chief, Takeru. On his journey, Oguna encounters the Phoenix.
Universe (宇宙編, Uchū-hen)
The fourth volume, originally serialized in 1969; also known as Space. The story takes place in 2577 AD, where four astronauts must escape their ruined spaceship in escape pods. The survivors eventually crash into a mysterious planet. Among them is Saruta, who contends with Makimura for the heart of their female companion, Nana. On this strange planet, they eventually meet the Phoenix.
The fifth volume, originally serialized in 1969–1970. The story occurs in 720–752 AD, the period in which the Daibutsu of Tōdai-ji was built during the Nara period. One-eyed and one-armed young man Gao, an ancestor of Saruta, turns into a murderous bandit when he is rejected by his village. He attacks a sculptor, Akanemaru, and the two men's paths diverge, but their fates remain linked. Akanemaru becomes obsessed with the Phoenix to the point that he loses sight of his original dreams, while Gao eventually finds a state of grace despite his continuing hardships. Karma is widely considered the masterpiece of the Phoenix series.[2]MSX and Famicom video games, both developed by Konami, were based on this volume.
Resurrection (復活編, Fukkatsu-hen)
The sixth volume, originally serialized in 1970–1971. The story takes place in 2482–3344 AD. In an age of robotics, technology and science, young Leon dies in a car accident. He is returned to life by scientific surgery, but his now mostly-artificial brain makes him see living things – including humans – as distorted clay figures, while he sees machines and robots as beauties. Leon falls in love with a worker robot, Chihiro, whom he sees as a beautiful girl, and would fight for this forbidden love. A side plot features the robot Robita, who previously appeared in Future.
Robe of Feathers (羽衣編, Hagoromo-hen)
Serialized in COM, 1971. Published in English by Viz as an appendix to the second volume of Civil War (Turbulent Times). Based on the story of the Hagoromo.
Nostalgia (望郷編, Bōkyō-hen)
Published in Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sononorama), 1976–1978. A science fiction epic about the rise and fall of civilization on the deceptively named desert planet of Eden and one boy's universe-spanning search for the planet of his ancestors: Earth. Features numerous cameos from other Science fiction-based Phoenix stories, including the shapeshifting alien "Moopies" first seen in Future, Makimura from Universe and an early model of the Chihiro robot from Resurrection. Black Jack also made an appearance here, under a different name.
Turbulent Times (乱世編, Ranse-hen)
Published in Manga Shōnen, 1978–1980. The story is about a woodcutter named Benta and his childhood sweetheart, Obu, who are separated and caught up in the events of the Genpei War. Various historical figures, such as Taira no Kiyomori, appear as major and minor characters. Although the character of Gao (from Ho-ō) appears as a 400-year-old hermit and thus links Ranse-hen to the rest of the series, this particular arc stands out for its much more naturalistic approach, with next to no fantasy elements in it (except for those used for comedic effect, such as telephones in the 12th century). The Viz (English) edition is entitled Civil War and is split into two volumes, with Robe of Feathers included as an appendix to the second volume.
Life (生命編, Seimei-hen)
Published in Manga Shōnen, 1980. A TV producer who attempts to procure human clones to use in a The Most Dangerous Game-style reality TV program learns the error of his ways when he is mistaken for a clone himself. This episode is notable for only featuring the Phoenix in flashbacks and also for introducing her half-human daughter who does not appear again after this episode.
Strange Beings (異形編, Igyō-hen)
Published in Manga Shōnen, 1981. The story of a female Buddhist nun (bhikkhuni) who is imprisoned in a time-warp by the Phoenix as punishment for her sins along with her faithful retainer and is forced to become a healer treating the victims of wars from all over time and space including humans, youkai and various extraterrestrials. This chapter was loosely based on the Hyakki Yakōemakimono by the famous Japanese artist Tosa Mitsunobu (although in the context of the story it's the complete opposite).
Sun (太陽編, Taiyō-hen)
Published in The Wild Age, 1986–88. This is the longest story, and was the final volume completed before Tezuka's death.[6] It centers on Harima, a young Korean soldier from the Baekje Kingdom whose head is replaced with that of a wolf by Tang dynasty soldiers following the defeat of the joint Baekje-Yamato force at the Battle of Baekgang. He then escapes to Japan where he becomes the feudal lord Inugami and becomes caught in the middle of the Jinshin War, as well as joining a greater battle between supernatural forces and time-travelling to a bleak future world ruled by a theocracy that claimed to have captured the Phoenix. This chapter stands in stark contrast to the earlier historical Phoenix stories, which tended to de-mythologize the mythical characters therein, for instance in Dawn, many Shinto gods are portrayed as mere humans. In this chapter, however, a wide variety of mythical creatures are shown fighting against Bodhisattva.
Early Works
Covers the prototype arcs of the series from the 1950s: the unfinished Manga Shōnen version of the Dawn arc from 1954–55, and the Egypt, Greece and Rome arcs that ran in Shōjo Club from 1956–57.
The first part of Phoenix and a reworked version of the Dawn arc in Manga Shōnen (Gakudōsha).
Future
COM
December 1967-September 1968
Yamato
COM
September 1968-February 1969
Space
COM
March 1969-July 1969
Karma
COM
August 1969-September 1970
Resurrection
COM
October 1970-September 1971
Robe of Feathers
COM
October 1971
Intermission
COM
November 1971
A short, one-shot essay manga that goes into detail on the production of Phoenix.
Nostalgia (COM)
COM (COM Comics)
December 1971-January 1972
An early version of the Nostalgia arc. Discontinued after two chapters.
Civil War (COM)
COM
August 1973
An early version of the Civil War arc, cancelled after a single chapter due to COM's discontiuation.
Nostalgia
Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama)
September 1976-March 1977
Civil War
Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama)
April 1978-July 1980
Life
Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama)
August 1980-December 1980
Strange Beings
Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama)
January 1981-April 1981
Sun
Yasei Jidai
January 1986- February 1988
The final part of Phoenix to be completed during Tezuka's lifetime.
English edition
Phoenix is currently published in English by Viz Communications. Although the second volume was initially published by the now defunct Pulp manga anthology in a larger edition, in 2002,[8] Viz took over the rest of the manga series, and re-released the second volume. Frederik Schodt, Jared Cook, Shinji Sakamoto, and Midori Ueda, members of a Tokyo group called "Dadakai", had already translated the first five volumes of the series around 1977/78, but after handing these translation to Tezuka Productions, they collected dust for nearly twenty-five years. Finally, Schodt and Cook finished translating the rest of the series and Viz published the entire series in English, starting in 2002 and completing it in March 2008. It has been criticized for being a dumbing-down, including overlapping artwork with unnecessary new narration, and altering character names (such as Sarutahiko to Saruta) to make their reincarnations more obvious to the reader. However, Tezuka was known to update his manga every few years, so the U.S. version could reflect the last known edition of the series.
The Viz editions are released "flipped" (the original right-to-left orientation is reversed for easier reading in English). Some of the shorter stories have been consolidated into one book (based on the Japanese publication), and Troubled Times has been split across two; this resulted in each Viz book having a similar page count. While many of the actual Viz books are out of print, they became available again through digital purchase on Kindle. Viz later offered the digital version of Phoenix manga in 2014.[9]
Volumes in English
Phoenix, Vol. 6: Nostalgia cover
Vol. 1 – Dawn
Released March 2003.
Vol. 2 – A Tale of the Future / Future
This volume was released first, in May 2002, as a stand-alone graphic novel;[10]Dawn was released a year later, as Vol. 1, followed by the rest of the series. A Tale of the Future was initially released in a larger size; the series releases, starting with Dawn, are digest-sized. A Tale of the Future was reprinted in the smaller size in 2004, titled Future, with Vol. 2 appended to the title.
Vol. 3 – Yamato / Space
Collects Yamato and Space in one book; released November 2003.
Vol. 4 – Karma
Originally titled Ho-ō; released May 2004. Listed at #2 in Time Magazine's "Best Comix of 2004".[11]
Vol. 5 – Resurrection
Released December 14, 2004.
Vol. 6 – Nostalgia
Released March 26, 2006.
Vol. 7 – Civil War, Part 1
Originally titled Troubled Times, and here split into two books; the first was released June 13, 2006.
Vol. 8 – Civil War, Part 2 / Robe of Feathers
Collects the ending of Troubled Times, and includes Robe of Feathers; released September 12, 2006.
Vol. 9 – Strange Beings / Life
Collects Strange Beings and Life in one book; released December 19, 2006.
Vol. 10 – Sun, Part 1
Released March 20, 2007.
Vol. 11 – Sun, Part 2
Released September 18, 2007.
Vol. 12 – Early Works
Released March 18, 2008.
Adaptations
Live-action film
A live-action film entitled Phoenix, based on the Dawn storyline, directed by Kon Ichikawa and including some animated sequences directed by Tezuka, was released in 1978. The cast included Tomisaburo Wakayama and Tatsuya Nakadai. It was released in the United States on VHS by Video Action under the cover title The Phoenix (Hinotori) in 1982, using a subtitled print, letterboxed only in the split-screen sequence. To date, the film is available on DVD only in Spain, where it is titled Fénix.[12] The film included a brief appearance by Astro Boy, substituting for another character to illustrate his attempts to get on a horse. The score was co-composed by Michel Legrand and Jun Fukamachi.
Anime
Most volumes of Phoenix were adapted into anime. The best-known feature film, Phoenix 2772, loosely adapts elements from various Phoenix volumes and other Tezuka works into a complete whole cloth scenario.[13] A second animated feature, Phoenix: Karma Chapter was released on December 20, 1986, and was later succeeded by two sequel OVAs, Yamato Chapter and Space Chapter, in 1987.
A 13-episode anime television series aired in 2004 in Japan, and was released in English in October 2007 by Anime Works. The anime premiered in Jamaica on CVM Television in June 2017. A short film by the same staff as the TV series, Phoenix: Robe of Feathers, was released on July 17, 2004.
Dōgo Onsen hot spring bathhouse released a three-episode net anime collaboration with Phoenix in 2019–2020.[14]
A four-episode anime ONA adaptation by Studio 4°C, titled Phoenix: Eden17, premiered worldwide on Disney+ (U.S. on Hulu) on September 13, 2023.[15] It was directed by Shōjirō Nishimi, with character designs and animations handled by Tatsuzou Nishida, Eiko Tanaka serving as producer, and Katsunari Mano and Saku Konohana writing the series' scripts.[16][7] A film version with a different ending, Phoenix: Reminiscence of Flower, premiered in Japanese theaters on November 3 of the same year.[7]
Video games
In 1987, Konami adapted the Karma arc to the MSX2 computer[17] and the Famicom game console.[18] Despite being based on the same material, they are completely different games (a vertical shoot 'em up and a horizontal platformer, respectively) produced by separate teams.
The Phoenix also made a cameo appearance in the 2003 Astro Boy series and 2004 Astro Boy: Omega Factor game for the NintendoGame Boy Advance, along with a number of other Tezuka characters.
DS de Yomu Series: Tezuka Osamu Hi no Tori 1 (2008, Nintendo DS)
DS de Yomu Series: Tezuka Osamu Hi no Tori 2 (2008, Nintendo DS)
DS de Yomu Series: Tezuka Osamu Hi no Tori 3 (2008, Nintendo DS)
Reception and legacy
Phoenix is considered one of the greatest manga of all time,[19][20][21] and is often ranked as one of Tezuka's greatest manga.[22] In 2006, Phoenix ranked 1st in the Japan Media Arts Festival's special 'professionals' ranking (consisting of critics, editors, people working in the industry, etc.) for the greatest manga of all time, which it held to mark its 10th anniversary.[23] In a 2009 poll held by Asahi Shimbun for 'Greatest Shōwa Manga', Phoenix ranked 12th, the 3rd highest Tezuka manga behind Astro Boy and Black Jack.[24]
Mangaka Naoki Urasawa has spoken about how the first time he read Phoenix he was shocked that a work of this quality existed, and that since reading it, he has never been as significantly impacted by anything since, so much so that he would mark it as the moment he became an adult.[25] Comic magazine editor Martin Skidmore called it a 'real contender for comics’ greatest work of any kind'.[26]The Japan Times has referred to it as 'Japanese pop culture at its zenith', stating that it draws critical comparisons to 'everything from Shakespearean tragedy to early Walt Disney'.[27] In an interview, mangaka Hitoshi Iwaaki named it among his favorite manga.[28][29] In her book 'The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga', Helen McCarthy says it has 'a strong claim to be considered a contemporary equivalent of Wagner’sRing cycle'.[30]IGN, in their review of Vol. 10, stated 'You've read nothing like this, and it's doubtful you ever will again.'[31]
The titular Phoenix is considered an icon of manga, and a sculpture of the character is featured as a prominent permanent exhibition in the Kyoto International Manga Museum.[32] A statute of the Phoenix is also featured outside the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum.[33]
The Resurrection arc of Phoenix inspired the lyrical theme of the 2018 song "M.D.O." by heavy metal band Lovebites.[34] In celebration of what would have been Tezuka's 90th birthday, Evil Line Records released the compilation album New Gene, Inspired from Phoenix on October 30, 2019. It features songs inspired by Phoenix written and performed by various artists, including Glim Spanky, Kizuna AI, Tavito Nanao and Naotarō Moriyama.[35]
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