Anime About an Old Man in a Hospital Bed

Anime About an Old Man in a Hospital Bed

For fans of anime and manga, the name Katsuhiro Otomo sits well above the rest.

As one of the most prolific writers and animators of either medium, the master creator is hailed among his contemporaries - Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Oshii, Shinichiro Watanabe - first and foremost for his revolutionary manga-turned-movie, Akira, released respectively in 1982 and 1988 to worldwide acclaim. His other works moreover, all the same bottom-known, only aid to prove his world-annihilating genius and combustible graphic manner - with inclusions that, while faltering to hit the jumbo heights of Akira, have nevertheless changed the landscapes of manga and anime forever.

Born in Japan'south northeast region of Tohoku, in the city of Tome-gun located in Miyagi Prefecture, Katsuhiro Otomo grew upwardly miles abroad from anything remotely capturing the gargantuan cityscapes of many of his works. A lover of picture with a penchant for animation, Otomo spent many of his weekends travelling to the city of Sendai in order to grab the latest pictures, stating in a foreword to a 1996 reissue of his seminal graphic novel, Domu: A Child's Dream, that when "[he] was in highschool [he] was then crazy well-nigh movies [...] Picture-going was [his] main hobby in those days".

Fuelled past this affinity for moving picture and his skill with pencil, Otomo travelled to Tokyo after graduating in gild to institute a career in manga artistry. Looking to show himself as a budding mangaka (a person who draws manga), Otomo would lend his creative vision to such works every bit Okasu (1976), Round Nearly Midnight (1977) and Zero Will exist every bit it Was (1977); cementing himself as an upcoming talent and planting the seeds of his revolutionary style. According to a 1980 review of his early on works by the Asahi newspaper, Otomo'due south impact on manga was equateable to the emergence of the 'New Cinema' move in Hollywood, demolishing "the quondam [...] mode of filmmaking to usher in a fresh style of film production in America. Katsuhiro Otomo from provincial Tohoku, came to Tokyo to create a new comics mode and shattered the conventions of traditional manga".

Post-obit some of his most celebrated works, this article will discuss and distinguish the creative accomplishments of the esteemed, Katsuhiro Otomo. From his manga to his movies, we at Sabukaru invite you to revel in the revolutionary feats of one of our favourite artists - beckoning y'all to enter and blot the intricate realities of Japan's well-nigh destructive visionary.

Fireball

With an appetite for horror and science fiction in an industry that lacked anything resembling the futuristic epics of Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Infinite Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange), the dystopian worlds of Philip Chiliad. Dick (The Human in the Loftier Castle, Practice Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?) or William Friedkin'south cinematic nightmare, The Exorcist - Katsuhiro Otomo had all the proverbial balls in his corner and was set up to strike. And strike he did with a slew of renowned comics that set the precedent for his anarchic, mind-bending, metropolis-destroying tone, while laying the conceptual ground-work for his more distinguished pieces.

One of these comics was the unbridled (and unfinished), Fireball, published in Action Deluxe magazine in 1979. Introducing a rebellious motif found in much of Otomo'south art, Fireball presents a urban center at war with itself as a group of freedom fighters attempt to expose the governance of futuristic urban center under the rule of a supercomputer called Atom. Featuring a tyrannical military-esque leader - ambivinantly titled, The Managing director - the comic follows the tale of two brothers, one on the side of freedom, and the other on the side of governance. The latter of whom is revealed to harbour psychic superpowers which, when threatened, are terrible and catastrophic. With a cataclysmic climax alike to that of Otomo's afterwards works, Fireball remains an unfinished masterpiece which, according to the creator in a foreword to a republication of the comic, was due to him "of course, [running] over the borderline".

Although incomplete, and only tinkering with the troupes that would afterwards exist regarded as seminal to his overall portfolio, Otomo'south Fireball endures equally a substantial spring in manga artistry. With a preference for depicting more realistic character designs than virtually other manga at the fourth dimension, the inclusion of psychic powers, freedom fighters and an Orwellian governmental system - Fireball laid the groundwork for things to come up, and set the phase for Otomo'south kickoff notable and widely celebrated effort, Domu .

Domu: A Child's Dream

Selling over 500,000 copies in Nippon and winning a multitude of awards - including the prestigious, Nihon SF Taisho Award (being the first manga to win said award) - Domu: A Child's Dream is the tale of a housing block in Tokyo plagued by a slew of horrific "suicides". Still, after Inspectors Yamagawa and Takayama investigate the chain of deaths, they begin to realise that non all is every bit it seems; discovering that the victims are seemingly coerced to their deaths past some sort of supernatural being. Indeed, over its serialization in Futabasha's Action Palatial between 1980 and 1981, information technology is revealed that the housing complex is being haunted past the psychotic deportment of a superpowered erstwhile man named Old Cho. With the power to inhabit people'south minds and apply telekinetic powers, the one-time human - seemingly infantile in his sensibilities - causes the inhabitants of the complex to perform horrific actions, at one betoken even causing a drunken father to shoot his ain son.

As the investigation continues to unfold before the Inspector's eyes, a young daughter, past the name of Etsuko, moves into the apartment building with her family. Inexplicably possessing like powers to that of Old Cho, Etsuko uses telekinesis to save a baby pushed off a balcony by the former, as per his psychopathic tendencies. And as the tale unfurls, over the course of 6 chapters, she becomes somewhat of an adversary to the villainous old man, culminating in a psychic explosion of cataclysmic power as the two battle it out for the future of the inhabitants of the housing complex.

Containing a much broader array of artistic merit in a story which, although smaller in scale, seems larger in development than that of Fireball; Domu is a wondrous spectacle of the subversive menace of a kid'due south nightmare - terrible in its dazzler and obliterating in its originality. Proving foremost Otomo's penchant for harder, more than barbarous horror and his fascination for science fiction.

With its iii volumes, released separately in 1995 in English and compiled in 1996 by Dark Horse Comics, Domu became one of the publisher's highest selling comics of that twelvemonth, and for good reason. Containing many qualities that would carry over into his later works - superpowered children, cataclysmic harm, unbridled rage - Domu: A Kid's Dream is a must read for any who love and seek out Otomo's mastery.

Akira

1982, Tokyo. After briefly working on the anime film adaptation Harmagedon: Genma Wars, which was released a year later, Katsuhiro Otomo would begin working on his well-nigh influential and acclaimed piece of work to date - the apocalyptic and duly exceptional, Akira.

Known throughout the globe, in big due to its seminal anime motion picture adaptation, Akira began life as a serialised manga, published in the pages of Young Mag from 1982 until 1990. Featuring a slew of expertly crafted characters in a mail-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo of 2022 (2030 in the English version), the graphic novel follows a group of anarchic teenage bikers who roam around the urban center causing havoc for constabulary patrols and pedestrians alike. With the coolest cyberpunk attire and the slickest futuristic neon motorbikes, our heroes, Kaneda and visitor, seem settled in their rebel-without-a-crusade fashion until their friend, Tetsuo, crashes into a seemingly helpless kid. With no visible wounds, the kid - known as Takeshi - is revealed to have extrasensory perception besides as other psychic abilities; abilities which seem to rub off on Tetsuo, leading him on a journey of self-discovery and self-devastation as he undertakes a search for the prophetic and titular figure known as Akira.

Soon falling ill to an unbridled inferiority circuitous near Kaneda, Tetsuo begins a psychotic downfall into monstrous deformation with cataclysmic consequences for all of Neo-Tokyo.

Falling in with a group of rebellious freedom fighters, Kaneda and the rest of our heroes seek to find answers to the mystery of Akira in the hopes of saving their friend, and indeed the earth, from utter annihilation.

To speak praise of Akira's awe-inspiring influence on the world of manga, as well equally the world in full general, would be misspent as almost fans of the medium, of  anime, or annihilation resembling cyberpunk or picture show civilization will know of the seminal graphic novel (or at to the lowest degree the film). Instrumental at bringing western audiences to the prospect of manga, Otomo single-handedly thrust the Japanese-led medium into the hands of a global readership. Utilising its worldwide acclaim to create a coloured version of the novel for Marvel's Ballsy imprint from 1988 to 1994, which read from left to right as to assimilate with western comic books. Thus, giving the states the iconic neon await of Neo-Tokyo and the futuristic artful of Kaneda and his crew.

Openly citing influences from Star Wars, the comics of Moebius and the manga, Tetsujin 28-become, Akira is strewn with Otomo'due south admiration for all things scientific discipline fiction, while implementing the all-time facets of his previous work to boot. With the movie adaptation released in 1988, written and directed by Otomo himself, that largely eclipsed the impact of the manga, Akira stands as i of the most prolific creations of anime, manga and Japanese art equally a whole; going on to inspire a earth of western content - e.one thousand. Rian Johnson's Looper, Josh Trank'southward Chronicle and the Duffer brother'due south Stranger Things - while arguably setting the stage for franchises such as Dragon Brawl, Naruto and even Pokemon.

If you lot haven't read the manga, or at the least watched the film accommodation, then you are missing out on a masterpiece. Do then, at Sabukaru's behest.

Neo Tokyo

During and subsequently the publication and release of the seminal Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo continued to lead a varied and highly collaborative career, lending his creative talent to a number of anthologies of anime curt films. One of these anthologies was the 1987, Madhouse led production of the science fiction collection known as Neo Tokyo - depicting 3 different segments each conceived under a different screenwriter and pic director. The get-go of which, Labyrinth Labyrinthos, is written and directed past Madhouse founder, Rintaro - whose influence on Otomo has spanned a multitude of his works; as the man behind his debut gig in the same Harmagedon: Genma Wars.

The second, Running Man, conceived by Yoshiaki Kawajiri, depicts the tale of a racing circuit driver named Zack Hugh, whose runway tape spans an unbeaten 10 years. Culminating in a destructive decease-race-mode narrative in which Zack is shown to harbour explosive psychic abilities that lead to his final win and subsequent fatality at the "Death Circus" racing circuit.

The tertiary and nigh notable inclusion is Otomo's Construction Cancellation Order, which pits a corporate salaryman against a malfunctioning foreman robot by the proper noun of 444-1. After receiving news that, due to a political revolution and subsequent shift in governance in the fictional S American country of the Aloana Republic, the salaryman - Tsutomu Sugioka - must put a stop to the structure of a massive facility titled Facility 444. Yet, every bit per the malfunctioning 444-ane - whose defection has it sacrificing myriad construction robots in a futile endeavor to finish the facility - Tsutomu'southward objective is rendered more complex. Leading our corporate hero on a fight for survival in his attempt to fulfil his company orders.

A cautionary tale almost man's reliance on engineering science, Otomo reiterates here his penchant for destruction and distaste for administrative control - every bit the globe of Structure Cancellation Order is fueled by political upheaval and demolished due to the recklessness of greedy corporations. A fun romp with poignant themes of environmentalism, corporate authorisation and technological insurgency, Otomo concludes the Neo Tokyo album with style and wit - both of which take inappreciably aged a day.

Robot Carnival

Another of Otomo's anthology collaborations, APPs 1987 release, Robot Carnival, features a slew of anime shorts from an array of Japanese filmmakers all encompassing the theme of robots. Curating work from Koji Morimoto and Takashi Nakamura to name a few, with Otomo writing and directing merely the opening and ending segments of the piece - both of which are wonderfully explosive.

Presenting a post-apocalyptic wasteland, in which a monolithic travelling funfair is performed by a diverse array of automata, Otomo's opening and closing segments succinctly introduce the theme of robots, while expounding upon the consequences of humanity's obsession with technology to an explosive degree.

Although not much else need be said about Otomo's inclusions, they accordingly bookend the stylistic and smart showcase of anime talent on brandish, while calculation a sense of prominence to the overall anthology. With notable musical additions past Studio Ghibli'due south go-to composer, Joe Hisaishi, Robot Funfair is a audio collection of anime achievements, and an intriguing watch for fans of Otomo and the medium in general.

Roujin Z

A futuristic and largely comedic tale well-nigh man'due south growing reliance on technology, Hiroyuki Kitakubo'due south 1991 anime film, Roujin Z, depicts the story of an overzealous young nurse whose patient - an 87-twelvemonth-old dying widower named, Kiyuro Takazawa - is wired up to an experimental machine known as the Z-001. A hospital bed with robotic features, the Z-001 is shown to be able to completely take care of any and all patients in its comfort; boasting medical and habitual care to the highest degree, too equally integrated entertainment applied science such as television, calculator gaming and online communication. Made seemingly pointless in the advent of this automobile, the nurse protagonist, Haruko, feels that her ex-patient is in some sort of danger as per the experimental nature of the machine.

As the story pans out, it is revealed in gloriously mecha fashion that the machine is in fact an experimental computer designed for military warfare. While however inhabited by Takazawa, the car begins to evolve and upgrade itself, forming a simulated personality and developing empathy for its bedridden patient. Coexisting in connection with Takazawa'south brainwaves, the car assumes the identity of his tardily wife, Haru, and the 2 commit to a calamitous journey to the beach in a last ditch effort to relive their younger years.

Written and conceived past Otomo, Roujin Z is a fitting continuation of the themes typical to his stories. Presenting a cautionary tale of the morality of robotics, humanity's overbearing want to progress in war machine warfare and the destructive consequences of unethical experimentation - the picture show is exceedingly Otomo in its ideas. Nonetheless, it also endeavours to raise sensation to the manner in which we, as a species, treat our elderly; seeing them as useless, wasteful products of ageing and goose egg more than than a foreboding reality of the inevitability of death. Otomo makes clear his conventionalities in the importance of caring for our elders, proving their uses past implementing many that are hospitalised alongside Takazawa in means that are both hilarious and narratively sound. He shows that one-time folk should never be seen as something disposable as per the disastrous results of the Z-001 experiment.

In typical Otomo style, the film climaxes in an explosive spectacle, with the military characters punished for their hubris and our heroes rewarded for following the path of righteousness. Although relatively unknown in the larger scope of Otomo's work, Roujin Z is a great, confined tale of AI consciousness, and how nosotros should respect our elders no affair their capacity.

Memories

Following upwards Roujin Z, and his prior stints in anthology work (Neo Tokyo, Robot Carnival), Otomo would go on to put together arguably his greatest achievement in collaborative animation - executive producing, along with Madhouse, the excellent Memories in 1995. Some other three piece collection of short films, Otomo enlists a slew of illustrious anime talent to have part in this renowned pick of work; including the late, great Satoshi Kon - who, while somewhen would become the director of an astonishing assortment of films (e.g. Perfect Blueish, Tokyo Godfathers and Paprika), began piece of work equally an uncredited fine art assistant on Otomo'southward Akira and a key animator on Roujin Z.

Directing but one of the 3 brusque films - Cannon Provender - Otomo would lend his vision to all iii of the science fiction wonders, developing the story for Koji Morimoto's nostalgic dream, Magnetic Rose (featuring a screenplay by Kon), penning the script for Tensai Okamura's Stink Bomb and writing and directing the final segment himself (the aforementioned Cannon Fodder). Being the listen behind anthology's conception, it's no wonder that each of the segments features a cautionary tale depicting man'south inability to refrain from destroying oneself.

Magnetic Rose presents the tragic story of missing opera singer, Eva Friedelen. Trapped by a slew of sentimentality and a whimpering of nostalgia for her by life, Eva is encased in a giant space station, orbited by a spaceship graveyard in the infinite darkness of deep space. Discovered by a infinite salvage freighter - inhabited by a variety of colourful characters - our protagonists, Heintz and Miguel, have it upon themselves to seek out treasures within the ship and uncover the mystery of its mysterious distress betoken.

Only unearthing a foray of deep-set up trauma with implosive consequences, the 2 succumb to a battle of wits with the ghostly Eva and their own repressed memories as they endeavour to escape themselves and the confines of the Magnetic Rose. Arguably the best in the anthology, and the precursor to Kon's dreamlike portfolio of work , Magnetic Rose shows, in nightmarish manner, the infectious lull of nostalgia and what befalls those who neglect to let go of the past.

The last segment of the anthology, Cannon Fodder, is perhaps the nearly pertinent inclusion, being wholly conceived by Otomo himself. Featuring a flatulent steampunk metropolis strewn with cannons and lavished in a pseudo-soviet art mode, Cannon Provender tells the tale of a world at state of war - the reason for which, or whom our characters are at war with, is unclear. Following a young schoolhouse boy - who dreams of condign office of the violent system of cannon firing - and his father - who, every bit a mere cannon loader, suffers at the oppressive nature of the city'south communistic government - the story aims to denounce the nature of tyranny and dispel the hypnotic sanctimony of propaganda.

With poignant implications as to the pointlessness of war, the disparity of equality in an oppressive political regime, and a diverse set of blitheness styles from mitt-drawn to 3D, Otomo exhibits an intriguing addition to an already attracting ready of anime pieces.

Metropolis

Venturing into the new millennium, Otomo'southward creative passion would continue with a couple of enticing anime films that, although faltering in comparison to the monumental Akira, all the same stand the exam of time as innovative and intriguing pieces of work.

The beginning of which is the Rintaro led 2001 accommodation of Osamu Tezuka'due south 1949 manga, Metropolis. Inspired by the 1927 german language expressionist motion-picture show of the same name by pioneering filmmaker, Fritz Lang, Metropolis depicts the story of a world strewn with robots, those of which are seen as junior to the largely disillusioned population of humans. Following a male child by the name of Kenichi, who in an unlikely turn of events, becomes enthralled with a new, unfinished super robot named Tima, the picture attempts to explore the complex notions of robotics and what it means to be human being. In an heady, emotive and entertaining story nigh identity, memory, friendship and love, Metropolis works to stimulate all those enticed by complex dystopian science fiction while also catering to the hearts of younger viewers meantime. As per Tezuka's original art way, the animation remains incredibly faithful to his revolutionary techniques, presenting a beautifully vibrant world that, while adult in content, is wonderfully childish and playful in tone.

With the screenplay accommodation written by Otomo himself, this is mostly a version of Tezuka's classic story that would satiate the artistic resonance of the renowned " Godfather of Manga ".

Steamboy

The next notable anime picture under the vision of Otomo is the steampunk action jaunt, Steamboy, produced by Sunrise and released in 2004. Written and directed past Otomo, the movie depicts 19th century England in the heart of a semi-fictitious, industrial revolution, featuring steampowered technologies of all kinds.

Ray Steam, our main protagonist, is a budding engineer, and the son of a leader in steam-powered innovation. In an chance that spans Manchester through London, Ray is thrust on an epic romp of action and genre-commitment, as Otomo details a comprehensive await at a world running on steam. With a cataclysmic, city-destroying climax that is nigh expected as per the nature of its director, Steamboy is a wonderful activeness-blockbuster of epic proportions. Boasting clean animation, a consistently intriguing aesthetic and a provocative story about the consequences of technological progress - Otomo's film explores, in spades, the lengths humanity volition become to exceed in newfound weaponization.

Curt Peace: Flammable

A multimedia projection composed of four short films produced by Sunrise and Shochiku, and a video game adult past Crispy's! and Grasshopper Industry; Curt Peace is a 2013 anthology of diverse narratives, surrounding the theme of Nippon, told through intriguing and largely experimental animation techniques. Featuring the likes of Koji Morimoto, Shuhei Morita, Hiroaki Ando and of course, Katsuhiro Otomo, the collection received a number of accolades for its innovation and art manner; including the Thousand Prize at the 16th Japan Media Arts Festival for Otomo'south Flammable and a nomination for Best Animated Brusque at the 86th Academy Awards for Morita's Possessions.

At only 13 minutes long, Otomo'south segment is strewn with vibrant colour and visual delivery to the art fashion of the Edo era (1603-1868) of Nihon. Depicting the life of a young aloof woman, Owaka, who is set to be engaged to a wealthy suitor instead of her true love, Matsukichi - a childhood friend and insubordinate without a cause - Otomo presents, lavishly, his dear for the Edo aesthetic through narrative tragedy and historic tribulation. Over the course of the film, Owaka despairs over the future monotony of her life, her forbidden dear and the myriad meaningless wedding gifts now in her possession. In a tragic accident, our heroine throws a fan over to a burning lamp which proceeds to prepare alight, thus beginning a catastrophic fire which spreads throughout the entire edifice.

Loosely based on the historical event, The Keen burn of Meireki (1657), Flammable is a sombre look at the archaic matrimony traditions of Edo era Nippon, while as well existence a honey alphabetic character to the tactile art fashion of many of the menses's pieces. Speaking in an interview with U.s. magazine, Animation Magazine, in 2012 , Otomo affirms that "[he'southward] always wanted to create a story about Edo". That the "theme of [Flammable] is based around classic tales from the Edo era such every bit Yaoya Oshichi and the comic Kaji Musuko, which are normally used for Kabuki or Joruri programs. [He] wanted to take that old theme that [they] used to have in Japan 300 years ago, and describe [it] with contempo technologies, in anime course".

Infinitely successful in his approach to reimagine the traditional Japanese form in anime mode, Otomo proves that, while enamoured for his previous iconography, his want to create new and innovative fine art remains every bit strong and impassioned every bit ever.

Time to come Endeavours

Since Short Peace, Otomo has released little work of notation nonetheless continues to influence numerous films, television shows, comics, mode and music to date. His seminal style and arroyo to anime and manga have remained as revolutionary every bit e'er and his dearest of innovation and experimentation lingers as a progressive attribute to many who devour his eclectic body of piece of work.

With Otomo reportedly helming a new Akira anime serial , while prepping his eagerly awaited anime moving picture Orbital Era , we are sure to witness more than from the groundbreaking mangaka and filmmaker at some bespeak in the near hereafter.

What'south more, although years in evolution, the live-action accommodation of Akira has recently propelled forward in production with Thor: Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi, slated to direct. However, with his newfound commitment to captain a new Star Wars moving picture for Disney, it's likely that the alive-activeness Akira will face another delay amid its almost 20-year development period. And while a live-action picture show will never manage to eclipse the monumental impact of Otomo's original graphic novel and anime pic, we practice hope it does it justice in some part.

Here'due south to the great, Katsuhiro Otomo - our rebellious leader in cyberpunk Neo-Tokyo. A master mangaka, an iconic filmmaker and a proven visionary to boot.

About The Author

Simon Jenner explores meaningful storytelling through flick and media, occasionally producing writing along the style.

Anime About an Old Man in a Hospital Bed

Source: https://sabukaru.online/articles/katsuhiro-otomo-a-world-of-destruction