ogd5XOt reviewed The Astro Boy Essays by Frederik L. Schodt
Too Detailed for Casual Fans, not Detailed Enough for Serious Aficionados
3 stars
This book is a bit odd. The author clearly states that covering the full life of Osamu Tezuka would require multiple, encyclopedic volumes, so this book attempts to give some insight into Tezuka through his most popular work, Mighty Atom. But the story of Mighty Atom stretches across multiple decades, and given that Tezuka never imagined the series would last as long as it did, lacks a single overarching theme or narrative.
What you end up with is a sort-of biography combined with a review of the highlights of the manga and animation series. Tezuka dabbled in numerous things, and the book dabbles in Tezuka, so it just feels unfocused and superficial.
To be sure, there is a lot of information in here, but I just felt like it was a little too esoteric for folks with a passing interest in manga and nowhere near in-depth enough for …
This book is a bit odd. The author clearly states that covering the full life of Osamu Tezuka would require multiple, encyclopedic volumes, so this book attempts to give some insight into Tezuka through his most popular work, Mighty Atom. But the story of Mighty Atom stretches across multiple decades, and given that Tezuka never imagined the series would last as long as it did, lacks a single overarching theme or narrative.
What you end up with is a sort-of biography combined with a review of the highlights of the manga and animation series. Tezuka dabbled in numerous things, and the book dabbles in Tezuka, so it just feels unfocused and superficial.
To be sure, there is a lot of information in here, but I just felt like it was a little too esoteric for folks with a passing interest in manga and nowhere near in-depth enough for anyone who would want a serious history of the topic. I can't really recommend this book unless you're building a library of books on the same topic.