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Column by Kentaro Takekuma to commemorate the performance of the stage play “The Telling of Adolf” “The true pleasure of long story manga”

舞台『アドルフに告ぐ』上演記念 竹熊健太郎コラム「長編ストーリーマンガの、真の醍醐味」

The true pleasure of long story manga

Kentaro Takekuma
I reread Osamu Tezuka's ``Message to Adolf'' for the first time in almost 30 years. This work, which was serialized in the magazine ``Weekly Bunshun'' from 1983 to 1985, was the beginning of story manga being serialized in general magazines for adults, rather than boys' magazines or manga magazines. Of course, there is a precedent, but in a magazine for office workers in their 30s and 40s other than manga magazines, a full-fledged story manga that is not a short story was serialized for a long time, and it was a hard cover with a binding that did not look like a manga at first glance, and it was sold outside of the manga section. As far as I can remember, ``Told Adolf'' was the first manga that was displayed in the general literature section.

When I read it for the first time in a while, I was impressed by its ``readability.'' The story doesn't catch on at all, and then it gets stuck in your head. There's never a big close-up of the main character to make him look bad, or a fight that goes on and on and on and on, with many pages devoted to a suspenseful battle over who will win. In adventure manga aimed at young boys, these scenes are usually considered the highlight, and are usually devoted to a lot of pages, but from the perspective of ``telling the story,'' such scenes can be said to be a waste of time. I was reminded once again that Tezuka Manga is not a character manga whose purpose is to show off the highlights of the characters, but rather a ``story manga.''

``Telling Adolf'' is set in Japan (Kobe) and Germany in the 1930s, and tells the story of two Germans, Adolf Kaufmann and Adolf Kamil, who were born and raised in Japan, and Adolf Kaufmann, who rose to power in Germany and became a dictator. This is a story about Hitler and the three Adolfs. Newspaper reporter Sohei Toge appears as a Kyogen performer, and the story begins with the famous opening ceremony of the 1936 Berlin Olympics, hosted by Hitler's Nazis.

Just in the first three pages, a scene is inserted in the prologue in which an elderly Toge Sohei visits someone's grave in post-war Israel, but the reader still does not know about Toge or whose grave he is visiting. Not done. The only thing that is inserted is the author's narration: ``This is the story of three men called Adolf.''

Osamu Tezuka “Telling Adolf”

Just by reading the beginning, you can tell that the author has solidified the idea of the story until the end before he begins writing. In manga that are intended to be serialized over a long period of time, the story is often written without deciding how it will end. The reason why this is possible is because even though it has the appearance of a story manga, it is essentially a manga that shows the characters. Character manga can be maintained by first deciding on an attractive character and having him encounter various difficulties and fight many strong enemies. In this case, the story and overall concept become secondary. Otherwise, it would not be possible to maintain the long-term serialization of 30 volumes, 40 volumes, and sometimes more than 50 volumes, which is currently the mainstream of commercial manga.

Osamu Tezuka is said to be the ``father of long story manga.'' The definition of a long work changes depending on the times, but I think that generally speaking, if a work exceeds 100 pages, it can be called a long work, and anything less than that can be called a short story. It seems that works between 50 and 100 pages are sometimes referred to as novellas. However, now that serialization has continued for more than 10 years and works with more than 30 volumes are commonplace, works such as ``Jungle Emperor'', which only has three volumes, may end up being treated as ``short stories.''

Among Osamu Tezuka's full-length works, there are very few that span more than five volumes. ``Buddha'' has 14 volumes, and ``The Sunshine Tree'' has 11 volumes, both of which are exceptionally long works for Tezuka. ``Black Jack'' has over 20 volumes, but since it is a one-episode series and the main character is a single character, it can be viewed as a series of short stories.

``Telling Adolf'' is a series of stories that spans five volumes, making it one of Tezuka's longest works.

``The Telling of Adolf'' is a drama about complicated human relationships. His ability to turn this into an easy-to-read manga is almost like a miracle. There are three main characters alone, and if you include Sohei Toge, who can be said to be an excellent performer of Kyogen performances, there are four main characters. The theme of ``racial issues'' is involved here, and the fate of the protagonists is toyed with in Japan and Germany over the fate of a top-secret document that says ``Hitler's family has Jewish blood.'' go.

Osamu Tezuka “Telling Adolf”

Adolf Kaufmann and Adolf Kamil, childhood friends born in Kobe, were originally best friends, but Kaufmann was the son of a German diplomat and his Japanese wife, and Kamil was of German Jewish descent. Since there is no discrimination against Jews in Japan, the two young children got along without any doubts, but with the birth of Hitler's regime in their home country and the start of policies that openly discriminated against Jews, the two children's relationship changed. The relationship is torn apart as they grow up. At the urging of his father, Kaufmann enters the Nazi executive training school in Germany, where he is thoroughly indoctrinated into Nazism. Kamil's father, on the other hand, went to his homeland to save his fellow Jews (Jews), was put in a concentration camp, and was shot dead by Adolf Kaufmann, who became a Nazi.

The background of the story is the prewar, wartime, and postwar history set in Japan, Germany, and Israel. Countless people who are at the mercy of history. I think this is a solid manga with a truly grand concept, worthy of being placed in a literary book corner.

I think ``A Word to Adolf'' is an excellent text when it comes to telling a story in manga. The 1980s, when this work was written, was a period of transition from an era in which manga was read through stories to an era in which manga was shown (attracted) through characters. I sometimes think that the story manga that allows readers to read the story as it unfolds may have died with Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989. I think that the ``readability'' of Tezuka's manga lies in the fact that all the elements that make up the manga, such as the pictures, characters, dialogue, and panel layout, are directly connected to the ``story'', as is the case with ``The Story of Adolf.'' . Tezuka Manga begins with a story, and all elements serve to express and support that story. In that sense, nothing is wasted.

When I read ``A Word to Adolf'' for the first time in 30 years, it taught me what a true story manga is and the real thrill of it.

<Kentaro Takekuma Profile>
Born in Tokyo in 1960. Editor, part-time lecturer at Tama Art University. Engaged in freelance editing and writing activities since 1981. The main activity genre is the subculture area centered on manga and animation.

Telling Adolf, all 5 volumes (Osamu Tezuka Bunko Complete Works)

Osamu Tezuka “Told Adolf” 1

Osamu Tezuka “Told Adolf” 2

Osamu Tezuka “Told Adolf” 3

Osamu Tezuka “Told Adolf” 4

Osamu Tezuka “Told Adolf” 5

Online magazine “Denno Mavo” edited by Kentaro Takekuma

Online magazine “Cyber Mavo”

The stage play ``The Telling of Adolf'' directed by Tamiya Kuriyama will begin performances at KAAT Kanagawa Arts Theater from Wednesday, June 3, 2015!
http://www.kaat.jp/d/kaat_adolf

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