Tomorrow will be the start of Autumn quarter at Ohio State and the first meeting of this year’s freshman seminar, “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga.” I posted the syllabus as a page on this blog.

This will be the sixth time I teach this course. This year’s seminar is quite different from the previous ones, which explored works by various mangaka in different genres, in chronological order. This time we will take up the special topic of TEZUKA Osamu’s manga, which have been heralded by many as influencing and enabling the development of Japan’s rich comics culture. We will read seven manga by Tezuka, who is often called “manga no kamisama” (god of comics). In addition we will read two manga by URASAWA Naoki, who has acknowledged the influence of Tezuka’s manga.

Here are all the reading lists, with this year’s first:

AUTUMN 2010 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Tezuka, Osamu. Metropolis (1949)
Tezuka, Osamu. Astro Boy v. 3 (1964~65)
Tezuka, Osamu. Dororo v. 1 (1967~1968)
Tezuka, Osamu. Phoenix: Karma (1969~70)
Tezuka, Osamu. Ode to Kirihito. (1970~71)
Tezuka, Osamu. Black Jack v.1 (1973)
Tezuka, Osamu. Adolf v.1 (1983)
Urasawa, Naoki. Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. v. 1 (1995)
Urasawa, Naoki. Pluto. V.1 (2004)

Helen McCarthy. The Art of Osamu Tezuka. (Abrams Comic Arts, 2009)
Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)
Natsu Onoda Power. God of Comics. Chapter 3 (Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2009 )
Frederik Schodt. The Astro Boy Essays. Chapter 3 (Stone Bridge Press, c2007 )

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AUTUMN 2009 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Tezuka, Osamu. Black Jack. Volume 1 (1973)
Takemiya, Keiko. To Terra. (1977)
Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaa. (1984)
Inoue, Takehiko. Slam Dunk. (1990)
Urasawa, Naoki. Monster. (1994)
Ito, Junji. Uzumaki. (1998)
Oba, Tsugumi& Obata, Takeshi. Death Note. (2003)
Kiyuduki, Satoko. Shoulder a Coffin, Kuro. (2006)

Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993) or
Tatsumi, Yoshihiro. A Drifting Life. (Drawn &Quarterly, 2009.)

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WINTER 2009 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Tezuka, Osamu. Black Jack. (1973)
Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima. (1973)
Toriyama, Akira. Dragon Ball. (1984)
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: the Invisible Art. (1993)
Urasawa, Naoki. Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. (1994)
Minekura, Kazuya. Saiyuki. (1997)
Takahashi, Rumiko. Inu-yasha. (2d ed) (1997)
Ogawa, Yayoi. Tramps Like Us. (2000)
Kuroda, Iou. Sexy Voice and Robo. (2002)
Kono, Fumiyo. Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms. (2003)

Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)

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AUTUMN 2007 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Tezuka, Osamu. Phoenix: Volume 1: Dawn (1967) (San Francisco: VIZ, 2003)
Koike, Kazuo + Goseki Kojima. Lone Wolf and Cub v.1: The Assassin’s Road (1970) (Milwaukee, OR: Dark Horse, 2000)
Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima. (1972) Volume 1 (San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2004)
Takemiya, Keiko. To Terra Volume 1 (1977) (New York: Vertical, 2007)
Tezuka, Osamu. Adolf : a tale of the twentieth century (1983) Volume 1 (San Francisco: Cadence Books, 1995)
Miyazaki, Hayao. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.(1984) Volume 1(San Francisco: VIZ, 2004)
Takahashi, Rumiko. Ranma ½. (1988) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 1993)
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: the Invisible Art. (1993) (HarperCollins, 1994)
Watsuki, Nobuhiro. Rurouni Kenshin (1994) Volume 1 (San Francisco, VIZ, 2003)
Yazawa, Ai. Nana (1999) Volume 1 (San Francisco, VIZ, 2005)
Ohba, Tsugumi & Obata, Takeshi. Death Note. (2003) Volume 1 (San Francsico: VIZ, 2005)

Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)

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AUTUMN 2006 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Tezuka, Osamu. Astro Boy. (1952) Volume 1 (Milwaukee, OR:Dark Horse Comics, 2002)
Ishinomori, Shotaro. Cyborg 009. (1963) Volume 1 (Los Angeles: Tokyopop, 2003)
Nakazawa, Keiji. Barefoot Gen: A Cartoon Story of Hiroshima. (1972) Volume 1 (San Francisco: Last Gasp, 2004)
Tezuka, Osamu. Buddha. (1972) Volume 1: Kapilavastu (New York: Vertical, 2003)
Miyazaki, Hayao.Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.(1984) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2004)
Takahashi, Rumiko. Ranma ½. (1988) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 1993)
Asamiya, Kia. Silent Mobius. (1988) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 1999)
Aoyama, Gosho. Case Closed. (1994) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2004)
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: the Invisible Art. (1993) (HarperCollins, 1994)
Oda, Eiichiro. One Piece. (1997) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2003)

Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)

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WINTER 2006 “Analyzing the Appeal of Manga”

Kiyama, Henry. The Four Immigrants Manga (1931) (Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1999)
Ishinomori, Shotaro. Cyborg 009 (1963) Volume 1 (Los Angeles: Tokyopop, 2003)
Tezuka, Osamu. Phoenix: Volume 1: Dawn (1967) (San Francisco: VIZ, 2003)
Monkey Punch. Lupin III. (1967) Volume 1 (Los Angeles: Tokyopop, 2002)
Koike, Kazuo + Goseki Kojima. Lone Wolf and Cub (1970) (Milwaukee, OR: Dark Horse, 2000)
Ariyoshi, Kyoko. Swan (1976) Volume 1 (La Jolla: DC Comics, 2005)
Toriyama, Akira. Dragon Ball (1984) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2003)
Miyazaki, Hayao.Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.(1984) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2004)
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: the Invisible Art (1993) (HarperCollins, 1994)
Sadamoto, Yoshiyuki. Neon Genesis Evangelion. (1995) Volume 1 (San Francisco: VIZ, 2004)
Takahashi, Rumiko. Inu Yasha (1997) Volume 1. 2d ed. (San Francisco: VIZ, 2003)

Scott McCloud. Understanding Comics. (Kitchen Sink Press, 1993)

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