Adolf, An Exile In Japan (Adolf) [Paperback]

Osamu Tezuka (Author, Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Osamu Tezuka, best known in America as the animator of Astro Boy, continues his first full-length work available in English. Japanese reporter Sohei Toge returns to his homeland, where he finally learns the secret that led to his brother's brutal murder at the hands of the Gestapo. But now the Japanese secret police are on his tail, and the SS officer who tortured him in Germany has followed him to Japan to hush him up-- permanently. Find out why Osamu Tezuka is known in Japan as the "god of manga."

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Cadence Books; Original edition (August 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569310572
• ISBN-13: 978-1569310571
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,440,928 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. He originally intended to become a doctor and earned his degree before turning to what was then a medium for children. His many early masterpieces include the series known in the U.S. as Astro Boy. With his sweeping vision, deftly interwined plots, feel for the workings of power, and indefatigable commitment to human dignity, Tezuka elevated manga to an art form. The later Tezuka, who authored Buddha, often had in mind the mature readership that manga gained in the sixties and that had only grown ever since. The Kurosawa of Japanese pop culture, Osamu Tezuka is a twentieth century classic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Watch Toge get tortured, January 21, 2005

By 

Gagewyn (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adolf, An Exile In Japan (Adolf) (Paperback)

I didn't like this so much as the first book in the Adolf series. Although the Adolf series proposes to tell us the stories of three Adolfs, Toge is our narrator so we focus heavily on him. Here we get to see Toge get tortured, then beat up, then tortured, then shot... and so on. That's a picture of him on the cover: screaming and getting tortured.

In the opening to An Exile in Japan Toge recovers the important documents that could totally destroy HItler. As we already know, the documents prove that Hitler is a jew. Personally I doubt that they could be so damaging to Hitler. The Nazi party could just claim that they are fakes. The Japanese secret police know that Toge has some important documents, but they don't know what they are about. Representatives of various countries also know that Toge has something important and they come and offer him large amounts of money. Toge is emotionally involved because his brother died to get the documents to Japan, and so he resolves to use his position as a reporter to publicize them. The secret police promptly get him fired and evicted and harass anyone who tries to help him. So the documents are safe but they aren't going anywhere soon.

Meanwhile Toge meets one of our Adolf's mothers. The recent widow of a German intelligence officer can't forget Toge. We see her son, Adolf in a prep school in Germany. He is at the top of the class and so shakes Hitler's hand at a ceremony. He still considers the third Adolf, a German jew who is staying with his family in Japan, to be his best friend, and so he can't accept some school doctrines.

The Adolf series is good so far, but this particular book didn't read so well. Mostly it is watching Toge get harassed and driven to absolute rock bottom by the secret police. And in keeping with the story it ends badly. This is a good series, but start on another book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Continuing the Adolf epic, January 28, 1999

By 

Conrad Hoss "Been with Amazon since 1990s" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Adolf, An Exile In Japan (Adolf) (Paperback)

This is an excellent follow-up to ADOLF: A TALE OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. If you enjoyed the first book, this is a superb addition.

The artwork is fantastic, and the story is great. Adolf Hitler's characterization is realistic and funny at the same time.

The only drawback is that not all of the three Adolfs featured in the first book are in this addition. However, that doesn't detract from the ongoing story.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHERE THE HECK IS VOLUME ONE????, April 13, 2008

By 

Sunnyside "Sunnyside" (Astoria, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adolf, Vol. 2: An Exile In Japan (Hardcover)

I've got volumes two through five but I've been waiting on volume one for the past five years!!!! What the heck happened??? The entire print-run of volume one just sold out but nobody bothered buying up the rest of the series???? Do I have to resort to stealing my local public library's mangy dog-eared copy???? (I won't!) Does the publisher want this fine series to die out, selling out its remaining stock (consisting of only volumes two through five, evidently) and leaving the series in OOP status???? Hello, is this thing on????