Ode To Kirihito 1st Edition

by Osamu Tezuka (Author), Camellia Nieh (Translator)

37 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-1932234640

ISBN-10: 1932234640

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It may or may not be contagious. There seems to be no cure for it. Yet, Monmow Disease, a life-threatening condition that transforms a person into a dog-like beast, is not the only villain in this shocking triumph of a medical thriller by manga-god Osamu Tezuka. Said to have been the personal favorite of the artist, who held a degree in medicine, and surprisingly attentive to Christian themes and imagery, Ode to Kirihito demolishes naive notions about human nature and health and likely preconceptions about the comics master himself.

From pregnant vistas of the Japanese countryside to closed rooms full of sin and redemption, Tezuka astounds for more than eight hundred continuous pages, his art in turn easefully concise and flamboyantly experimental, his inquiry into our most repugnant instincts and prospects for overcoming them unflinchingly serious. Incorporating elements of the often lurid and adult-oriented “gekiga” style for the first time, Tezuka entered into his fruitful late period with this work.

A promising young doctor, Kirihito Osanai visits a remote Japanese mountain village to investigate the source of the latest medical mystery. While he ends up traveling the world to discover what it takes to be cured of such a disease, a conspiracy back home attempts to explain away his absence. Hinging upon his fate are those of his loved ones: an unstable childhood friend and colleague trapped between factions of the medical establishment that nurtured him; a fiancée emotionally transformed by Kirihito’s mysterious disappearance; and a stranger who becomes his guardian angel, a sensual circus-act performer with volatile psychological secrets.

From plutocratic Taipei and racially divided South Africa to backwater Arabia and modern Osaka, ambition and desire beckon “normal men” to behave uglier than any beast. Riveting our attention on deformity and its acceptance like The Elephant Man by David Lynch, Ode to Kirihito examines the true worth of human beings through and beyond appearances.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Tezuka earned the nickname "godfather of manga" not just by the length and prolificacy of his career but by the moral commitment he brought to such projects as the award-winning Buddha. His works deal with the most profound questions of human existence. Kirihito combines medical melodrama and anguished debates about guilt and redemption. The hero, complacent Dr. Osanai Kirihito, believes he's been assigned to study people suffering from a new, fatal disease that degrades them into doglike beasts. When the transformation hits him, too, he realizes that the cause is not what he was told and that the condition can be controlled. However, Kirihito soon finds out how violently society reacts to anyone who looks different. He also discovers that the medical establishment has betrayed him and now wants him to disappear permanently. Fleeing through episodes of brutal exploitation, he tries to find a place where he can function as a human being; he winds up as a combination of Jesus Christ and the Count of Monte Cristo. While Kirihito struggles with himself and other vividly drawn characters, the operatic plot swirls from one passionate scene to the next, reinforced by Tezuka's apparently simple but strikingly expressive line work. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“Ode to Kirihito is moving, tender and engrossing. Also very, very odd.”
—Neil Gaiman, author of The Sandman and Anansi Boys

“A thoroughly original, wonderfully bizarre, and compulsively readable masterwork. Ode to Kirihito is a vital testament to Tezuka's range as an artist, as well as an awe-inspiring example of the possibilities of the graphic novel.”
—Adrian Tomine, writer/artist of Optic Nerve and Summer Blonde

“Tezuka was like a god for me. He shocked the manga world with the medical thriller genre, and the work he did it with was Ode to Kirihito — a monumental suspense masterpiece that shows off Tezuka’s two points of expertise — manga and medicine.”
—Yoshihiro Tatsumi, author of The Push-Man and Abandon the Old in Tokyo

Tezuka-san turns his comic book mastery to evil in this terrifying examination of moral decay. Fans of Japanese horror both new and old should not miss this shocking single volume that will completely change Tezuka's American reputation as the Japanese Walt Disney. Brutal, depraved and savage, Kirihito will leave you panting like a beaten dog-man!
—Andrew D. Arnold, Time comics critic

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vertical; 1st Edition (October 24, 2006)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 832 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1932234640
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1932234640
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.27 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.05 x 2.15 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,974,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,062 in Comic Strips (Books)
- #31,132 in Manga Comics & Graphic Novels
- #236,201 in Textbooks

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Top reviews from the United States

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C. Moon

Are you a beast?

Reviewed in the United States on November 4, 2006

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Just finished the last 300 pages in a whirlwind last night. Completely staggering! This is among Tezuka's very best works (and certainly his crowning achievement available in English.)

All the familiar Tezuka themes are here, including well worn ones from Astroboy and Kimba, but here they are used to devestating effect along-side an infinitely more sophisticated Tezuka who can show us the full range of human emotions. I recognize that Tezuka (like Miyazaki after him) wanted to show us characters who are human, neither good nor bad, and it couldn't be done better here. The subtitle 'are you a beast?' could be applied to every character as we see them go through their transformations, even to society itself.

The biblical quotes and christian imagery are used masterfully, not as a religious instrument, but as a powerful illustrative device for the emotions and struggles of our heroes. Tezuka as usual finds the commonality between Christianity and Buddhism (not overtly); driving his characters to find their own humanity by first giving up that humanity. Ultimately, the characters only seem to rise from their own personal hells once they've given up those attachments to their former lives and begin to live for others.

Politically, the book couldn't be more timely. Sides constantly shift as goverments backstab 'less fortunate' countries in the name of profit, while individuals duke it out at a corporate level on their own personal ego trips. Parents sell out their own children to wager on rising corporate kings. This sort of sophistication is well past the Tezuka of the 50's and 60's, placing at or beyond the high water-mark reached by Alan Moore's 'From Hell' (maybe not your personal favorite, but a superbly dense, sophisticated comic, way out in front of the pack.)

Ultimately however, Tezuka shows he is, above all other things, a great story teller. The characters are compelling and pull you along on their harrowing trip through dissolution, hell and rediscovery, and when that ending comes (probably not without a few shed tears), we have precisely the kind of ending you would expect from any great novel: highly satisfying with a sense of personal granduer.

This is a triumph for Vertical, and if there was a way to induce everyone who reads comics to read Ode to Kirihito, Tezuka would win his crown in the US overnight. It has everything to succeed, short of the mechanism to put it in the hands of every reader.

29 people found this helpful

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Patrick Drazen

Epic

Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017

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As comics go, this is epic in every sense of the word: 800-plus pages, a medical procedural with sex and violence and religion in a story that stretches from Japan to Africa and other locales. One of the major works by Osamu Tezuka.

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scott harris

Buy it.

Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2014

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Tezuka goes to deep, dark places in this book. A HUGE paperback packed with exciting twists and turns. Tons of theme exploration into disease, racism, pride, desperation, hope, religion, etc. An endlessly thought provoking piece of graphic literature. There's a reason Tezuka is known as the godfather of manga, and it ain't Astroboy.

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Mac M

Epic and thrilling

Reviewed in the United States on July 24, 2007

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If this were a film, it would surely be a mixture of art-house in moments and Cecil B DeMille in others -- with intimate character development but spanning Japan, China and the Middle East. It's thriller, love story, medical drama, spiritual quest, adventure and crime story with an eu de scifi wafting over the whole concotion. Typical Tezuka drawing style, which I find clear and compelling but others may have their own opinions.

4 people found this helpful

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Bradley J. Timm

What can I say?

Reviewed in the United States on November 15, 2014

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Everything that needs to be said about the great Osamu Tezuka has been said. I will defer to such praise, and recommend this as one of his most substantial works.

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Adam Collado

Human Prosperity in the Face of Adversity

Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2007

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Ode To Kirihito is one of those stories that fills you with inspiration and hope. Tezuka doesn't hold any hands or make the world more gentle then it needs to be: the picture he paints is a very bleak one, filled with racism, elitism, selfishness and greed. And yet, we as humans can still somehow overcome all this.

This is an excellent manga, and I highly recommend to anybody who enjoys a great story.

6 people found this helpful

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Lynne D. Schneider

Ode to the Ode

Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2007

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it's osamu tezuka. how bad could it be? it's not. it's great. read it.

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One of manga's crowning achievements.

Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2008

Osamu Tezuka, Ode to Kirihito (Vertical, 2006)

Every once in a while I come across a graphic novel that just makes my jaw drop--Bone, Black Hole, and now Ode to Kirihito. This monstrous (832 pp.) graphic novel is not only absorbing enough that you won't want to put it down, but has as much character development, plot, and action as any print novel, and a great deal more than most. Ode to Kirihito may be Tezuka's magnum opus--and given that Tezuka is considered the godfather of manga in Japan, that's saying something.

Osanai Kirihito is a young doctor who has more scruples than his boss. This makes him a liability, so when the boss finds a way to both study a new disease and get Kirihito out of the way, he jumps at the chance, sending Kirihito to the village where the disease seems to have originated, thus almost guaranteeing he'll contract it. The disease essentially turns humans into animals. Soon enough, of course, Kirihito starts looking like a dog, and thus his travails begin. Meanwhile, Kirihito's old colleague, always more tractable, discovers that the boss' hypothesis on the disease, which Kirihito was supposed to reinforce, may not be entirely accurate, and so he heads off to Africa to gather more evidence. This throws him into a quandary; should he keep kowtowing to the boss in order to advance, or do what Kirihito would have done, and stand up to him?

This is just the tip of the iceberg. There's a great deal going on here, with many subplots, a raft of well-developed characters, and actions and reactions that feel completely realistic. Tezuka has created a wonderfully detailed world here, and the truly amazing thing about Ode to Kirihito is that, like all truly well-crafted graphic novels, it feels like we just don't spend enough time in that world. Eight hundred pages? Just a drop in the bucket. We could have followed Kirihito for thousands more.

Will definitely be on my ten best reads of the year list. An amazing book. **** ½

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Daniel Balog

perfect

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 4, 2018

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I feel so lucky I have bumped into this edition - in perfect condition ofc.

Ian Williams

A stunning epic

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 26, 2006

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Using the starting point of a medical investigation into a disfiguring disease, Tezuka, working in 1969/70, has created an epic masterpiece that charts the descent of several characters, notably the protagonist, into a metaphorical hell (sometimes of their own making) and their attempts at redemption.

This is strong and powerful, unequivocal in its portrayal of corruption and degradation, and almost totally lacking the normal playfulness of a Tezuka narrative. Tezuka has always dealt with important themes even in entertainments such as Astroboy and most notably in his triumphant Buddha sequence, but never before has he portrayed them in such brutal starkness. There is murder, rape, slavery, brutality, shocking cruelty, racism and more. But this is also counterbalanced, though not tempered by, hope, love, a strong element of spirituality and faith, and, for some of its tormented characters, reconciliation and redemption.

The sheer power of this 800 page work immediately raises it to the front rank of graphic novels. One wonders what other marvellous works by the author are yet to be revealed to a western audience and to ponder on what has been lost by his tragically early death at 61 years, especially when one considers what Will Eisner produced in later life.

The publishers, Vertical, deserve credit for not only bringing this book to us but also for not splitting it into two volumes and allowing it to be read as intense work it was meant to be.

Do not miss this book.

12 people found this helpful

Riyad Salhi

Dr. Osanais unfreiwillige Reise um die Welt - als Hundemann

Reviewed in Germany on March 23, 2008

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Sie halten nichts von Mangas, sind zu alt dafür? Dann sind Sie hier richtig. Würde man die Story in knappen Worten umreissen, befände man sich im Klischee-Treibsand. Dr. Osanai will einer merkwürdigen Seuche auf die Spur kommen, die das Skelett deformiert und die Gesichtszüge animalisch geraten lässt. Sein Mentor in der Klinik, ein Tyrann fiesester Sorte, hat seine eigenen Vorstellungen, wie er seine Theorie über die Verbreitungsform der Krankheit für seine Karriere nutzen kann. Und dann gibt es da noch Dr. Urabe, ein Freund von Dr. Osanai, ein einsamer Wolf, der leider ein Problem mit Frauen hat. Auf über 800 Seiten entfaltet Tezuka mit diesen und weiteren Figuren einen Medizin-Thriller allererster Güte, mit Cliffhangern, die einen zeitweise tatsächlich in Verzückung geraten lassen. "Lese ich noch ein Kapital, obwohl ich eigentlich schlafen wollte? Jaaa!" Zwar zeichnet Tezuka die Figuren in etwas simpler Manier, die Hintergründe, insbesondere Landschaften, sind detailreich ausgeführt. Dann gibt es auch immer wieder Momente, wo der Seitenaufbau, die Bildauflösung sehr originell ist und das Kunstvolle streift. Das Buch ist stellenweise nich ohne Drastik, was mich in dieser Härte ein wenig erstaunt hat. Nun gut, die Japaner eben. Doch obwohl es manchmal auch sexuell freizügig erscheint (immerhin ist dieser Manga von 1970-71): Keine einzige dieser Szenen ist integriert, um den Entertainment-Faktor zu heben und oberflächliche Reize zu transportieren - es soll allein der Erzählung dienen. Insofern kann man auch einem Fünfzehnjährigen (denen sowieso) das Buch bedenkenlos in die Hand geben. Ein paar Details sind etwas blödsinnig: Da sucht die Freundin von Kirihito ihn in der Einöde, weit weg von zu Haus, und sie hat nichts weiter dabei als ihr Handtäschchen, bekleidet ist sie mit einem kurzen Röckchen, als wäre sie gerade beim Shoppen. Gelegentlich ist die Handlung bei näherem Hinsehen an den Haaren herbei gezogen. Aber auf so etwas will ich nicht herum reiten. Natürlich ist "Ode to Kirihito" auch eine Vendetta, eine Love Story, eine Geschichte mit Message, nein, gleich mit mehreren Botschaften, somit sehr pädagogisch; aber penetrant ist das nicht, weil das alles fulminant eingefädelt ist. Das ist State-of-the-Art, kein Wunder, dass Tezuka als der große Meister gilt. Dass die Amerikaner aus dem Stoff kein Drei-Stunden-Epos für das Kino gemacht haben, ist unbegreiflich. Ein vortreffliches Präsent für Comicbegeisterte jeglichen Alters, sogar für 30- oder 40-jährige, sofern sie einfach nur sehr gut unterhalten werden wollen.

4 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Love this book

Reviewed in Canada on May 13, 2019

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If you are a fan of Tezuka's more adult stories that explore themes like humanity, this is the book for you.

Mitch

🤠

Reviewed in Canada on March 12, 2020

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Super cool book

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