[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-133944-en":3,"doc-seo-133944-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},133944,1099514067415,"Rowan","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539d78ffe74a7?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779092875211072502",2,"Literature","Osamu Tezuka and the First Story Manga - Osamu Tezuka’s The Mysterious Underground Men","Explores how Osamu Tezuka’s The Mysterious Underground Men (Chiteikoku no kaijin, February 1948) helped define “story manga” in Japanese comics history. Contrasts its foundations with earlier children’s comics and with Tezuka’s own prewar-tinged works, emphasizing scale, character depth, and a plot driven by courage, perseverance, and world-threatening villainy. Uses Tezuka’s 1988 interview and later critical responses to argue that the book’s tragic elements and unhappy outcome reshaped manga as a medium of drama and human complexity.","Osamu Tezuka and the First Story Manga  \nRyan Holmberg  \nOsamu Tezuka’s (1928–89) The Mysterious Underground Men ( Chiteikoku no kaijin, February 1948) occupies an elevated position in the history of Japanese comics. It might not be as legendary asthe artist’s debut book, the collaborative New Treasure Island ( Shin takarajima, January 1947), but as the “first of my story manga,” as the author put it in his afterword to the 1982 reissue of The Mysterious Underground Men, it was arguably more foundational for the subsequent evolution of the medium than New Treasure Island’s use of wordless cinematic breakdowns.  \nOf course, there had been book-length children’s comics with extended stories and well-defined characters in Japan since at least the 1920s, even if they tended to be episodic and didactic rather than plot-driven. Tezuka himself had already finished four “feature-length”books by the time he began drawing The Mysterious Underground Men in June of 1947.1 But in that 1982 afterword he turns his nose up at one of them, Doctor Mars ( Kasei hakase, September 1947), because it “still smelled of prewar manga.” The scale of that book is comparable to the present manga, as i s the nature of the action. Its story is propelled by a precocious boy with extraordinary courage and perseverance. There are villains intent on world domination and a monumental clash between the forces of good and evil.  \nSo what was the difference?  \nI. Sad Rabbit  \nDuring an interview in 1988, Tezuka pinned down what he thought had been his biggest contribution to the medium.“What I am really proud of i s having introduced tragic elements into manga. No one had done that   Having all the protagonists die, for example, or making characters cry. In a period like that one when there was this  \npowerful preconceived notion that manga was for fun and laughs ha ha ha, no matter how cinematically complex you draw something, it was simply not going to be a ‘story.’ That’s just cinematic enjoyment. A true ‘story’ is like an epic drama, or even a bildungsroman [kyo-yo-shosetsu], with ups and downs in the drama, and a view of what it means to be human   Human life is not always happy. There is tragicomedy, a humanism that is a jumbled mix of tragedy and comedy. The depiction of characters’ personalities also becomes necessary. First there is the need for dramaturgy. And it was in order to establish dramaturgy that this sort of cinematic imagery came about, after the fact.”  \nPrevious Japanese cartoonists might have liked movies and the theater, Tezuka continues,“but what they created was not drama. It was farce, and vaudeville. The focus was on wit and gags, ending with everyone laughing ha ha ha. But to make things deep, to make them dark, to make things borderline unbearable—these were taboo in manga. Taboo, or at least no one thought of doing them.” 2  \nOn various issues, Tezuka’s self-theorizing has practically dictated the terms of manga historiography and criticism. For Japanese writers today, under the influence of Tezuka’s commentary on “story manga”(sutorii manga), The Mysterious Underground Men might as well be titled The Passion of Mimio. Opinion seems unanimous that the only truly important aspects of the book are the emotional trials and the unhappy ending that befall Floppy (his name means literally “Ear Boy”), who wants nothing more than tobe accepted as human, and who proves himself not by walking on two legs and learning human speech, but ultimately by giving his life for his human friends and the cause of civilization’s progress.“If postwar manga follows the design of Tezuka’s work,” posited critic and Comiket co-founder Yoshihiro Yonezawa in 2003,“then what The Mysterious Underground Men prompted was the development of manga as a medium of tragedy.”3  \n“The last scene of The Mysterious Underground Men bowled us over,” wrote Hiroshi Fujimoto in 1994 about his and Motoo Abi ko’s  \n(the two halves of the Fuji o Fuji ko duo) first encounter with the ","cbCaitpnllI6j0rk","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitpnllI6j0rk","pdf",1127545,6,1,19,"English","en",105,"# Osamu Tezuka and the first story manga\n## Tezuka’s contribution to “story manga”\n## Tragedy, dramaturgy, and character depiction\n## Critical reception and interpretations","[{\"question\":\"What makes The Mysterious Underground Men important in manga history?\",\"answer\":\"It is presented as foundational for the evolution of Japanese comics toward “story manga,” with tragic elements and strong emotional and narrative structure.\"},{\"question\":\"How does Tezuka explain what he changed in manga?\",\"answer\":\"Through his own remarks, Tezuka emphasizes introducing tragic elements, dramaturgy, and deeper character depiction, moving beyond entertainment centered on fun, gags, and laughing endings.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is Floppy (Mimio) and why is his fate significant?\",\"answer\":\"Floppy, whose name means “Ear Boy,” seeks acceptance as human and ultimately dies for human friends and the cause of civilization’s progress, making the work’s emotional trials and unhappy ending central.\"}]","Osamu Tezuka and the First Story Manga - Osamu Tezuka’s The Mysterious Underground Men | PDF",1787230267,29,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":29},"osamu-tezuka-and-the-first-story-manga-osamu-tezukas-the-mysterious-underground-men","",{"@graph":37,"@context":86},[38,54,69],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,51],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/osamu-tezuka-and-the-first-story-manga-osamu-tezukas-the-mysterious-underground-men/133944/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":42,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-01","2026-08-20",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What makes The Mysterious Underground Men important in manga history?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It is presented as foundational for the evolution of Japanese comics toward “story manga,” with tragic elements and strong emotional and narrative structure.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How does Tezuka explain what he changed in manga?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Through his own remarks, Tezuka emphasizes introducing tragic elements, dramaturgy, and deeper character depiction, moving beyond entertainment centered on fun, gags, and laughing endings.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"Who is Floppy (Mimio) and why is his fate significant?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"Floppy, whose name means “Ear Boy,” seeks acceptance as human and ultimately dies for human friends and the cause of civilization’s progress, making the work’s emotional trials and unhappy ending central.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,101,105,110,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},"General","general"]