2,433 words
The prolific manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori (1938-1998) spent his formative years in the Second World War and its immediate aftermath. At just 16, he published his first manga, and at 18 he became an assistant to the “God of Manga,” Osamu Tezuka, where he worked on Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy). He was likely influenced by Tezuka’s desire to help heal Japan after the war, with the latter’s Astro Boy personifying atomic energy’s non-destructive potential. Read more …
Porco Rosso: The Italian Batman
4,306 words
Porco Rosso is one of the more famous Studio Ghibli films, released in 1992. It is the midpoint of an unofficial Miyazaki trilogy examining flight as a method of personal and national liberation, beginning with 1989’s Kiki’s Delivery Service, and concluding with 2013’s The Wind Rises. Porco Rosso is the strongest of the three, being bright, bold, and easy to follow whilst touching on more serious themes than its premise might suggest. Read more …