Shotaro Ishinomori - The Man Who Created Heroes My review of the biographical TV special about the life of the King of Manga, Shotaro Ishinomori! So, I woke up really early this morning to watch the Shotaro Ishinomori Drama Special. Since I already made the effort, I thought I should write a review about it. So what I was expecting from this bio picture? Something close to GeGeGe no Nyobo, an early morning soap opera about the life of Shigeru Mizuki's wife. Of course, once Mizuki is introduced, the plot all goes around him, even if the show is still told from the perspective of his wife. The show is not about historical accuracy, but it's an entertaining watch to get a glimpse of some of the most important aspects of a famous mangaka's life. In some ways, this Ishinomori special is not so different, but incredibly more fast-paced due to being more of a feature-length film instead of a year-long morning drama. While I didn't necessarily dislike the special, there was nothing new here for me to learn. And I'm almost sure the parts that caught me by surprise were purely fictional. For those who've never heard the Ishinomori story, maybe this would be a decent enough introduction. As a long-time fan, I would like something deeper, but I don't think this special was made only for fans like me, but for casual viewers as well. And what would most casual viewers think of Ishinomori? He's the guy who created Kamen Rider, of course. And the movie makes this sound like the absolute high point of his career. Which is something that bothered me a bit, since I don't like how it perpetuates this idea Ishinomori was the "super-hero" guy. Such a versatile artist and writer should be admired for mastering all sorts of different genres and for what a huge influential figure he was for manga as a whole. But maybe I was expecting a little too much for a special called "Man Who Created Heroes"? Still, the omission of titles like Ryujin Numa, Sarutobi Ecchan, Sabu and Ichi (other than a very brief scene which is not even about the manga itself, but more like "Look, Shotaro's manga is in bookstores!"), the Ryu trilogy and other important landmarks of Ishinomori's career, titles which he held very close to his heart, is something I just can't look over. Instead, it focuses on the commercial success of his TV series, which is already being celebrated every year anyway with the Kamen Rider franchise and its many theatrical releases. To give some perspective, even Cyborg 009 is barely mentioned in the film outside of a few brief scenes like Ishinomori coming up with the characters and learning about cyborgs in Life Magazine! Now, let's talk about the positives, so I can end this review on a high note! Well, the acting is fun, everyone does a good performance and they all seem to having a great time! The drama is pretty soft, which is not a bad thing, this is mostly a "feel good" film, even if it depicts some of the most traumatic moments in Ishinomori's life like the disapproval of his father to his career choice and, of course, the death of his beloved older sister, Yoshie, who was his greatest inspiration for drawing. It was already mentioned in the movie's pre-production that the plot would focus on Ishinomori's relationship with his sister, which feels right when it comes to a bio-pic about Shotaro Ishinomori. However, I don't really like how they tried to tie Yoshie somehow with the origin of Kamen Rider, but I already made my point about that. The other artists from the Tokiwa-So apartments are all great and the movie does a good job portraying them as this big family, especially one of Ishinomori's best friends, the king of gag manga, Fujio Akatsuka! Also, it makes sure you will recognize these guys by showing their most iconic creations right in front of you. Now, about my favorite part of the film. It's Osamu Tezuka's role in it! This is precisely the main reason I would like people getting into Ishinomori to watch this film. How secondary Tezuka's involvement was in Ishinomori's life. For many, it seems impossible to quote one without the other, and Ishinomori constantly lives in the shadow of the God of Manga, which I always thought it was very unfair, not including rumors like "Tezuka taught Ishinomori everything he knew". Well, this film makes very clear how Ishinomori learned to draw manga by himself and that's what made him get the a letter from Tezuka himself inviting him to come to Tokyo to help him with Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom. In these scenes, Tezuka is not even present, he's running away from his editors while Ishinomori is asked to do the job in his place. Whenever Tezuka is in a scene, he's cold and distant, nothing like Ishinomori's Tokiwa-So companions like Fujio Akatsuka, Hiro Terada and the Fujiko Fujio duo. And it also ends the rumors about Tezuka ever living in the apartment at the same time as Ishinomori, and his presence there is always depicted as a huge event. Also, it shows very clearlly how Tezuka was in the wrong about the whole Fantasy World Jun incident, with Ishinomori's friends and admirers of Tezuka making clear what he did was wrong. The scene where Tezuka comes to apologize to Ishinomori is depicted similar to Ishinomori's manga retelling of the same story! Another interesting aspect I liked and would have liked to seen more is Ishinomori relationship with his family. It's no surprise Ishinomori was obsessed with his work and barely had time for his family, but the movie makes it clear that was it a struggle for Ishinomori himself. We don't get to see many interactions between him and his wife Toshiko, but his sons Jo and Akira are a constant presence in the film's final act. One especially bittersweet scene is when Ishinomori picks a book of Jo's school records and sees a drawing depicting him and his family going to the amusement park all together. He quickly realizes: "But we never went to an amusement park...". That was one scene that stuck a cord with me, and by the end of the film, Ishinomori takes his sons to watch the filming of a Kamen Rider episode. There's a very emotional scene that fans of Ishinomori's heroes will certainly appreciate. Overall, these are my thoughts on this special. While it was not perfect, I'm happy it was made and I hope Ishinomori's legacy will live on for many decades to come!
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