#zero man

I'd love to watch the Tezuka Osamu Academy Awards again, which was broadcast on TBS's 38-Hour Television program in 1999.

but I imagine it would be difficult because live-action footage of celebrities was mixed with animation during a live broadcast.

Source: Tezuka Goods Information (TEZUKA_goods, Twitter)

“Zero”  artist,  Hoke...Original acrylic painting on recycled wood ....Ebay Auction....Sept 5 - 12

Source: S1h0KcwS7cVi9MN (Twitter)

LOST MEDIA: A 3-4 minute animated pilot based on Osamu Tezuka’s Zero men.

There’s very little information on this failed pitch pilot produced around 1968. The anime would’ve followed the plot of the original Zero men manga, however, one noticeable detail changed was Ricky being much older. Early concept art for the show, such as the first and last picture, show Ricky looking much more like he did in the manga, looking around 10 years old. However, Ricky would’ve looked like the second picture if this series was made, looking to be around 16 or 18.

This was a change approved by Osamu Tezuka, saying he wanted “Ricky to be like Hyūma Hoshi”. The person in question being the star of the baseball manga and anime “Star of the giants”, which was produced around the same time the pilot was made. Why Tezuka wanted to make this change is unknown, however, one theory could be a large boom in popularity sports anime around the time this pilot was produced.

The series was never made due to staff at Mushi Pro being unable to get funding for the show. If picked up and made into a series, this would’ve aired around the same time as the 1969 Dororo anime. However, unlike the 1969 Dororo anime, this Zero men anime would’ve been in color.