The Book Of Human Insects

I'm no classic manga buff, I'll come clean, so I continue to try and buy more classic works as my collection grows larger and nobody puzzles me quite like Tezuka, his work is imaginative, his characters explode out of the pages and all have unique flares to them but he really is a weird/unique author! The Book of Human Insects is no exception to Tezuka taking on weird subjects.As with most of my classic manga reads, I avoid the blurb, I like to go in with a fresh view, and boy was I surprised with what I got, a raunchy thriller with a intriguing mysteries up and an cleverly woven web of characters up it's sleeves. It jumps you into it's world very quickly and before you notice you are engrossed in this roller coaster tale which I could easily envision hitting the silver screen in the 70s.

I shudder to think what was going through Osamu Tezuka's mind in the early to mid-70's when this master of the graphic story, known for his compassion and humour, created a series of bleak adult masterpieces which include MW, Ode To Kirihito, Apollo's Song, and Ayako. The Book Of Human Insects preceded all of them and very much sets the tone for what was to come. I have to say that I hate the title, preferring the alternative Human Metamorphosis.The story is fairly simple. An attractive intelligent but completely ruthless young woman, who is completely devoid of empathy, associates with someone of talent in a particular field. She psychologically becomes that person, steals and adapts their work and becomes famous for it. She leaves in her wake a trail of broken lives, suicide, and murder.It is both fascinating and horrifying at the same time, perhaps even noirish with its femme fatale protagonist. Tezuka populates this graphic novel with a bunch of individual and interesting characters many of whom, even knowing what she is like, are unable to resist her, though one does. It's difficult to discuss actual details without spoiling it so I won't.One thing that is astonishing is that a work of such maturity and skill was published in Japan at the same time as American comics (Undergrounds excepted) were dominated by superhero comics aimed at children and teenagers. It's taken 30-40 years for these mature stories by Tezuka to appear in the West which is just a shame. Better late than never, but it's interesting to speculate what might have happened if western creators had been aware of it then.

An adult-oriented Tezuka work, and an excellent one too. One of the classics. Look for reviews of the work itself around the net :) and the translation seems fine.

cool cool

Excellent.