WITLife is a periodic series written by professional Interpreter/Translator/Writer Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken, 2000-03). Recently she’s been watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese and sharing some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Last night at Japan Society I had the chance to catch a sneak preview of the American movie version of the Japanese manga series “Testuwan Atomu,”
known here in the States as Astro Boy. This wide-eyed, spiky haired superhero has a huge following both here and at home, and his Hollywood debut was greatly anticipated. Though I had never seen the original series, which based on a manga became an anime first in Japan and then here in 1963, I truly enjoyed the Western interpretation of the life of this legendary icon.
The voices were provided by a star-studded cast including Nicholas Cage as Astro’s father Dr. Tenma, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane and Charlize Theron. The story’s universal themes are about finding yourself and where you fit in, as well as being true to one’s own nature. It wasn’t laugh-out loud funny but there were definitely parts that caused chuckles, especially those jokes geared toward adults. Particularly delectable were the lines from Sutherland’s diabolical power-hungry politician.
The creator of this series was the now deceased Osamu Tezuka, known as the “father of manga.” His oldest son Makoto Tezuka served as supervising editor for this film, and he made it to yesterday’s premiere at LA’s Grauman’s Chinese Theatre. Joining him was the musician Yoshiki (who was scheduled to be in charge of the film’s music but had to withdraw due to neck surgery) and Koji Yakusho (of “Shall We Dance” fame) who provides the voice of Dr. Tenma in the Japanese version (A life-size Astro Boy himself was also in attendance). Tezuka had visited Grauman’s 32 years ago to see Star Wars, and Makoto commented, “It’s miraculous to have the premiere at this theater that my father loved. I think he would be very happy.” The movie opens for general release this Friday, October 23.
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The worst thing about this film is that it continues the Tezuka line, which is directly responsible for the slow death of manga and anime in Japan.
Unknown to most, Tezuka Production’s early stranglehold on the production of manga, and later animation, in Japan set the “piece-work” standard, where manga artists and cell animators were paid per sheet. In early post-war production houses, artists also lived in housing attached to their studio, and it was considered enough to be paid a subsistence wage.
Unfortunately, that standard still exists in most studios today. Try to imagine a manga artist or animator who is paid 60-80 yen per sheet, and can produce perhaps up between 8-24 sheets per day. Although it was a fair wage during post-war Japan, in today’s economy, it barely buys lunch at McDonalds.
I don’t mean to crush the dreams of aspiring artists, but, the reality of the industry standards that are the Tezuka legacy mean, for example, in the case of an artist I know, making about 180,000 yen for two and a half years full-time work. Can any JET imagine making one-half of a month’s salary for that much work? I don’t think so, and I put the blame right on Osamu Tezuka, who is to be admired for creativity, but shamed for bad business sense and greed.
I am sure that the American artists who made this version were paid much, much more, and they outsourced the parts they didn’t want to do to Japan, or to even lower-paying studios in Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and China. So, when you pay $10 to see the movie, think about how much the people who really did the work got, and behind that figure is Osamu Tezuka’s ghost laughing over a chest full of gold.