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Macross, Haruhi, Vampire Miyu Artists Draw Tezuka Homages

On July 1, the Takarazuka City Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum will launch an exhibition in which popular anime creators re-imagine the characters of manga/anime pioneer Osamu Tezuka in modern "moe" style. About 20 artists are participating, including character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto (Macross, Gundam 0080, Aim for the Top! Gunbuster), light novel illustrator Noizi Ito (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Shakugan no Shana), and manga creator and character designer Narumi Kakinouchi (Vampire Princess Miyu, Ryoko's Case File).

The artists are re-interpreting such well-known characters as Sapphire from Princess Knight (Ribbon no Kishi) and Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) in about 90 different art pieces and dolls. The Yomiuri Shimbun paper posted images of Sapphire, as re-imagined by Ito and Kakinouchi.

Takarazuka University professor and Tezuka Osamu = Story Manga no Kigen book author Ichirō Takeuchi explained that Tezuka's works depicted female characters in a pure light, and that art style eventually led to the moe movement now popular in Tokyo's Akihabara district and otaku culture. Takeuchi added that the exhibition is an interesting attempt to connect Tezuka's works with modern anime fans.

The exhibition will run from July 1 to October 24.

Source: Yomiuri Shimbun

Image © Tezuka Production, Mushi Production