" Black Jack Missing Pieces" (Rittosha Publishing) is a collection of the "phantom original version" of Osamu Tezuka's classic manga "Black Jack ." Released in November 2023, it was a huge hit, selling over 10,000 copies despite its high price tag of ¥4,950. Following the book, " Black Jack " was serialized in "Weekly Shonen Champion" (Akita Shoten) from 1973 to 1983. With numerous related books published to date, it seems unlikely that new discoveries will be made at this point. However, more than 40 years after the end of the series, a "phantom" missing piece has been discovered in the Reiwa era. We spoke with Hajime Tanaka of Tezuka Productions' Materials Development Department, who was involved in the book's production, about the behind-the-scenes discovery.
◇Scattered fragments
Tezuka is known for making significant changes to his works when they are serialized in magazines and turned into comics. He also makes changes when the comics are reprinted or the format changes. This means that there are many different versions, and in the case of "Black Jack," there are even episodes with completely different endings. For the first time, "Black Jack: Missing Pieces" has reprinted the "phantom original version" from when it was serialized.
Tezuka was a prolific writer, and it is said that he drew 150,000 pages in his lifetime. Currently, Tezuka Productions has approximately 100,000 manuscripts and other items stored. They are stored by work, but due to the sheer volume, materials sometimes get mixed up. Sometimes, "missing pieces" are discovered by chance among materials for other works. Other times, they are discovered by the publisher and returned to them.
It's hard to believe now, but it is said that Tezuka sometimes attached manuscripts to his replies to fan mail. The color manuscripts that appeared in magazines were never published in the comics that were released at the time of serialization, so he would generously give them to his fans. It is said that he also gave materials as gifts to fans who came to visit his workshop, which shows how much Tezuka valued his fans. If something was handwritten by Tezuka, it would have great cultural and historical value, but in those days it probably wasn't as important.
In other words, some of the valuable materials have been scattered. "Black Jack Missing Pieces" and "Black Jack Historical Color Pieces" have restored the "phantom original version" in the Reiwa era by excavating and reconstructing the lost fragments.
◇What's different from the original version?
By comparing the original version and the comic version of "Black Jack Missing Pieces," you can get a glimpse of the creativity and originality of Tezuka, who is also known as the "god of manga." So, what has changed?
"Tezuka is a manga artist who makes many revisions. Sometimes the structure changes significantly. He rearranges or adds panels, which can change the ending. He also changes lines. He changes outdated material, such as TV material, and sometimes he changes the names of diseases or phrases to reflect the historical context. There's nothing wrong with making changes, but the original version gives us a glimpse into the atmosphere and customs of the time it was serialized, so I think it has documentary value in itself."
The comics version is based on the original version, with frames cut and pasted and edited, so the original manuscript has been lost. When reprinting, the manuscript is reassembled like a puzzle while looking at the magazine in which it was published. If frames or other parts cannot be found, the magazine will have to be scanned.
"In the case of Ritsutosha's reprint series, a new manuscript (blueprint) is created for the reassembly, and Office ASK uses this as the basis for the restoration. When scanning from the magazine, ink may bleed or Black Jack works use manuscripts for the original volumes that Tezuka edited, so surprisingly, this is the first original edition."
◇Miraculously excavated materials
"Black Jack Historical Color Pieces," which will be released on November 15th, will consist of 17 stories, mainly episodes that were originally published in vivid four-color or two-color pages. It is a reprint using existing manuscripts, and selected stories related to Black Jack's origins. The classic "Where Are My Friends?" will be published in its original, unedited manuscript form.
It will also include a large amount of valuable material, such as miraculously discovered unused names and unpublished manuscripts, anime storyboards, and handwritten synopsis manuscripts. The inclusion of unused names is also a major point.
"In fact, there are almost no drafts by Tezuka left. He drew them directly, so they don't remain. That's why they're no longer available anywhere. I thought they were gone... but miraculously they were unearthed."
Tanaka also said about "Black Jack," "It's a work from when Tezuka was at the peak of his career, so you can really feel the skill of the artist."
You will be able to feel Tezuka's passion at the time from the color pages and the valuable documents that have been unearthed.
(c) Tezuka Productions
