Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works
Complete Listing
Published over a twenty-year period, from 1977-97, the Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works (手塚治虫漫画全集) edition by Kodansha has become the De facto standard in cataloging roughly 80,000 of the estimated 150,000 pages of manga produced by Tezuka during his lifetime. Although this 400-volume set is very comprehensive, it unfortunately does not include all his manga stories. Some of the notable exceptions include Cyrano the Hero, as well as Tezuka's take on the Walt Disney classics Pinnochio and Bambi.
Published in the Japanese B6 size (12.8 × 18.2 cm or 5.04" × 7.17"), the set - recognizable by the distinctive black-with-gold-border cover design - was released in four phases of 100 volumes each. With a release schedule of four books per month, the first three phases were completed in 1984. After the completion of Phase III there was almost a ten-year break, with Phase IV not beginning until 1993 - a few years after Osamu Tezuka's death in 1989. It is interesting to note the final 18 volumes (MT383-400) are not actually manga, instead they features collections of his essays and talks. Also, since not all of Tezuka's manga stories are stand-alone book length, many of the shorter stories have been combined - usually with similar themes - for publication. Please check our complete listings on the right for more information.
- Phase I: June 1977 - August 1979
- Phase II: October 1979 - November 1981
- Phase III: February 1982 - October 1984
- Phase IV: January 1993 - December 1997
By some estimates, it would take you 145 hours 38 minutes to read the entire set... with no breaks!
In 2007, Sega Toys released a novelty "mini comic" version of this series. Limited to only 3,000 sets, this set included 200 authentic miniature versions (5 x 6.8cm or 2 x 2.7") of the regular-sized manga and came complete with an exclusive wooden shelf for storage.
In October 2009, As part of the celebration of Osamu Tezuka's 80th anniversary, Kodansha began releasing a brand-new edition which condenses the original 400-volume set into 200 volumes. Released at a rate of 5-10 volumes per month, this all-new edition features reproductions using the latest digital technology, higher-quality paper and will include the "missing" chapters from Black Jack, Three-Eyed One, and Midnight as well as the excluded works like Pinnochio and Bambi.
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