Kenichi Shikishima

Kenichi is one of Tezuka’s most frequent boy heroes, and the standard boy hero of Tezuka’s early work. He first appeared in the early work Dr Mars but made his public debut as "Pete," the protagonist of Tezuka's first published work, New Treasure Island. Optimistic, noble, friendly, loyal and possessing an unshakable optimism about the world and human nature, Kenichi is a protagonist figure in many Tezuka manga including Kimba the White Lion, Nextworld, Metropolis, and a supporting character in others, usually serving as a classmate and friend, as he does in Astro Boy. No matter what the circumstance, and no matter what Kenichi must endure, he always comes through his adventures with his optimistic and noble spirit intact, largely untouched by contact with evil.

Because of this he is often treated in contrast with Rock Holmes, another of Tezuka’s earliest boy characters, but one greatly aware of the operation of evil in the world around him. In Nextworld, the recent Metropolis movie and elsewhere, Rock and Kenichi are the same age and endure the same adventures, but at the end Kenichi remains a noble boy hero, while Rock is transformed by the evils he endures, leading to his roles as a charismatic villain in Vampire, Alabaster and elsewhere. For more information, see the section on Rock and Kenichi in our analytical essay on Rock Holmes, coming soon. Kenichi also has the distinction of having been the crippled boy in the original version of the famous Black Jack issue, "The Ant's Legs."

Rock achieved a long life as an actor because of his various defects and his portrayals of the numerous dark sides of human nature; Kenichi meanwhile, is loved as the everlasting youth in Tezuka Osamu's Manga. At any rate, Tezuka Osamu's Manga began in earnest with the meeting of Tezuka Osamu and Kenichi-kun. Kenichi was given the leading role in the majority of the early works, including "New Treasure Island", and was the first star of Tezuka Osamu's Manga. He looked out intently onto the world, was habitually considerate and never forgot to be kind, and in this he embodied the kind of conscientiousness and purity of "childhood days". Afterwards, the Manga world started to focus attention on "realities that cannot be communicated through the agency of simple integrity". Due to the need to exist as outsiders from human society, leading characters, including Atom, came to have other facets to their characters in addition to their innocent righteousness. Tezuka Osamu himself said, "I was forced to relinquish Kenichi from his role as protagonist because he lacked individuality." In the same way as people even come to feel embarrassed by the innocence of their sense of equity as children when they reach adulthood, the Manga world forgot Kenichi as it struggled to grow up. Nonetheless, no matter how grown up, how adult our faces become, our "childhood days" live on forever in our hearts, and in the same way, Kenichi continued to put in straight performances as the "righteous boy" who occasionally appears in Tezuka Osamu's Manga.

COMIC

• 1947 - Dr. Mars
• 1947 - Golden Bat (as Tomy)
• 1948 - The Mysterious Underground Man (as John)
• 1948 - Magic House
• 1948 - The Jungle Kingdom (as George)
• 1948 - The world 1000 years After
• 1948 - Tuberculoses
• 1948 - Lost World (as Dr.Shikishima)
• 1948 - Q-chan's Arrest lenght
• 1948 - The Adventure boy with the Musk (as Peter,Kid)
• 1948 - King Rocket (as Ryu-chan)
• 1948 - Secret Ground of the Shari River (as John Hallcan)
• 1949 - The Pistol Angel (as Jim)
• 1949 - Man with a Tail (as Piggy)
• 1949 - Metropolis
• 1950 - Golden City (as the passenger on a ship)
• 1950 - The Wonderful Journey
• 1950 - The Plain of Abusegahara (as Pekunai)
• 1950 - Mud Jungle (as Torao)
• 1950 - Manga University (as Tom)
• 1950 - Ashiato Hotspring
• 1951 - The Road to Utopian Lurue (as the assistant of Dr. Doshin)
• 1951 - Captain Atom
• 1951 - Next World
• 1951 - The new volume Moon World Gentleman (as Son of Dr.Mangetsu)
• 1952 - Astro Boy / Gaseous Beings
• 1952 - Astro Boy / Frankenstein
• 1953 - Astro Boy / Red Cat
• 1953 - Astro Boy / Sea Serpant Island
• 1953 - Astro Boy / Flying Skyscraper
• 1953 - X-Point on the South Pacific (as Eric)
• 1953 - The Monster on the 38th Parallel
• 1953 - Space Rhapsody (as Fukuma)
• 1953 - Light of Lodge House (as the boy of sense of justice)
• 1954 - Astro Boy / Adventure on Mars
• 1955 - Astro Boy / Rejuvenating Gas
• 1955 - Astro Boy / The Yellow Horse
• 1955 - The Lost World
• 1956 - Astro Boy / Duel on the Alps
• 1956 - Astro Boy / Atlas
• 1956 - Astro Boy/The Robot Bombs
• 1957 - Astro Boy / Alien's Ball
• 1957 - Lion Books / Multiple-Eyed Devil (as the passenger at a station)
• 1958 - Astro Boy / The Temma Race
• 1958 - The Three Who Glimpse The Future (as the classmate of Rock)
• 1958 - Chief Detective Kenichi
• 1959 - Astro Boy / The Secret of the Egyptian Conspirators
• 1959 - Astro Boy / The Deep-underground Tank
• 1961 - Astro Boy / Plant People
• 1961 - Astro Boy / The Robot Buron X
• 1961 - Astro Boy / Hot Dog Corps
• 1961 - Astro Boy / The Third Magician
• 1962 - Astro Boy / Robot Land
• 1962 - SHIKYOYAMAENGI Picture scroll
• 1964 - Astro Boy / The Grafted Brain
• 1965 - Astro Boy / Blue Knight
• 1965 - Astro Boy / Hiroes of Tezuka Osamu Manga (as the champion of Justice?)
• 1967 - Astro Boy / The Treasures of Zolomon
• 1967 - Astro Boy / Chronicles of Astro Boy
• 1970 - Gachaboi's record of one generation
• 1974 - Black Jack / Two Shuuji (as the class representative)
• 1974 - Black Jack / Dead Twice (as the murderer)
• 1974 - Black Jack / The Leg of an Ant (as the boy with polio)
• 1975 - Black Jack / You did it! (as the Classmate)
• 1975 - Black Jack / Hello,CQ (as Jun)
• 1975 - Black Jack / The Guy Who Came Back (as the executive committee of the school festival)
• 1976 - Black Jack / Race Against Time (as the truck driver)
• 1976 - The Three-eyed One / Towering Miracle (as the classmate of Sharaku)
• 1978 - Black Jack / Move Solomon
• 1980 - Astro Boy / The Doll of Spaceman
• 1981 - Rainbow Parakeet / Taluchuf (as Inoue)
• 1986 - Atom Cat

ANIME

• Astro Boy
• Jungle Emperor Leo
• Jungle Emperor, Go Ahead Leo!
• Fumoon
• Jungle Emperor Leo (New)