{"id":1588,"date":"2014-06-08T16:15:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-08T16:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=1588"},"modified":"2023-02-15T19:51:12","modified_gmt":"2023-02-15T19:51:12","slug":"age-of-adventure-manga","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=1588","title":{"rendered":"Age of Adventure (Manga)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Also known as \u5192\u967a\u72c2\u6642\u4ee3 (Boukenkyou Jidai)<\/h5>\n
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\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
English Title:<\/strong><\/td>\nAge of\u00a0Adventure<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In English?<\/strong><\/td>\nYes (digital)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Japanese Title:<\/strong><\/td>\n\u5192\u967a\u72c2\u6642\u4ee3
\nBoukenkyou Jidai<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Type:<\/strong><\/td>\nOngoing Serial<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Original run:<\/strong><\/td>\n1951\/01 – 1953\/08<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published in:<\/strong><\/td>\nAdventure King<\/a><\/em>
\n\u5192\u967a\u738b<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published by:<\/strong><\/td>\nAkita Shoten<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Volumes:<\/strong><\/td>\n1
\nMT-040<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

Age of Adventure<\/em> (1951-53), also known as West Rush<\/em>, was originally published in Akita Shoten’s monthly Adventure King<\/em><\/a>\u00a0from January 1951 to August 1953.\u00a0 It is partially based on Tezuka’s early amateur work Old Man’s Treasure Island<\/em>, which he created in 1945.<\/p>\n

What it\u2019s about<\/h2>\n

In the year 1876, young Takanosuke Arashi, an envoy of the Edo government, is traveling by sea en route to the United States in order to deliver a secret message regarding US\/Japan trade. \u00a0In the stormy Caribbean Sea, the ship is attacked by pirates.<\/p>\n

When their ship sinks, a group of travelers take refuge in a life-boat. \u00a0The group includes Takanosuke; a pirate named Luigi Bampa<\/a>; an old English Minister named Picard; a Hungarian princess named\u00a0Maria along with her brother Carolinard; and\u00a0a French gambler named Peter Lorre. \u00a0The group is also joined by a strange little dog with four\u00a0names – Pochi, Shiro, Pesu, and… Doggy.<\/p>\n

\"adventure-manga01\"

Hitch a ride on a tornado<\/p><\/div>\n

While in the life-boat, the group is entrusted with\u00a0half of Napoleon’s treasure map from the dying Picard. \u00a0However, soon after the travellers are sucked up by a tornado waterspout and tossed “somewhere over the rainbow”, \u00a0eventually raining down in the Nevada desert.<\/p>\n

Now in the Wild West, Takanosuke meets the shady saloon-owner Hamegg<\/a> and the story of Napoleon’s treasure soon has Takanosuke’s sword facing off against the Colt six-shooters of the Outlaw Wild Bill Hickock<\/a>… with the mysterious Count Monte Christo thrown into the mix for good measure.<\/p>\n

Before long though, the adventure takes off and becomes a hilarious romp around the globe, stretching from America to Morocco to Baghdad. \u00a0Takanosuke fights pirates, cowboy gunmen, desert marauders, members of the French Foreign Legion, strange magicians, lions, poisonous snakes and even a giant spider. \u00a0Napoleon’s treasure map changes hands several times and often it is the dog-of-many-names who saves the day.<\/p>\n

Finally, in a classic Tezuka twist, in the end the maps leads to a treasure that is practically worthless… and Takanosuke’s trusty canine sidekick\u00a0turns out to be an enchanted and cursed princess in disguise.<\/p>\n

\"adventure-manga02\"

Hamegg up to no good<\/p><\/div>\n

What you should know<\/h2>\n

Age of Adventure<\/em> (1951-53) is one of Tezuka’s most frenetic action adventures. \u00a0In fact, in the afterword to the Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works<\/em><\/a> edition (MT-040<\/a>), Tezuka himself says \u201cin my own opinion, I have never done a series as poorly as this one\u201d (1978, p. 214).<\/p>\n

The reasons for this are varied, but related. \u00a0First, and perhaps foremost, is it’s inception. \u00a0In late 1950, the owner of Akita Shoten paid Tezuka a visit at his home in Takarazuka, with a request for a series to appear in Akita’s new publication,\u00a0Adventure King<\/em><\/a>. \u00a0Never one to refuse an opportunity like that, Tezuka agreed, however there was just one problem. \u00a0As he was already working on\u00a0<\/em>Jungle Emperor <\/em>(1950-53)<\/a> and just about to begin Ambassador Atom<\/em> (1951)<\/a>, the series that would eventually become Astro Boy<\/em> (1952-68)<\/a>, Tezuka found himself in unfamiliar territory… he was tapped out of ideas. \u00a0After running into several dead-ends, he ultimately decided to return to the well, and retool and update his influential high-school amateur work,\u00a0Old Man’s Treasure Island<\/em> (1945).<\/p>\n

This is was not without it’s challenges though. \u00a0In\u00a0Old Man’s Treasure Island<\/em> (1945), the plot revolves around a silly private detective, French Inspector Ganimard, Sherlock Holmes, and the mysterious gentleman thief\u00a0Ars\u00e8ne Lupin, all running around an island on a treasure hunt. \u00a0However, the story took place in a much more modern era, and featured too much romance for a pure adventure series. \u00a0This meant that several holes in the plot needed to be plugged, ultimately resulting in a dramatic restructuring of the overall story set-up.<\/p>\n

\"adventure-manga03\"

Takanosuke joins the French Foreign Legion<\/p><\/div>\n

Tezuka’s primary answer to the problem was to start drawing from his vast knowledge of western culture – something quite exotic to his Japanese readership at the time.\u00a0 As such, the story features a wide array of characters, such as Wild Bill Hickok, Captain Kidd, John Silver, the Count of Monte Cristo, Dracula, Ars\u00e8ne Lupin… not to mention a cameo by John Wayne!<\/p>\n

The plot problems were also exacerbated by Akita Shoten’s insistence on keeping the serialization going – turning Tezuka’s “treasure hunt in the Old West” tale into a globe-trotting razzmatazz extravaganza. \u00a0This meant Tezuka had to start adding plot elements on an ad hoc basis, which ultimately resulted in parts of the story not making a lot of sense later on… A prime example being the dog-of-many-names suddenly turning out to be an enchanted Princess in disguise – something Tezuka had not initially planned for.<\/p>\n

As with many of Tezuka’s works, the collected edition was subject to some retroactive tinkering and improvements. In this case it is most evident in the addition of a liberal dose of cinematic references. \u00a0For example, when the ship carrying Takanosuke sinks, it suddenly sprouts the label “Titanic”. \u00a0When a tornado picks up the lifeboat survivors, the English words “Over the Rainbow” magically appear – an obvious reference to Judy Garland’s famous theme song from The\u00a0Wizard of Oz<\/em> (1939)<\/a>. \u00a0In the Nevada desert, Takanosuke lands in a wagon labeled “Road to…” – a reference to Bing Crosby\u2019s and Bob Hope\u2019s series of “Road to…” comedies, such as Road to Morocco<\/em>\u00a0(1942)<\/a>. \u00a0It should also come as no surprise that there are references to both Treasure Island<\/em> (1950)<\/a> and the Douglas Fairbanks Middle-Eastern classic, The Thief of Baghdad<\/em> (1924)<\/a>. \u00a0Tezuka also manages to squeeze in a burial-in-the-desert scene that directly references the dramatic conclusion of the French film, Manon<\/em> (1949)<\/a> by Director Henri-Georges Clouzot. \u00a0Finally, Tezuka riffs on the last scene of Charlie Chaplin’s classic short A Dog’s Life<\/em> (1918)<\/a>, by having Takonosuke and the dog walk off into the sunset together.<\/p>\n

\"adventure-manga04\"

Ancient mystics at work<\/p><\/div>\n

Also, in typical Tezuka humorist style, Hamegg<\/a> gets to do his best Captain Haddock (of Herg\u00e9’s Tintin<\/a><\/em> fame) impression by launching into a nonsensical English curse, “Paramount! RKO Radio! Republic! Universal 20th Fox!!”<\/p>\n

Finally, it is also interesting to note that the hero’s name was originally intended to be Kazenosuke Arashi, but Akita editors inexplicably changed the Japanese character in his name from \u98a8 [kaze<\/em>] meaning “wind” to \u51e7 [tako<\/em>] meaning “kite”, and so Tezuka elected to just go with the flow and changed the character’s name to Takonosuke Arashi for consistency… even though he still liked his original, more poetic, name better.<\/p>\n

Where you can get it<\/h2>\n

In 2015 as part of DMP\u2019s\u00a0Digital Manga Guild<\/a>\u00a0initiative, Age of Adventure<\/em> (1951-53) was published in English as a digital-only release<\/a>. \u00a0It is\u00a0available for legal download on the emanga.com website<\/a> in a variety of popular reading formats (ePub, CBR\/CBZ, PDF, etc.).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Age of Adventure, also known as “West Rush”, was originally published in Akita Shoten’s monthly Adventure King from January 1951 to August 1953. It is partially based on Tezuka’s earlier amateur work, Old Man’s Treasure Island from 1945.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3215,"parent":9225,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[54,92,157,91,165,296,339],"class_list":["post-1588","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manga","tag-adventure-king","tag-adventure","tag-available-in-english","tag-western","tag-early-works","tag-ongoing-serials","tag-shonen-manga","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6vZWu-pC","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1588"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1588\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13320,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1588\/revisions\/13320"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}