{"id":803,"date":"2014-01-20T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=803"},"modified":"2017-05-12T14:12:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T14:12:33","slug":"the-three-eyed-one-manga","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=803","title":{"rendered":"Three-Eyed One, The (Manga)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Also known as \u4e09\u3064\u76ee\u304c\u3068\u304a\u308b (Mittsume ga Toru)<\/h5>\n
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\"The<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
English Title:<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Three-Eyed One<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In English?<\/strong><\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Japanese Title:<\/strong><\/td>\n\u4e09\u3064\u76ee\u304c\u3068\u304a\u308b
\n[Mittsume ga Toru<\/em>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Type:<\/strong><\/td>\nOngoing Serial<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Original run:<\/strong><\/td>\n1974\/07\/07 – 1978\/03\/19<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published in:<\/strong><\/td>\nWeekly Shonen Magazine<\/em>
\n[\u9031\u520a\u5c11\u5e74\u30de\u30ac\u30b8\u30f3]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published by:<\/strong><\/td>\nKodansha<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Volumes:<\/strong><\/td>\n13 (MT-101<\/a> | MT-102<\/a>
\nMT-103<\/a> | MT-104<\/a>
\nMT-105<\/a> | MT-106<\/a>
\nMT-107<\/a> | MT-108<\/a>
\nMT-109<\/a> | MT-110<\/a>
\nMT-111<\/a> | MT-112<\/a>
\nMT-113)<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78) is, after\u00a0Astro Boy<\/em>\u00a0(1952-68)<\/a>, Tezuka\u2019s most popular shonen<\/em> (young boy)\u00a0adventure story. \u00a0Originally published in\u00a0Weekly Shonen Magazine<\/em>\u00a0from July 1974 to March 1978, the manga series has also spawned an animated TV Special in 1985, as well as a 48-episode animated television series that aired from October 1990 to September 1991.<\/p>\n

\"Adopting<\/a>

Adopting Sharaku<\/p><\/div>\n

What it’s about<\/h2>\n

Sharaku Hosuke<\/a>\u00a0is not your typical, shy middle-school student. \u00a0He was adopted as an infant by Dr. Kenmochi<\/a>, who discovered\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>‘s third eye and sinister genius when the boy was about 7 years old.\u00a0 Placing an x-shaped bandage on his forehead to cover the third eye, Dr. Kenmochi warns\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> not to remove it.\u00a0 Heeding his foster father,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> does not really understand what would happen if he were to take it off… just that it would be very bad.\u00a0 And so, with the bandage in place,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is infant-like in appearance, constantly harassed by his classmates, untalented in the classroom, poor at athletics, and generally lonely and afraid. \u00a0Although a little mischievous, he is usually at his happiest when he can escape his own age group and play with toddlers on the playground.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The third eye unleashed!<\/p><\/div>\n

However, if the x-shaped bandage on his forehead is removed, it reveals his third eye, which, when opened, unseals the hidden power of the Three-Eyed Ones – an ancient race of powerful, magical demons, of whom\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is the last descendant.\u00a0 With his powers unsealed,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is transformed into a crafty, malicious trickster.\u00a0 He is a powerful magician, with hypnotic and telekinetic powers, as well as ancient spells at his command.\u00a0 Even more dangerous than his powers is his malicious cunning – given just a few minutes he can cobble together common garbage to create terrifying machines capable of drawing destructive energy from the very fabric of the cosmos.<\/p>\n

And so, in order to learn about his roots,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>, along with is friend and keeper, the beautiful but tomboyish female classmate,\u00a0Wato Chiyoko<\/a>, investigate the ruins of the long-lost civilization of the Three-Eyed Ones.\u00a0 Despite being in the thrall of\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>‘s charisma,\u00a0Wato<\/a> is hardly a passive partner.\u00a0 She is curious and somewhat selfish, enjoying the good and bad elements of\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>‘s adventures, and often leading him into trouble. \u00a0Wato<\/a> is also very beautiful, and is often approached by men trying to take advantage of her or distract her from\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>.\u00a0 Rather than relying on\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> to fight them off, she usually does it herself, often with a large hunk of wood, or with her own martial arts.\u00a0 Even though\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> seems much younger than\u00a0Wato<\/a> – due to his childlike form – they are in the same class in school, yet the romance which develops between them is a strange one.\u00a0 As a boy\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is simply too meek to disobey\u00a0Wato<\/a> when she bosses him around, yes as the Three-Eyed One, he often states his intention to spare her when he conquers her miserable species – which, for him, is a sign of great affection.<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>

Another ancient crypt<\/p><\/div>\n

Throughout their world-wide search, which takes them to such exotic locals as Arizona, Easter Island, and Mexico (among others),\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> must decipher ancient scriptures and artifacts, usually with the help of gadgets he creates to get him out of (and sometimes in to) trouble.<\/p>\n

The manga story line is serial, with several separate adventures, some long, some short.\u00a0 Many of the stories inevitably involve the bandage being removed either by accident, by some foolish person harassing him, by a criminal or scientist trying to exploit him, or by\u00a0Wato<\/a> herself in case of mortal danger.\u00a0 Even though the Three-Eyed One within\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is bent on conquering humanity, his adventures often do not involve this primary purpose, as he is distracted by the other strange mysteries he and\u00a0Wato<\/a> encounter.\u00a0 Throughout it all, scientists and anthropologists who have heard of\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> attempt to use him to investigate the ancient Three-Eyed race.\u00a0 Though they seem to have left their legacy in ancient pyramids and ruins around the globe, the scientists are unsure as to whether they were mutated humans, aliens, or something else entirely.<\/p>\n

What you should know<\/h2>\n

The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78) was, in part, inspired by the novel\u00a0The Path of Fire<\/em>\u00a0which was written by\u00a0Matsumoto Seicho<\/a>\u00a0and serialized in the Asahi Shimbun newspaper from June 16 1973 to October 13 1974.\u00a0 It is also generally illustrative of the Japanese public’s interest, at the time, in supernatural powers, lost ancient civilizations, and the occult – which, incidentally, also spawned (albeit in a very different way) Tezuka’s manga series\u00a0Barbara<\/em>\u00a0(1973-74)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>

An ancient power<\/p><\/div>\n

In\u00a0The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78), we can clearly see Tezuka’s own interest in the mysteries of ancient history, especially interpreted through the lens of science-fiction.\u00a0 In it we can see Tezuka’s tried and true message that, no matter how prosperous a civilization becomes, it will eventually fall victim to its own vanity. \u00a0Also, like most of Tezuka’s children’s stories, the narrative touches on the question of whether of coexistence is possible between different sentient races.\u00a0 In this case the Three-Eyed Race is long since extinct, making the conflict less acute.\u00a0 However,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>\u2019s time traveling powers and the archaeological themes developed by uncovering the remnants of the ancient Three-Eyed civilization frequently bring the question to the fore.<\/p>\n

Although non-Japanese readers may not be aware of it, the names of the two main protagonists,\u00a0Sharaku Hosuke<\/a>\u00a0 and\u00a0Wato<\/a> Chiyoko\u00a0are, in fact, puns of\u00a0Sherlock Holmes<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Dr. Watson<\/a>.\u00a0 Also, Tezuka himself mentions, in the Afterword of the\u00a0Osamu Tezuka Complete Manga Works<\/em><\/a>\u00a0edition (MT-113<\/a>), that the character design for\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is based upon\u00a0Elmer Fudd<\/a>, the popular character from the Warner Bros.\u00a0Looney Tunes<\/em><\/a>\u00a0animated series.\u00a0 This is interesting to note considering that it is widely believed that\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> was also derived from a make-believe alternate persona Tezuka himself used as a child – when he himself was shy, goofy-looking, harassed and teased.<\/p>\n

\"Wato<\/a>

Wato loses her shirt… yet again<\/p><\/div>\n

Regardless, whether a childhood invention or a creation of adulthood,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> is certainly a fantastic protagonist for this style of playful adventure literature, and his cunning, devilish, alternate persona makes his adventures dark enough to delight adults as well as children.<\/p>\n

Sharaku<\/a> is also yet another of Tezuka’s transforming creatures.\u00a0 Like Pook<\/a>, the transforming robot in\u00a0Astro Boy<\/em>\u00a0(1952-68)<\/a>,\u00a0Melmo<\/a>, the girl with the magic candy that lets her shift from child to adult in\u00a0The Marvelous Melmo<\/em>\u00a0(1971-72),\u00a0Sapphire<\/a>, the gender-bending hero of\u00a0Princess Knight\u00a0<\/em>[Nakayoshi]\u00a0<\/em>(1963-66)<\/a>,\u00a0Toppei<\/a>, the werewolf from\u00a0Vampires<\/em>\u00a0(1966-69)<\/a>, and many others,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> transforms from a weak-kneed boy to a powerful sorcerer simply by removing a bandage.\u00a0 In most of Tezuka’s later works, the pure-heart hero appears less and less and the tainted ones, who often straddle the line between good and evil, become the majority.\u00a0 In\u00a0Sharaku<\/a> we see a marriage of good and evil in one body; however, this is an evil of a different sort.\u00a0 Unlike the dark villainy of\u00a0Makube Rokuro<\/a>\u00a0in Vampires<\/em>\u00a0(1966-69)<\/a>,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>‘s evil side in\u00a0The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78) – written almost a decade later – is, in some sense, positive and playful.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite Tezuka’s exploration of these complex themes, he never forgets his primary task as an entertainer.\u00a0 As such,\u00a0The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78) also incorporates some of the first “fan service<\/a>” scenes in a Tezuka manga.\u00a0 Perhaps influenced by Go Nagai’s earlier,\u00a0Harenchi Gakuen<\/em>\u00a0(1968-72)<\/a>,\u00a0Sharaku<\/a>‘s lovely companion\u00a0Wato<\/a> often seems to have extreme difficulty in keeping all her clothes on.<\/p>\n

What else you should check out<\/h2>\n

Check out the links below for chapter summaries and more detailed publication information on The Three-Eyed One<\/em>\u00a0(1974-78) serialization in Weekly Shonen Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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\"Three-Eyed<\/a><\/div>

Three-Eyed One, The (Weekly Shonen Magazine)<\/a><\/h3>
The Three-Eyed One (1974-78) was originally published as an ongoing serial in Weekly Shonen Magazine (\u9031\u520a\u5c11\u5e74\u30de\u30ac\u30b8\u30f3). From its debut on July 07 1974 until December 8 1974, the feature ran monthly (roughly every second week), with each chapter as a self-conta...<\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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