{"id":996,"date":"2014-01-28T23:21:07","date_gmt":"2014-01-28T23:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=996"},"modified":"2023-02-03T03:30:07","modified_gmt":"2023-02-03T03:30:07","slug":"phoenix-manga-shonen-manga","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/?page_id=996","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix [Manga Shonen] (Manga)"},"content":{"rendered":"
Also known as \u706b\u306e\u9ce5 [\u6f2b\u753b\u5c11\u5e74] (Hi no Tori [Manga Shonen])<\/h5>\n
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\"phoenix{shonen]-cover\"<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
English Title:<\/strong><\/td>\nPhoenix<\/em> [Manga Shonen<\/em>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
In English?<\/strong><\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Japanese Title:<\/strong><\/td>\n\u706b\u306e\u9ce5 (\u6f2b\u753b\u5c11\u5e74)
\nHi no Tori<\/em> (Manga Shonen<\/em>)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Type:<\/strong><\/td>\nOngoing Serial<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Original run:<\/strong><\/td>\n1954\/07 – 1955\/05<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published in:<\/strong><\/td>\nManga Shonen<\/em>
\n\u6f2b\u753b\u5c11\u5e74<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Published by:<\/strong><\/td>\nGakudosha<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Volumes:<\/strong><\/td>\n1<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

The earliest incarnation of what would eventually become Tezuka’s epic masterpiece<\/a>, Phoenix<\/em> [Manga Shonen] (1954-55) was Tezuka’s follow-up series to the popular Jungle Emperor<\/em> (1950-54)<\/a>\u00a0in Manga Shonen<\/em>. It began publication in July 1954 and ran until May 1955, unfortunately leaving the work unfinished after just eight installments.<\/p>\n

What it’s about<\/h2>\n

In a mythical age of ancient Japan, Nagi Iza, a young boy living on one of the southern islands, is on a quest to find the legendary\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> and save his dying father.\u00a0 Believing the magical healing properties of the blood of the mysterious bird is the only way to cure his father, Nagi sets off on a mission to climb up Fire Mountain, a local volcano and the home of the Phoenix<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Although he quickly finds the bird, he discovers that even a well-placed arrow is not enough to kill it.\u00a0 Undeterred, he continues on and eventually stumbles across the Phoenix<\/a>‘s nest.\u00a0 Just then, the volcano begins to erupt and Nagi ends up saving the bird’s single egg from being buried in the ensuing lava flow.<\/p>\n

\"phoenix{shonen]-manga01\"<\/a>

The first appearance of the Phoenix<\/p><\/div>\n

The\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> is so grateful that, after hearing Nagi’s plight, she freely grants him a portion of her own blood.\u00a0 Although he is too late to save his father, with his treasure in-hand, Nagi returns to his village.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, three animals, escaping from the volcano’s eruption, seek refuge in the same cave as the\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> and her egg.\u00a0 Surprisingly, she calls each one by name and explains to the trio that though she’s lived 3,000 years, she will soon die so that her chick can be born.\u00a0 And so, Yota, a monkey, Popo a rabbit, and a turtle named Noro witness the otherwise immortal mother\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> die in flames just as her chick hatches.\u00a0 Left with a newborn baby on their hands, the trio decides to take responsibility for the chick and vow to act as its guardians.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of the eruption that has decimated their land, the rest of their tribe makes preparations for a huge migration in search of new, more fertile, lands.\u00a0 As the rest of the tribe works feverishly, Nagi shares the Phoenix<\/a>‘s blood with his sister, Nani\u00a0 – bestowing them both with 3,000-year lifespans.\u00a0 When everything is finally complete, they set off in canoe-like boats, but the tribe soon runs afoul of a storm and Nagi and Nani wash ashore on the island of Onoroko.<\/p>\n

\"phoenix{shonen]-manga02\"<\/a>

Nagi and Nani worshiped as gods<\/p><\/div>\n

Shortly after they arrive, the siblings come under attack from the island’s residents, but after Nani is struck by a normally fatal blow with an arrow and makes a miraculous recovery, the islanders proclaim the pair to be “Amaterasu O-mikami” and begin to worship them as deities.\u00a0 However, one of the islanders, a man named Sunasoo, suspects the existence of the Phoenix<\/a>.\u00a0 At first he tries to capture it on his own, but ultimately fails and escapes to the neighboring country of Yamatai.<\/p>\n

When Yamatai’s volatile Queen Himiko hears of the existence of the Phoenix<\/a>, she orders her simian-looking general, known as Sarutahiko<\/a>, to capture it and a regiment of troops is quickly dispatched.\u00a0 Along the way Sarutahiko<\/a> and his troops run across Nagi, who is now the leader of the Onoroko Islanders.\u00a0 One thing leads to another, and Nagi convinces Tabiko to join in a revolt against Queen Himiko.\u00a0 However, Sasori<\/a>, a spy hidden among the troops, makes his escape and, while attempting to bring word of Sarutahiko<\/a>‘s betrayal back to Queen Himiko, runs across the Phoenix<\/a>.\u00a0 Despite being injured, Sasori<\/a> ends up trapping the bird and brings it back to Tamatai himself.<\/p>\n

Yet, far from the hero’s return, Sasori<\/a> is killed by Himiko’s henchman to ensure his silence.\u00a0 However the\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> soon disappears, and an uproar ensues.\u00a0 Just then a solar eclipse occurs and, as Himiko heads for the safety of the “Gate of the Heavenly Cave”, the people bow down in terror…<\/span><\/p>\n

…and that’s it. The series ends on a cliffhanger.<\/p>\n

What you should know<\/h2>\n

Phoenix<\/em> is considered Tezuka’s life’s work for good reason, the core ideas and concepts of Phoenix<\/em> were continuously re-explored by Tezuka almost from the very beginning of his career right up to his death in 1989.<\/p>\n

\"phoenix{shonen]-manga03\"<\/a>

The cliffhanger ending<\/p><\/div>\n

Following the success of the manga serialization of Jungle Emperor<\/em> (1950-54)<\/a>, Phoenix<\/em> [Manga Shonen] (1954-55), the earliest incarnation of the Phoenix<\/em> story was first published from July 1954 to May 1955 in Manga Shonen<\/em>.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this version of Phoenix<\/em> was put on hold after the eighth installment. The magazine abruptly suspended publication in October 1955.\u00a0 As such, it remained unfinished and Tezuka abandoned the project with the story incomplete.<\/p>\n

Yet he did not abandon the concept.<\/p>\n

In fact, exactly one year later, Tezuka decided to return to Phoenix<\/em> as a follow-up project to\u00a0Princess Knight<\/em> [Shojo Club]<\/a> (1953-56) in Shojo Club<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phoenix<\/em> [Shojo Club] <\/a>(1956-57)<\/a> was serialized in Shojo Club<\/em><\/a> from May 1956 to December 1957. \u00a0Although the two series\u00a0have no real connection in terms of story content, they do share (besides the Phoenix<\/a> herself) some of the same concepts or elements, notably, the blood of eternal life, the young chick, and the trio of animal guardians – although Yota is recast as a fox instead of a monkey. \u00a0One interesting difference though, is\u00a0the depiction of the cycle of death and resurrection of the Phoenix<\/a>.\u00a0 In Phoenix<\/em> [Manga Shonen] (1954-55), the mother\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> is simply consumed by the flames of her baby’s hatching.\u00a0 However, in Phoenix <\/em>[Shojo Club] <\/a>(1956-57)<\/a>, the mother\u00a0Phoenix<\/a>\u00a0has been empowered to freely choose the moment of her own death by fire after ensuring her child will be well cared for.<\/p>\n

Despite\u00a0Phoenix<\/em> [Shojo Club] <\/a>(1956-57)<\/a> coming to its natural conclusion, the ideas of resurrection, eternal life and how people could be caught up in a struggle over the blood of the\u00a0Phoenix<\/a> in order to gain them, would continue to intrigue Tezuka. \u00a0And so, when the opportunity arose to return to the concept with the publication, he jumped on it.<\/p>\n

In the inaugural issue of COM<\/em> – a new, and cutting edge, manga magazine showcasing avant-garde and experimental works – Tezuka decided to rework the original story from Phoenix [Manga Sh\u014dnen] <\/em>(1954-55) into a brand new version of the original story – albeit one geared towards a more mature audience. \u00a0The result was ‘Dawn’ (1967), the first chapter of Phoenix<\/em> (1967-88)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The earliest incarnation of what would eventually become Tezuka’s epic masterpiece, Phoenix [Manga Shonen] (1954-55) was Tezuka’s follow-up series to the popular Jungle Emperor (1950-54) in Manga Shonen. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1756,"parent":9260,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[92,165,89,296,81,339,70],"class_list":["post-996","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manga","tag-adventure","tag-early-works","tag-manga-shonen","tag-ongoing-serials","tag-phoenix","tag-shonen-manga","tag-unfinished","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P6vZWu-g4","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/996","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=996"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/996\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12194,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/996\/revisions\/12194"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/9260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tezuka.strobez.ca\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}