In the Japanese manga industry, Osamu Tezuka is known as the "god of manga", and his works have influenced many people. But under its moon-like light, there is also a bright star known as the "King of Manga", that is, Ishimori Shotaro.
Today is his 23rd year away from us.
Kamen Rider manga cover
Perhaps most of us recognize Shotaro Ishimori and see it from these pictures.
Ah no, the picture is misplaced.
Almost every Kamen Rider begins with this name, and "Father of Kamen Rider" is also the most widely known title of Shotaro Ishimori, but his step-by-step approach is inseparable from the support of one person - his sister Yue.
On January 25, 1938, Ishimori Shotaro was born into an ordinary family in Ishimori Town, Miyagi, Miyagi, Japan, and was originally named Onodera Shotaro (the pen name is taken from his hometown of Ishimori Town).
△ Ishimori Town, Tome County, Ishimori-like Late Kakujo
Taken from the drama series "The Man Who Created the Hero" launched on the 80th anniversary of Shotaro Ishimori's birth
Like most families, Ishimori's father, Yasutaro, was a local civil servant with a stern personality, while his mother, Kasumi, was a gentle woman. Ishimori also has an older sister, Yue, who is in poor health and has suffered from severe asthma since childhood.
△ "Skeleton Man" design draft
In Shi Sen's young memories, almost always his sister broke out a strong cough in the middle of the night, and the only thing Shi Sen could do was to help his sister beat her back with her thin little hands. Even after many years, the adult Shi Sen still can't let go, and the appearance of his sister suffering from illness is a past he does not want to remember.
Even so, the existence of the sister is like a towering tree, nourishing the germination of the younger brother Ishimori's dream and shading the younger brother's dream.
△Shotaro Ishimori, "纯"
Unable to buy children's books due to the war, this made is very boring for the curious Ishimori. At this time, a sentence from the sister planted a bud of a cartoonist for Shi Sen:
"Then let's create a book of our own."
So, the sister wrote, Shi Sen scribbled, which was his starting point on the long road.
△ Kamen Rider manga
In 1947, 9-year-old Shotaro Ishimori happened to see Osamu Tezuka's work "New Treasure Island", which was really a fateful encounter. Ishimori was stunned by the way the story comic was expressed, and the protagonist seemed to break through the limitations of the paper and flew in front of him at once.
"Is this a comic?!"
The appearance of "New Treasure Island" awakens the strongest impulse in Ishimori's heart, and he discovers the most loved thing in his life.
△ "New Treasure Island" Osamu Tezuka
Since then, Shotaro Ishimori has shifted all his energy to manga, scribbling and honing his drawing skills all the time, and often submitting articles to magazines.
In high school, Ishimori had become a "little famous" cartoonist in his class, and he and his classmates created the doujinshi "A Drop of Ink". This doujinshi was later strongly recognized by Osamu Tezuka and became the first opportunity for the two manga giants to meet.
△ "A Drop of Ink", No. 5.6.7
Although Shotaro Ishimori aspired to a manga career, his father, a civil servant, strongly opposed it. A fierce quarrel broke out between father and son, and neither side gave in, and as a result, the father tore up Shi Sen's original manuscript in anger, which led to a complete break between the father and son.
△Shotaro Ishinomori Parapara Anime "Manga is "Manga is a Manga"!
At this time, only his sister Yue still maintained him in the family, and Ishimori did not give up drawing comics, and the drawn cartoons were only for his sister to see.
"My sister is my best reader, and before I know it, I draw comics just for my sister."
Maybe this is because of the high status of the sister in the follow-up "Kamen Rider" and the tragic fate of the father?
△ Photo of Ishimori's sister Yue
△ Portrait of ishimori's sister when he was 15 years old
In 1954, a telegram that changed the fate of Shotaro Ishimori was sent to him, and it was the famous Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka saw the talents and invited Ishimori to participate in the creation of manga.
Ishimori was overjoyed, and a plan came to mind: to "escape" to Tokyo, to create manga and make money, the best of both worlds. However, the father stifled his son's enthusiasm for creating comics in silence.
At this time, his sister encouraged him: "It is the happiest thing to be able to do what you like, and if Shotaro likes to draw manga, this is the best, go to Tokyo."
This behavior is like the sister who has been forced to live in the "birdcage" and puts her dream on her brother.
△ Kamen Rider mount setting
In 1956, braving the spring rain that day, with his sister's expectations, 18-year-old Shotaro Ishimori boarded a train to travel alone to Tokyo.
△ "Kamen Rider v3" planning design
Shi Sen, who left home, did not have much confusion. Introduced by Hiroo Terada, Ishimori and Fujio Akatsuka stayed at Tokiwaso on the same day, and the two became lifelong friends.
△ Shotaro Ishimori and Fujio Akatsuka take a shower in the washbasin, taken from the drama "The Man Who Created the Hero" launched on the 80th anniversary of Shotaro Ishimori's birth.
This anecdote is quite famous
It is also represented in the manga by Fujio Akatsuka
Subsequently, Akitaro Ishimori, Fujio Akatsuka, Naoya Mori, Shinichi Suzuki, Jiro Kakuda, Shunji Maruyama, and others formed the "New Manga Party" with the aim of jointly promoting the development of the manga industry.
△ Group photo of the main members of Tokiwaso when they were young
At this time, Tokiwaso had become a desirable, incomparably rustic and pure place. Here, the only topics we talk about are comics, comics, or comics.
When creating, the corridor is quiet, only the slight rustle of the tip of the pen across the paper. Everyone has food to eat, money to make together, if someone is in a hurry to hand over the manuscript, others will definitely come to help.
△ Location map of each room of each person in Tokiwaso painted by Shinichi Suzuki
After two years like this, one day, a woman appeared around Ishimori, that is, his sister Yue. My sister, who had never even left her home, came to Tokyo to take care of Ishimori's life.
The arrival of her sister brought a bright color to Tokiwaso, who is all male manga artists, and was even praised by Hiroshi Fujimoto and Yasuko Suo as the "goddess of Tokiwaso".
△ The author of "Asson", Fujio Akatsuka, praised Sister Ishimori as a very beautiful woman
△ Fujiko Fujio (A), the author of "Monster Taro", called Ishimori's sister Madonna in the Eternal Village at that time
While living with his sister, Ishimori became more focused on creating manga, because for him, his sister was the best reader. At this time, he was happy, but this happiness did not last for a long time.
△ Ishimori's sister Yue
One day, asthma hit my sister again, and this time she was more severe than ever. Shi Sen hurriedly took his sister to the hospital.
Because his sister's expression was too painful, Shi Sen, who did not want to face his sister's painful appearance, went to the movie theater, hoping to numb himself and everything was normal.
But this escape was the last time Shi Sen met with his sister, and the 23-year-old sister passed away.
Unable to accept the facts, Ishimori's eyes darkened and he fell to his knees, this past has become a pain that Ishimori Shotaro can never forget, if time can be repeated, Ishimori will definitely stay by his sister's side.
△ The scene depicted in Shotaro Ishimori's Tale of Tokiwaso
The departure of his sister hit Ishimori very hard, and although he was still working as a manga artist, he lost his self-confidence as a manga artist. He pushed off all his work and left Japan alone, like a kite with a broken line drifting overseas.
For the first time, the young Shi Sen faced the darkness of the world, and he was extremely painful and helpless. Why do people have to survive? What exactly is human nature? He pondered bitterly, and with such a question in mind, sought answers with a paintbrush.
After returning to China, his painting style changed greatly, from a children's style to a more adult style. Pursue the true meaning of life.
△ Kamen Rider design draft
"Artificial Man 009" was born at this time, which is a sensational work in the true sense of Ishimori.
Ishimori gives a radiance of humanity when creating characters, and the transformation of the manga robot, although powerful on the surface and has magical powers, is full of contradictions in his heart and is confused about the road ahead. As soon as this heroic image full of ordinary people's feelings was introduced, it was immediately widely welcomed by Japanese readers.
△ "Artificial Man 009"
Ishimori continued to innovate the way of expression of comics, and launched the experimental work "Pure", which has no dialogue throughout the manga and shows a poetic temperament.
There is also an interesting story about this manga, and during the series, "Pure" was criticized by Osamu Tezuka: "This kind of thing is not a manga".
Criticized by his most respected mentor, Ishimori Shotaro was disheartened and immediately told the editor that he wanted to end the manga series. Hearing this news, Osamu Tezuka immediately came to visit and plead guilty, confessing that he had spoken such irresponsible words because he was jealous of Ishimori's talent.
According to Ishimori's disciple Masato Hayase, Mr. Tezuka's apology to Sensei Ishimori happened to be seen by Nagai, who was ishimori's assistant at the time.
I didn't expect that the "god of comics" would also have such a human side, and great cartoonists need to motivate each other to compete in order to stimulate each other's greatest energy. Tezuka and Ishimori are also like mentors, as well as good friends, and like rivals.
At this time, Toei had a new project to invite Ishimori to participate, and the name of this project is still familiar to people - "Kamen Rider".
△ Two design paintings of Ishimori, "Kamen Rider Skeleton Man" (left) and "Green Kamen Grasshopper" (right)
Friends who often watch "Kamen Rider" will definitely be familiar with the words "Original: Shotaro Ishizumori" at the beginning.
This is because after Ishimori's death, Toei, in order to commemorate him, marked in the subsequent "Kamen Rider" work, which shows Ishimori's contribution to the "Kamen Rider" series.
However, in fact, Ishimori is mainly responsible for the image design and illustration of the characters in the project, such as the illustration of the Showa Kamen Rider cutscene, and the Design of The Heisei Kamen Rider in the character image and the design of the strange man is still inherited by Ishimori Productions.
In addition, he was also responsible for drawing the manga of the Kamen Rider series (the TV version is not the same as the manga version of Kamen Rider).
△ On the left is the cutscene illustrated by Shotaro Ishimori in the manga "Kamen Rider" on the right is a cutscene drawn by Shotaro Ishimori in episode 1 of the TV version of "Kamen Rider"
The manga version of Kamen Rider is also not a copy of the feature film, and is relatively similar to a parallel universe composed of the same elements. Given that the manga is not a live-action shooting, but a paper world blooming in ink, and has gained more space in the picture, including the scale of expression, Ishimori has incorporated a lot of his own understanding into it.
Including reflections on human nature, tragic heroes...
However, although the members of the creative team have their own division of labor, they actually get together and express their opinions when discussing.
Therefore, we can see that the tone of the work still retains a certain ishimori style: darkness, violence, tension, revenge against the powerful, the same origin of the enemy and me... The tear-streak-like design of the protagonist's mask is also destined to be a less fairytale series.
△ "Kamen Rider Strongman" planning setting
Thanks to the efforts of all parties, this multi-eyed, trench coat, belt, bicycle, and anti-evil organization Xiuka's reformer hero has finally come out.
△ The initial design of "Kamen Rider"
Ishimori has also publicly stated that the closest image to Kamen Rider in his mind is Kamen Rider True.
Unlike most episodes, kamen riders in Kamen Rider Makoto have been abolished with the slogan of the customary "transformation" and the holster consisting of a "big compound eye helmet" and a "transformation belt", and there is no fixed action in either transformation or fighting.
△ Prologue to Kamen Rider Makoto
And the fight scene is very bloody, there is no science fiction effect, but the most primitive fight scene, not even the knight kick and other must-kill skills, reflecting the most real side of Kamen Rider.
Using the same power as monsters, they have the "heart" and "soul" of humans, and fight to protect humans.
Unfortunately, Ishimori began to be seriously ill soon after, and "Kamen Rider True" was shelved until it was finally discontinued, which may be one of the biggest regrets of Ishimori.
△ Kamen Rider Black manga
In 1989, with tolerance for manga, Ishimori issued the "Ten Thousand Paintings Manifesto". He believes that comics are actually "ten thousand paintings", because they can represent all things and the world, and can also adapt to the hobbies of thousands of people. "Ten thousand" represents infinity, and "ten thousand paintings" is a medium with infinite possibilities. And called himself "Ten Thousand Painters".
△ What Hiroshi Nagai, a disciple of Shotaro Ishimori and author of Demon Man, said of his teacher
During this time, Shi Mori created a large number of works and pens, 20 volumes per month, and even created more than 600 pages of comics per month at the most time, with an average of more than 20 hours of creation a day, and only two or three hours of sleep.
His 500-volume, 770-volume solo collection, The Complete Works of Shotaro Ishikikomori, is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most published manga by an author.
△"Shotaro Ishinomori: The Complete Works of The Great Picture Mirai Kyyudai Asgaard 7"
Perhaps the root cause of the disease left by hard work, Shi Sen's body was overwhelmed and suffered from lymphoma, in which case Shi Sen still insisted on working.
"When people love something, they are afraid of death. Even so, human beings still have to live with the belief that it is contrary to fate until they leave! ”
On January 28, 1998, just a few days after his sixtieth birthday, Mr. Shi Sen finally went to find his sister.
On the long road that this comic giant walks, there has always been a figure of his sister. It is because of his sister's encouragement that Ishimori can persist until now; it is because of his sister that we can enjoy so many interesting comics.
Miss
The "King of Comics" who constantly challenges the possibilities of comics,
The "Ten Thousand Painters" who affirmed the infinite possibilities of comics,
That, the eternal Shotaro Ishimori.