Phoenix (manga)
| Phoenix | |
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Cover art of the Phoenix: Dawn 2009 reprint
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火の鳥 (Hi no Tori) |
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| Genre | Science fiction |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Osamu Tezuka |
| Published by | Various |
| English publisher | Viz Media |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Magazine | COM / Manga Shōnen |
| Original run | 1967 – 1988 |
| Volumes | 12 |
| Live-action film | |
| Directed by | Kon Ichikawa |
| Produced by | Kunihiko Murai Kon Ichikawa |
| Written by | Shuntaro Tanigawa |
| Music by |
Michel Legrand Jun Fukamachi |
| Released | August 19, 1978 |
| Runtime | 138 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Phoenix 2772 | |
| Directed by | Taku Sugiyama |
| Produced by | Kiichi Ichikawa Susumu Aketagawa |
| Written by | Osamu Tezuka |
| Music by | Yasuo Higuchi |
| Studio | Tezuka Productions |
| Released | March 15, 1980 |
| Runtime | 122 minutes |
| Anime film | |
| Phoenix: Karma Chapter | |
| Directed by | Rintaro |
| Produced by |
Masao Maruyama Yasuteru Iwase |
| Written by | Tomoko Konparu Hideo Takayashiki |
| Music by | Fumio Miyashita |
| Studio | Madhouse & Tezuka Productions |
| Released | December 20, 1986 |
| Runtime | 61 minutes |
| Original video animation | |
| Phoenix: Yamato/Space Chapter | |
| Directed by | Toshio Hirata (Yamato) Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Space) |
| Produced by | Masao Maruyama |
| Written by | Tomoko Konparu Hideo Takayashiki |
| Music by | Fumio Miyashita |
| Studio | Madhouse & Tezuka Productions |
| Released | August 1, 1987 – December 21, 1987 |
| Runtime | 48 minutes (each) |
| Episodes | 2 |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Ryōsuke Takahashi |
| Produced by | Shinichi Tominaga Kensuke Kishi |
| Written by | Fuyunori Gobu (eps 1-4) Keiichi Hasegawa (eps 5-6) Gisaburō Sugii (ep 7) Toru Nozaki (eps 8-11) Hirotoshi Kobayashi (eps 12-13) |
| Music by |
Yuji Nomi Hidekazu Naichi |
| Studio | Tezuka Productions |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | NHK |
| English network | |
| Original run | March 21, 2004 – May 4, 2004 |
| Episodes | 13 |
| Original video animation | |
| Phoenix: Feathers Chapter | |
| Directed by | Ryosuke Takahashi |
| Produced by | Tezuka Productions |
| Music by | Yuji Nomi |
| Released | July 17, 2004 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
| Original video animation | |
| Phoenix: Bonds Chapter | |
| Directed by | Makoto Tezuka |
| Produced by | Tezuka Productions |
| Music by | Yuji Nomi |
| Released | June 2, 2012 |
| Runtime | 25 minutes |
Phoenix (火の鳥 Hi no Tori?, "bird of fire") is an unfinished manga series by Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka considered Phoenix his "life's work"; it consists of 12 books, each of which tells a separate, self-contained story and takes place in a different era. The plots go back and forth from the remote future to prehistoric times. The story was never completed, having been cut short by Tezuka's death in 1989. Several of the stories have been adapted into anime series and OVAs, and even a live-action movie. As of 2007, the entire manga series is available in English-language translations.
Phoenix is about reincarnation. Each story generally involves a search for immortality, embodied by the blood of the eponymous bird of fire, which, as drawn by Tezuka, resembles the Fenghuang. The blood is believed to grant eternal life, but immortality in Phoenix is either unobtainable or a terrible curse, whereas Buddhist-style reincarnation is presented as the natural path of life.
The stories spring back and forth through time; the first, Dawn, takes place in ancient times, and the second, Future, takes place in the far future. Subsequent stories alternate between past and future, allowing Tezuka to explore his themes in both historical and science fiction settings. Throughout the stories there are various recurring characters, some from Tezuka's famous star system. A character named Saruta appears repeatedly, for example, in the form of various ancestors and descendants, all of whom endure harsh trials in their respective eras.
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