Takao Saito
Mangaka(Gekigaka)
Wednesday, August 16
Gekigaka, Takao Saito (60s?)
He is one of pioneers who started to divide the role of creating manga into two parts in Japan: one is writer (creating stories) and one is mangaka (depicting pictures).
One of the most famous story created by him and his staff is “Golgo 13,” which is a story of professional assasin named Duke Togo ( a super-sumurai type in a modern-setting). Since 1969, this story has been published more than 170 comic issues.
*Look at the page of 79 in Schodt’s book!
Background
- Since he was 5 or 6 years old, he was attracted by movies due to his mother’s influence. He was also attracted by the realistic movement in the Disney animation in the US. (He was born in Sakai, Oosaka where is well known as the first city that manga became popular as Akanon (literally means “Red paper book” since manga was sold as cheap red paper books at candy shops).
- He was more attracted by American movie/animation due to the entertainment than Japanese movies.
- Although he was interested in working in a movie company, he decided to develop his career in new creative world in manga. On the one hand, the society of movie in Japan was strictly organized, which means that it was a hilarchial society after W.W. II. To be a director/producer to make his movie, it needed to be working long as an assistant . In those days, movie was only entertainment in Japan and the world of creating movie was very competitive. There was almost no chance for Mr. Saito to create his own movie due to the competition in the popularity of movie world in Japan. On the other hand, there was more freedom than that in movie and it was not competitive to create his own world through manga.
About Manga
- Although movie is made by many staff, manga is possible to be created by one.
- Due to the influence of American movie/animations, he was more interested in dramatic story than picture itself.
- He preferred to be called as Gekigaka rather than to be called Mangaka since the notion of Gekiga emphasized in story more than pictures unlike the notion of manga focuses on the picture.
- About 45 years ago, he started to educate writers to create original stories for manga. When Mr. Saito brought the idea of separation of the role of creating manga between writer and cartoonist, no one supported his idea. However, the system of the separation in manga became popular since it provides readers the high quality of story in manga. The system spread from male/boys/ manga to female/girls’ manga due to readers’ expection for the complicated and sophisticated story. ( For example, Mr. Mr. Koike was the first selected writer among 300 candicates in those days.)
- On the hero(s) in his manga (gekiga), his personality and/or style of life is reflected unconsciously. He mentioned that he can see the part of himself on the character of hero(s) although he did not try.
- Through his created manga (gekiga), Mr. Saito indicates his own philosophy. In other words, he throws philosophical questions to readers. For example, in the famous story of Golgo 13, he is asking readers why we cannot kill people although we have been killing many lives in spite of the fact that the value of life should not be different between for example an insect and human. Why cannot Golgo 13 kill person as his job? Why can we kill other lives for ourselves? We are just lived under the law in this society. Of course,
- he does not affirm the assassin, but he tries to let us think of many things (morals) from the original point.
- When he created manga, all ideas including story, pictures, and composition, are in his mind at first. (All is cariculated at first, even if the story and others in details might be changed in the middle of creating manga, the basic idea never been changed toward the last.)
