Go Tokyo Your Experience
When it comes to the pinnacle of Japanese cinema, many people first think of “Akira” released in 1988. The director of the movie, Koyo Ohou, left a profound impact on the anime industry as a result. However, how many people have actually read the original manga he created? How many people remember that Koyo Ohtomo was not just a film director, but also a manga artist?
Recently, Japanese netizens have been discussing whether the lack of portable library versions of manga or e-books by Yasuhiro Ohtomo is causing him to be gradually forgotten by the new generation of anime fans? Next, let’s listen to the sentiment of a loyal fan of Otomo Koyo
As a manga artist, the reason why Koyo Ohtomo was forgotten was not only because he stopped creating new works, but also because he believed that ‘publishing large-sized books is a right,’ so he did not release a library version, resulting in all works except for ‘Akira’ being out of print in 2007. At the same time, he insisted that ‘my manga was created for paper printing, not for e-books,’ which also brought about a certain aesthetic result, which is really sad
A Japanese netizen named Chunya Suzuki posted on social media to discuss the reason why the well-known director, Katsuo Ohou, has been forgotten about his identity as a manga artist.
Suzuki Chun is also a seasoned enthusiast, and even created a detailed database website for this purpose
According to Chunya Suzuki, due to Koyo Ohtomo’s insistence on publishing manga in the form of large volumes, the threshold for publishers to re publish has been raised, making it difficult to buy his other works except for “Akira” for a long time. In addition, due to the refusal to publish e-books, the difficulty for the new generation of readers to access their works has greatly increased. These factors have gradually led to the forgetfulness of Ouyu Kaiyang by people.
Even in 2021, there was only a physical book version of a collection called “OTOMO THE COMPETE WORKS” released by Koyo Ohou.
Only physical books of the complete works of Katsuhiro Ohtomo will be released
Because Jun Suzuki also loves Katsuhiro Otomo so much, his remarks immediately resonated with a large number of netizens!
Netizens have expressed their opinions one after another
I’m surprised to find out that Koyo Otomo hasn’t released an e-book yet
Please publish an e-book
It’s really troublesome not to have e-books, there’s nowhere else to put them at home
Even if an e-book or library version is published, it cannot showcase the printing charm that large-sized comics should have. This is also why I still insist on buying print magazines such as Harta or Green Knight
I understand that the library version may weaken the picture quality, but now e-books should be able to provide very high resolution, right
Even if e-books don’t surprise me, it’s probably because the author doesn’t want to publish, right? Either way, it will lead to reduced exposure and eventually be forgotten
I respect the aesthetic of ‘drawing for printing and not publishing e-books’, but even so, the possibility of being forgotten in the future is a last resort
I consider myself a homebody for a long time. Although I am famous for his name, I have never seen any of his works. To me, he is more like someone who is praised by someone older than me or a common meme on the internet, lacking the impression of being a creator. Although I often hear of his name, I lack opportunities to interact with him
As long as e-books are not released, they cannot become one of the choices for readers. Just like Studio Ghibli animated movies, if television broadcasts less, fewer and fewer people will watch them, and they will only be consumed as memes in the future
When you know that a classic manga doesn’t have an e-book version, would you want to look for a physical book to read?