Makoto Tezuka

Makoto Tezuka (手塚 眞, Tezuka Makoto, born 11 August 1961),[1] officially romanized as Macoto Tezka,[2][3][4] is a Japanese film and anime director, born in Tokyo. He fashions himself as a visualist and is involved in the creation of moving images beyond film and animation. He partially owns Tezuka Productions and helped in releasing the posthumous works of his father, Osamu Tezuka.[4]

Tezuka runs his own company, Neontetra. He is a representative of board of directors for Tezuka Osamu Cultural Foundation, a producer and director of Memorial Hall for Tezuka Osamu, a city ambassador to the city of Takarazuka in Hyogo prefecture, a member of the examination board for the Proficiency in Intellectual Property Management, and a board member of Japan Image Council.

Tezuka teaches filmmaking at Tokyo University of Technology and the Image Forum in Tokyo. He is married to manga artist Reiko Okano.[1] Tezuka is a descendant of Hattori Hanzō,[5] a ninja and samurai who served Tokugawa Ieyasu during the Sengoku period in Japan. He supervised Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki's Pluto manga series, as it adapts a story arc of his father's own Astro Boy.[3]

Life

Makoto Tezuka was born as the eldest son of Osamu Tezuka. He completed his primary and secondary education at Seikei Academy, known as Seikei Gakuen. As a kid, Makoto loved comics with the motif of monsters and ghosts, showing a preference over "Ultra Q" over "W3" which was produced by Mushi Production, his father's production company at the time. Makoto writes in his own book that he always felt that his father's works are too accessible and available to him that he preferred to seek out something else, hence he never showed keen interest in immersing himself in his father's works.

Makoto's first breakthrough came when he was still a student at Seikei Academy and made 8mm film "Fantastic Party" which was selected for a special award dedicated to talented high school students at a film festival specialized in 8mm films. Nagisa Oshima, who was one of the juries at the festival, and other notable people from the film industry praised Macoto's work. Following his breakthrough, his works "UNK" and " High-School Terror" got selected for Pia Film Festival and brought him acclaim. MaKoto's short film "High School Terror" was a pioneering piece for the booming of the genre of Japanese horror film.

Makoto joined Nihon University, Film Department of the Faculty of Arts, and directed another 8mm film "MOMENT" in 1981. The film gained popularity among youth and was sold widely as DVD. While still in the university, Makoto directed his first feature-length film "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" in 1985[4] for theatrical release, in partnership with musician Haruo Chikada. Since then, Makoto has been working in the field of making feature-length film, TV series, art film and PV as visualist.

In 1991, Makoto directed "Todai-ji Densetsu Kongo Kitan (the legend of Todai-ji) which was produced when the high definition TV production was emerging. In the same year, Makoto also directed a documentary film "-Akira Kurosawa-Eiga No Himitsu (secret of the film)".

Makoto was set to direct a game based on his father’s anime series Kimba the White Lion named Emperor of the Jungle, which was set to be co-produced with Nintendo and released for the Nintendo 64. Despite gameplay footage being shown at Nintendo Space World 1996 and was appointed a summer 1998 release, the game wound up cancelled due to development issues.[6]

In 1999, Makoto directed "Hakuchi (the innocent)", which took him 10 years to develop. A huge film set was constructed in Niigata prefecture in Japan. The film won Digital award at the Venice International Film Festival and many other international and national awards. The film toured in South Korea, various countries in Latin America, in Europe including France, and in Bahrain as well.

In 2001, Makoto acted as a General Director for the opening ceremony of "East Asian Games 2001".

In 2003, Makoto directed TV animation "Black Jack" (originally written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka) and received a Tokyo Animation Award in 2006. Makoto also supervised manga series "Pluto" (by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka) which got awarded the Best Manga Award of 9th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize in 2005. In 2005, Makoto directed stage production of "UZUMI" for the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi prefecture.

In 2012, as part of rehabilitation support, Makoto directed a documentary film "Ogatsu-Revival of the Houin Kagura Tradition"(produced by national federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan). The theme of the film is on the cultural tradition of the area affected by the great East Japan earthquake of 11 March 2011.

In 2013, Makoto directed "I am a shutter girl" as part of the omnibus film "Tokyo Shutter Girl" (original comic was written by Kennichi Kiriki). In 2014, Makoto directed unfinished short animation by Osamu Tezuka "Legend of the Forest". In 2016, Makoto directed "The Brand New Legend of the Stardust Brothers", a sequel to "The Legend of the Stardust Brothers" made in 1985. The film was screened at Tokyo International Film Festival of the same year.

In 2019, Makoto directed "Barbara", originally written by Osamu Tezuka. The film features Goro Inagaki and Fumi Nikaido, was shot by Christopher Doyle, and was premiered at the 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival.[4]

Selected works

Film
Year Film Credited as Notes
Director Writer Editor Producer
1985 The Legend of the Stardust Brothers (Hoshikuzu kyôdai no densetsu) Yes Yes Yes
1999 Hakuchi Yes Yes Also known as The Innocent
1999 Jikken eiga Yes Short film
Also known as Experimental Film
2004 Shinkuronishiti Yes Yes Also known as Black Kiss
2016 Hoshikuzu kyôdai no aratana densetsu Yes Yes Yes Sequel to Hoshikuzu kyôdai no densetsu. Also known as The Brand New Legend of the Stardust Brothers
2019 Tezuka's Barbara Yes Yes Adaptation of his father Osamu Tezuka's manga
  • A Man, A Woman And A City (a series of short films for the John Foxx release, 2016)[7]

Anime

Manga

Video game

References
  1. "Makoto Tezuka". Anime News Network. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. "Macoto Tezka". Neontetra. Retrieved 8 April 2021.
  3. "Naoki Urasawa's Monster Manga Series Returns to Print in New Perfect Edition Release from Viz Media". Anime News Network. 25 June 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2021.
  4. Schilling, Mark (21 October 2019). "Tokyo Film Festival: Tezuka Probes Past and Present in 'Barbara'". Variety. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  5. "Birth", Osamu Permanent Exhibition, Tezuka, archived from the original on 2016-09-24, retrieved 2016-11-16.
  6. 1 Hour of Cancelled N64 Games, retrieved 2023-01-04
  7. "Two John Foxx videos directed by Macoto Tezka". Ronnierocket.com. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 21 May 2018.

Further reading
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