Ningen Gyorai Kaiten - Human Torpedoes "Kaiten" - Original Hand-drawn Unpublished 32-page Manga
Yoshida Tatsuo
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Size: Approx. 14.25" x 10.0"
Included: Full chapter (32 pages) of the original manga
Film/Show: -
Source/Appeared in: -
Original Broadcast Year: Circa 1971 (unconfirmed)
Studio/Publication: Tatsunoko Pro
Created by: Yoshida Tatsuo
Condition Notes: There are variances in the yellowing of the paper on the images due to the scanner, but they are all very similar when viewed in person.
Description: An incredible piece of Japanese manga history and a very controversial yet emotionally moving political/historical short story manga by Yoshida Tatsuo, the founder of the famous animation studio Tatsunoko Pro and the author of many famous works such as Speed Racer and The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee, also considered one of the "20 Pioneers Who Created Japanese Anime" by Tokyo International Anime Fair despite his untimely death at a very early age, possibly with a help from his brother, Kuri Ippei.
Strongly poignant and thought-provoking work that portrays the horrors and tragedies of war, as well as mentalities of the Japanese soldiers involved in suicide weapons utilized near the end of WWII by Imperial Japan desperate to turn the tide of a war, despite an imminent defeat. The English translated version can be read at this page.
There were many works of manga that centered around Kaiten, such as a kashi-hon manga by Himoto Tarou and another by Takaku Susumu both with the same title Ningen Gyorai Kaiten, with the most recent and well-known being Satō Shūhō's Tokkou no Shima that was published from 2004 to 2017. Interestingly, this manga by Yoshida shares many similarities in the storyline to Tokkou no Shima, such as the submarine surfacing to be detected by enemy forces on purpose only to be attacked heavily and severely damaged (which is an accurate historical account of the battle between I-53 and USS Underhill, which was an only occasion where a destruction of an enemy target by Kaiten can be attributed to a particular pilot), then a Kaiten pilot sacrifices himself in order to lure the American navy by posing as a decoy and giving the submarine chance to escape, before the fictional main character gets on a Kaiten himself to take down a large enemy ship. While this manga by Yoshida Tatsuo is believed have been created around 1971 or earlier, and there is no doubt that it contains much more fictional elements than Tokkou no Shima (as USS Indianapolis was never destroyed by Kaiten but by regular torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine I-58), it may very well be possible Yoshida was basing the submarine battle scene in the manga on the actual battle between USS Underhill and I-53, much like in Tokkou no Shima.
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