Apollo’s Song
July 19, 2007
I’m spending a couple days with this, because I want to make sure it’s right. I want to make sure I convey just how amazing this volume was. Now I’m forcing this entry out of draft so I push my childish take on the end of Death Note off the top of the page… but my points still stand.
When I was told that Osamu Tezuka was “The God of Manga,” the only work of his available in English was Adolf, which I had no interest in as a freshman in high school, and the aborted English attempt at Black Jack, which led me to believe that Black Jack was no good. Then we got things like Astro Boy and Lost World from Dark Horse, which… while they have their place in history, are extremely dated and not really good examples of what makes him “God of Manga.” Viz published his life’s work Phoenix, but Phoenix, while I like several of the volumes, is a bit too thematically dense for me. It’s also hard to explain why it’s considered one of the best to people who are not familiar with manga. But I think Vertical has touched on some of the work that makes him “God of Manga.” To be fair, I haven’t read even all the series available in English, but it seems like Ode to Kirihito and Apollo’s Song are good examples of what makes the “God of Manga” title stick after all this time. Though I hear Black Jack is also pretty badass.
I want to describe the plot briefly, because it’s important, and I’m about to get really high-handed. It’s basically the story of a boy who grew up with a hostess for a mom and no father. His mom didn’t love him, and neither did any of the men that was supposed to be his father. He grew up without love, and apparently became some sort of psychopath who kills animals and can’t stand to see public displays of affection, human or animal. To try and cure him of his violent behavior, they administer shock therapy in a mental hospital. The shock therapy causes him to meet up with a deity who tells him for the sin of not knowing love, he will fall in love with women and lose them before consummating the relationship for the rest of eternity. Then, of course, we get several storylines, both in real life and in his dreams, taking place in past, present, and future, where he meets a woman and grows to love her before she eventually dies. Slowly, throughout the course of all these storylines, he learns passionate love.
So what makes this a phenomenal series that stands the test of time? Well, for one thing, electroshock therapy is the only thing that dates it. I could easily believe that this was published one year ago, when in actuality it is nearly 40 years old. The narrative skips around, but… it could take place at any time in history. It goes to both the past and the future and comes back to modern times intermittently to tie everything together. The use of time and place was quite amazing, and there’s basically nothing that identifies “modern times” with any point in history, so it can be read for years to come and have the same effect story-wise without coming off as quaint.
Also amazing was the theme of love done up in the most tender and thoughtful way I’ve ever read. The main character is being punished for not knowing love. There is no physical love in this story, only emotional love, and it grows in the most slow and incredible way throughout the 600 pages of the story. The fact that throughout all the scenarios the main character is finding and losing the same female character over and over again, driving home the theme of soul mate and just developing the love further each time, was just about perfect. They may not all actually be the same women though… the first couple girls don’t look like the main woman, but it’s mentioned later that some of the other girls have the same face even though they look different, so I just really want to believe they’re all the same. It makes the story that much better for me.
I can’t really think of any criticisms. If I had one, it is just that I don’t quite understand why the character needed to be punished for all eternity once he learned love, but the fact that it ended where and how it did was pretty satisfying… also satisfying was the thought that the scenarios would loop forever.
The most shocking and powerful scene in the volume, honestly, was a one-page panel dedicated to showing you a completely silent field full of animals making love. In any other series, this would have had me laughing hysterically with its inappropriateness, but it fit so perfectly in with the mood of the story and what was going on at the time that it was almost like a slap in the face when it appeared and made its point. The fact that a one page spread of animals having sex could be taken seriously in any context should tell you of the quality of this volume.
It also has the best first three pages in manga history by far, and I say that without hyperbole. Really, the entire ten page opening was fantastic, but those first three pages made me close the thing up and wait for a time when I could read the volume in one sitting, which is exactly what I did.
This changed me in profound and magical ways. It’s definitely a must-read for anyone who wants to read manga, or comics, or anything at all, really.
July 19, 2007 at 6:20 pm
I don’t know whether to thank you or not. On one hand, I’m going to buy it now, on the other I have to shell out twenty bucks for it. I’ve been on the fence about this book; the reviews I’ve read have been luke warm, or at least I interperet them to be so. Take that with the fact that, while a great book, Ode to Kirihito didn’t impress me as much as it did others. So thanks, I have to buy it now.
July 24, 2007 at 10:59 pm
It was definitely worth my twenty bucks. This and Ode to Kirihito have been my favorite Tezuka series by far, but maybe they don’t appeal as much to people who enjoy a style of series like Phoenix and Buddha. Kirihito and Apollo are much less epic, but definitely more accessible and somehow more awesome. Well, at least to me.
Let me know how you like it.
July 26, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Apollo’s Song just wasn’t my thing. Not my cup o’tea.
Tezuka, I think, has a problem with pacing his stories into something credible. For example, after the boy supposedly killed two people, the woman (who is supposed to fall in love with him) rescues him from the police; staves off his attempt to rape her; all to… make him a marathon runner!?!?!?!? Where’d that come from? But, you know, diff’rent strokes, and all that. Buddha still remains the peak point of Tezuka’s career for me. I haven’t read Phoenix yet, but from what you’ve written, that’ll be one to seek out.
July 28, 2007 at 2:48 am
Aww, sorry to hear you didn’t like it. I can understand the credibility thing, though. I hadn’t stopped much to think about the career in marathon running, but you’re right, it’s seriously out of place.
Phoenix has some stuff like that spread out through its volumes, one of the weirdest that leaps to mind is a plot involving a woman who has to repopulate a planet by procreating with her son. The why is never quite explained… just that it’s a kind of spite for the salesman that sold her the bogus remote planet, and that it was apparently the thing to do in that situation (or her dream or something, I can’t quite remember). But this was one of my favorite volumes of Phoenix, so I didn’t really think too hard about it.
The history parts of Phoenix can be a lot less weird though, and are probably more in the flavor of Buddha since… well, it’s based more in history. I haven’t read Buddha myself so I can’t say for sure (I want to finish Phoenix before I start), but it seems like they’d be pretty close.
August 9, 2007 at 7:38 am
I have never heard of those latter manga (the ones mentioned above) Tezuka wrote because all I know were Astro Boy, Dororo, and Adolf. However, I just went to a Barnes and Noble store yesturday afternoon…and found it in the manga section. I quickly read it right away…
The plot itself was half obscured and half theoretical. Like most people, I was immediately appalled by the 10-page introduction in Tezuka’s insight of birth. Yet, although it seemed very graphical in a lot of ways, it makes sense (especially if you try telling an adult who doesn’t know what sex is really about…i hope that never happens). The rest of the story is (as Connie puts it) a circle revolving over and over again. Here you find a boy who is frustrated with his mother’s flirtation with other men over the years that compelled him to kill anyone (human or animal) that was engaging in anything sexual or at least romantic. The fact that he had to go through shock treatment, hypnosis, and the case of crashing in a ravine (if I’m correct) are initially to me insane and outright *#@$ed up…but I guess I understand that those must occur in order for the boy to see the message (in which he also does real life with his “marathon coach”). The plot was confusing throughout the story…and only until the end that you realize what the message of love and lively passion is really about.
I would want to agree with mark thorpe initially that this book is not “my cup of tea,” yet I see a lot of young teen moral in this story that makes me reflect how I feel about the love/loveless complications that teens and young adults feel in their lifetime (as well as my current relationship with my girlfriend). People sometimes believe in the fact that love is an eternal goal all must grasp and hold on to, while other go into what I call “emo-mode” and just start hating those around them for specific reason (and with this story, I mean hating those with sexual desires). Although intrigued by Tezuka’s message, I feel that I order to read this novel again, I would have to either a) have a more philosophical mindset, b) make my girlfriend read it with me, or c) never mind…it’s just a crazy ass story.
In the end though, I feel that this story pushes on the worldly belief that love will always be present in our lives. No matter how much you might hate a person or a situation in the world, love will conquer hate…and more specifically, the bond between a male and female will always propel the passion of love and the miracle of birth.
…as for buying this book…umm…maybe two more reads into it…and then I’ll decided if I want to or not.
August 11, 2007 at 12:44 am
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave that comment. As much as I liked it, I now kinda realize it’s not for everyone, and I enjoyed reading your criticisms of it. I am kind of sad you didn’t like those first ten pages, though ^_^