History Creator / YoshihiroTatsumi

-->-- '''Frederik L. Schodt''', [[OccidentalOtaku manga and anime]] [[OneOfUs historian]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tatsumi_yoshihiro_7637.jpg

->"''He has a rare gift, shared by the [[LivingLegend legendary manga artists]] such as Creator/OsamuTezuka and Yoshiharu Tsuge, among others: he is [[TropeMaker absolutely original]], and he is [[TheDeterminator absolutely fearless in his willingness]] to examine [[SliceOfLife what it means]] [[HumansAreFlawed to be human]].''"

The man who coined the term ''{{gekiga}}''. Born on June 10, 1935, Tatsumi grew up in Japan after WorldWarII and during the growth of {{manga}}. His love for comics, both writing and drawing them, was strong even in his youth, and he started out as many did by drawing postcard {{yonkoma}}. After meeting and speaking with his inspiration, Creator/OsamuTezuka, Tatsumi began to work on longer projects such as an omnibus. The political, financial and moral strife of post-WWII Japan eventually inspired him to write darker comics about the normal everyday man. Wanting to differentiate this new style from the happier and goofy manga of the day, he coined a new term, ''gekiga'', and the movement of Japanese alternative comics began.

* DoingItForTheArt: Despite manga being a little respected art and drawing them was badly paid job when he started his career, he chose it because he admired Tezuka so much. Later he draw more transgressive and darker works than his contemporaries because he was DoingItForTheArt.

* FollowTheLeader: His main influence is Osamu Tezuka, inverted during the late 60s after Tezuka became influenced by him, most obviously seen in the "blockhead" character design of Manga/{{Adolf}}.

* SlidingScaleOfCynicismVsIdealism: His famous short stories are far on the cynical end, ''Manga/ADriftingLife'' is more idealistic.

->"''He has a rare gift, shared by the [[LivingLegend legendary manga artists]] such as OsamuTezuka and Yoshiharu Tsuge, among others: he is [[TropeMaker absolutely original]], and he is [[TheDeterminator absolutely fearless in his willingness]] to examine [[SliceOfLife what it means]] [[HumansAreFlawed to be human]].''"

The man who coined the term ''{{gekiga}}''. Born on June 10, 1935, Tatsumi grew up in Japan after WorldWarII and during the growth of {{manga}}. His love for comics, both writing and drawing them, was strong even in his youth, and he started out as many did by drawing postcard {{yonkoma}}. After meeting and speaking with his inspiration, OsamuTezuka, Tatsumi began to work on longer projects such as an omnibus. The political, financial and moral strife of post-WWII Japan eventually inspired him to write darker comics about the normal everyday man. Wanting to differentiate this new style from the happier and goofy manga of the day, he coined a new term, ''gekiga'', and the movement of Japanese alternative comics began.

* AuthorAvatar: Played straight in the case of 'ADriftingLife'''s ''Hiroshi''. Subverted in the short stories, see ReusedCharacterDesign.

* CrapsackWorld: His short stories. ''ADriftingLife'' is more idealistic.

** The most notable character is a wide-eyed man with short hair who played Hiroshi in ''ADriftingLife'' and is the most common protagonist in his short stories. [[SubvertedTrope He's is not an]] AuthorAvatar however, as Tatsumi clearly states many times. In most stories, he's [[AntiHero a highly ambiguous]] LoserProtagonist, who often surrenders to his instincts and anger.

* SlidingScaleOfCynicismVsIdealism: His famous short stories are far on the cynical end, ''ADriftingLife'' is more idealistic.

Yoshihiro Tatsumi has published many short stories in the ''gekiga'' style that influenced many, even his great inspiration, Osamu Tezuka. His longest and most extensive work is his autobiographical ''ADriftingLife'', a must-read for those who desire to know about the history of manga.

* ''ADriftingLife''

* HobbesWasRight / HumansAreBastards: Humans in his works are depicted as intrinsically flawed and predisposed for vice.

** Another reoccuring character is a slender guy with neatly done short hair, who often starts as a valuable member of society but experiences a ProtagonistJourneyToVillain.

* MagnumOpus: His autobiography ''ADriftingLife'', a rare example in which an artist active in pop culture delivers his most discussed and acclaimed work in his 60s.

* TheStoic: Most of his male characters. There are moments in which they are NotSoStoic.
* VindicatedByHistory: While his work was almost unknown outside Japan until the early 2000s and is obscure in Japan itself, his work received a renaissance since Drawn and Quartely rediscovered his short stories and published them in the english-speaking world. He is now considered one of the most important and influential manga artists of all time.

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