When I finished reading MW for our review last week, I was suddenly hooked on Tezuka. I needed to have more. I had already read through the volumes of Black Jack several times over, and came upon a copy of Apollo's Song sitting in my basement. Perfect, I thought.
What I found with Apollo's Song was that the Tezuka bug had infected me even more: I consumed the entire mammoth volume in a single day. By the time I turned out my lights at 3am, my eyes were bleary, I could barely think, and my head was swimming with thoughts of a life of romance that was eternally cursed.
And yet, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.
Apollo's Song
Creator: Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Vertical Inc.
Release date: 2007
MSRP: $19.95
Shogo is a bad boy. Whenever he sees animals in love, an overwhelming hate boils up within him and he has the urge to kill. And so he does, strangling chickens, kicking cats, and all manner of horrible things. We meet Shogo in a psychiatric hospital, where a doctor is attempting to cure Shogo of his violent streak.
But the story would be much too simple that way, wouldn't it? Of course. Shogo is in fact cursed by love, to never be able to be with the one that he cares for, like Apollo was with the nymph Daphne. He may fall in love, but they are cursed to be torn apart, again and again, throughout eternity.
At least we know it's a tragedy going into it.
Still, the story works its way into you. Tezuka manages to transform Shogo from an irredeemable whelp into a character that you can actually care and root for. With an ending that will pull at your heartstrings, Apollo's Song perfectly captures the changing mood in Japan from the 1960s.
The story is one that will stick with you, and demands to be re-read time and time again. The tragedy of Shogo and his love is something that feels developed and full, yet not bloated with too many stories or hand-holding. Instead, you watch love unfold time and time again in a single woven narrative. By the time you're done with the story, you'll feel like you've just walked out of a movie.
So go, read it now.
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