Phoenix, Vol. 9: Strange Beings/Life

火の鳥 [Hi no Tori] #9

by Osamu Tezuka

Considered by many the peak of Osamu Tezuka's artistic achievement and called his "life work" by the author, PHOENIX is made up 12 complex stories linked by the presence of the mythical bird, an immortal guarden of the universal life force. Read in order, the separate stories jump across time, alternating between a distant future and a distant past, converging on the present, with characters from one story being reincarnated in another. The 12 stories over 3000 pages.

Genres: Manga, Comics, Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Science Fiction, Japanese Literature

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."

Reviews

[Emmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the better and more philosophical of Tezuka's Phoenix series. I liked the message it presents, that all life is sacred, no matter what form it takes. It was also was strangely dreamlike and sad, though. I can't say that's a bad thing, but it was different than the aggressive war and emotions of the previous entry to the series: Phoenix, Vol. 7: Civil War, Part 1 and Phoenix, Vol. 8: Civil War, Part 2/Robe of Feathers.

Generally a good book. I'm saddened that the series is running out, though.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but obvious. I like my Phoenix's a little more obtuse. However, wonderful to read, it's like visiting with a long-time friend. I love you so, Phoenix saga, you.

[Met · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mamma che fatica leggere questo volume!
E pensare che alcuni “libri” della Fenice mi hanno fatto volare.
Questo è diviso in due parti, la prima tremenda…
La seconda molto meglio.
Non il volume migliore.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange beings: 4 stars
Life: 4.5 stars

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both serialized before 1981 in manga magazines. Tezuka explores the theme of a price being paid for failing to respect the lives of others. He references Crime and Punishment in the afterward - obviously a very influential work on Tezuka (he even adapted it into a condensed manga).

Two really awesome tales. This would be the perfect 1 volume introduction to Phoenix if someone didn't want to read the whole thing.

Strange Beings
Set in historical Japan near during the Onin Era (1460s)
A young woman is being raised by her nobleman father as a son. He's dying, which she wants, but a local healer a nun named Happyaku Bikuni promises to come by and heal him. It's said that this nun, the nun of Houraiji in Tondo Misaki, will live 800 years.

So Sakon Suke and her servant Kahei go to the temple and murder Happyaku Bikuni. The nun embrasses death and tell her that she knows she's come to kill her, someone will take her place, time flows different here, and that "you'll never be able to leave". In the morning they attempt to travel back but can't escape the area. No matter where they walk they come back in a circle. Sakon Suke pretends to be Happyaku Bikuni and uses her magic feather to heal people as they come to the temple. It's revealed that it's actually 30 years in the past! In fact Happyaku Bikuni and Sakon Suke are one and the same person. Suke waits the 30 years until she is murdered once again beginning another cycle of redemption.

Life
Now we're back to a future tale. We follow a callous young man Aoi who runs a TV program where hunters shoot down cloned game animals to promote Clone Food Inc. But it's getting a bit boring so Aoi wants the clone company to clone humans. They'd make the humans not quite meet the criteria of human, so its not murder! Aoi travels to the Andes and tries to convince the clone factory to do it but is unsuccessful. Later he meets the phoenix who punishes him by creating hundreds of clones of Aoi. The TV company gathers all the clones and Aoi and uses them on the show - which is hugely successful. Aoi runs away with a young girl and they live in the only nature preserve left in future Japan. After many years Aoi falls in love with the girl - now a beautiful woman (Still pretty creepy since he's her father figure). She gets injured forcing Aoi to take her to a hospital where its revealed that he's Aoi. He goes to the clone factory now in Japan - and now doing humans where he blows it up sacrificing himself in the process.

[Alex Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two stories from opposite historical positions (past vs future) that pair very naturally - they're both stories about people very literally suffering crimes that they themselves committed as a form of punishment or atonement. They're both neat stories, I love the stuff Tezuka came up with - the god of course.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best issue in this collection.

But the first story is interesting.

[Ilib4kids · Rating 3 out of 5]

ILL

[Trane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume of Tezuka's brilliant Phoenix cycle is composed of two parts — one set in the past, and one set in the future. The two halves of this volume are bound together by the concept of karmic fate and retribution, and the notion that those actions taken in the past will continue have repercussions in the future.

Warning — spoilers ahead!

"Weird Beings" is set in the 7th century and deals with Sakon Suki, the daughter of a feudal lord who has been raised as a man. Suki, who feels that her father is a brutal murderer, arranges for his death by killing a famous nun/healer who has been commissioned to cure the ailing lord. This throws Suki into a kind of time loop in which she ends up trapped in the temple, and in time herself takes the place of the healing nun, waiting for the future date when the young Sakon Suki will return again to kill the nun, i.e. herself, and repeat the cycle. The only way out of this cycle is to learn compassion through the act of healing. A healing Phoenix feather allows Suki/the nun to cure others, and in time a host of beings from other dimensions — gods and monsters — begin arriving to be healed. This is Tezuka at his best, and if you don't get some kind of joy from the invention and humor of the monstrosities and grotesques that he offers here, then you're probably hopeless.

"Life" is set in the far-flung future of 2155. A television producer decides that the next hit show will involve the hunting of clones, since clones can legally be altered to be slightly other than human. The callous producer flies to the Andes where Inca scientists hold the secret of cloning technology. It turns out that it's actually the Phoenix, who here appears as a naked woman with the head of an eagle, who holds this power. The Phoenix lives in a volcano and when the producer visits and demands the secret to cloning, the Phoenix clones the producer multiple times over. These clones will become the 'game' to be hunted in his show and, since there's no way to distinguish him from the others, he's included as 'prey' in his own show. He ends up escaping with an orphan infant girl, and they live in the wilds of Hokkaido together. When she grows up, he falls in love with her (basically he falls in love with his own adopted daughter) and ends up sacrificing himself for this love, ending his karmic torment.

I think people think of Astro Boy too readily when they think of Tezuka, and the weirder, more disturbing and imaginative Tezuka is often forgotten about. The Phoenix series ranks among the best that comic art has ever produced.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the really good volumes in the Phoenix series. It is short, only aprox. 250 pages. It contains 2 stories.

The first story "Strange Beings" is the strongest of the pair. It is a story about karma in ancient Japanese history.

The second story, "Life" looks to me like Stephen King's "Running Man".