Kimba: Der weisse Löwe, Band 3

ジャングル大帝 [Jungle Taitei] #3

by Osamu Tezuka

Kimba. Diesen Namen kennen die meisten Leute aus der gleichnamigen TV-Serie. Hier ist nun der Manga zu dieser Serie. Der Manga beginnt mit Kimbas Geburt. Sein Vater Panja wird getötet und seine Mutter gefangen. Auf der Überfahrt nach London wird Kimba geboren. Er selbst kann fliehen, doch seine Mutter kommt bei einem Sturm um. Kimba wird gerettet und trifft eine menschliche Familie, bei der er aufwächst. Als eines Tages eine Expedition ihn in den Dschungel führt, kommt dieser ihm als "Stadtlöwe" fremd vor. Die Tiere aus dem Dschungel erkennen in Kimba allerdings den Prinzen des Dschungels. Er hat eigentlich keine Lust, König der Tiere zu werden, zumal er sich im Dschungel unwohl fühlt und er zunächst den aktuellen König Bubu besiegen muss.

Genres: Manga

184 pages, Paperback

First published August 18, 1977

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

[Kurtis Burkhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Officially a big fan of Osamu Tezuka, he’s created lots of great manga with fantastic in depth Story’s and great art👍😁❤️

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This should be 3 1/2*

Kimba the Lion or Jungle Emperor, Leo is certainly a charming work, but also a slightly odd and frustrating one. I'm not sure if there's a preferred audience of children or older teens and it's certainly difficult to tell if its meanderings were ever meant to come together as a coherent story. It feels churlish to criticise a comic-book for being episodic though, and yet for every thing this story does right it seems to do something wrong. It's lovely the way Kimba grows throughout the series, from a naive cub wanting to take on the word, to vengeful and wanting to return to Africa and punish those who killed his father, to a much nobler and caring father figure himself who in turn is mirrored by his own offspring being naive and wanting to take on the world. The art is generally very lovely and Tezuka is able to shift between mostly comic tomfoolery to more meaningful and rewardingly heartfelt panels. it's clear to me already that one of Tezuka's strengths is his versatility and playfulness.

Yet, I found this fundamentally a little unsatisfying in its attempts to weave larger plotlines into the whole. A story about the African moonstone, tectonic plates and conquering Africa come to nothing. As do Kimba's son's wanderings and capture by humans or an explorer's daughter's odd conversion to becoming an African tribe leader. On their own they are along the right lines but they've made me look forward more to a manga - hopefully astroboy - that's better suited to truly episodic storytelling since Kimba at its heart wants to be a journey.

There's no reason to regret picking this up though, at it's heart it's a lovely portrait of anthropomorphised life in Africa (and beyond) full of lots of lovely details and interactions that will inevitably put a smile on one's face - I loved the animals building a palace for Kimba's wife when she's upset at losing her child. I loved the animal's suffering from plague and the human explorer's attempts to rescue them or the elephants being resentful because they don't think jungle animals should speak human. I love Tezuka's expressive artwork, which isn't flash but draws you into its humorous world. I'm talking this up to being a 4* work ...

[die gho · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kimba the white lion is a work with no focus. It has so much idea and so little page to have it. Yet the idea aren't of any appeal to me except of animal cruelty. The colonization idea may have sounded good in tezuka head but on paper it cokes off as racist. The moonstone is a idea that goes no where including other boring ideas. Komba death is just funny in context of this comics obbsession with lion corpses.

Tezuka might be a better episodic writter than a one that string alone stories with multiple thread like Dickens or Griffith.

[Arianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't remember the story being so sad, but I have always taught that the character of Kimba was incredibly cute and cool at the same time. I don't think it is a case that Kimba is a white lion, a very powerful symbol. I think that the plot is very interesting since it can be read at so many levels and brings up very crucial themes that are still actual despite the fact that the story was written in the 50s.