Osamu Tezuka

I had forgotten about this until I got a Google alert for it: Kino International, a small art film label that releases foreign, unusual, niche, and arthouse flicks on DVD, has just released The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu, a collection of some of the famed godfather of manga's more experimental anime works. It came out on July 28th.

Featuring over 150 minutes of animated footage, it includes thirteen different titles as well as an interview with Tezuka himself, from 1986. The anime is from 1962 to 1988 as well, and is primarily shorts in the 3-8 minute range with a couple of longer pieces.

The DVD is currently out of stock on a temporary basis, but you can still order it while it's on sale for a mere $20.97. I don't know about you, but I'm seriously considering it-- it'll be interesting to see something like these small works in comparison to some of the more popular titles like Astro Boy, Kimba, and Black Jack.

There's also a trailer that is not embeddable, but you can view it (and subsequently buy the DVD) right here. The trailer offers a look at a couple of the works, including one that really shows Tezuka's Disney influence, if you ask me.