Go Nagai: The Determined Defier of Manga
Welcome one and all to the first post on Gutternaut's new domain. And to start our new approach, we'll be focusing on a manga creator who is comparable to Stan Lee; for movie cameos, being a weird old man who sometimes appears out of the blue, and introducing genre-defining comics and characters. If you watch a couple videos by Super Eyepatch Wolf; you'll know him as the guy mistaken for the arguably more famous Akira Toriyama. His name is Go Nagai.
If you're around the internet, this name is responsible for the creation of not one, not two, not even three but about a dozen series that (for better or worse) defined Japanese comics and animation and the genres that followed them. In fact, just a couple of years pass with these series releasing in animated form; although the quality of each differs strongly.
Kiyoshi (Go) Nagai: The Proto-Gekiman!
Nagai is a mangaka who's own life could be a manga. The young Kiyoshi Nagai was born sometime after his family just barely scraped through WWII in Shanghai. Post-WWII Japan was a tough time for the country and its citizens. After a brutal regime from the imperial state, Japan was undergoing a reconstruction to more peaceful economic development. It was a time of great risk as supplies were hard to come by; the black market was the only means of getting them. But those same risks allowed for the development for Japan to catch up with the West.
Early Developments
After losing his father as a child, Kiyoshi sees the first effects on what war does to people, influencing some of his later work. With only his mother, brothers, and Japan's welfare society, Nagai settles in Tokyo. Nagai, after encountering a translated copy of the Divine Comedy and the works of Osamu Tezuka, finds his passion (ikigai). Something that would help Nagai get through some hard times when he suffers severe diarrhea and catarrh of colon. This makes Nagai aware of his own mortality and the drive to make a name for himself in manga.
Nagai's Struggles
But when even your own mother disapproves of the choices you make in life, there are going to be problems. Japan during this period was still going through advanced growth; many families expect their kids to get jobs in the growing major companies including Toyota. It almost seems like a waste to take risks for something like manga; especially when a cushy office job could set you for life. With help from his older brother Yasutaka, Kiyoshi took the pen name Go Nagai and submitted many works to publishers; often with rejection. As someone who couldn't find work in my preferred field for a very long time, it's very relatable.
Still all of those struggles pay off eventually as Shonen Sunday found something they liked; calling in another manga legend, Shotaro Ishinomori. After much trial and error, Nagai eventually gets a job with Ishinomori's studio as an assistant. All of that hard work with Ishinomori allowed Nagai to become a professional manga artist starting with short gag-manga. But for Nagai to really get out of his shell, he decides to take more risks.
In strange twists of fate, Nagai exposes himself to televised debates and investigative journalism. With how stagnant the manga industry was during the late 60s, Nagai decided to take a risk with being one of the first mangaka to participate in Shueisha's Weekly Shonen Jump; the very magazine that would display hits like Dragon Ball and My Hero Academia decades later. Once again, the risks payed off with Nagai getting his first major success with Harenchi Gakuen.
Success Achieved
Unlike his earlier gag manga, Harenchi Gakuen used Nagai's experiences with debates and journalism to allow manga to push the boundaries of shame. Because of this series, the peeping gags and uplifting skirts that were pretty common for over 40 years. Admittedly this became a very tired trope nowadays with repeated poorly executed uses making Shonen stories look immature. But back in those days, there were no sexy or cutesy gags just unmemorable short burst jokes.
Harenchi Gakuen is very much the culmination of many risks and inspirations for Nagai; putting scandals and school together would create hilarious situations. Nothing even felt forced, just in character moments across the board. In fact, Nagai actually developed the not-really-erotic images overtime from his own fascination with Western art and culture, an assistant's comment, and even the editors wanting to help push those limits. At the end of it, Harenchi Gakuen helped make Shonen Jump a success. So show those embarrassing scenes you see in anime some respect; but don't get too hooked on them because people have stretched that trope thin.
Dynamic Productions: The Legend of Go Nagai
Thanks to Harenchi Gakuen, Nagai learns the business side of a mangaka where he was practically cut off from any royalties involving Harenchi Gakuen's franchise. So to get around this, Nagai founded Dynamic Productions to manage relations and contractual rights. In fact, anime adaptations wouldn't even be around today without Dynamic Pro's example. Show respect to this controversial figure you toxic stretchers!
Major Breakthroughs
This is especially since Nagai decides to experiment with different genres again with serious themes; like sci-fi with class struggles or even occult activities in Mao Dante. In fact Dante is what helps kickstart two of Nagai's most famous series. Dante was originally going to be adapted for an anime, but some major changes were needed for a larger audience. For one thing, instead of a giant monster the protagonist needed to be more humanoid. This leads to the birth of Nagai's magnum opus that stands the test of time, Devilman.
Devilman
Devilman is a true testament to Nagai's ideals of pushing the boundaries. Living in the post-war times and the struggles of going through life with the Gulf War over his head; Nagai creates a character and story who embody the struggle of survival and the horrors of war. What is originally a cheesy animated show allows for the creation of a manga where the despite the aging artwork has a timelessly dark story. In fact, the manga is one of the few series to have a tragic ending compared to other series at the time.
But what about the other series that forms with inspiration from Dante? Well with Nagai putting all of his serious storytelling into Devilman; he wanted to have a little more fun on the side so he created the very definition of a Super Robot, Mazinger Z.
Mazinger Z
Originally just a fun idea of having a car that can walk around traffic evolves into a story of a human controlling an invincible body. What makes Mazinger Z stand out from the mecha of shows like Gundam however is that they are more than just weapons the pilot rides in; they are a complete extension of the pilot complete with sharing their movements. The title mech for example is named that if not handled properly could become a dangerous weapon that might as well be the devil. But with proper oversight could just as easily be a god that dominates any evil thrown at it. Even the enemy machines, the Mechanical Beasts, fit into this theme. They genuinely feel like extensions of their commanders complete with the extremes and tactics they employ. Heroes are only as good as their villains.
Cutie Honey
Not many people even realize how much input one series has for the development of anime like Sailor Moon. In this case, Nagai wanting to have some fun times along with Devilman and Z creates Cutie Honey. The series focuses on a female character who is highly capable unlike most other female characters at the time. This franchise however has a bad reputation due to how racy the scenes of the title character is in. The original Cutie Honey anime was even cut short because of those instances. Yet the franchise has a surprising number of female fans; likely because Honey is not seductive and has more character than people give her credit for. She's loving, compassionate, but deeply troubled by the death of her father. So she keeps whatever friends she has close. Something Nagai relates to on a very personal level.
Legacy of Go Nagai
Dynamic Productions and Go Nagai go on to create more series from sequels to spin-offs of recognizable series. Go Nagai also created the idea that is later used by Ken Ishikawa to produce the combining mech, Getter Robo. Nagai even won several awards for his exploits that push the boundaries of manga. About every year, no one can pass a toy store in Japan without seeing a Mazinger Z die-cast figure.
Several notable creators like Hideaki Anno (of Evangelion fame), Kentaro Miura (creator of Berserk), even Suda51 and Gen "The Butcher" Urobuchi are all inspired by Nagai. While Tezuka is definitely the undisputed "God of Manga" it's safe to call Nagai the Determinative Defier rather than just the "Dirty Uncle" the internet likes to call him.
Unfortunately, after a while the once genre-defining exploits of Go Nagai and the franchises he created had begun to show their age after 50 years of his career. As stated before, the gags seen like flashing panties and peeping becomes so cliche by oversaturation that they just weren't funny anymore. Even jokes that are still innocent but indecent don't have the same appeal; they are so common that it sacrifices creativity.
Overshadowed
Other times, some aspects of the franchises exaggerate so much that there is no room for development or fun. Most of the time, it's because of focus on the over-the-top violence or stylish battles shown with vibrant backgrounds. Cutie Honey has often suffered the worst of this; most of the time it was just the same old story of Honey facing off against Panther Claw.
Mazinger Z while still a most commercially successful franchise also suffers from this. With Mobile Suit Gundam's more broad appeal and cheaper figures, Mazinger Z is seen more as stuff for collectors and nostalgia buffs. Even the more recent movie Mazinger Z: Infinity plays more to the past of the franchise. As such Nagai sticks more to artwork and business when it comes to Mazinger Z. One example is a crossover project between Z and Transformers.
Back from the Dead
The only Dynamic Pro series to even hold a candle anymore in today's world is Devilman. While unlike many of Nagai's more detailed and smoother artwork of the present; Devilman is still a classic not just for its themes but because it is genuinely horrifying and shows true vulnerability. One of the reasons Devilman was so scary was the psychedelic situations the title character and others find themselves in. Those situations show Nagai at his strongest as an artist by taking advantage of his limitations to create surrealism. This causes the characters to look like they are going insane or showing themselves off as monsters figuratively and literally.
But Not in Tact
Compare those pictures to spin-offs like Devilman Lady; one of the reasons this lukewarm series gains criticism is because of the amount of gratuitous rape. Rape as drama is a trope that has been overused and often gives off the wrong message; all by showing off the voluptuous bodies of the characters. To be frank, this trope is a rather cheap way of displaying cruelty and malicious intent. Some of the intent of rape is more ridiculous than terrifying. Fortunately most of the series has deeper developments and certain aspects of the manga retain the surrealism for tense moments. Unfortunately the ending is what kills the series for me; so much potential wasted in the last moments.
Where's the Heart?
But the worst part is, none of Nagai's current works show the struggle or risk taking his older works do. During the 2000s the manga he along with other notable mangaka create Sengoku Era samurai series along with creators like Kazuo Koike; but due to competition with artists like Fist of the North Star's Tetsuo Hara nothing seems to recapture the feeling. Most other work are just spin-offs or remakes that lack the heart of their sources like Grendizer Giga.
Even his most recent manga Devilman Saga is little more than repeating the story of Devilman with a sci-fi premise. Only it lacks the feeling of horror or stakes, just twists, misdirections, and relying on information from the older series. At least the Netflix series Devilman Crybaby gets the surrealism down.
Found it
The only Dynamic manga I actually have any interest in the modern times is the Gekiman! autobiographies. They detail Nagai's time creating his most notable franchises under the fictional personas of Geki. This includes what could have been in some of his manga that had to be removed, and Nagai's struggles. After seeing some of the images, I certainly can't blame Nagai for how things are. But as they all show, despite how Nagai is showing his age, he still loves creating manga. While his skills as a writer have all but diminished, his artwork has come a long way.
But what do you all think? Is Nagai just a weird old man who's best days are long behind him? Or is there still something in this surreal man's mind? As always thanks for coming and remember to look between the panels.