Skull Man
Japanese manga series by Shotaro Ishinomori
| Skull Man | |
 Cover of the Skull Man tankōbon, as published in Japan by Kodansha | |
| スカルマン (Sukaru Man) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Superhero[1][2] |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Shotaro Ishinomori |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| English publisher |
|
| Magazine | Weekly Shōnen Magazine |
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Published | January 1970 |
| Volumes | 1 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Kazuhiko Shimamoto |
| Published by | Media Factory |
| English publisher |
|
| Magazine |
|
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | April 7, 1998 – May 2001 |
| Volumes | 7 |
| Live-action television film | |
| Directed by | Makoto Yokoyama |
| Studio | Ishimori Productions |
| Original network | Fuji TV |
| Released | April 21, 2007 |
| Runtime | 30 minutes |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Takeshi Mori |
| Produced by | Kōji Yamamoto Yūki Mori Masahiro Yoshida Makoto Watanabe Jinichirō Koyama |
| Written by | Yutaka Izubuchi |
| Music by | Shirō Sagisu |
| Studio | Ishimori Entertainment Bones |
| Licensed by | |
| Original network | Fuji TV |
| English network | |
| Original run | April 28, 2007 – July 22, 2007 |
| Episodes | 13 |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Meimu |
| Published by | Kodansha |
| Magazine | Magazine Z |
| Demographic | Seinen |
| Original run | May 2, 2007 – October 24, 2007 |
| Volumes | 2 |
Skull Man (Japanese: スカルマン, Hepburn: Sukaru Man) is a shōnen manga series created by Shotaro Ishinomori which first appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine in 1970. The hero of the story, whose parents have been murdered, grows up to use his peculiar powers to take revenge. The original Skull Man was one of the first antiheroes to be seen in manga, someone who would sacrifice the lives of innocents in his quest for vengeance.
While developing the Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) TV series along with producer Toru Hirayama, Ishinomori created this manga as his own personal version, which the producers at Toei Company Ltd. used as the basis for the show.[which?] They made several changes to the content, as Ishinomori's original 100-page one-shot story was too dark and gruesome (even cerebral) for a show for all ages at the time.[citation needed]
In the late 1990s, after he had fallen ill, Ishinomori contacted manga artist Kazuhiko Shimamoto to do a remake (ambiguously a continuation) of his original one-shot manga.[3] This remake boasted an extensive, continuing storyline and more complex artwork (along with a tribute to Ishinomori in the final issue, with several of his famous characters gathered together).[citation needed] This was the manga that was presented in the US by Tokyopop. The original 1970 version was digitally released in English by Ishimori Productions in 2012.[4] An animated TV series adaptation, produced by Ishimori Productions and animated by Bones, was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 28, 2007 to July 22, 2007.[citation needed]
Plot
1970 manga (one-shot)
There are mass murders and catastrophes all over Japan, committed by a masked/caped psychic madman called the Skull Man, and his shapeshifting aide Garo (named after the manga ninja Garo created by Sanpei Shirato), who can mutate into various powerful monsters. The calamities caused by the Skull Man are investigated by the Tachiki Detective Agency, with the help of a young man named Tatsuo Kagura, the son of a yakuza in the Kagura Clan.
Police Chief Tachiki, who heads the Tachiki Detective Agency, suspects that Tatsuo is the Skull Man. Tatsuo, in turn, suspects that the detective is a part of a public conspiracy that has been after him for fifteen years. It turns out that Tatsuo's parents were murdered and he was adopted by the Kagura Clan. For fifteen years, Tatsuo has been hunting for the mastermind, who manipulates all industry, finance and even politics. Tatsuo, the Skull Man, threateningly demands Tachiki that he tell him the name of the mastermind. After muttering the culprit's family name, Chisato, the Skull Man shoots him in the head.
Skull Man and Garo then race to the estate of a reclusive old man named Kogetsu Chisato, who lives with a girl named Maya, who is mute and blind (she is always seen with her eyes closed). Overcome with psychotic rage, Skull Man threatens to kill Chisato, who not only kindly welcomes him, but has been looking forward to his arrival. Maya, however, telepathically persuades him not to kill Chisato, and reveals a shocking secret: Chisato is Skull Man's grandfather and Maya is his younger sister.
Chisato tells his shocked grandson the whole story: his own son, Tatsuo's father, was a scientific genius beyond geniuses. In fact, he was so intelligent and unearthly that he was a mutant, a being of Newmanity (Shinjinrui - similar to that in Ishinomori's later creation, Inazuman). His wife, whom he married and had Tatsuo with, was a mutant as well. The couple conducted bizarre experiments that were capable of destroying humanity. Chisato feared this greatly, so, when Maya was born, he killed his own son and daughter-in-law, and sought to kill his grandson Tatsuo, who ended up being rescued and raised by Garo. He could not bring himself to kill Maya, however, and raised her to be his faithful servant. Maya then tells Skull Man that Chisato wanted to bring him back before he could do anything.
Chisato traps himself, Skull Man, Garo and Maya in glass walls, and sets himself and all the others ablaze, sadly stating that "We were born in the wrong era!" Along with his entire "family", Tatsuo dies a tragic, horrible death in the inferno.
Media
1970 manga
Although the original Skull Man is not yet in printed in the U.S., Comixology obtained the license rights to the title and has released an English-language digital version of the manga in 2012.[5]
