AI Helps Create New ‘Black Jack’ Manga Episode for Osamu Tezuka’s Iconic Maverick Doctor
16:11 JST, November 21, 2023
A new episode of the manga “Black Jack,” one of the best-loved works by the late mangaka Osamu Tezuka (1928-89), has been created with the help of artificial intelligence.
The manga will be carried in the Shukan Shonen Champion weekly manga magazine’s 52nd issue of the year, which will be published on Wednesday by Akita Publishing Co.
The work is the fruit of a project undertaken since May by the TEZUKA2023 team, which includes Keio University Prof. Satoshi Kurihara and Makoto Tezuka, Osamu Tezuka’s son and a director of Tezuka Productions Co. In the project, AI studied text data from 200 episodes of “Black Jack” and data for 20,000 different facial images of characters in manga by Tezuka. A story plot was then conceived through dialogues between AI and humans, and new characters were designed based on images generated by AI.
However, all drawings were done by the staff at Tezuka Productions and creators outside the company, so no AI-generated images are used in the manga.
The new episode, which runs for 32 pages, tells the story of Black Jack the maverick doctor trying to solve the mystery of blood tumors growing on AI’s artificial heart, which is supposed to be faultless.
“I was surprised that the AI clearly suggested to us the theme about the sanctity of life for the new story,” Makoto Tezuka said at a press conference at Keio University on Monday. “It turned out to be a very ‘Black Jack’ work.”
"Culture" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Yoasobi To Be Invited to White House Dinner During Kishida’s State Visit; Kishida To Gift Wajima Lacquerware to U.S. President Biden
-
Precious Literary Manuscript Found in Antique Wooden Box; Written Kamakura-Period Poet Teika in His Own Hand
-
Old Friend Breathes New Life into KyoAni Arson Victim’s Picture Book; Japan’s Veteran Voice Actors, Animators Create Anime Film
-
Manga “My Hero Academia” Surpasses 100 Million Copies in Print
-
Hiroyuki Sanada Pursues Authenticity of Feudal Japan in ‘Shogun’; Pushed for Detailed in Depiction of Characters
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- U.S. 7th Fleet officer Arrested on Suspicion of Stealing Sushi, Sashimi, Chicken at Kanagawa Shopping Mall; Suspect Caught Mid-Meal
- UNRWA Director Describes Catastrophic Destruction in Gaza; Says Relief Trucks Robbed, ‘People’s Hearts Destroyed’