The Crater Paperback – March 15, 2022

It is a collection of short brilliant stories.

Okay, Tezuka has done many short stories and short story collections, but The Crater really tops it for me. These stories all have a subtle uniqueness, and while not necessarily horror, Tezuka amazingly displays a capability in making the reader uneasy (intentionally and in the best way). Although one of his first forays into gekiga, it might possibly be one of his best.

Not Osamu's best, but this manga has a bunch of short stories (that are not connected) and each story has an interesting idea and that's what I liked about it. I don't think I need to say anything about the art style cuz it's Osamu Tezuka we're taking about!You'll find some familiar Tezuka characters here, but playing different roles as they don't represent their original characters. It was cool to see them in different stories.

For any fan of Osamu Tezuka's work, this is a great, slow-burn, sci-fi thriller addition to your library and recommend it for those who are a fan of Tezuka's other "spookier" works like The Book of Human Insects, MW, Ayako, and Ode to Kirihito. Definitely would recommend this book for the Junji Ito fan, as well.It's a very big graphic novel with a thin paperback cover and I pre-ordered this book last year (as Tezuka's books tend to disappear quickly once released and hard to get a hold of) and I received it recently, however, the book itself was NOT wrapped in any protective plastic wrap inside the bubble wrap sleeve from Amazon and came dented in multiple parts on the spine. The quality of the paper it's printed on is also not high quality or thick, and feels quite cheap almost like recycled paper (if you own older Osamu Tezuka works you'll recognize this immediately as a lot of his previous books are printed on, I believe, archival quality paper and have a tangible thickness to it and stark white).If you plan on buying this book please keep it out of the sun due to the quality of paper it's printed on. Otherwise, the story and works itself (without spoiling) is an interesting read and would recommend.Three stars for story, two stars off because of how it is printed. Cheers!

This is the first work of Osamu Tezuka's that I have read. Each short story was interesting, some were more dark or wacky than others and although some maybe tended to end abruptly I couldn't say any were dull. I recommend this to anyone that likes manga.