Creator: Osamu Tezuka
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654445
Released: December 2012
Original run: 1983-1985
Awards: Kodansha Manga Award

Osamu Tezuka’s manga series Adorufu ni Tsugu was my introduction to Japanese comics. Initially published in English by Viz Media in five volumes under the title Adolf between 1996 and 1997, the series is now available from Vertical in two hardcover omnibuses under the title Message to Adolf. The second omnibus, Message to Adolf, Part 2, was published in 2012 and collects chapters eighteen through thirty-six of the manga. In Japan Adorufu ni Tsugu was first serialized between 1983 and 1985. Tezuka went on to win the Kodansha Manga Award for the series in 1986. I am absolutely thrilled that after being out of print for so long the series is once again available in English. I was also happy to discover after reading Message to Adolf, Part 1 that the series was just as good if not better than I remembered it being. I looked forward to re-reading its conclusion a great deal.

Forced to join the Hitler Youth and forced to kill, Adolf Kaufmann is no longer the innocent boy he once was. Despite being half-Japanese, he has quickly climbed the ranks of the Nazi elite, even becoming the personal secretary of Adolf Hitler for a time. Although his indoctrination is nearly complete, he is still plagued by guilt over the deaths he has caused. Back in Japan his best friend Adolf Kamil, a Jew, has come into possession of documents proving Hitler’s Jewish heritage. Guarding the information with his life, the time has come to try to find a way to reveal the secret to the world in an attempt to take the Nazi party down. Those documents will bring Adolf Kamil and Adolf Kaufmann together once again, along with the Japanese journalist Sohei Toge.

One of the things that makes Message to Adolf work so well is that Tezuka expertly combines his historical fiction with historical fact. Placing his story within the context of the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II (and eventually the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well) emphasizes the realism of the tale. Tezuka’s message in Message to Adolf is not a subtle one: the manga is inherently anti-war and anti-prejudice. A major theme is that war, hate, and extreme ideology are not only destructive but ultimately pointless. This is poignantly captured in the development of the character of Adolf Kaufmann who loses everything—his friends, his family, and even himself—as he strives to achieve the ideal that he has been taught is right. His downfall and undoing and the atrocities he and others commit in the name of justice and patriotism are as tragic as they are harrowing.

Message to Adolf is an impressively complex and layered narrative with several storylines that weave in and out of one another, sometimes overlapping and sometimes standing alone. Plot threads and characters introduced early on in the series return again in the second half, often in unexpected ways. Events that at first appear tangential are later pulled back into the main narrative. But as complicated as the structure of Message to Adolf is, Tezuka is in complete control the entire time. It is easy to follow and easy to be swept up in the epic tale. Message to Adolf is understandably bleak; it does deal with a dark period in history after all. Moments of light appear only to be repeatedly crushed. But ultimately, Message to Adolf leaves a hope that human beings can change and can do better. It’s not free of problems, but I honestly believe Message to Adolf is one of Tezuka’s best and most compelling series.

Creator: Osamu Tezuka
U.S. publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 9781935654438
Released: August 2012
Original run: 1983-1985
Awards: Kodansha Manga Award

If I recall correctly, the first manga I ever read was likely Osamu Tezuka’s Adorufu ni Tsugu. I first discovered the series while helping a friend track down resources for his senior thesis which largely focused on the Jewish population in Japan during the 1930s and ’40s. (There really does seem to be a manga on just about anything.) Adorufu ni Tsugu was serialized in Japan between 1983 and 1985, earning Tezuka a Kodansha Manga Award in 1986. The series was initially released in English by Viz Media under the title Adolf in five volumes between 1996 and 1997, making it one of the first works by Tezuka to be translated. However, Adolf has long been out of print and difficult to find. I was absolutely thrilled when Vertical announced a two-volume omnibus edition of the series complete with a new translation to be released in 2012. The first volume, Message to Adolf, Part 1 collects the first seventeen chapters of the manga. Needless to say, I was very excited to have the chance to read Adolf again.

While covering the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Sohei Toge, a reporter for the Kyogo News, receives a phone call from his younger brother Isao, who is studying abroad in Germany. Isao is convinced that he is in possession of critical information that could very well topple Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. But by the time Toge is able to meet his brother, he discovers Isao dead and his murder covered up. Suddenly, Toge finds himself pursued by the Gestapo and eventually even the Japanese secret police who believe that Isao has passed along important documents to him. As fate would have it, two young boys in Japan are also caught up in the turmoil and rumors surrounding the documents: Adolf Kaufmann, the son of a Nazi Party member and his Japanese wife, and his best friend Adolf Kamil, the son of German Jews who was born and raised in Japan. Slowly, their stories and destinies become entwined with Toge’s as he continues to search for the reasons behind his brother’s death. With their very lives in danger, the boys’ loyalty to their families and to each other will be repeatedly put to the test.

Although Toge claims to be a secondary character in the tale he is actually one of the primary protagonists in Message to Adolf. A large part of the manga is devoted to him chasing after top secret information and being chased in return. Despite these sections being quickly paced and the political thriller elements and intrigue being exciting (even if Toge’s impressive resilience is somewhat unbelievable), what I find most engaging about Message to Adolf is the relationship between the two young Adolfs. Adolf Kamil is actually one of the most level-headed characters in the entirety of Message to Adolf, Part 1 while Adolf Kaufmann is an impressionable but adorable kid. Tragically, the promise that he makes and keeps in order to protect Kamil is what will eventually drive them apart. Kaufmann’s indoctrination into the Hitler Youth is heartbreaking as he struggles to reconcile what he is being taught with what he knows and believes to be true while his innocence is being shattered. Message to Adolf, Part 1 closes on a particularly heart-wrenching note.

Message to Adolf has a very strong anti-war message. It includes many examples of families and friends that are torn apart by war, fighting, fear, and strict adherence to political dogma. Tezuka incorporates actual events into Message to Adolf, placing the story into historical context; although Message to Adolf is obviously fiction, the tale is convincingly plausible because of this. Some of the more cartoonish aspects of Tezuka’s artwork do seem at odds with the more serious and realistic tone of Message to Adolf, but at the same time there are individual panels and layouts that are incredibly striking and effective. The narrative of Message to Adolf is engagingly complex without becoming too confusing. Tezuka has a tendency to introduce side stories which at first appear tangential but are almost always tied back into the main narrative. Although these could come across as coincidences, the story is being told after the fact so it makes sense that it would all be connected. It becomes clear that everything is included for a reason. Personally, I think Message to Adolf is one of Tezuka’s best works.