Overview
“Phoenix: Future” is the second part of Osamu Tezuka’s lifelong work, the serial manga “Phoenix.” It was serialized from December 1967 to September 1968 in the monthly magazine “COM” published by Mushi Production Commercial Firm. Set on a dying Earth in the year 3404, it is a dystopian science-fiction work depicting the end of humanity and the subsequent rebirth of life.
The “Phoenix” series as a whole is an epic narrative centered on the immortal super-lifeform known as the Phoenix, moving back and forth from ancient times to the future while exploring themes of life and death and the cycle of reincarnation. In contrast to the immediately preceding COM version of “Phoenix: Dawn” (1967), which was set in ancient Japan, this work leaps abruptly into the distant future, thereby clearly establishing for the first time the series’ immense temporal scale. Chronologically, it is set at the terminal stage of human civilization and is important for having anticipated and depicted the temporal conclusion of the entire series.
Commentary
This work portrays a dystopian world in which humanity has abandoned the surface and confined itself to underground megalopolises, entrusting decision-making to giant computers and degenerating as a result. The protagonist, Masato Yamanobe, falls in love with Tamami, the human form of a banned space creature called a Moopie, and flees to the surface after being pursued by the authorities. There he meets Dr. Saruta, who is attempting to regenerate extinct species, and eventually witnesses the near-total annihilation of humanity in the final war between the underground cities. The surviving Masato is granted immortal life by the Phoenix and, in solitude, watches over the rebirth of life on Earth across hundreds of millions of years.
In terms of genre, it is clearly dystopian science fiction and sharply addresses the issues of delegating decision-making to artificial intelligence (AI) and the resulting degeneration of human thinking power and agency. For a work published in the late 1960s, its thematic setting was extremely pioneering, and it is frequently reevaluated today as having anticipated contemporary problems of AI ethics and AI dependence.
As detailed in the “Thematic Analysis” section, immortality is a central motif that appears throughout the “Phoenix” series, but in this work it is depicted as a curse for the protagonist Masato. At the same time, the series’ common theme of the continuity of life through reincarnation is strongly foregrounded as the process of regeneration that follows destruction.
Position of This Work within the “Phoenix” Saga
“Phoenix” has a structure that alternates between the past and the future—“Dawn” (mid-3rd century) → “Future” (distant future) → “Yamato” (4th century) → “Space” (future space age) …—while converging toward the “present.” As Tezuka himself stated that he attempted “to draw the beginning and the end first,” “Future” is the work that presented the endpoint of the series’ timeline in advance. The quotations of scenes from “Dawn” placed at the conclusion of “Future” demonstrate the cyclical structure of the entire series. This allows readers to simultaneously survey the beginning and the end of humanity and to read subsequent chapters as individual stories within a cyclical history.
The reappearance of Sarutahiko from “Dawn” as Dr. Saruta in “Future” is also important. This character’s reappearances are repeated in later chapters and become a visual and narrative symbol of reincarnation.
Author’s Biography
Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989) was a Japanese manga artist and animation director.
In 1946, at the age of seventeen, he made his debut as a manga artist with “The Diary of Ma-chan.”
In 1951 he graduated from the Osaka University Medical School preparatory course. In 1952 he passed the national medical examination and obtained his license as a physician.
With “New Treasure Island” (1947) he revolutionized the expression of postwar manga, and he left numerous masterpieces including “Astro Boy,” “Black Jack,” and “Buddha.”
In 1962 he founded Mushi Production, and in 1963 he produced Japan’s first full-scale television anime series, “Astro Boy.”
Often called the “God of Manga,” he is frequently cited as the person who laid the foundation for postwar Japanese story manga.
“Phoenix” is the unfinished serial work that he himself declared his lifelong project, drawn intermittently from the 1950s until his later years. Its distinctive feature is the fusion of philosophical themes such as life and death, the dignity of life, and criticism of civilization with sophisticated narrative structures, resulting in entertaining works with which many readers can emotionally identify.
Publication History
It was serialized in “COM” from the December 1967 issue to the September 1968 issue. It was first collected in book form by Mushi Production Commercial Firm as part of the COM Masterpiece Comics series, and has since been repeatedly republished by multiple labels including Kodansha, Asahi Sonorama, and Kadokawa Shoten. In the Kodansha edition of “Phoenix,” it is often included in Volume 2. In recent years, special editions reproducing the original manuscripts have also been published.
Translation Status
In the English-speaking world, it was first published standalone by VIZ Media in 2002 as “Phoenix: A Tale of the Future,” and later reissued as Volume 2 of the complete 12-volume series, “Phoenix, Vol. 2: Future” (2004). The translation was handled by the Dadakai team consisting of Frederik L. Schodt, Jared Cook, Shinji Sakamoto, and others. This English translation became the starting point for the publication of the entire series in English and greatly advanced the reception of Tezuka in Europe and America. Translations exist in multiple other languages as well.
Thematic Analysis
The central themes of this work are the deadlock of civilization and the cycle of life. Humanity is set to have peaked in the 25th century and declined thereafter, with civilization having regressed to roughly 21st-century levels by the 30th century. The surface is nearly uninhabitable due to radioactive contamination and environmental degradation, and the surviving humans in five underground megalopolises (Yamato, Lengood, New York, La Marseillaise, and Peking) entrust decision-making to giant computers and gradually lose their capacity for thought. This “degeneration of humans through the total delegation of decision-making to AI” is both a critique of the technological optimism of the 1960s and a sharp foreshadowing of contemporary problems of generative AI dependence and automated society.
Immortality is an ambivalent motif throughout the entire series. For many characters it is pursued as a dream and hope that promises liberation from the fear of death, serving as the driving force of the narratives. However, for those who actually obtain it, it transforms into a punishment and curse of loneliness and suffering—“never being able to die.” In this work the latter aspect is thoroughly depicted: Masato obtains eternal life through the blood of the Phoenix but must continue living for hundreds of millions of years in solitude and pain.
At the same time, life inevitably regenerates and continues to evolve even after extinction. The episode in which slugs build a civilization and then perish symbolizes Tezuka’s view of history and resignation that history repeats its mistakes. The Phoenix functions as a transcendent being that watches over the reset and regeneration of life, permeating the entire narrative with the idea of reincarnation.
While depicting the end of humanity, this work simultaneously presents, on an overwhelming temporal scale, the hope that “life continues even after destruction” and the resignation that history repeats its errors. It is one of the works in which Osamu Tezuka’s imagination is most powerfully displayed, fusing the sharpness of dystopian science fiction with the philosophy of reincarnation.
Reception
In Japan, from the time of its publication it shocked readers with its bold leap in timeline and its scale, and is often regarded as the work that determined the evaluation of the “Phoenix” series. It is said to have blown away the somewhat subdued reception of “Dawn,” and there is no shortage of voices calling it a “historic masterpiece.” Its depictions of AI dependence and the collapse of civilization through nuclear war have been read as reflecting Cold War anxieties while remaining a universal critique of civilization. Among readers and critics it is frequently positioned as the core that most concentrates the themes of the series.
Outside Japan, since the English translation was published in 2002 it has been introduced as one of Tezuka’s representative works and evaluated as a classic of dystopian science fiction and philosophical manga. The motifs of the regeneration of life and the solitary observer are cited as pioneering attempts in the history of science fiction. While criticisms of the somewhat sentimental romance and certain character designs are occasionally seen, overall the tendency is to highly evaluate Tezuka’s imagination and epic structure.
Influence
This work influenced dystopian expression in Japanese science-fiction manga and the technique of depicting the rise and fall of civilizations from a macroscopic perspective. The theme of governance by AI and the loss of human agency has had a long-term impact on subsequent science-fiction works. By establishing the reincarnation structure of the entire “Phoenix” series, it also became a model for “serial works spanning time” after Tezuka. In the present day, opportunities to reread it in the contexts of AI ethics and environmental crisis have increased.
Media Adaptations
In the television anime series “Phoenix” broadcast on NHK-BS Hi-Vision in 2004 (directed by Ryosuke Takahashi, animation production by Tezuka Productions; 13 episodes total), “Future” was adapted as Episodes 12 and 13.
In addition, radio drama adaptations of this work were broadcast by NHK in 1977 and by Nippon Cultural Broadcasting in 2020.
A stage adaptation of this work, “Phoenix: Future Zeromdistance” (script and direction by Tatsuo Kudo), is scheduled to be performed in Shibuya, Tokyo, in February 2027.
Characters
Masato Yamanobe
A Class 2 space warrior of Megalopolis Yamato. Initially a dogmatic supporter of the system, he falls in love with the Moopie Tamami, refuses the order to euthanize her, and flees. After the extinction of humanity he is granted immortality by the Phoenix and is fated to watch over the regeneration of life on Earth in solitude. He is the “last human” on the series’ timeline and the core presence of the story.
Tamami
The human female form assumed by an amorphous space creature called a Moopie. Because Moopies possess the ability to create hallucinations that fulfill human desires, they cause dependency and had become a social problem, making them targets for euthanasia. She loves Masato and escapes with him to the surface. She remains by Masato’s side for a time after humanity’s extinction but eventually expires.
Dr. Saruta
A 160-year-old genius scientist who continues the artificial cultivation of extinct species in a dome-shaped laboratory on the surface. Shunned by people because of his ugly appearance, he continues his research in solitude. He is positioned as the reincarnation (or the same existence in the cycle of rebirth) of Sarutahiko from “Dawn.” With Robita as his assistant he burns with obsession for the regeneration of life, but dies from radiation after the final war. In the past, in order to satisfy his own romantic desires that could not be fulfilled in real human relationships, he attempted to create female-type robots; however, unable to bear the fact that the words “I love you” they uttered were merely fictions he himself had programmed, he deprived them of their vocal functions and converted them into combat use—an episode that symbolizes the doctor’s loneliness.
Rock
A Class 1 space warrior and special management officer of Yamato. A contemporary and former friend of Masato. Strongly loyal to the system, he orders Masato to euthanize Tamami. After Masato’s flight he becomes one of the causes that trigger the final war through conflict between the computers. He reaches Dr. Saruta’s dome just before the extinction of humanity, but dies from radiation. He is one of the core characters of Tezuka’s “star system”—the technique of treating the same character like an actor who plays different roles in different works (Rock Home)—and appears in numerous Tezuka works as a handsome young man with black sunglasses as his trademark, ranging from righteous heroes to cold-hearted villains.
Robita
Dr. Saruta’s assistant robot. Possesses emotions and displays human-like behavior. Its origin is also narrated in “Resurrection.” After the final war it is destroyed by Rock.
The Phoenix
An immortal super-lifeform. It governs the cycle of life, sometimes granting immortality to humans and sometimes confronting them with its suffering. In this work it grants Masato eternal life and the mission to “correctly guide life.”
Search Link
Search for “Osamu Tezuka Phoenix Future” on Amazon.com
Synopsis (Contains Spoilers)
The year is 3404. Humanity has built five underground cities called megalopolises—New York, Peking, Lengood, La Marseillaise, and Yamato—each housing approximately five million people. Each city is governed by a giant electronic brain, and the people have lost their capacity for thought, degenerating while immersed in nostalgia.
In Megalopolis Yamato, Masato Yamanobe, who has been swimming with Tamami in a virtual-reality sea, receives a video-phone call from Rock, his contemporary who holds a superior position. Rock questions whether the woman living with Masato is a banned Moopie, but Masato denies it, claiming she is a relative.
Moopies are amorphous creatures brought from Sirius 12 fifty years earlier. Because they can transform into any desired form, they proliferated as pets, and some people even made them take human form and treated them as family members. Their ability to provide comfort and the simulated experiences known as “Moopie games” sapped people’s willpower and hindered humanity’s survival in the dying solar system. Consequently, Central Headquarters issued an extermination order three years earlier. Rock orders Masato to dispose of the Moopie that very night.
Returning home, Masato tries to kill Tamami but finds himself unable to do so. He resolves to flee with her, yet without identification papers Tamami cannot even obtain a train ticket, so they are forced to stay at a shady hotel. Masato pays the manager to keep silent, but the manager, learning that Masato is being pursued, attempts to report them.
Meanwhile, Rock reports the surviving Moopie to Yamato’s electronic brain Hallelujah and receives the single-word instruction: “Kill it.”
Fleeing the hotel, Masato and Tamami find themselves with nowhere to go, and Masato decides to escape to the surface.
Emerging onto the bitterly cold surface, the two reach the dome of Dr. Saruta’s laboratory. Saruta, who researches cosmic life, detests underground living and has been residing alone on the surface.
Saruta is speaking to Bradbury, an artificial creature living inside a capsule filled with artificial amniotic fluid. Sensing the impending extinction of humanity, Saruta has been attempting to create new life forms, but the artificial creatures can survive only inside the artificial amniotic fluid. Bradbury, who is fond of reading, is reading Goethe’s “The Sorrows of Young Werther.”
Bradbury asks Saruta to let him out of the capsule just once. Saruta drains the fluid and releases him, but Bradbury collapses and dissolves almost immediately after taking a few steps.
When Saruta cries out to the heavens asking to be taught the secret of life, the Phoenix appears and declares, “Earth is dying. I am a part of Earth.” Asked how Earth can be healed, the Phoenix answers, “The humans who are about to arrive here can heal it.” Seeing the approaching figures of Masato and Tamami, Dr. Saruta orders his robot Robita to retrieve them. At the same time, a pursuit squad dispatched on Rock’s orders sets out after the pair.
When the pursuers draw near the dome, Masato tries to take Tamami and flee so as not to cause trouble, but Saruta insists on keeping Tamami in the amniotic fluid for a while longer to convalesce.
To repel the pursuers, Saruta launches numerous female-type robots.
Robita explains the origin of the female robots. Because of his ugly face, Saruta never took a lover or married; instead he continually created robots to serve as lovers, wives, and daughters. Disgusted by their purely verbal expressions of affection, he removed their vocal cords and stored them for a long time, waiting for the day they would prove useful.
The robots confront the enemy and successively self-destruct, annihilating the pursuit squad. Masato decides to remain and begins working as Dr. Saruta’s assistant.
Underground in Yamato, a representative assembly is held, and a movement arises to pass a vote of no confidence in the mayor in order to give priority to the instructions of the electronic brain Hallelujah.
Learning of the annihilation of the pursuit squad, Rock suspects that neighboring Lengood is sheltering Masato and protests to them. This leads to a confrontation with Lengood, which follows the orders of its own electronic brain Danube, and the situation escalates into a direct confrontation between the computers.
Hallelujah orders the expulsion of the mayor as a dangerous ideologue and further instructs Rock to break up with his lover because “you cannot be happy together.” Rock obeys Hallelujah’s command and separates from his lover.
At noon the computers are connected for the confrontation. The interminable debate in which Hallelujah and Danube each insist on their own correctness ends with the decision that both nations will commence war within twenty-four hours.
Saruta asks Tamami to give him her body so that he can advance his research, explaining that no matter how many artificial creatures he raises, none can survive in the outside world.
A countdown toward war begins in Yamato and Lengood. Fearing death in the war, Rock escapes from Yamato and, while traveling across the surface in an air-car, reaches Saruta’s dome. Believing that Rock has come to kill Tamami, Masato fights him.
Rock informs Masato and the others that both cities will be destroyed in one hour. At the appointed time a violent earthquake strikes the dome. There is no response from the other three cities either, and it becomes clear that all five cities have been annihilated by nuclear explosions.
(Rock’s retrospective on the history of human civilization) After reaching its peak in the twenty-fifth century, Earth’s human civilization began to decline; everyone yearned for the lifestyles and styles of the past and regressed to a level of civilization roughly equivalent to the twenty-first century.
Masato accuses Rock of being a slave of the electronic brain, but Rock reveals that he himself was born through in-vitro fertilization inside a tube, from sperm and an egg selected by Hallelujah.
Rock attempts to take Tamami and escape into space in a private rocket, but Masato notices and they fight again. At that moment the Phoenix appears before the two. Speaking to Masato’s soul, the Phoenix shows him the structure of the world on a scale ranging from the realm of elementary particles to outer space and declares, “Earth is now dying because of foolish humanity. To save it, I will make you immortal.” Upon awakening, Masato realizes that his body has become immortal.
Radiation begins to penetrate the laboratory, and death approaches for both Saruta and Rock. Tamami can no longer maintain human form, and Robita is destroyed by Rock. Rock leaves the laboratory in an air-car and spends his final moments on the surface.
Saruta learns that Masato has been made immortal by the power of the Phoenix. On his deathbed he asks Masato to inherit his research and to launch his body by rocket into an orbit around Earth.
After death, while Saruta’s body circles Earth in the rocket, the Phoenix appears to him and says, “You will be reborn again.”
Unable to die, Masato continues living alone in a world empty of other people. One day, inside an observatory, he discovers a coffin inscribed with the words “Do not open for five thousand years.”
Around five hundred years later, Tamami is still alive in Moopie form and occasionally entertains Masato with Moopie games, but her lifespan as a Moopie expires and she dies.
Five thousand three hundred years later, Masato goes to the observatory and opens the coffin lid with a laser drill, only to find that it contains nothing but pulverized human bones.
Still more time passes, and Masato attempts to create a robot companion. He breathes life into robots modeled on Tamami’s face, but can produce only imperfect ones, repeating the cycle of trial and destruction more than two hundred times. The Phoenix tells Masato, “Do not make robots; make new human beings.”
Several thousand years later still, Masato works on the creation of synthetic life forms. He succeeds in keeping a synthetic human resembling Tamami alive inside amniotic fluid, but it never develops intelligence.
A major earthquake occurs; the equipment is destroyed and the synthetic humans dissolve into foam. The only remaining method is to leave everything to the course of nature and wait for the eventual appearance of humanity’s ancestors.
Masato prepares a primordial soup, pours it into the sea, and simply waits. His physical body weathers away and vanishes, yet Masato continues to exist as a super-lifeform that only watches.
After a vast span of time, life is finally born and evolves from single-celled to multi-celled organisms. Reptiles appear, and the age of dinosaurs arrives.
Slugs evolve, acquire intelligence, and build their own civilization, but they split into northern and southern lineages, fall into conflict, and destroy themselves through mutual warfare.
After the collapse of the slug civilization, mammals evolve, and at last humanity is born. Masato has become a being whom humans call “Creator” or “God.”
Masato is reunited with the Phoenix after thirty billion years. The Phoenix tells him, “You are living as a cosmic life form (Cosmozone),” and shows him that life permeates the entire universe. Masato leaps into the body of the Phoenix and, within the vortex of cosmic life, is reunited with the Moopie Tamami.
(Here several scenes from “Dawn” are quoted.)
The Phoenix reflects on the history of higher organisms on Earth that advanced their civilizations only to proceed in the wrong direction and bring about their own destruction, and expresses the hope that this time humanity may somewhere notice its mistakes and come to use life correctly.