Manga Michi Review: The Manga About How Manga Got Made
by Fujiko Fujio A
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What if the story of how Doraemon got made was more interesting than Doraemon itself?
Quick Take
- Fujiko Fujio A's autobiographical account of how he and Fujiko F Fujio became the most successful manga duo in Japanese history
- A portrait of young artistic ambition in postwar Japan — the specific conditions that produced one of the medium's greatest creative partnerships
- Essential reading for anyone who cares about manga as a history
Who Is This Manga For?
- Fans of Doraemon, Perman, or Kaibutsu-kun who want to understand where those works came from
- Anyone interested in creative partnership and what it takes to build one
- Manga history readers who want the experience from the inside
- Readers of Blue Period or Bakuman who want the real precedent for manga-about-manga-making
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: All Ages Content Warnings: Nostalgic themes of artistic struggle and ambition. No concerning content.
Appropriate for all readers.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★★ |
| Art Style | ★★★★☆ |
| Character Development | ★★★★★ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★☆ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★★ |
Story Overview
Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko are two boys in Toyama Prefecture in the late 1940s who share an obsession with manga. They read everything they can find, they draw together, and they make a pact to become professional manga artists in Tokyo.
The manga follows them from that childhood pact through the struggle to break into the industry — the years of rejection, near-poverty, the specific experience of learning to create under conditions that required both artistic commitment and economic survival. They work as assistants to Osamu Tezuka for a period; the encounter with the master is one of the series' landmark sequences.
Fujiko Fujio A drew this as autobiography — looking back on the partnership from the position of someone who had achieved everything the younger version of himself dreamed of, and being honest about the cost and the luck and the specific conditions that made it possible.
The result is one of the most valuable documents in manga history: a first-person account of how the medium developed, told by someone who was there at a crucial moment.
Characters
The two Fujikos (as young men): Fujiko Fujio A (Abiko) and Fujiko F Fujio (Fujimoto) as they actually were — ambitious, broke, talented, and sustained by the partnership that gave each of them something neither could have built alone.
Osamu Tezuka: Depicted in a sequence that is one of the manga's most extraordinary sections — the encounter between established master and ambitious newcomers, rendered with honesty about what it felt like.
Art Style
Fujiko Fujio A draws his younger self and his partner with the warmth of genuine nostalgia — the 1950s settings are evoked through research and memory. The manga's visual approach is softer and more reflective than his action work.
Cultural Context
Manga Michi ran in Weekly Shonen Champion from 1970 to 1977. It depicts the period from approximately 1947 to 1960 — the years when modern manga as we know it was being invented by Tezuka and the generation that followed him. To read this manga is to be present at the formation of the medium.
What I Love About It
I love the partnership as subject.
Most creative biographies center individual genius. Manga Michi is about what happens when two people choose to create together — not because either lacks the ability to work alone but because something about the collaboration produces work that neither would produce separately. The manga is honest about what sustains that kind of partnership and what strains it.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Not known in English-speaking markets due to the lack of translation. Among scholars of manga history and readers with access to Japanese editions, Manga Michi is recognized as an essential primary document — one of the few accounts of the medium's formative period from the inside.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
The sequence where the two Fujikos, living in a cramped Tokyo apartment and working constantly, receive their first professional acceptance — and the depiction of that moment makes clear both the joy and the absolute certainty that this is where they were always going. The scene is the pact from childhood fulfilled.
Similar Manga
- Bakuman: Manga-making manga, fictional — clearly influenced by this
- Blue Period: Art school manga with similar themes of artistic commitment
- The Story of Tezuka Osamu: Another account of the same period from a different angle
Reading Order / Where to Start
Volume 1. The autobiography develops chronologically.
Official English Translation Status
Manga Michi has no official English translation.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Essential document of manga history
- The creative partnership is treated with genuine understanding
- Complete at 20 volumes
- Tezuka encounter is extraordinary
Cons
- No English translation
- Some context about the postwar manga industry helps
- The nostalgic register may not engage readers wanting action or drama
Format Comparison
| Format | Notes |
|---|---|
| Physical | Japanese editions available |
| Digital | Available in Japanese |
| Omnibus | Collected editions available |
Where to Buy
No English release yet. That just means you find it before everyone else does.
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Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.