Gekiga Fanatics

Around 1955, rental bookstores—which lent books for 10 yen a day—were on the verge of their heyday. At the time, there were four manga publishers in Osaka catering to these rental shops, and Hinomaru Bunko in Semba was a bustling hub where young, impoverished but dream-filled artists—including Takao Saito, Masaaki Satou, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, and Masahiko Matsumoto—gathered! This is the story of these artists, who would later popularize a style of manga known as “gekiga,” and the beginning of the history of gekiga itself!