Previously never-before seen layouts by Osamu Tezuka were discovered in an art storage facility.
Japanese publisher Rittorsha has announced that it will release a new book revolving around the late Osamu Tezuka, who is regarded as the “God of Manga” on 14 November.
The book, titled “Tezuka Osamu’s Missing Pieces”, collects previously unreleased layouts and drafts created by Tezuka dating back to 1973.
Unpublished layouts unearthed just this summer
The layouts in question were found by Tezuka Productions in two cardboard boxes in an art storage facility in Niiza City, Saitama Prefecture. The discovery was made in June 2025.
The drafts include panels, character designs, dialogues, and other elements sketched in pencil, and are believed by the team to have been drawn for magazine editors around 1973, the same year Tezuka’s studio, Mushi Productions, went bankrupt.
According to Tezuka Productions, this is the first time that this many unpublished layouts were discovered at the same time.
The layouts consist of three manga plans, with two never being published. They are:
- A 27-page layout following a high-performance computer reborn as a “wild leopard”,
- A 28-page layout about a young man who investigates the mysterious death of his brother in a shipwreck in Switzerland
These two layouts did not receive titles, and it is unknown why they were never published.
The third layout is believed to be a prototype of Tezuka’s one-shot short story “the Lowly Angel”, which was published in 1975. The prototype has 44 pages.
These layouts will be published in “Tezuka Osamu’s Missing Pieces”, alongside a draft of Tezuka’s “Mansion OBA”, which was originally published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump in 1972. Additionally, various layouts and character sketches, which were initially featured in magazine-style books, as well as bonus materials will be included. The book will also include annotations by Takashi Hamada
Other titles by Tezuka included in the book are:
- Gucchan to Paiko-san
- Antenna Ichizoku
- Hyotan Komako
- Alabaster
- Kirihito Sanka
- Microid S
- Doronko-sensei
- MW
- Miraijin Chaos
- Dotsuitare
- Miraijin Chaos
- Hidamari no Ki
- Prime Rose
- Nanairo Inko
- Goblin Koshaku
- Phoenix: Sun
