Ok I said this earlier but saying Osamu Tezuka of all people is a transphobe is THE dumbest, coldest take. Not only did the man constantly try and fight for the better treatment of marginalized people, but thereās so many more examples in the 700 mangas he wrote in his lifetime. Iāve only seen two examples, the first being the Dororo ending and the second being Kei Kisaragi from Black Jack.Ā
First, letās start with Dororo. While this example is actually in my opinion one of the worst examples of Tezukaās trans writing, the manga itself was actually cancelled and therefore incredibly rushed. Looking at the plot itself- do you really think Hyakkimaru was meant to abandon Dororo despite both saying they enjoyed traveling with each other just a few chapters ago? This certainly doesnāt justify the ending itself but thereās a ton of other sub-plots that end up being unfinished and the ending in general is just⦠bad. I canāt help but have the feeling there wouldāve been a far more developed plot if the manga gotten to reach its full length.
On Kei Kisaragi- Iāve heard one person saying since Tezuka was a doctor heād know removing the ovaries doesnāt made a man, but that WAS actually the medical misunderstanding at the time. In fact, theĀ ālogicā is explained within the chapter.
But besides the medical misconception? Kisaragi is a decently written trans man. Itās clear Kisaragi isnāt completely torn up about theĀ ātransitionā, and heās still got a character outside just being trans.Ā
Now! To some more direct and better examples
The one thatās most striking to me is a scene from Astro Boy, in which a robot is pointing out problems in the robot code. One of the things he points out being wrong is robots not being able to change their gender:
Thereās literally no other way to interpret this. Robots in Astro Boy clearly stand for marginalized groups, and this part isnāt played for any kind of joke and the robot criticizing the law isnāt shown in a negative light for this.
Princess Knight is a HUGE example of Tezuka playing with gender roles and expectations- the main plot is that a princess is born with both a boy and girl heart, and in order to not let the main villain take over the kingdom, Sapphire is instead raised as a prince and constantly yearns to live as a girl. Itās easily a typical trans story, along with challenging gender roles and leading to more androgynous heroes in future works.
Metropolis! Not the silent film, the manga based on the poster of the short film. Mitchy is literally described as a genderless being and often switches between genders throughout the story.Ā
TL;DR: Tezuka wanted nothing but peace and love and for mistreated people to be treated fairly, and his work reflects this. Multiple factors including time frame affect how he wrote, but saying he hated a certain group of people is an extremely shallow take.Ā