Karate Master
A manga and anime that sparked a karate boom in Japan.
The manga Karate Master, illustrated by Jirō Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru, was penned by Ikki Kajiwara and took its inspiration from the real life of karateka Mas Oyama. It ran in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1971 to 1977, filling 29 collected volumes. This story also became a 1973-1974 anime series and a 1977 live-action film.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Martial Arts, Action
Facts from the source article.
Anime and film adaptations
The anime series, produced by Tokyo Movie, ran for 47 episodes on NET, airing Wednesdays from 19:30 to 20:00 between October 3, 1973, and September 25, 1974. The original manga first became a live-action Toei film titled Karate Baka Ichidai, released on May 14, 1977, and known in English as Karate for Life; Kazuhiko Yamaguchi directed it, with Shin'ichi "Sonny" Chiba starring. A later two-part film, Shin Karate Baka Ichidai: Kakutōsha, directed by Takeshi Miyasaka and released in 2003 and 2004 to mark the seventeenth anniversary of Kajiwara's death, is often seen as a manga adaptation, but it actually draws from a book by Hisao Maki, Kajiwara's younger brother. In the U.S., the anime streams on Hulu as Karate Master, and Discotek Media holds the North American home video license.
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