Osamu Tezuka’s Manga Masterpiece DORORO is Re-imagined by Atsushi Kaneko as a Cyberpunk Thriller in SEARCH & DESTROY

Fantagraphics and MSX Team Up to Publish Kaneko-Sensei’s Kinetic Remix of Tezuka’s Timeless Classic

Which Inspired An Acclaimed Anime and the Cult-hit Videogame BLOOD WILL TELL

Often called “the God of manga,” Osamu Tezuka is internationally beloved for his seminal stories featuring the likes of Astro Boy, Buddha, Jungle Emperor Leo, and Unico. Tezuka’s timeless tale Dororo follows the adventures of a ronin named Hyakkimaru and Dororo, an orphan who claims to be the greatest thief in Japan. Together the swordsman and his rogue sidekick travel the countryside on a most unusual and gruesome quest — as they search for Hyakkimaru’s organs which were bartered away by his father to forty-eight demons in exchange for dominance on the battlefield. This epic road-adventure inspired a twenty-six episode anime, novels, a live action film directed by Akihiko Shiota, and the cult-hit videogame BLOOD WILL TELL. And now, Fantagraphics Books is publishing Atsushi Kaneko’s bold re-imagining of Tezuka’s iconic story ― with the kinetic, cyberpunk thriller titled SEARCH & DESTROY.

Best known in the United States for his punk rock-infused storytelling and the cult classic manga Bambi and Her Pink Gun, Atsushi Kaneko’s wide range of influences include Western cartoonists like Daniel Clowes and Charles Burns, punk rock music, and the films of David Lynch. SEARCH & DESTROY is a brilliantly-crafted action-thriller about an outsider looking for meaning and vengeance in the unjust world that took everything away from her. Officially authorized by Tezuka Productions and originally serialized from 2019–2021 in the Japanese manga monthly TezuComi, SEARCH & DESTROY is a tale of rage ― rage against hypocrisy, injustice, exploitation, and the wrongs done to a child who grew into a righteous killer.

“SEARCH & DESTROY is not only one of the best sci-fi manga of recent years but also one of the most visually rich and distinctive works of graphic storytelling in any genre or language,” said Fantagraphics Associate Publisher Eric Reynolds. “Kaneko-sensei populates a stunning, high-contrast setting that echoes postwar Cuba as much as Tokyo with an unforgettable cast of scrappy heroes and skin-crawling monsters on a nonstop ride full of action and suspense. This sly retelling updates the rebellious ’60s spirit of the original Dororo to the equally tumultuous 2020s to breathe new life into a timeless tale.”

Told over the course of three volumes, SEARCH & DESTROY transplants the vengeful action of Dororo from feudal Japan into a dystopian post-cold-war future where mercenary robots known as “creatures” serve the human elite and victimize the city’s scrabbling, desperate masses. The violent death of one of these creatures connects an orphaned thief named Doro with a mysterious girl in a stinking animal hide that conceals deadly cybernetic implants. Who is this mysterious girl? How is she killing, one by one, the city’s most twisted and powerful creatures?

SEARCH & DESTROY is the latest manga to be published by Fantagaphics in partnership with MSX: Mangasplaining Extra, a publishing initiative run by Deb Aoki and Christopher and Andrew Woodrow-Butcher that spins out of the popular podcast Mangasplaining, which recommends great manga to folks who haven’t read much manga before. The first manga to be published by Fantagraphics and MSX, Susumu Higa’s widely acclaimed Okinawa, has been nominated for the 2024 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonFiction by the American Library Association and made it onto the United States Board on Books for Young People’s 2024 Outstanding International Books List.

“It sometimes feels a bit transgressive to be publishing Kaneko-sensei in English, because his work definitely hits very different notes than most manga in so, so many ways,” said editor Christopher Butcher. “A mix of action, social commentary, and full-on rage, SEARCH & DESTROY is a timely and fresh take on Tezuka-sensei’s original manga that only Atsushi Kaneko could create. This is the story of a young woman, more machine than human, hunting and stealing body parts from some pretty deplorable beings. With SEARCH & DESTROY volume one, the full scale of this mission, her actions, and their importance becomes clear and sets the stage for the intensity of the next two volumes.”

SEARCH & DESTROY volume 1 will be published by Fantagraphics and MSX on July 23, ahead of San Diego Comic Con International. For more info, follow Fantagraphics on X, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Author Profile

Al Mega

I'm Al Mega the CEO of Comic Crusaders, CEO of the Undercover Capes Podcast Network, CEO of Geekery Magazine & Owner of Splintered Press (coming soon). I'm a fan of comics, cartoons and old school video games. Make sure to check out our podcasts/vidcasts and more!