Tatsumi (2011)

Animated Feature | Biopic | Singapore | Japanese & English | 1h36m
Dir: Eric Khoo | Scr: Eric Khoo | Stories: Tatsumi Yoshihiro | Prod: Tan Fong Cheng, Phil Mitchell, Freddie Yeo, & Eric Khoo | Mus: Christopher Khoo & Christine Sham | Ed: Taufik Ramadhan | AD: Widhi Saputro | Snd: Sato Kazuo | Ani: Phil Mitchell | Narrator: Tatsumi Yoshihiro | Cast: Bessho Tetsuya, Motoko Gollent, Mike Wiluan

Khoo’s inconsistent yet solidly crafted and scuzzily entertaining animated film charts the artistic development of manga veteran Tatsumi Yoshihiro, who popularised the adult-oriented gekiga (dramatic pictures) comic book genre. The main narrative of the work is based on Tatsumi’s autobiographical A Drifting Life (劇画漂流 Gekiga Hyōryū), which he himself narrates, with some of his fictional works – five rather bleak stories dripping with post-war angst and desperation – interspersed throughout.