Photo/Illutration Fujiko Fujio A responds in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in 2020. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Fans of the manga created by “Fujiko Fujio” realized early on from the different drawing styles that something strange was going on.

They decided there was a “white Fujio” and a “black Fujio,” given the stark differences in tone between the works.

The manga duo revealed after their partnership dissolved in 1987 that even though all their works were credited to Fujiko Fujio, many were actually creations either of Fujiko Fujio A, who died on April 7 at age 88, or Fujiko F. Fujio.

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Fujiko Fujio A, rear, with Fujiko F. Fujio in 1979 when they created works under the name of Fujiko Fujio (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Fujiko F. Fujio, whose real name was Hiroshi Fujimoto, died in 1996. His manga and storylines were happy and healthy, especially the widely popular "Doraemon" series.

But the works of Fujiko Fujio A, born Motoo Abiko, were darker, with hints of black humor and the absurd mixed in, such as in the manga series “The Monster Kid.”

Although Abiko and Fujimoto knew each other from elementary school, their personalities were totally different.

Abiko was more outgoing, while Fujimoto was more withdrawn. But their friendship lasted throughout their lives.

Even though Abiko’s works may have been dark, he was a witty conversationalist and his manga ranged across different genres. His work was popular with both children and adults. His manga covered sports, history and horror tales, and many were made into animation series shown on TV.

Abiko’s father was a Zen priest in Himi, Toyama Prefecture, so he never particularly liked meat or fish as an adult.

He got a job with a local newspaper company after graduating from senior high school. But he decided to tag along with Fujimoto when he moved to Tokyo.

Reflecting on the experience in later years, Abiko said, “It was an adventure that was only possible because we were both in it.”

He wrote about his friendship with Fujimoto, as well as the other manga artists the two came to know while working and living in the Tokiwa-so apartment building in Tokyo, in his “Manga Michi” (The way of manga) that would become his representative work.

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The Asahi Shimbun

He began the sequel “Ai…Shirisomeshi Koroni…” (When you know what love is) in 1995. But as that manga was being serialized, his fellow manga artists from Tokiwa-so, such as Fujimoto, Shotaro Ishinomori and Fujio Akatsuka, died one after another.

Abiko considered their deaths to be like losing comrades in war. They had all struggled to write a new page in manga history through their works while offering support and cheering each other on.

“I felt very sad at that time because it was like the end of an era,” Abiko said.

The sequel was completed in 2013, 43 years after Abiko began “Manga Michi.” The following year, Abiko received the Asahi Special Prize under the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for both works.

Although “Manga Michi” depicted young unknowns from rural regions who gathered at Tokiwa-so to chase their dreams of becoming popular manga artists, the work was also a panoramic look at postwar Japan as it progressed from the ruins of war to achieve high economic growth and become an international titan in popular culture.

The work will live on as a contemporary myth of that time.

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