Photo/Illutration Three draft storyboards for Osamu Tezuka's works, including previously unreleased stories, have been recently discovered. The manuscripts have changed color due to age. ((c) Tezuka Productions Co.)

Three draft storyboards created by manga maestro Osamu Tezuka, including two previously unreleased titles, have been discovered in storage at the animation studio he founded.

Totaling 99 pages, the storyboards were found in two cardboard boxes in June when staffers were organizing a large number of materials left at Tezuka Productions Co.

Tezuka (1928-1989) is often called "the god of manga."

"Those were the last materials that had remained unorganized," said Hajime Tanaka, who is in charge of the archive at Tezuka Productions. "I think there are no more of his previously unreleased works coming out of Tezuka Productions collectively like at this time."

The three storyboards are included in "Tezuka Osamu: Missing Pieces," which was published by Rittosha on Nov. 14.

Drawn by pencil on manga manuscript paper, the storyboards contain compositions and panel layouts for untitled works.

A 44-page storyboard tells a story similar to a one-shot story originally published in 1975 titled "The Lower Angel," suggesting that it is an early draft.

A 28-page storyboard was created for a story featuring a wild child. Raised by a computer in a future world where the environment is severely polluted, he transforms into a half-human, half-animal boy.

In a 27-page storyboard, a young man sets out to find the truth behind the death of his older brother who died while trying to climb the north face of the Eiger mountain in Switzerland.

Because the latter two stories remain unfinished while the characters and dialogue are presented in a detailed manner, it is thought that Tezuka intended to show them to magazine editors as his new projects.

According to Tanaka, the two storyboards were possibly created in 1972 or 1973, judging from the theme of pollution and the style of his drawings.

"Tezuka never drew storyboards in such a detailed manner, so it is obvious that he was planning to show them to people," he said. "When I read them, I had an impression that the one about the wild child was intended for a long series."

"There is no solid proof that he showed them to editors, but he was suffering from a slump at the time for having no hits until 'Black Jack,' which started running in November 1973, so it appears that he was trying to create many types of new works and projects."

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