Amin Abbas

Yoshiko Watanabe is a veteran Japanese manga artist, illustrator and animator who worked from 1963 to 1972 at Mushi Production with Osamu Tezuka on the creation of Astroboy, Kimba the White Lion, Princess Knight, Rocky Joe and Bem.

Watanabe moved to Italy from 1973, where she worked as mankata for Disney comics in Italy on Mademoiselle Anne, Galaxy Express 999 and others.

Watanabe said that her favorite manga stories are almost all of Tezuka’s works, Doraemon, Little Love Stories, and Yukan Club. Her favorite animation projects are Astro Boy, Princess Knight, Studio Ghibli movies, RICERCA DI NEMO, BAMBI, etc.

Watanabe said that by the end of 1964, she dreamed of animating the characters in Tezuka’s works and her first work was Wonder 3 anime TV series (1965).

“When we were making Astro Boy and Princess Knight, we had very little stock, so we usually had to work all night to get everything done. We didn’t think it was a hardship. Since Mushi Productions was the first pioneer of TV series animation, our work methods were unconventional. And what we thought was the normal way of working was also unconventional,” she explained.

“When we couldn’t make it in time for the deadline, we helped each other out, took on our colleagues’ anime assignments, and created the same thing. We developed a sense of camaraderie.”

Watanabe mentioned that one of the challenges that she faced during her work in animation was the main focus on using minimal movements to achieve the desired effect.

About the differences of animation between the past & present in terms of quality & concept, Watanabe said: “In the past, I didn’t have the techniques I have now, but I would create movements by using various methods and getting help from my colleagues. I think that made me more human.”

Watanabe is known for working on Italian animation movies such as: La Gabbianella e il Gatto, La Freccia Azzurra, Johan Padan and some TV productions like il Corsaro Nero.

“I have a stronger sense of being an animator than a manga artist, so when an Italian feature-length animated film was being produced, I jumped at the chance to be an animator. I started by having an assistant come over, and I worked at home. When I finished drawing my part, I took it to the animation studio, discussed it with the director, got the okay and made corrections,” she explained.

Watanabe is known for publishing La storia di Sayo (2009), Sute, il Figlio degli Spiriti (2011) and Donran (2012) comics stories. “The story of Sayo is the first graphic novel. It is based on the experiences and hardships of the people who after the Second World War returned to the northern part of the Republic of China, which had been conquered as a colony, with their two small children. Ste and Donlan also based the story on Japanese mythology, and created it with the hope of letting people know a little about Japanese monsters and spirits.”

Watanabe was one of the international guests at Sharjah Children Reading Festival 2023 and she was very pleased to meet many fans of anime and manga at the event.