Tokiwa: The Manga Apartment Digitally Remastered Edition Blu-ray + DVD

Youthful days spent in the 1950s in a wooden apartment with rooms measuring four and a half tatami mats. Carefully composed images tell an innocent coming-of-age story about manga artists. Twenty-five years after its creation, the film returns in a digital remaster.

This ensemble youth drama brings together promising performers from the worlds of theater and film to portray real manga artists with a comic touch. Masahiro Motoki plays Hiroo Terada, the older-brother figure among the residents of Tokiwa-so. In the 1990s, Motoki was attracting attention as a distinctive actor through films such as RAMPO, released in 1994, and GONIN, released in 1995. His restrained, almost ascetic performance here opened a new direction for his acting.

Tokiwa-so is a wooden apartment building in Tokyo's Toshima ward. The god of manga, Osamu Tezuka, played by So Kitamura, lives there, and editors visit him day and night. Across the hall, Hiroo Terada, played by Masahiro Motoki, observes these visits while steadily submitting his work to publishers. As Tezuka eventually leaves Tokiwa-so, young aspiring manga artists move in one after another.

They include Hiroshi Fujimoto, later Fujiko F. Fujio, played by Sadao Abe; Motoo Abiko, later Fujiko Fujio A, played by Takuji Suzuki; Shotaro Ishimori, played by Koji Sato; Fujio Akatsuka, played by Yoshiyuki Omori; Naoya Moriyasu, played by Arata Furuta; and Shinichi Suzuki, played by Katsuhisa Namase. Nearby resident Jiro Tsunoda, played by Kaiei Okina, is also a frequent visitor.

All of them have been fellow contributors to Manga Shonen. With Terada at their center, they form the New Manga Party. Amid lives of poverty, they encourage one another and spend their days passionately discussing the future of manga. The eldest, Terada, quietly watches over them as an older brother. His attention also extends to Akatsuka's friend Yoshiharu Tsuge, played by Ryota Tsuchiya, whose artistic style differs completely from his own.

One day, Gakudosha, the publisher of Manga Shonen, suddenly goes bankrupt. From that point, the eight friends' paths begin to change. Some become increasingly popular, some decide to move from manga into animation, and others leave Tokyo. Terada appears to remain unmoved by changing fashions, quietly pursuing only the manga he wants to draw, but doubt gradually grows within him as well. As the times change rapidly, the youthful days of these aspiring manga artists slowly begin to approach their end.

The Blu-ray contains the digitally remastered 110-minute film. The bonus DVD includes making-of footage, a newly recorded interview with Fujiko Fujio A, a 1996 stage greeting, a trailer and a digital photo gallery. The announced extras run approximately 67 minutes in total, comprising 42 minutes of making-of footage, a 20-minute interview, a three-minute stage greeting and a two-minute trailer. The set includes an outer case and a 24-page booklet; the original announcement notes that bonus content may change.