Ayako

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Japanese: 奇子

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Type: Manga

Volumes: 2

Chapters: 19

Status: Finished

Published: Jan 10, 1972 to Jun 9, 1973

Genre: Drama

Themes: Historical, Psychological

Demographic: Seinen

Serialization: Big Comic

Authors: Tezuka, Osamu (Story & Art)

Statistics

Score: 7.76¹ (scored by 4,214 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #1662²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #2232

Members: 10,959

Favorites: 190

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7.76

Ranked #1662Popularity #2232Members 10,959

MangaBig ComicTezuka, Osamu (Story & Art)

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Volumes: /2

Chapters: /19

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Synopsis

Jirou Tenge, the second son of what used to be an influential Japanese family, returns home after being a POW in an American camp during the Second World War. He finds his family corrupted by the terrible social aftereffects of the war.

His elder brother, determined to keep what remains of the family patrimony after the Government's forced land reallocation, has prostituted his wife to his father to secure his blessing, while other members of Jiro's family have been drawn into similar corruption, and he himself is being forced to spy for the Americans after being broken as a POW. Now the family's youngest daughter Ayako will have to bear the brunt of the family's sins.

(Source: ANN)

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BackgroundAyako was published in English by Vertical Inc. in a complete omnibus volume on November 30, 2010. It was also released in Brazilian Portuguese by Editora Veneta as a complete omnibus volume in February 2018.

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Related Entries

More characters
Characters

Tenge, Ayako

Main

Tenge, Jirou

Main

Tenge, Sue

Main

O-Ryou

Supporting

Tenge, Shiro

Supporting

Tenge, Ichirou

Supporting

Tenge, Sakuemon

Supporting

Reviews

Feb 17, 2026

HDLiebert

Recommended

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
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❝ Dᴏɴ’ᴛ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ɢᴇᴛ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ? | ⏳ ❞
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ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
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Beforehand, I ask for forgiveness in case I mention any incorrect information; I am not very good at Geopolitics, so there may be mistakes. Basically, Ayako is set in a period of historical transition and follows the degradation of the Tenge clan family, which is strongly marked by a decaying aristocracy trying to survive and rebuild itself in a world without ever abandoning its archaic ways of thinking... corruption, abuse, opportunism, and violence are literally the foundation that keeps it standing, the pillars of this family. And it is precisely in this toxic ... environment that Ayako, who gives the work its name, is born; she grows up confined to our infamous “basement,” much like Dostoevsky’s “underground man,” coming to exist outside society, outside language, outside time itself. The basement turns into her home, her prison; even when there is a possibility of leaving, the abyss has already internalized itself within her... bringing an impossibility of rising up, of conceiving a world beyond that confinement—and it is incredible! No, I am not romanticizing the basement, because Tezuka makes us feel just how uncomfortable this is and draws us into not letting ourselves fall into this trap... in a way, Ayako does not “fail” to escape; she was shaped so as not to know how to do it, how to escape from there.
In parallel, we have a character, Shiro, who at first glance is incredible; at the moment when he made his judgments and asserted himself during his childhood, I considered him my favorite character in the work... however, Shiro’s figure further amplifies the tragedy of the story, the family’s decadence. A child presented as someone with a promising future ends up functioning as the emotional and moral trash can of that family. Everything the adults refuse to assume—guilt, hatred, resentment, violence—is dumped onto him. He was not born corrupted; however, he was educated by garbage, and the landfill assimilated itself into his core. What we see in the work is a process of slow, and in a way inevitable, contamination, in which the environment shapes an originally incredible person.
It is impossible to ignore the symbolic weight of the fact that the final scene draws an incredible parallel with the basement, but I will not go into deeper detail, as that would be a spoiler. What I can say, however, is that Tezuka seems to assert that certain systems do not allow a real way out, only internal displacements within the same abyss... including an addendum: if you have the possibility of reading Ayako in another language, I strongly recommend the Brazilian version. It includes some extra scenes—namely, an alternative ending that was removed before the work’s publication. I believe the English version does not include this, since the information present in the manga states that, with the exception of Japan, Brazil was the first country to make these pages available.
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⏳

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⏳

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⏳
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
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❝ Vᴏᴄᴇ̂ ɴᴀ̃ᴏ ᴛᴇᴍ ᴠᴏɴᴛᴀᴅᴇ ᴅᴇ ᴍᴇʟʜᴏʀᴀʀ? | ⏳ ❞
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ
⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯⎯
De antemão, peço perdão caso eu cite alguma informação errônea, não sou muito bom em Geopolítica, então pode conter erros. Basicamente, Ayako é ambientada em um período de transição histórica, e acompanha a degradação da família do clã Tenge, que é bem marcada por uma aristocracia em decadência tentando sobreviver e se reerguerem em um mundo sem jamais abandonar seus pensamentos arcaicos... corrupção, abuso, oportunismo e violência são literalmente o alicerce que a mantém de pé, os pilares dessa família. E é justamente nesse ambiente tôxico que nasce Ayako, que da nome a obra, ela cresce confinada ao nosso famigerado "subsolo", tal qual o “homem do subsolo” de Dostoiévski, ela passa a existir fora da sociedade, fora da linguagem, fora do tempo em si. O subsolo transforma-se em sua moradia, sua prisão, mesmo quando há a possibilidade de sair, o abismo já se internalizou dentro dela... trazendo uma impossibilidade de se reerguer, de conceber um mundo além daquele confinamento, e é incrível! Não, não estou romantizando o subsolo, pois Tezuka faz com que a gente sinta o quão desconfortante é isso e nos cativa a não nos deixarmos cair nesta armadilha... meio que a Ayako não “falha” em escapar, ela foi formada para não saber como fazê-lo, como escapar dali. Em paralelo, temos um personagem, o Shiro, que a primeira vista é incrível, no momento em que fazia seus julgamentos e se impunha, durante a infância dele, o considerei meu personagem favorito da obra... porém, a figura de Shiro amplia ainda mais a tragédia da obra, a decadência da família, uma criança apresentada como alguém de futuro promissor, mas que acaba funcionando como a lixeira emocional e moral daquela família. Tudo aquilo que os adultos recusam assumir, como culpa, ódio, ressentimento, violência... é despejado sobre ele, sendo que ele nunca nasceu corrompido, todavia, foi educado pelo lixo, o lixão se assimilou a seu cerne, o que vemos na obra, é um processo de contaminação lenta, e de certa forma inevitável, onde o ambiente molda uma pessoa originalmente incrível. É impossível ignorar o peso simbólico do fato de que a cena final faz um paralelo incrível com o subsolo, mas não entrarei em detalhes aprofundados, pois seria Spoiler. Porém, o que posso falar é apenas que o Tezuka parece afirmar que certos sistemas não permitem saída real, apenas deslocamentos internos dentro do mesmo abismo... inclusive, um adendo. Se tiverem a possibilidade de ler Ayako em alguma outra lingua, recomendo fortemente a versão Brasileira, ela consta com algumas cenas extras, no caso, um final alternativo que foi retirado antes da publicação da obra... creio que a versão inglesa não possua isso, já que a informação presente no mangá, cita que com excessão do Japão, o Brasil foi o primeiro país a ter disponibilizado essas páginas.
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Nov 29, 2024

Mara2463

Recommended

Ayako – Spoiler Free – Recommended

TLDR
Story – 7,5/10 – 7,5 x 0.275 = 2,0625
Art – 8/10 – 8 x 0.2 = 1,6
Characters – 6/10 – 6 x 0.225 = 1,35
Enjoyment – 7/10 – 7 x 0.3 = 2,1
Total: 7,1125 -> 7

Story – 7,5/10
... Ayako’s story is special in Tezuka’s repertoire, as it is probably one of his most cruel works.
Ayako’s story follows the fate of the Tenge family in post-war Japan: a rich countryside and a big landowner family in decline due to the agrarian reforms imposed by the occupying forces. Meanwhile, one of the family members, who was a POW (prisoner of war), returns as a spy for the Americans. Between the struggle for power within the family, the narrative gets developed, and we slowly uncover the family's darkest secrets as they stop at nothing to reach their objectives.
The story opens with a long prologue, before focusing on Ayako, as the story will later focus on Ayako, the family's youngest daughter. There won’t be any spoilers here, but what follows next is probably one of the cruellest torture methods conceivable, although in the manga it was seen as a necessary measure to save the family’s skin and face. The prologue is entertaining and introduces us successfully to the characters and the world of Ayako, as well as giving context to what will happen next.
After the prologue, the other family members become secondary to the narrative for plot reasons, as Ayako's Dantesque livelihood becomes central.
This story positions family honour – but also cynicism – above all else, even common humanitarian rights. It quickly resorts to torture, murder, and betrayal to fulfil the characters’ wicked objectives, no matter the consequences. It also deals with guilt and remorse. Many are the characters that embody this spirit – such as Pa or Jirou –, as they also will take advantage of little Ayako for their twisted purposes, condemning her to a life of misery and ignorance. The story also mentions sexual abuse, rape, and homicide.
Ayako embodies ignorance and, even more than that, impotence and innocence in the face of a world that takes advantage of people quite easily. This is seen in multiple scenes, where Ayako is nothing but a victim of the world she lives in – such as the abusers in her family.
As such, the story is thought-provoking and a joy to read through, as it grips the reader from the get-go, although the second half of the manga – after the prologue – is better than the first half.
The ending is somewhat satisfying.

Art – 8/10
Ayako bolsters a typical Osamu Tezuka art style: beautiful landscapes, a very functional art style with personality, good page flow, panel cadence (which makes this story easy to read), and character design with expressive tones. The page composition was also good – and very Tezukaesque in that regard.

Characters – 6/10
The characters in Ayako are mostly archetypes and placeholders for the action to happen. In this regard, most just represent certain aspects of humanity – such as lust (Pa), greed (Jirou), and innocence (Ayako), although characters are complex enough for them to have more than just one of these aspects. Ayako, for instance, mainly represents innocence, ignorance, and impotence. It is also a grim reminder that humanity is cruel and malevolent – this is probably the manga's most vital message.

Enjoyment – 7/10
Ayako is, by all standards, a great manga with a great story and with good enjoyment. Although it is one of Tezuka’s darkest mangas, it certainly deserves a recommendation for everything it has.

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Mar 12, 2026

Dewynn

Mixed Feelings

Even though Ayako is a story about an abandoned girl locked in a cellar to preserve the honor of her family, for me this is only the surface of the story. On the surface we read Ayako’s story, but in the background there is another narrative about conspiracies after World War II.

Tezuka is a man of his generation, so while reading his work -especially his later works-he usually mentions WW2, economic crises, leftists, and similar topics. Reading one of his later works is almost like reading a summarized world classic, but in a visualized form.
In Ayako, we read about a woman who cannot properly grow ... up because she is locked in a cellar. She observes and learns about the world by reading magazines and books, since this is the only way she can distract her mind from the cellar. The only way she can see outside is through a small upper window. She cannot escape because the outside of the cellar is covered with concrete. While she is reading, she does not learn anything about etiquette or social norms, and this eventually leads her into an incestuous relationship. For her, this situation can be somewhat understandable because she has no social framework or moral guidance, but for those who participate with her it is much harder to justify. And the way Ayako was born into the world… this part was definitely gross. Tezuka also wanted to criticize incest relationships in Japan.

The beginning of Ayako was really interesting, but after the middle of the manga I lost my interest and did not like the final. The result itself is good, but the way it is presented is weak. I did not feel anything toward the perps. The ending could have been better; it needed more chapters. Some chapters express Ayako’s feelings very well -for example the chapter “Chrysalid”- but the mob boss arc is very shallow for a story that should focus on Ayako. That arc mainly focuses on military and POW-related elements. So from the beginning to the middle, Ayako’s story is excellent, but after the midpoint it becomes shallow.

The background story is about Jiro Tengo, who was a soldier and a POW in an American camp. After returning home, some military officers give him one final mission. Through this mission we read about leftist movements in Japan and international military conspiracies. These parts were complicated for me because I am not Japanese, and even my own country’s past conflicts involving leftists and the military already give me a headache. Trying to understand another country’s historical political struggles can be difficult if your proficiency is not in international history or politics, or if you are not especially interested in these topics.

From my perspective, this second storyline damages Ayako’s own story. Ayako is a short manga, but with all these topics it becomes too complicated to handle in only nineteen chapters. Many things are explained only briefly, almost in a few sentences: something happened, and that is all. This manga needs a revision similar to Pluto (where Urasawa reinterpreted Astro Boy and created a new story). In addition, Jiro was a military POW and shows signs of post-traumatic stress; for example when he stays with the four-year-old Ayako and talks to himself in the dark about his past. However, Tezuka never really explores his psychological state. He never shows what happened in Jiro’s past; he only mentions it in sentences. Jiro’s story really cannot fit into nineteen chapters.

Tezuka’s artwork in Ayako is definitely different from the works I previously read (Buddha and Adolf). In Ayako his style is much more realistic. Of course he still keeps his own cartoonish elements, but not as strongly as in Buddha. It is somewhat similar to Adolf, but more realistic than that. He also handles background drawings very gracefully. In those other manga there were not many detailed backgrounds, but in Ayako the assets-furniture, clothing, and other objects- as well as the environments are beautifully drawn. I really like this semi-realistic style for backgrounds and objects: neither rough sketches nor hyper-realistic. Some chapters even resemble a Western drawing style, and some panels clearly reflect pop art influences. I definitely did not expect this style, and I liked it. Those panels were very good.

Overall, if you care a lot about drawing style, this manga might not be for you. But if you do not care much about art style and you are mainly looking for an interesting story, the manga has good content. However, the storytelling is definitely weak, and the manga cannot convey emotions very strongly. Some chapters are emotional, but I cannot say the same for the rest. If you generally read Tezuka’s works, then I can recommend it, because you can clearly observe which parts of his skills improved over time.

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