Shikishima, Kenichi

敷島健一

Rock enjoyed a long career as an actor thanks to his various flaws and his depictions of the many dark sides of human nature; Kenichi, meanwhile, is beloved as the eternal youth in Osamu Tezuka's manga. In any case, Osamu Tezuka's manga truly began with the meeting of Tezuka and Kenichi-kun. Kenichi was cast in the lead role in most of the early works, including "New Treasure Island," and became the first star of Osamu Tezuka's manga. He gazed intently at the world, was habitually considerate, and never forgot to be kind, thereby embodying the conscientiousness and purity of "childhood days." Later, the manga world began to focus on "realities that cannot be communicated through the agency of simple integrity." Because of the need to exist as outsiders from human society, leading characters, including Atom, developed other facets to their personalities alongside their innocent righteousness. Osamu Tezuka himself stated, "I was forced to relinquish Kenichi from his role as protagonist because he lacked individuality." Just as people often feel embarrassed by the innocence of their childhood sense of equity upon reaching adulthood, the manga world forgot Kenichi as it struggled to grow up. Nevertheless, no matter how adult our faces become, our "childhood days" live on forever in our hearts, and similarly, Kenichi continued to deliver straightforward performances as the "righteous boy" who occasionally appears in Osamu Tezuka's manga.