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Old Boy (オールド・ボーイ Ōrudo Bōi?) is a manga series written by Garon Tsuchiya and illustrated by Nobuaki Minegishi.

In 2003, it was adapted into the award winning Korean film Oldboy by South Korean director Park Chan-wook. The film was a huge international success and went on to win various awards including the Grand Prix of the Jury at the 57th Cannes Film Festival awards ceremony.

In 2005, Dark Horse Comics bought the rights to make an English translation of the book for its customers worldwide. Volume 1 of this new translated series was released on July 5, 2006. The manga is composed of a total of eight volumes.

In 2008 Steven Spielberg acquired the rights for Old Boy manga to make a new film based on the original source material.[1]

Plot[]

Twenty-five-year-old Shinichi Gotō was kidnapped one fateful night and locked up in a private jail for unknown reasons. After ten years of solitary confinement, with only a television set for company, he was suddenly released. The story follows his quest to hunt down the identities of his captors and uncover the reason behind his imprisonment.

Characters[]

  • Shinichi Gotō

The main character of the story who was kidnapped and locked up for 10 years. Oh Dae-su in the movie is loosely based on him.

  • Takaaki Kakinuma

He is main villain of the story, he wants revenge on Goto.

  • Yukio Kusama

A famous writer and teacher of Goto and Kankinuma.

  • Eri

A lady who became Goto's girlfriend. She called him Mister.

Volumes[]

No.JapaneseEnglish
Release dateISBNRelease dateISBN
1 October 4, 1997ISBN 457582240XJuly 5, 2006ISBN 1-59307-568-5
2October 4, 2006ISBN 1-59307-569-3
3December 4, 2006ISBN 1-59307-570-7
4February 7, 2007ISBN 1-59307-703-3
5April 4, 2007ISBN 1-59307-714-9
6June 6, 2007ISBN 1-59307-720-3
7August 1, 2007ISBN 1-59307-721-1
8October 10, 2007ISBN 1-59307-722-X

Reception[]

In 2007, The Old Boy manga won an Eisner Award in the category of "Best U.S. Edition of International Material - Japan."[2] Eduardo Chavez of Mania.com noted that "titles like Old Boy... take their time to create a wonderful of paranoia and drama".[3] Anime News Network's Carlo Santos praised the artwork, which "fits the tone of the series well" and the pacing of the story, but mentioned poorly developed characters.[4]

References[]

  1. Gibson, Brian C. (November 21, 2008). "Will Smith Says Oldboy Won’t be Adaptation of Chan-wook Park’s Film". Retrieved 31 January 2010. 
  2. "Old Boy Wins Eisner Award". Anime News Network. 2007-07-29. 
  3. Chavez, Eduardo M. (June 27, 2007). "Old Boy Vol. #03". Mania.com. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 
  4. "Old Boy GN 2 - Review". Anime News Network. November 12, 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2010. 

External links[]


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