The Skull Man

Plot

Manga legend Shotaro Ishinomori’s Skull Man first appeared in Shonen Magazine in 1970 and immediately caused a sensation, selling over 1.5 million copies. The hero, orphaned when his parents were murdered, grows up to use his peculiar powers to take his revenge. The original Skull Man wasn’t virtuous but one of the first dark anti-heroes, someone who would sacrifice the lives of innocents in his quest for vengeance. This dark aspect is what made Skull Man so magnetic and successful. Skip ahead 27 years. Kazuhiko Shimamoto, a young, well know manga artist, is contacted by a dying Shotaro Ishinomori and asked to revive Skull Man. Shimamoto’s boy hood idol, Ishonomori, faxed him copies of the story and plot notes. He couldn’t believe that he was being given the task of illustrating this story and presenting it to more than 110 million fans of Ishinomori’s work. Shimamoto had already been involved in updating one of Ishinomori’s other earlier works Kamen Rider a precursor to Skull Man but little did he dream that, as one of many Ishonomori disciples, he would be chosen for the death bed collaboration and resurrection of Skull Man.