GÔ NAGAI

GO NAGAI GOLDORAK Original illustration created in the 1980s. Signed. Colored inks on paper 20.8 × 25 cm (8.19 × 9.84 in.) Gō Nagaï is the author of a colossal output that is virtually unheard of in France: nearly 250 different manga series, some 60 cartoons based on his work, and some 30 films and TV series. We owe him the first great success of Japanese cartoons in France, Goldorak, which arrived on the screens of Récré A2 (Antenne 2) on July 3, 1978. What a symbol! Gō Nagaï's contribution to his era was not limited to this articulated super-robot mentally piloted by heroes. This former assistant to Shôtarô Ishinomori, the author of Cyborg 009, was one of the first authors in the archipelago to instill a more adult touch in his stories, to the point of causing a scandal with Harenchi Gakuen (Shueisha, 1968) for instilling discreet eroticism in an adventure set in a high school. This notoriety made him a darling of TV talkshows. With no conservative publisher to act as his guardian, Gō Nagaï gave the prudish fathers their money's worth with bloody vampire stories, erotic Magical Girls and breathless thrillers: the artist had discovered the philosopher's stone of success. Most of his creations have been adapted for the screen. At the head of a successful studio, the fragile child of restless nights, born in 1945 a month after the Bomb exploded, has managed to build a body of work out of his worst nightmares. This illustration, emblematic of Go Nagai's art, crystallizes all the graphic power of the Japanese master.