The Bottle

“

No one is capable of being an independent manga artist unless they have some type of original story. Out of these, I'm interested in seeing an original story from the artist of the "The Bottle." Considering his age, it's safe to say this artist is a very smart and promising newcomer.

”

—Hiroshi Motomiya, Weekly Shonen Jump 1978 Issue #1

The Bottle (ザ・ボトル, Za Botoru) is a Japanese shonen manga one-shot manuscript written and illustrated by Hirohiko Araki. It was mentioned in the 1978 Issue #1 of Weekly Shonen Jump as a final candidate for the 14th Tezuka Award.

Araki submitted the work using the pen name Toshi Arakino (荒木之利, Arakino Toshi).

Summary

The Bottle was a story written by Araki when he was seventeen years old. It seemingly featured a character dressed in old western attire. As it did not win the Tezuka Award, its contents were never released to the public. However, Hiroshi Motomiya, who was a judge for the Tezuka Award at the time, stated that he would be interested in seeing an original story from the artist of The Bottle.

Gallery

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  The Bottle among other Tezuka Award submissions

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  Tezuka Award comments

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  Comment from Hiroshi Motomiya

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  Weekly Shonen Jump 1978 Issue #1