The Bottle

“

No one is capable of being an independent manga artist unless they have a story with originality. 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