Geta Keibu

About

Possibly the most type-cast of all of Tezuka’s Stars, Hanao Geta almost exclusively appears as a police inspector/detective. In fact, in Tezuka’s manga, Inspector Geta more or less IS the long arm of the law, with the role only occaisionally going to Tawashi or Murai. On those rare occasions when he is not playing a police officer, he is usually cast in some equally morally sound role – as a conscientious ship’s captain, school teacher or newspaper reporter, etc. His debut was in the science-fiction short-story “The Black Space Ray” in Lion Books (1956-57), and his subsequent series credits range from the light-hearted, such as Astro Boy (1952-68), to the gritty and even gruesome, such as Ayako (1972-73) in tone. Although his roles are usually supporting ones, he has had many memorable ones, including trying to track down the insidious Makube Rokuro in Vampires (1966-67) and playing Police Inspector Senri’s father in Rainbow Parakeet (1981-82), to name just two. Inspector Hanao Geta’s name is derived from the Japanese words for a wooden sandal (geta) with a cloth toe strap (hanao). So a literal translation of his name in English might be Detective Clothstrap Clogs. With his tall, powerful physique only partially hidden by his trademarked suit-n-tie-n-fedora look, there is no mistaking Inspector Geta as anything but a hard-boiled cop. Although he is based on both the American comic-strip character Dick Tracy (with a fair bit of the Fleischer Bros. Superman/Clark Kent thrown in for good measure), his square jaw is reminiscent of his namesake Japanese wooden sandal (geta) – so much so that during one memorable scene in Vampires (1966-67), his entire face is suddenly replaced with an actual geta, and none of the characters even notice. (Source: Tezuka In English)

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