It starts with a Superman origin riff, and then jumps immediately into a planet suitable for a pulp-style adventure worthy of Howard or Burroughs, full of strange acid-trip-inspired creatures. And I'm thinking, okay, I think I can roll with this.
But then we are swiftly informed that anything associated with Earth is Evil and Bad. Oh, and suddenly Dr. Black Jack (one of Tezuka's most well known creations) appears. Aaaaaand, from here, the story goes way off the rails.
We are quickly tripping across the universe with West World, Star Wars cantina, Dracula's castle, some sort of Moebius-type plant world, a space chase, H.G. Wells time travel and more. The story just gets more ridiculous and convoluted, and semblance of plot is thrown out the window, and it seems to jump from one objective to another with serendipitous discoveries and Tezuka characters from other unrelated stories making key appearances. Towards the end it just becomes a big wash of noise and motion and you have to turn off your brain to keep going.
Bander Book is one of Tezuka's "minor works" for a reason. It's a mess.
