Prime Rose, also known as Emiya Tachi, is a reoccurring character in the Osamu Tezuka Star System. She originally debuted in her own manga in 1982, and continues to cameo in various Tezuka works.
Origin[]
Rose on an official Tezuka Osamu World postcard
The Prime Rose manga first debuted in July 1982. At this time, there was a particular boom in popularity with fantasy-adventure manga starring cute girls.[1] Tezuka attempted to enter the genre, but when readers kept asking for him to make Prime Rose more innocent, yet put her through more fanservice, Tezuka soon lost interest in the manga. In 1983, it was adapted into a feature-length animated film called A Time Slip of 10000 Years: Prime Rose, with Prime Rose portrayed as Tezuka had originally intended her.
The series is set in a universe that is a blend of science fiction technology and primitive society. When King Abumis, ruler of Kurkurit, was exiled from his kingdom, he hurriedly had his daughter Prime Rose entrusted to a commoner family. She was raised under the name Emiya Tachi, until a political uprising comes, and she is nearly forced into marriage with Governor Pirar. Emiya runs away, meets Abumis (hiding out under the name "Jinba"), and is taught swordfighting and combat.
Personality[]
Prime Rose is a teenage girl with an average build. Her most distinct feature is her hair, which sits as spiky puffs at either side of her face. In her civilian form, Emiya usually wears her dress-like school uniform, and in battle, wears black bikini armour and a headband. Her special abilities include swordfighting, espionage, and being able to turn her body stone hard at will.
Rose is outspoken and a natural leader. She usually appears through the Star System as a trendy civilian, or as the daughter of a politician or businessman.
Appearances[]
In Astro Boy: Omega Factor, Rose has a prominent role as Daichi Tokugawa's girlfriend and the daughter of Acetylene Lamp, who is named Drake. Prime Rose is hospital-bound due to a chronic condition called Dolmehka Syndrome. However, Daichi promised Rose he would take her to the moon, and he sneaks her out of the hospital disguised as a robot. Elsewhere, the moon was off-limits to visitors as Death Mask was secretly being built.
Prime Rose's sprite on the character map
Daichi was exposed to the highly radioactive Omotanium that Death Mask was made of, while Prime Rose remained trapped in her hibernation capsule. Mr. Tokugawa then hid Rose's capsule on the Moon Base, pretending no one had gotten near Death Mask. This led Drake to assume that a robot had actually killed his daughter. Three years later, during the game's current events, Prime Rose is rediscovered in her capsule. Astro and Atlas, Daichi rebuilt as a robot, have a pivotal battle in the moon palace while Dr. Black Jack operates on Prime Rose, curing her of Dolmehka Syndrome.
References[]
Trivia[]
- In Omega Factor's character map, she appears in her swordfighter attire from the manga, even though her story in the game considerably differs from that of the manga and she does not appear to be a fighter.
- After her manga ended, the television anime film A Time Slip of 10000 Years: Prime Rose adapted it with several differences. There, she has purple hair and a less youthful appearance, and instead of a technologically advanced era, the future setting is mostly reminiscent of antiquity.