Context: this guy was an artisan who carved art into grains of rice, but he was put out of business when a machine was invented who could defeat him in carving competitions.
This is a surprisingly old tale that gets retold in different contexts.
It sits within the history of John Henry and Luddites.
Pro-tip: the term Luddite is an anti-labour slur used to frame the very real concerns and grievances of workers as being some naive, backwards, anti-technology cult who wants to stand in the way of progress. Best to avoid using the term except where you are discussing history.
Agreed, besides discussing history the other context to use the term luddite is "I'm a luddite." They were right and if a new group emerges ready to burn down data centers and tar and feather tech oligarchs then let them have at it.
Hey, judge dredd did it too; an artist took his work to a comic company with low hopes (in dredd's grimdark future all comic art and stories were done by robots) and the company had their robots steal his art style for them.
I wouldn't put much faith in Osamu Tezuka's mid-sixties beliefs, regardless of what he's saying anymore. This is the same man who was able to write the colonialist abomination Kimba the White Lion.
