Ode to Kirihito(きりひと讃歌Kirihito Sanka) is a graphic novel by Osamu Tezuka. It was originally serialized in Big Comic in Japan 1970-1971 and was published in English translation in 2006 by Vertical Inc. This series is about a heroic young doctor named Kirihito Osanai and his efforts to cure a strange disease that deforms its victims so that they look like dog-people. He becomes infected with the disease himself and is led on a wild odyssey around the world as he is kidnapped and maltreated by the ignorant and the curious, meeting strange allies and stranger foes. Many of the characters are portrayed as neither outright good nor bad. The series also includes a number of references to Christianity that is somewhat unusual in Japanese manga. Kirihito is most likely a prototype for Tezuka's late