Interwoven with the biographical material are segments based on Tatsumi's short stories "Hell", "Beloved Monkey", "Just a Man", "Good-Bye" and "Occupied".

[7] Toho Singaporean director Eric Khoo, who previously exclusively made live-action films but has a past as a comics artist, was first introduced to the works of Yoshihiro Tatsumi during his military service, and says that he immediately was stricken by the sadness and beauty of the stories.

Khoo visited Tatsumi in Japan in October 2009 and received the permission to adapt the work to film.

Khoo said: "You see, Tatsumi loves cinema, and when he created this new movement of comics using strips with real characters, rather than the four-panel manga convention, he produced works that are like storyboards for a film.

"[8] Tatsumi himself was involved in the project and oversaw details to secure authenticity, as well as provided the narration for the biographical segments.

[11] The reviewer also praised the three music compositions, which she felt "lend the biographical segments a sweetly rueful timbre".