Black Magic: Books & Products

Black Magic PC Game for Windows 95 New! 5th Dec 99. Click on the link. Updated: 24th Sept 00' - Black Magic M-66 Film Comic & Figure Model.

Masamune Shirow's Black Magic Japanese Publisher: Seishinsha ISBN4-915333-24-8 C0079 P950E Price: 950 Yen Release Date: Nov 1985 English (TPB) Publisher: Dark Horse/ Studio Proteus ISBN 1-56971-360-X Translation: Alan Gleason & Toren Smith Price: US$16.95 Release date: November 1998

BM-M66 Sketchbook Cover (left) & Sample Page (right) Copyrights: Shirow, Movic & Seishinsha

Black Magic M-66 Sketchbook Publisher: Movic / ISBN4-943966-09-8 C0274 / Price: 1000 Yen / Released: 31st Aug 1987 / Pages: 76 Contents: Digest Film & Interpret- 12 color pages on the OAV, screenshots and illustrations. Design Board & Interpret- Black and white pages with design sketches by Shirow on the M-66s, characters, military mechas, weapons, civilian vehicles and tools, buildings, scenery, interior designs etc. Most pages contains side-panels with detailed explanations and further sketches or storyboards. Some of the sketches were duplicated in the Design section of the Continuity book (see below) and most of the color illustrations by Shirow have been collected in Intron Depot 1 under the Black Magic section.

Continuity Cover (left) & Sample Picture (right) Copyrights: Shirow & Seishinsha

The Continuity of Black Magic M-66 Publisher: Seishinsha / ISBN4-915333-30-2 C0079 / Price: 1248 Yen / Released: 20th Dec 1986 / Pages: 362 The Continuity book collects all of Shirow's storyboards for the M-66 OAV, a total of 316 pages. This is interesting as it portrays Shirow's works in rough, unedited form along with explanations and details of how the animation should progress. This is followed by a Design section where some of Shirow's character, vehicle and other finalised designs were collected. Lastly is a glossary of the animation terms used in the storyboards e.g. PAN, B.G., Fix, Follow etc. and a 4 page commentary by Shirow on his experience and the Black Magic OAV generally. Generally a great book, because storyboard drawings are so much different from manga and so it was an eye-opener to see how Shirow handles his tasks. Don't expect manga-quality drawings here, as most of the pages are rough sketches.

Title: Black Magic M-66 B-Club Film Comic Vol.1 Original Work: Shirow Masamune Publisher: Bandai Date: 10th August 1987 ISBN4-89189-323-0 C0079 Price: 1200 Yen Pages: 191. A black and white with alternate colour pages manga using still frame captures from the Black Magic M66 OAV. The story follows that of the OAV and although a very old work, it looks quite impressive. The feel of a B-grade movie as envisioned by Shirow shows in this comic. Those who like Black Magic and the OAV will love this book. An added bonus is the 11-page Special Talk about Mario-66, an extensive interview with Shirow and the animation staff regarding the OAV at the end of the book. Japanese text.

Black Magic M-66 Figure Model Bandai / B-Club 1/8 M-66 F-5 / Price: 5000 Yen 1/12 M-66 F-6 / Price: 2000 Yen Bandai are well-known for making models and figures in Japan. Since Black Magic is a project involving the company, its not surprising to see figures and kits of this title. There are two versions of the M-66s available as listed above, in different scales. The larger 1:8 F-5 model is of course more expensive. The 'M' in M-66 stands for 'Mario' or marionnette, a kind of string controlled puppet that Japanese mecha / sci-fi authors like to use in their works. Well, the model figure, actually looks very much like a puppet... don't you think? ^_^

Black Magic M-66 OAV Soundtrack- N/A

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