Masamune Shirow Hyperpage

Finally picked up my Pieces 1 artbook today. Well, as feared there are lots of repeat pictures but personally I love it. The printing is good and... well... more about Pieces later in the review post (coming soon, I hope! Quite a lot to say, mainly good things...).

Anyway, inside Pieces I found this flyer on what looks like the next Togihime Zohushi installment. As with any announcement of this nature (no date, sparse details etc etc) it's best to assume that it won't be coming any time soon. But do watch Seishinsha's website closely. The fact that they are still putting out Shirow books is very positive!

Togihime Zohushi, The Next??

Oh, and while we're at it, head on over to the Seishinsha Shirow galleries and grab the magnificient Pieces "Fishfinder" cover art in high resolution :) Until the next post, cheers!

Pieces Cover Art at Shirow Galleries by Seishinsha

Just got an email from Hobbysearch that my Pieces artbook is now in-stock and getting ready for shipping :) Great news! I really hope I'm wrong but judging from the table of contents, seems like there's an awful lot of 'repeat' pictures to be expected.

But anyway, it's a new Shirow art book and I'm pretty excited! Can't wait for the book to arrive and I'll post more details then. Currently, seems to be sold out at all my online sources but I'm sure there will be stock soon or a second wave coming.

Shirow Masamune Premium Gallery PIECES 1
Release: Late February 09
ISBN: 9784878923630
Publisher: Seishinsha
RRP: 1440¥

Pieces cover artwork

Pieces Contents

Table of contents

Images sourced from Hobbysearch item order page
Keep checking, I'm sure it will re-stock soon once all the pre-order copies get sent out :)

While waiting for Pieces to be released (Seishinsha website now says Feb 09, no problem- what's a month right?) I took some photos last weekend and thought I'd post it up. Ok, it might be more meaningful to do some reviews or article, but this takes much less effort :P

First up, quite high on my to-do list:

WTH?

I even bought a pin vice to sort this out! Will share results once complete. I'm sure some of you would know what this is :)

And, some random shots of my newly acquired VM friend ;) I try my best now to unbox and display figures. Unfortunately 99% of my collection is at home.

Motoko!

Again, the mystery part!

With RAH Motoko, hopefully photos soon!

A little bit about the VMF. Overall I quite like this Motoko. With her coat on, the joints are not so obvious, and she is quite beautiful. RAH Motoko is bigger and looks more like the Major from the SAC series, but her costume is a big let-down. Which one do you guys prefer- RAH or VMF? (I think I can guess the answer already...)

Wish me luck with the pin vice challenge! :)

It's been awhile since I posted any fanart, but check out this set of uber-cute, superbly done Motoko and Tachikoma artworks by the talented Camila Fortuna (Sakura-Studio):

Connecting...

Cutie-Motoko Standing Alone...

Tachikoma Desu!

Very cool right? ^_^ I'll be keeping an eye out for Camila's works in future. Do check out her Deviant Art space at: Sakura Studio

I'll put up a link on MSHP too. Great work, Camila! Thanks for sharing with us! :)

Well, most would have known about Shirow Sensei doing the character artworks for the Nintendo DS RPG game, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon which was released end of last year in Japan and Europe. Well, the US version is due end of February 09, so order a copy if this is your kind of game :)

As before, I'm not really excited about the game. Seems like they didn't even use Shirow's art for the in-game graphics. Oh well... another "series" for the commissions section of future Depots eh? Speaking of Depots, still no news on Pieces and it's already end of January. But I think Seishinsha should be good with deadlines, so just waiting as usual.

Since this is the first post of 2009, happy belated new year... I need to work harder posting materials this year...! Anyway, right now I'm in the middle of exams, sucks to be back in university at such an old age -_- Oh well. I'll line up something interesting to share when exams are over next week. Until then, cheers and enjoy Rinda (the real excuse I'm putting up this Fire Emblem non-news item :P)

Some Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon links:
Kotaku impression article
Nintendo Japan official site

Because it's by our favourite artist Masamune Shirow! :) It's a poster too. But you know how it is with magazine posters, you get this crease in the middle :( or worse, a quarter crease in case they need to fold it twice to fit into the magazine. Which is why an A5 size artbook is still best... Anyway, back to topic. This is the Shirow cover issue of Comic Ryu, January 2009 Vol.27 (1), 580 Yen, published by Tokuma Shoten. I think it's due for release tomorrow (or today, if you're in Japan / Asia) 23rd Dec 2008.Oops, my mistake, release was last month on 19th Nov 08.

Ok, the important bit:

Comic Ryu, Jan 09

Grab a copy, if you fancy this sort of poster thing, at Amazon JP or if you have any reliable Japanese magazine supplier. Gosh I'm glad I'm over that "grab any magazine with Shirow" phase early in my collecting pursuit, Comic Gum made quite alot of profit out of me then :( I end up cutting off the covers and posters to bring home, because the other 99% of the comic isn't Shirow material. So I can't flog it for big bucks at ebay :P No, don't do that, it's no good to make a profit from creased posters.

Goody then! More Shirow material (surprisingly) in these closing months of 2008. Maybe there's something more than Pieces coming soon? Fingers crossed. Credits to joukov and the Project Shirow crew, I saw a screenshot of this at their forums. Cheers guys :)

To be honest, I've lost track of the Tachikoma! There are just SO many variations, with the Perfect Piece, Movic mini Tachis, Wave 1/24 WHAMs... its just mind boggling! I'd love to collect them all but at this period when I'm not even sure where I will be next year it's best to trim and be extra choosy. Which is why, my criteria for a Tachikoma purchase these days are - unique and something I really want, instead of for the sake of a more complete collection. Which brings us to this new upcoming Organic offering (sorry for the long rant there): The Kenbishi Heavy Industries EX HAW206 Tachikoma derivative, due in February 2009 for a cool 9,800 Yen.

Tachikoma Collection EX HAW206 - Many Legs Equipment Thought Model Tank by Kenbishi Heavy Industries (That's a bloody long name for a plastic toy there!)
Manufacturer: Organic
Scale: Non (length about 16cm)
Material: ABS
Producer: Shimon Koguma
Release Date: Feb 2009
Regular Price: 9,800 yen

HAW206 Promo Poster

Promotional images of the model

*Also available in funky "Limited Edition" green colour! yay! Although I'm not going to get two and spend more money :(

For those fuzzy memories (including mine) the HAW206 is the rogue Tachikoma experimental model that went on a rampage in GITS SAC Ep02 - Testation. My DVDs are at home, so I cant give screenshots. Anyway, it's just a very cool variant of the Tachikoma which I think is worth collecting. Much like the WAVE 1/24 Type 303 armsuits and Pefect Piece JGSDF armsuit, which are in some ways, novel mechas from the SAC series. The Perfect Piece Gaiden Itachikoma is also somewhat novelty, but I'm not getting that! Too many perfect pieces already! (Google that product if it floats your boat though, quite interesting concept).

Anyway, my WHAM 1/24 Tachi collection is not complete, but with a HAW206 on pre-order it would be convenient to assume some of the missing Tachis were wiped out by some serious firepower! :P Hobbysearch or HLJ for those interested. I think the HAW206 has been on pre-order for quite some time.

Thanks Greg for the heads up :) Cheers!

What on earth is Kodansha Box? Classical Fantasy Within? Forgive the ignorance but all I can google up is some gibberish which doesn't make any sense. I would take a blind stab and guess its just a novel series (in Japanese) with Shirow-illustrated covers. There are quite a lot of covers, with already uhmm... around 6 books out, but its mostly Shirow men... until recently, which brings us nicely to the main purpose of this post - new Shirow girl spotted! Get her in high-res up to 1600 x 1200 size at the "Kodansha Box" website - here - and be quick before they replace her with another man on a horse! Come on Kodansha, surely some Juliona Trans would skyrocket sales for your new boxes! :P

The only good thing in Classical Fantasy Within (so far!)

Classical Fantasy Within Wallpapers Page
Classical Fantasy Within Main Page

Oh, and the novel is written by a Soji Shimada. I know this because the name is on the wallpaper :)

Holy mother of Tachikoma! A Masamune Shirow illustration collection! Brand new unpublished material, Exon Depot 3, 88 pages, coming in January 2009! Thank you Seishinsha!

Shirow Masamune Pieces 1

Masamune Shirow Premium Gallery: Pieces 1
Publisher: Seishinsha
Size: A5
RRP: 1512 Yen

From the short summary text that Seishinsha put up, this seems to be a collection of rare, unpublished Shirow artworks on luxurious print, including an Exon Depot 3 comic. It does say 88 pages, or pieces. Not exactly sure if it's a book or illustration collection type. Yeah! This is what Shirow fans want and dream for years! Go Seishinsha! You the best! :)

And as usual calling it Pieces "1" kinda implies there is a Pieces "2"... damn you ambiguous publishers! Heh, but very very good news. Even trumped a much more feasible, material-ready Galgrease artbook collection. Well done.

Now I gotta find somewhere to order this... maybe 2 copies :P

Hey who would have thought... amidst all the GITS / Appleseed / Intron Depot stuff we are actually looking at some new Galgrease products coming soon! As much as we enjoy (ahem) looking at the pictures, just imagine... wait, there is no need to imagine. Now all Greasy fanboys and hold and feel 'em. :) Thank you PVC!

Spotted at Chara-Hobby 2008 in Japan (end of August 08), I'm sure all Shirow fans need no introduction to this cowgirl:

Nice cigar placement honey! :)

That's a pile of money there!

Another cigar smoking view

The Wet West, coming soon!

She's put up for a 2009 release, no other details available so far. Put her on your Wanted List anyway! ;)

The next Greasy Gal is actually up for pre-order, would you believe! Thank you Beagle! (Motoko 1/8, Space Pirates, SS Police Girl)

Hyakkisyo Shion (The Hellhound Girl)
Maker: Beagle
Height: 23cm
Price: 7140 Yen
Scheduled: October 08

She's coming over real soon, so put her also in your Wanted List! Check out your favourite Japanese figure import shop, they should be able to take pre-orders for her now.

Thanks to fellow Galgrease admirer, Akros for the great news. Cheers! :)