Masamune Shirow Hyperpage

Very very good! :) If you thought the preview booklet was something, the actual book itself is an absolute masterpiece. Stunning graphics from Shirow Sensei and I think this time, he finally nailed the CG illustration game- the girls are well done, some monsters in the mix, and lots of little SD critters which I have not seen from Shirow for quite some time. I think he must be enjoying himself very much creating these artworks!

And the best touch is the fact that each piece is based around a folklore / mythology theme, with an accompanying essay and commentary. So its not just maximum mind-numbing sexy this time, but there's actually a story behind each picture. Magnificent! 6 stars out of 5!

Kokin Togihime Zohushi Shu
Shirow Masamune
Publisher: Seishinsha
ISBN-10: 4878923725
ISBN-13: 978-4878923722
Release Date: 2009/8/10
RRP: 2,075 Yen (Inclusive Tax)

Buy it from Amazon JP! You would definitely want this in your collection.

If you've seen the Seishinsha Shirow page, you'd have noticed 2 different covers for the newly published Togihime Zohushi artbook. It is in fact a limited edition, 16-page special booklet gift from Seishinsha / Shirow Sensei with an alternate cover to the artbook for those who ordered directly from the Seishinsha website.

The gift was sent out end of July and samplings of the booklet has already been reviewed by some Japanese blogs, ranobe.com being one of the best I've come across so far :)

Togihime 16-Page Special Cover

The contents, from what can be seen at the moment seems to be a mash-up of previous and new pictures in the heavy digital rendering of Shirow Sensei's recent style. And as predicted, the artbook will be based on supernatural, folklore and ancient Japanese theme. No Sci-Fi this time, oh well...!

There are also some additional details on the new book from the flyers enclosed with the mini-book: it will be 24 x 33cm size and 64 pages. In the meantime, have a sneak peek at some pages and see if they rock your boat :)

Spot anything new?

By the way, I'm getting my Togihime from Amazon JP instead of Seishinsha direct, so no special mini-book for my collection either. This is as close as it gets, unless I chance upon a copy in the future :) But anyhow, most importantly- enjoy the release of yet another Shirow artbook. Super!

Hey fellow Shirow cats! It's been awhile since anything newsworthy cropped up- in fact I myself almost missed the latest boat! The good folks over at Seishinsha have a new Shirow Sensei release!

Remember the Toguhime Zohushi stuff I talked about many moons back (its just the last post anyway) - well hey, they delivered!

Kokin Togihime Zohushi Shu
Shirow Masamune
Publisher: Seishinsha
ISBN-10: 4878923725
ISBN-13: 978-4878923722
Release Date: 2009/8/10
RRP: 2,075 Yen (Inclusive Tax)

It's looking like a first printing sellout, so secure your copy by pre-order if possible (not that there's many days to go with the release next Monday on 10th August)- you can book a copy through Seishinsha's website (not sure can be done outside Japan) or through Amazon.Jp (where I'm expecting my copy from). The Seishinsha order page have some nifty thing going on, seems like some kind of postcard book deal with the book order (not sure what they're on about either).

At this moment, I have no clue yet what the new Togihime is about. Not sure if its a poster collection, artbook, or just some prints. However, I'm guessing its going to be an artbook as there's reference made to Intron Depot in the product description- so fingers crossed. But anyway some Kimono-clad eye candies, and some samurai Shirow pretties are guaranteed so let's hope its more bang for the Yen than the Pieces release not too long ago (which I really love! :)

Oh, and if you haven't checked, pickup the gorgeous Togihime cover art from Seishinsha's website.

Thanks to HAYATO for the wake up call! :)

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!