Masamune Shirow Hyperpage

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! :)

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¥

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 :)

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:

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 :)

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

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 :)

Masamune Shirow was born on 23rd November 1961. Happy belated birthday Shirow Sensei! Many happy returns, good health and thank you for all the great work throughout the years. Hope that we will continue to see more of your amazing works in the future.

And congratulations also on the release of the GITS Solid State Society DVD, GITS1.5 Human Error Processor (Dark Horse), WORKS 2007 Calendar and Intron Depot Starship Police this month! :)

Most of you have come across this, a message from Shirow Sensei for the Appleseed Official Site regarding the Appleseed 3D Live Anime. Pay no attention to this, as I am posting more for my own future reference. a message from Masamune Shirow The history of using illustrated pictures to express life, albeit more primitive, goes back further than that of using film to record it. But now, the former is catching up to the latter, as the cumulative effect of advances in computer graphics technology are finally shedding the shackles that have hindered the art of telling stories with illustrated moving pictures (standard cell animation is fraught with limitations). Yet computer graphics is a double-edged sword: by allowing the creator to express with a brush what more closely imitates his or her imagination, the viewer is increasingly deprived of the joy of using his or her own imagination to fill in the gaps. Pixar has made great strides to address this problem, but the same method will not necessarily be embraced by Japanese creators. Offering one possible solution, Mr. Sori and Mr. Aramaki have chosen “live 3D animation” to take the utmost advantage of the Japanese milieu of composition: the techniques of symbolic representation found in cell animation and puppet theater, and the cultural grounding in meticulous composition found even in stage drama using human actors (such as Kabuki). You say computer graphics lack soul? Not anymore. Now it’s about what’s inside your imagination, and how you choose to express it. Once, when I was working on an animation project, I spoke up about the tremendous advantages that I felt 3D computer graphic backgrounds might have to offer. At the time, my comments were unusual. For my part, it was just the influence of my playing Doom. On more recent animation projects, I made the argument for the need for 3D characters and mecha—again, comments that stuck out like a sore thumb. The reason was to make it possible to freely move characters and mecha within space. For so long, we’ve been on the sidelines, distant onlookers witnessing the great strides that film media have achieved. But now, animated images are finally heading in a direction that matches my own ideals. And it’s coming out of a field that I have had no previous contact with. In fact, I believe there are other authors whose works are more appropriate to this visual style, so I’m humbly thrilled (beyond my attachments as an author, that is) that my work has been used on this project. We must work to bring our efforts on par with the French or Koreans: our goals could include recreation of the archives of “key frame” techniques that we have animators to thank for, such as the shots of beads of sweat on foreheads, the “anemic face” expressing shock using vertical lines on the character’s face, and the selective use of super-deformed bodies. We could devise techniques that incorporate the subtleties of Kabuki and Rakugo. Fortunately, the information capital for this endeavor exists in great quantity in Japan. Whether or not it will be applied or left to waste will be determined by that dynamic relationship of creators and consumers. For my part, despite my shortcomings, I intend to do my best to contribute to this goal, so please do your part, whether it is to create, or consume. 12/19/2003 11:00 AM Masamune Shiro

Just a short News I picked up from Seishinsha Online that the annual Shirow Masamune Calendar for 2005 has been discontinued. Normally announcement for next year's calendar would be made around October, but there will be none for this year. So for those who are searching / waiting for news on this- sorry its not good news.