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! :)