(above) No offence Shinji Aramaki, but Deunan looks so much more bad-ass in the comics than in the anime film.

Sure, some of the character designs might look a little 80s ( especially the hairstyles ) but Masamune was designing mechas and robots that were way ahead of its time, seminary work that influenced and impacted the look of mecha design decades to come. This is a visionary at work.

(above) Illustrations for the original Ghost In The Shell manga, which was adapted into the anime film directed by Mamoru Oshii. One of the big differences between the anime and comic was that the original often allowed for comedic portrayals of Motoko and Patou ( and Deunan in Appleseed ) which had no place in the serious mood/setting of the respective anime films.

(above right) Patou, he’s as tough as cybernetically enhanced humans come. ( below ) Mecha suits, still looking devastatingly good – keep in mind these were designed a staggering 20 years ago.

The book comes with exceptionally well translated english captions, so you’ll have a deeper understanding of what you’re looking at.

Shirow Masamune’s “Intron Depot” art book details :

- Dimensions –11.1 x 8 x 0.7 inches
- Softcover, 150 pages
- Full color with English captions
- Comes with a pullout poster

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5. Tekkon Kinkreet Art Book “White / Shiro”

(above) Did you know that Mei and Satsuki’s house is based on a real house found in Aichi prefecture, Japan ? ( See below ) If chance permits, I’ll certainly love to visit it one day.

Just like Kiki’s Delivery Service picture book, the Japanese text is meant for easy reading and can be a great way to learn some simple Japanese.

(above) Mei and Satsuki goes for a night flight with Totoro using his magical flying top, my favorite sequence in the film.

At only 40 pages, this book doesn’t have too much artwork to show off, but its still a nice, light read. For those looking for more artwork from the film, you can find the official “Art of My Neighbour Totoro” here. I have a copy of the book and will do a review of it in the near future.

“My Neighbour Totoro Picture book” artbook details :

- Dimensions – 8.9 x 7 x 0.5 inches
- Hardcover with jacket, 40 pages
- Watercolor with Japanese text

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The theme for this issue is “(of things) mysterious and strange/fantastic” – Several guest artists paint their interpretation of the theme in the few illustrations below.

(below) This month’s featured anime is “Hipira-kun”, and upcoming film by renowned background artist/art director Kimura Shinji; see the amazing background art he created for “Tekkon Kinkreet” and “Steamboy“.

(below) Art work from the manga “Aoi no Exorcist”. I can’t say I’m too familiar with this one, folks who read this do tell us more. :]

(above) Animator/concept artist Tatsuyuki Tanaka ( of “Cannabis Works” fame ) gives a “masterclass” on animation. ( below) An interview with the ever popular illustrator/concept artist Range Murata, where he mentions an upcoming publication/collection of his art works, now that’s great news, always.

(above Art work by regular contributors Pinfan ( see a review of their art book “Sweet Days here ) and Tanji Yoko. (below)

Kikan S magazine, being a periodical, gets limited prints so do purchase your copy early. Once the issue is sold out, you won’t be able to get it anymore as the publisher does not do reprints.

“Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 32? details :

- Dimensions –11.6 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
- Softcover, 185 pages
- Full color / b & w
- Comes with fold-out Range Murata Poster ( see top image )

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5. “Cannabis works” Tatsuyuki Tanaka artbook

The bulk of the book features art work from Dragonball, most of them used as cover illustrations/chapter dividers for the comic.

Toriyama-san is an expert mecha/vehicle designer, and I so love his creations ! I was planning to do a post on all the machines that appeared in the entire Dragonball series, but I never found time to scan all the pictures I needed. Here at least, you can enjoy some of them.

(above) The cover for book 12. From here on the mood of the manga gets significantly darker/tenser with the start of the Piccolo arc/saga. ( below ) A sneak peek of Toriyama-san’s atelier.

Dr Slump and Arare-chan, one of Toriyama’s earlier creations, also hugely popular in Japan.

(above) Toriyama-san takes us through the creation of one of his art pieces used as the cover art for this book. (below) A piece for Dragon Quest.

The book comes housed in a sturdy outer cardboard slip case. ( above )

Toriyama Akira’s “The World Special” art book details :

- Dimensions –12.4 x 9 x 0.8 inches
- Hardcover, 185 pages
- Full color
- Comes with a cardboard slip case ( see top image )

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5. Pinfan and Chen Shufen’s “Sweet Days” Illustration Art Book

Above : Inoue-san working on a giant comic panels for one of his LAST Manga Exhibition, held in Ueno, Osaka, Kumamoto and Sendai. I was lucky enough to attend the first one held in Ueno, Tokyo. ( see picture below ) While I won’t go so far as to say it was a life changing experience, it was a very, very awe-inspiring indeed.

The magazine comes with “hero” illustrations he painted for each of the four venues of the exhibition, with the one for Sendai as a mini fold-out poster. ( below )

During the Osaka and Sendai exhibitions Inoue-san also conducted a series of workshops on manga production, it must have been quite an experience for those who attended. (above) Some of the tools used in traditional comic paneling, complete with screen tones, etc.

…and that’s the end of Inoue’s article in the magazine, spanning about 50 pages. I would say the illustrations alone are worth the price of the magazine ( 1000 yen, about 12 USD ), but if you can read Japanese that’s even better, because there’s a wealth of information in the interview.

I have enormous respect for Inoue-san. If you’ve read the first volume of his Slam Dunk comics, you’ll remember he wasn’t the most polished of artists back then – but by the end of the series he has transformed into a most amazing artist; testament to his talent and hard work, and a very big inspiration to us all.

Other articles in the magazine :

An interview with world famous composer Ryuichi Sakamoto -

and Japanese actress Yui Arakagi, who singlehandedly re-energized the Pocky brand chocolate snack when she appeared in this colorful commercial :

By virtue of Inoue’s illustration on the cover alone the magazine will fly off the shelves, and reprints will be limited after stock runs out as this is a periodical, so grab your copy fast if you’re keen. ( it might be a good idea to bundle a few other items to make Amazon’s expedited shipping cost worth the while, or perhaps a book pool with some friends who want to get the magazine too. )

“Switch Magazine Inoue Takehiko Special Issue” details :

- Dimensions – 10.8 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches
- Glossy softcover, 196 pages ( Inoue-san’s article about 50 pages, with mini fold-out poster )
- Full color, in Japanese

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5. Katsuya Terada’s “Rakuda Ga Warau” Graphic Novel

Just like the Art of Evangelion “Der Mond” book, Carmine is a huge volume ( 13.1 x 10.1 x 0.7 inches, about 15 to 20% bigger than your average A4 sized artbook ), which also gives it additional real estate for big, beautiful prints. It might not fit as nicely on your shelf though.

(above) A familiar red bike makes an appearance.

Some new art work he painted for the Rebuild films. Can’t wait to catch the 3rd one.

(above ) Poster art from more recent works like A Girl Who Leapt Through Time and Summer Wars, where Sadamoto-san served as the character designer. (below) Pieces from Gunbuster and FLCL.

(below) Artwork from a rather nostalgic anime “Nadia The Secret of Blue Water”. I used to mix up the male lead Jean with Tombo of Kiki’s Delivery Service because they look rather alike, I guess its because Nadia was based on a concept by Miyazaki-san. Its interesting to note also that concept artist Tatsuyuki Tanaka also did some work on Nadia, which meant to say he might have been attached to Gainax at one point ?

(above right) A guest piece for the anime film “Blood The Last Vampire”, with character design by Katsuya Terada.

“Carmine” Yoshiyuki Sadamoto Art Collection details :

- Dimensions – 12.9 x 10.2 x 0.7 inches
- softcover with glossy jacket, 143 pages
- Full color with some B&W, in Japanese

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A total of 6 background artists churned out all the plates used in the film, which is no certainly no mean feat considering the huge amount of work that they had to produce for an anime running 120 minutes long.

At the helm was art director Kimura Shinji, who himself painted a staggering amount of background plates. If you find his name familiar, that’s because he also worked his magic on Michael Aria’s visually stunning Tekkon Kinkreet. Check out the reviews for the amazing Black and White artbooks.

(above and below) Superlative details for various parts of Ray’s house. The book gives the reader an excellent chance to pore over and study the intricate work in the background art, which otherwise would only appear for a couple of brief seconds in the film.

(above) The massive citadel towers above all, and the art quickly reminds me of Brueghel’s magnum opus “Tower of Babel”. ( below )

(above right) Similarly, the cloud shrouded, eerie green moon immediately have me recalling Victorian artist Atkinson Grimshaw’s “Park Row, Leeds”. ( below ) Whether these pieces were homages to the masters or just plain coincidences is anyone’s guess, though I much prefer the former.

(above) The dank and dark interiors of the citadel where Ray’s climatic battle with the gargantuan mechanical monster took place.

(above) One of Scarlet’s planes that appear during the end credits. Fans of Otomo will probably notice by now that the man is partial to the color red; Kaneda’s costume and bike in Akira; Ray’s costume in Steamboy, Magnetic Rose, and not forgetting of course, the huge red hero cannon in his delightful Cannon Fodder.

Unfortunately this mammoth of an art book has been out of print for quite a while now, and no reprints have ever been made. This is probably due to the poor box office takings for the film, and the publishers saw no point in publishing an expensive art book that few folks would want to buy. The Amazon item page is right here, just for your information. If you ever spot a used copy for sale in a 2nd book store when you visit Japan, I would advise you to grab it immediately.

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Tekkon Kinkreet “Shiro / White” Art Book details :

- Dimensions – 10.2 x 7.2 x 1 inches
- Hardcover with jacket, 296 pages
- Full Color, Japanese text

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The first volume “Black” showcases the image boards and concept art created for the film under the supervision of art director Shinji Kimura, ( he also served as art director for Otomo Katsuhiro’s Steamboy – read about it here. ) who himself is one heck of a background artist.

These image boards establish the look and feel of the film, and the background artists fall back on these boards as references when they are working on the actual background plates used in the movie. ( we’ll look at the background art in an upcoming post )

Tekkon Kinkreet is adapted from Taiyo Matsumoto’s popular manga of the same name, check out the original here. In an earlier incarnation of the film that was eventually abandoned, Koji Morimoto was set to be the director and the film was to be done in 3DCG; if you’re lucky you might be able to find some clips of it on youtube.

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(above) Folks who are familiar with many of Tokyo’s popular spots will recognize that the drawing is based on a narrow shopping lane in Shimo-Kitazawa. In fact, Takaramachi, the fictional town in the film is an amalgamation of several real locations in Tokyo, including Nakano, Shimo-kitazawa, Ueno, Tokyo train station, just to name a few.

(above) I was lucky enough to procure a copy with Kimura Shinji’s autograph, awesome ! ( this is only available in Japan )

Stayed tuned for part II.

“Tekkon Kinkreet Kuro Side Art book” details :

- Dimensions – 10.4 x 7.2 x 0.9 inches
- Hardcover with jacket, 208 pages
- Full Color / B&W, Japanese text

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The team work in digital format using the popular illustration software “Painter”, though both hail from traditional backgrounds and honed their artistry there.

While there’s little doubt that photography is employed as a foundation for their work, I feel Pinfen’s strength lies in their ability to augment and combine the charms of both media; photography and illustration to superb effect, and the creative result is more than the sum of both parts.

Due to their huge fan base in Japan, Pinfen’s work are also a regular fixture in the popular illustration magazine “Kikan S”, featuring other well known guest artists like Range Murata and Yoko Tanji.

I’ll love to hear what you guys think of their work – brilliant artistry; or do you have more respect for artists who rely only on the strength of their drawing skills and not photography ?

Pinfan and Chen Shufen’s “Sweet Days” Illustration Art Book details :

- Dimensions – 10.2 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
- Hardcover with jacket, 111 pages
- Full Color in high quality print and paper, Japanese text

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