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●UHD BLU-RAY● ROBOT CARNIVAL 4K UHD


Discotek Media has released in the US the first ever edition of ROBOT CARNIVAL (ロボットカーニバル) in 4K UHD Blu-ray format. Previously released on Blu-ray in the US, as a widescreen, high-definition presentation created from the original film materials, this new edition also includes the 4:3 version of the movie for the first time ever. Unfortunately the three wide screen presentations included in the previous Blu-ray, art galleries and standard definition content were left out due to the lack of compatibility with the UHD blu-ray format. Disckotek Media made a chart comparing both editions.



UHD BLU-RAY DETAILS
Publisher: Discotek Media
Release date: 2021-XII-28
Format: HEVC / H.265 / 4K (2160p)
Audio: Japanese & English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Subtitles: English
Running time: 91 minutes
Retail Price: $34.95

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●ANNOUNCEMENT● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS homepage renew


The official OTOMO-COMPLETE home page was renewed and a new OTOMO logo was introduced while more information about the third and fourth books to be published on March 18, 2022  as volumes 2 and 22 has been posted on the Amazon Japan pre-order page. 

Vol. 2: BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ
This book will collect 15 short manga works created by Katsuhiro Otomo from 1974 to 1976 when he was 20 to 22 years old. Most of the stories were previously collected in a book under the same title: BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ published by Kitansha in 1982. This books as well as GOOD WEATHER were distributed only by mail order at that time, and were rarely available at bookstores, so it was difficult to obtain them for a long time.

In this new edition however, the works ONE DOWN and KAGAMI JIGOKU (鏡地獄), a short story of Edogawa Ranpo (江戸川 乱歩) drawn by Otomo in the fore-mentioned period and that were not collected in the original book will be included in this one. In addition, a phantom last page of MEZAMEYO TO YOBU KOE ARI (目覚めよと呼ぶ声あり) that was omitted in both the original publication and the book will be published for the first time in this book.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2022-III-18
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 364
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥3,190
ISBN-10: ‎ 406527320X
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-4065273203

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Vol. 22: Animation AKIRA Storyboards 2
Divided in four parts A, B C and D, Volume 22 collects the parts C and D of the storyboards of the animation film AKIRA as well as new elements such as previously unpublished cuts and commentary pages by Otomo himself.

The storyboards of AKIRA were originally published by the editorial department of Young Magazine in 1988 and they ran out of print in a short period of time. This second volume: AKIRA E-KONTE 2 (アキラ 絵コンテ集 2) , which is the latter part, was and still is, particularly difficult to obtain.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2022-III-18
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 408
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥4,400
ISBN-10: ‎ 4065273102
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-4065273104

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●ANNOUNCEMENT● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS Reservations Start!

Katsuhiro Otomo has announced  in the Otomo Zenshu twitter and instagram accounts and in the official OTOMO-COMPLETE website, accompanied with a new illustration, that the reservations of his upcoming COMPLETE WORKS started today nationwide in Japanese book stores.

Otomo himself previously tweeted that starting on January 21st, two books will be released every other month and that works will be printed in a B5 variant, 248 x 172mm size. The first printing will include a newly designed sticker.

The first two books to be published on January 21, 2022 by Kodansha will be volumes 8 and 21:

Vol. 8: DŌMU (童夢) 
The title selected to inaugurate OTOMO THE COMPLE WORK is DŌMU (童夢), a manga work that was first published in four parts in magazine format and later collected as a book that after 60 editions has been discontinued for over 20 years now.

In this new edition, the image quality has been improved by the newly created version from the original artwork and the print quality has been significantly improved by the quality of the paper that has been carefully selected. In addition, the title page covers, which were not collected in the book, and the bi-tonal original images have been recovered. The illustrations that Otomo had envisioned for the book covers have also been reproduced and a new commentary by Otomo closes the book. The format is a B5 variant size (248 x 172mm).

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2022-I-21
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 252
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥2,970
ISBN-10: 4065262631
ISBN-13: 978-4065262634

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Vol.21: Animation AKIRA Storyboards 1
This book is the first volume out of two, of a huge amount of storyboards drawn by Otomo himself during the production process of  the anime version o AKIRA. Originally published also as two separate volumes by the editorial department of Young Magazine in 1988, both volumes AKIRA E-KONTE 1 (アキラ 絵コンテ集 1) and AKIRA E-KONTE 2 (アキラ 絵コンテ集 2) have been out of print for a long time and are difficult to obtain these days.

Storyboards are often thought of as rough blueprints, but the precision of the AKIRA storyboards is something else. Otomo drew them around 1987 when he was in the middle of the serialization of the fifth volume of the manga AKIRA. Work that he had to interrupt for 17 months to fully focus on the production of the movie version.

AKIRA storyboards are drawn with the tension of the serialization period and the dynamic feeling of the characters are at a level comparable to the main story of the manga. This book collects the  first half, parts  A and B  out of the four parts, A, B, C, and D that the movie is formed of. This large volume of nearly 500 pages is like reading the movie, the animation will be reproduced in the readers brain just by looking at it providing a unique insight to Otomo's animation production techniques.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2022-I-21
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 488
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥4,400
ISBN-10: ‎406526264X
ISBN-13: ‎978-4065262641

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●SIGNATURE● DRAWING IN A BOTTLE "Space Ace"


Katsuhiro Otomo has posted a new drawing in a bottle in the OYAJISHU (親父衆) twitter account.

●SIGNATURE● DRAWING IN A BOTTLE "August is over"


Katsuhiro Otomo has posted a new drawing in a bottle in the OYAJISHU (親父衆) twitter account.

●SIGNATURE● DRAWING IN A BOTTLE "End of War Memorial Bottle"



Katsuhiro Otomo has posted a new drawing in a bottle in the OYAJISHU (親父衆) twitter account with the quote: "End of War Memorial Bottle (Otomo)"

●SIGNATURE● DRAWING IN A BOTTLE "Next guest"


Katsuhiro Otomo has posted a new drawing in a bottle in the OYAJISHU (親父衆) twitter account with the quote: "Next guest (Otomo)"

●SIGNATURE● DRAWING IN A BOTTLE "Dobīn"



Katsuhiro Otomo has posted a new drawing in a bottle in the OYAJISHU (親父衆) twitter account with the quote: "Dobīn (Otomo)"

●CD●ROUJIN Z Soundtrack (老人Z サウンドトラック) 30th Anniversary

ROUJIN Z (老人Z ) Soundtrack was released with the latest remastered sound source in High Quality Blu-spec CD2, a new format from SONY compatible with regular CD readers that delivers better performance. This release celebrates the 30th anniversary of the animation film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (北久保 弘之)  with an original story and screenplay by Katsuhiro Otomo, who also worked as mecha designer. Otomo's friend manga artist Hisashi Eguchi (江口寿史) was in charge of character design and the cover art illustration. Released in September 1991, the film won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film (毎日映画コンクールアニメーション映画賞) that year.

In charge of the music was Bun Itakura (板倉文), the leader of bands such as CHAKRA (チャクラ) and KILLING TIME (キリング・タイム). The soundtrack that includes various genres such as industrial techno, ethnic, and contemporary music, is sometimes boldly edited, giving off a charm that is independent to the movie. The ending theme song is sung by Mishio Ogawa (小川美潮), a close friend from the CHAKRA days. 

The album was also released for the first time in analog format,  pressed as a transparent red vinyl. The CD includes a miniature version of the booklet included in the LP with interviews with Katsuhiro Otomo, Hisashi Eguchi, Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Bun Itakura


TRACK LIST
1. 宣誓 (0:07)
2. Z [Accepter] (2:59)
3. 挨拶 #1 (0:08)
4. Happy Circle [Opening Title] (2:18)
5. Impressions of a MOMENTO (4:16)
6. Interlude~Hello Liddy (0:51)
7. Metabolism #1~#4 (3:34)
8. 挨拶 #2 (0:08)
9. Ornament Love (1:20)
10. New Type (2:08)
11. Escapass (0:59)
12. Interlude~Hustle Mustle→A(W.T.D.)...Wild Today's Description (2:43)
13. Spring (1:55)
14. Stepping Smart [#1 Dark House, #2 Chase] (4:36)
15. Interlude~Hollow Dolly (1:36)
16. 夢の桟橋 [#2 Evening] (2:14)
17. 走れ自転車 [Ending Roll] (4:39)


CREDITS
Composed By:
-Akihiko Kuriyama (栗山昭彦) (track: 13)
-BAnaNA-UG (tracks: 4,10)
-Bun Itakura (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9~12, 14~17)
-Ma-To (tracks: 5)
Computer, Synthesizer, Keyboards & Programmed By Ma-To [Masato Fujii (藤井将登)]
Drums: Jun Aoyama (青山 純)
Guitar, Synthesizer: Bun Itakura (板倉文)
Keyboards: Akihiko Kuriyama (栗山昭彦) , Tatsuro Kondo (近藤達郎)
Percussion: WHACHO [Tetsuaki Hoashi (帆足哲之進)]
Producer: Bun Itakura (板倉文)
Strings: Neko Saito (斎藤ネコ)
Synthesizer, Piano: BAnaNA-UG [Yuji Kawashima (川島裕二)]
Vocals: Mishio Ogawa (小川美潮)


ALBUM DETAILS
Label: Great Tracks
Release date: 2021-IV-24
Format: Blu-spec CD2
Duration: 36 min 41s
Reatil price: ¥2,750
Catalogue number: MHCL-30670





AVAILABILITY
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Amazon US: 
Amazon CA:
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Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/3IVgc1E
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●LP● ROUJIN Z Soundtrack (老人Z サウンドトラック) 30th Anniversary Vinyl

 


ROUJIN Z (老人Z ) Soundtrack was released in analog vinyl for the first time with the latest remastering to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the animation film directed by Hiroyuki Kitakubo (北久保 弘之)  with an original story and screenplay by Katsuhiro Otomo, who also worked as mecha designer. Otomo's friend manga artist Hisashi Eguchi (江口寿史) was in charge of character design and the cover art illustration. Released in September 1991, the film won the Mainichi Film Award for Best Animation Film (毎日映画コンクールアニメーション映画賞) that year.

In charge of the music was Bun Itakura (板倉文), the leader of bands such as CHAKRA (チャクラ) and KILLING TIME (キリング・タイム). The soundtrack that includes various genres such as industrial techno, ethnic, and contemporary music, is sometimes boldly edited, giving off a charm that is independent to the movie. The ending theme song is sung by Mishio Ogawa (小川美潮), a close friend from the CHAKRA days. 

The album is pressed as a transparent red vinyl and includes a booklet with interviews with Katsuhiro Otomo, Hisashi Eguchi, Hiroyuki Kitakubo and Bun Itakura. The album was also released as a Compact Disc compatible, new High Quality Blu-spec CD2 format.


TRACK LIST
SIDE A:
1. 宣誓 (0:07)
2. Z [Accepter] (2:59)
3. 挨拶 #1 (0:08)
4. Happy Circle [Opening Title] (2:18) 
5. Impressions of a MOMENTO (4:16)
6. Interlude~Hello Liddy (0:51)
7. Metabolism #1~#4 (3:34)
8. 挨拶 #2 (0:08)
9. Ornament Love (1:20)

SIDE B:
1. New Type (2:08)
2. Escapass (0:59)
3. Interlude~Hustle Muscle→A(W.T.D.)...Wild Today's Description (2:43)
4. Spring (1:55)
5. Stepping Smart [#1 Dark House, #2 Chase] (4:36)
6. Interlude~Hollow Dolly (1:36)
7. 夢の桟橋 [#2 Evening] (2:14)
8. 走れ自転車 [Ending Roll](歌・小川美潮) (4:39)


CREDITS
Composed By:
-Akihiko Kuriyama (栗山昭彦) (track: 13)
-BAnaNA-UG (tracks: 4,10)
-Bun Itakura (tracks: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9~12, 14~17)
-Ma-To (tracks: 5)
Computer, Synthesizer, Keyboards & Programmed By Ma-To [Masato Fujii (藤井将登)]
Drums: Jun Aoyama (青山 純)
Guitar, Synthesizer: Bun Itakura (板倉文)
Keyboards: Akihiko Kuriyama (栗山昭彦) , Tatsuro Kondo (近藤達郎)
Percussion: WHACHO [Tetsuaki Hoashi (帆足哲之進)]
Producer: Bun Itakura (板倉文)
Strings: Neko Saito (斎藤ネコ)
Synthesizer, Piano: BAnaNA-UG [Yuji Kawashima (川島裕二)]
Vocals: Mishio Ogawa (小川美潮)


ALBUM DETAILS
Label: Great Tracks
Release date: 2021-IV-24
Format: Vinyl | LP | Stereo
Duration: 36 min 41s
Reatil price: ¥4,400
Catalogue number: MHJL-179





AVAILABILITY
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Amazon FR: https://amzn.to/3IUf1zR
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PROMOTIONAL VIDEO

●LP● DŌMU Soundtrack (童夢 サウンドトラック)

 


Dōmu's 1984 LP by King Records has been reissued as LP after the 2019 CD edition . The original soundtrack of Dōmu (童夢), a manga written by Katsuhiro Otomo in 1980, was re-released in CD format  35 years later to commemorate the anniversary. This LP release features the same cover illustration by Otomo and includes a talk between composer Kazuhiko Izu (伊豆一彦 ) and Otomo.


LP DETAILS
DŌMU Limited Edition, Original Recording, Soundtrack
(童夢 限定版, オリジナルレコーディング, サウンドトラック)

Label: FUJI
Release date: 2021-IV-21
Duration: 42 min
Retail price: ¥3,900
Catalogue number: FJLP-153
JAN: 4988044063662



AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: https://amzn.to/43jL04p
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Amazon CA: 
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Amazon DE: 
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TRACK LIST
SIDE A:
A1. Act 1 Scene 7 (3:51)
A2. Act 2 Scene 26 (4:26)
A3. Act 3 Scene 8 (3:42)
A4. Act 4 Scene 14 (4:23)
A5. Act 5 Scene 10 (1:59)

SIDE B:
B1. Act 6 Scene 24 (5:12)
B2. Act 7 Scene 23 (4:14)
B3. Act 8 Scene 11 (4:43)
B4. Act 9 Scene 27 (4:20)


CREDITS
Producer, Music By Kazuhiko Izu (伊豆一彦)
Supervised By [Director]: Toshinori Takatsuka (高塚俊紀)
Mixed By: Ryoji Fukushima (福島良治)
Sequenced By [MC-4], Programmed By [Synthesizer]: Tatsuhiko Mori (森達彦)
Violin [Solo]: Toshihiro Nakanishi (中西俊博)
Bass [Wood]: Motohiko Hamase (浜瀬元彦)
Drums: Atsuo Okamoto (岡本郭男)
Electric Bass: Yuji Muto (武藤祐二)
Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar: Kenji Kitajima (北島健二), Takayuki Hijikata (土方隆行)
Mandolin: Hideki Wachi (和智秀樹)
Percussion: Tatsuji Yokoyama (横山達嗣)
Piano [Acoustic], Electric Piano, Synthesizer: Hirotaka Izumi (和泉宏隆), Kazuhiko Izu (伊豆一彦)
Saxophone, Flute: Ikuo Kataoka (片岡郁雄)

●DIGITAL ART● COLORS OVER SCRAMBLE


Katsuhiro Otomo's original digital art "COLORS OVER SCRAMBLE" was presented at Shibuya Scramble Square (渋谷スクランブルスクエア) Urban Core Digital Signage in Tokyo.

NKB Co., Ltd. planned "COLORS OVER SCRAMBLE" entrusted by Shibuya Station District Development Planners (Tokyo Corporation, East Japan Railway Company, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.) and Scrambles Shibuya. This is the 548th public art by the Japan Traffic Culture Association, and with the motif of the transition of the Shibutani River and the transition of the four seasons, computer graphics are used to express changes in color from inorganic to organic in a one-minute video. 

The size of digital signage is 5.9 meters long and 1.3 meters wide and Otomo spent 6 months producing the work in which rocks and soil settle in the water and fruits and plants emerge to become full-grown trees while white flowers bloom along with gentle background sounds and chirping of birds that are pleasant to the ears

Purpose of the artwork
■ To promote the spread of public art through digital art works based on the original drawings of cartoonist and film director Katsuhiro Otomo
■ To create a space that soothes and encourages people's hearts by easily familiarizing themselves with art through public art.
■ To contribute to regional revitalization and tourism development through the works of famous artists Shibuya Scramble Square Urban Core Digital Signage.

Katsuhiro Otomo's comment:
"I wanted to add color to the place with digital art suitable for a new building. I hope that people who visit Shibuya Scramble Square and see the digital art will be able to understand the charm of the fusion of natural and pop music."

●ANNOUNCEMENT● OTOMO ZENSHU


Kodansha has launched the website OTOMO ZENSHU (大友全集) to announce the details of the upcoming publication of Katsuhiro Otomo's complete manga works. Twitter and instagram accounts were also created where Otomo will contribute from time to time answering questions and commenting.

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