●ANNOUNCEMENT● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 2nd period

 

The poster announcing OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS second period was revealed today in Otomo Zenshu X account and the OTOMO-COMPLETE Official website accompanied by some announcements.

The first is that the publication date  of the seventh batch of the first period consisting in the book   "Animation AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames 3" has been moved from June 2024 to November 2024 due to complications in the production process.

The second announcement is that the start of publication of the second period will start on August 30, before the end of the first period and will consist in these two books with a price tag of ¥3,500 (tax included) each:

★Vol.6:  G..... (short manga works from the late 70's and early 80's that follow Vol.5)
Available in Amazon JP: http://amzn.to/3VRvc6u

★Vol.12: AKIRA 1 (The manga as serialized in Young Magazine)
Available in Amazon JP:  http://amzn.to/45T5OSG

AKIRA was originally published in 120 parts of about 20 pages from 1982 to 1990  in Kodansha's Young Magazine. During that same period it was also collected in six books in which the chapters were lost and the story could be read as a continuum. The chapter title pages were later collected in the art book AKIRA CLUB published in 1995. Otomo also made many substantial changes, corrections and redraws for the final version collected in the books, this versions have been used for every international version ever since. Finally, AKIRA will be available in the same fashion in which it was published when serialized in Young Magazine for the first time, but this time with pristine print quality.

The poster also revealed the rest of the books that will complete the second period:

★Vol.20: Animation AKIRA
★Vol.7: APPLE PARADISE (short manga works from the early 80's that follow Vol.6 )
★Vol.13: AKIRA 2 (The manga as serialized in Young Magazine)
★Vol.31: STEAMBOY Storyboards 1
★Vol.14: AKIRA 3 (The manga as serialized in Young Magazine)
★Vol.32: STEAMBOY Storyboards 2
★Vol.28: MEMORIES
★Vol.33: STEAMBOY Layouts & Key Frames 1

TWEETS by OTOMO (June 26, 2024)
■A poster announcing the start of pre-orders for the second series of the complete collection has been made. Pre-orders will probably start next month. This image is my own pre-order. Please don't criticize me.

■These are some of the things I was influenced by when I was a high school freshman in 1970, until I was around 20 years old. Even though I only drew pictures, the rights issues were a real pain... 

■(On the meaning of ELSINORE that it's written in the back of his shirt) This is a Honda off-road bike. This is the series that became a hot topic because it was the first time Steven McQueen appeared in a commercial. I wanted this T-shirt so I went to a motorcycle shop in Ueno to buy one. 

■(Regarding the poster of BRING ME THE HEAD OF ALFREDO GARCIA) It is amazing! I remember being deeply influenced by this film that I saw in Sendai when I was a high school student.

■(Regarding the third image starting from the bottom left) This is THE RITE OF SPRING conducted by Leonard Bernstein. This is the record version.

■(On the mention made to THE DAY THE FISH CAME OUT  in the afterword of the complete collection) Michael. Cacoyannis was great in ZORBA.  And the music by Mikis Theodorakis, who did the music for Z  is also great. 

■ (On filmmaker Yoshishige Yoshida  (吉田喜重)) I didn't really understand Yoshishige Yoshida's EROS+ MASSACRE (エロス+虐殺), but I found the TV Man Union's (テレビマンユニオン) THE EMPEROR'S CENTURY (天皇の世紀) interesting.

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●ANNOUNCEMENT● AKIRA REMIX CD


Katsuhiro Otomo has announced in X that the AKIRA Cel Art Exhibition Music CD will be released this summer. AKIRA REMIX produced entirely by Otomo himself features the remixes by Makoto Kubota (久保田麻琴), Yasuharu Konishi (小西康陽), and Kuniaki Hiijima (蓜島邦明) of the iconic soundtrack created by Shoji Yamashiro (山城 祥二) and the Geinoh Yamashirogumi (芸能山城組) group for the animated film AKIRA that celebrated it's 35th anniversary last year.

As part of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS that it's beeing published by Kodansha, the AKIRA CEL ART EXHIBITION was held at Ikebukuro Mixalive Tokyo and Osaka Parco Gallery in August and October 2023, and AKIRA REMIX was created to be played at the background of these two events. 

The double CD  featuring an original new illustration by Otomo as a cover will be available on August 21 with the catalog number VICL-65922～23 and a retail price of ¥4,400 (tax incl.) 

Available for pre-order in Amazon Japan: https://amzn.to/3XTtEf8


TWEETS by OTOMO (June 25, 2024)
■I was finally able to announce the release of the CD. The event was in August last year... It took a whole year to make a CD contract. I can't believe Kodansha pays high salaries to people that don't know if they're working or not. How can I work with a company that does this kind of work?

■(regarding the release of the last batch of the first period of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS) Please wait a little longer for that. I am sorry to have kept you waiting.

■(On the same subject) Tomorrow…

■(Regarding the creation of T-shirts based on the CD cover design) It's okay. I can't go into too much detail though. Please wait.

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●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 4 SAYONARA NIPPON (大友克洋全集解説 4 さよならにっぽん )

  

Independent Katsuhiro Otomo researcher and archivist Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也), who in 1999 started the website Apple Paradise: Otomo Katsuhiro Data Base has published the fifth of a series of booklets to accompany the KATSUHIRO OTOMO COMPLETE WORKS collection that is currently being published by Kodansha. This booklet commentaries correspond to Otomo's early manga works collected in the book OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 4: SAYONARA NIPPON (さよならにっぽん)

These COMMENTARY SERIES booklets scheduled to be produced for all volumes will include commentaries regarding each volume and as they have the same size as the books that will accompany, they will work  perfectly as dividers since they  prevent vinyl covers from sticking to each other.

The booklet was sold for the first time today in COMITIA 148 (コミティア148) in the stand TO13b ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO KENKYŪ (と13b 大友克洋研究). You can follow and contact Jun'ya Suzuki on Instagram and Twitter.


BOOKLET DETAILS
Author: Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也)
Release date: 2024-V-26
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: -
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥1,200


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●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 3 HIGHWAY STAR (大友克洋全集解説 3 ハイウェイスター )

 

Independent Katsuhiro Otomo researcher and archivist Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也), who in 1999 started the website Apple Paradise: Otomo Katsuhiro Data Base has published the fourth of a series of booklets to accompany the KATSUHIRO OTOMO COMPLETE WORKS collection that is currently being published by Kodansha. This booklet commentaries correspond to Otomo's early manga works collected in the book OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 3: HIGHWAY STAR (ハイウェイスター )

These COMMENTARY SERIES booklets scheduled to be produced for all volumes will include commentaries regarding each volume and as they have the same size as the books that will accompany, they will work  perfectly as dividers since they  prevent vinyl covers from sticking to each other.

The booklet was sold for the first time today in COMITIA 147 (コミティア147) in the stand CHI42a ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO KENKYŪ (ち42a大友克洋研究). You can follow and contact Jun'ya Suzuki on Instagram and Twitter.


BOOKLET DETAILS
Author: Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也)
Release date: 2024-II-25
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 39
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥1,000


●FOREWORD● RINTARŌ's MA VIE EN 24 IMAGES PER SECONDE

  

Katsuhiro Otomo has written the foreword to the first comic written by his friend and animation director RINTARŌ (りんたろう) with whom he has collaborated many times in the past. The book was first released in French language by KANA and was presented in this year's 51st edition of ANGOULÊME FESTIVAL where several screenings and meetings were devoted to him.


MA VIE EN 24 IMAGES PER SECONDE narrates Rintarō's  journey from post-war Japan to 2001 and the release of the film METROPOLIS, based on Osamu Tezuka's (手塚 治虫) manga and with screenplay by Otomo himself. This journey is made of meetings, opportunities, endless evenings, jazz, cigarettes, but above all cinema, a passion that was passed on to him by his father and which gave him the desire to become a director very early on. And it is animated cinema that offered Rintarō this opportunity. 

You can read Otomo's foreword in French and the first pages of the comic here. 


FOREWORD by KATSUHIRO OTOMO
It was in 1958 that HAKUJADEN (白蛇伝 ), the first Japanese animated feature film in color, was made. Then came SHŌNEN SARUTOBI SASUKE (少年猿飛佐助 ), then, in 1960, SAIYUKI (西遊記) adapted from BOKU NO SON GOKU (ぼくのそんごくう) manga by Osamu Tezuka, who was credited in the film as "Original author responsible for the narrative structure'. Indeed, knowing that Tezuka was very influenced by the Disney animations that he loved, TOEI ANIMATION (東映アニメーション) , which wanted to become the Disney of Japan, had asked the mangaka to participate in the pre-production, writing and directing of the film .

Unfortunately, things didn't go the way Tezuka hoped. It's easy to imagine how difficult it was for a young, popular and promising mangaka to get along with the artisan blacksmiths of animation. He must have felt immense frustration and bitterness. At least that's a figment of my imagination. Apologies if I extrapolate!

But isn't Osamu Tezuka a man who uses failure to bounce back? This is how he created his own company, MUSHI PRODUCTION (虫プロダクション), in 1961, just a year after Sayuki. Was he very angry? Had this harsh ordeal triggered a real trigger in him? Still, the following year, he directed ARU MACHIKADO NO MONOGATARI (ある街角の物語) and the first episode of TETSUWAN ATOM (鉄腕アトム ).

From the start, Mushi Production operated recklessly, since, in the event of a financial deficit, Tezuka drew his mangas to cover debts.

The first Japanese television animation, Tetsuwan Atom, was created from Tezuka's own manga, so it was not subject to adaptation rights. It even ultimately generated revenue through the sale of derivative products, and this success led to the proliferation of animated television series. Rintarō's comic strip clearly shows that at the time, at the dawn of this flourishing industry, Mushi Production even ensured human resources devoid of any experience because its production system seemed attractive to certain young people. Unlike Toei animators, endowed with a real educational background and solid technical training, those of Mushi Production launched into the adventure simply being pushed by the spirit of entrepreneurship: the one who has the greatest passion is capable of doing for the best.

How exciting it was to acquire the know-how alongside older animators or the same age, despite the pressure of deadlines and the mountain of work that was piling up! In Japan, this spirit still seems to prevail in this industry.

Mushi Production faced some criticism because its preferred themes were neither educational nor emotion-based, but rather entertainment-oriented. The fact remains that society has enabled previously unknown artists to flourish. And, quite naturally, Japanese animation has moved towards the adaptation of popular manga, since young artists have naturally followed the example of Tezuka, the founder of Mushi Production, who himself adapted his own manga. one after the other. Of course, there were successes and failures!

In the 1970s, television animation therefore developed alongside the rise of manga. Japan was probably the only country experiencing such a phenomenon at the time. Rintarō, too, began directing within Mushi Production, directing works such as JUNGLE TAITEI SUSUME LEO! (ジャングル大帝 進めレオ！) or SABU TO ICHI (佐武と市), before leaving the company to become independent. His series JETTER MARS (ジェッターマルス) , GRAND PRIX NO TAKA (アローエンブレム・グランプリの鷹) and UCHŪ KAIZOKU CAPTAIN HARLOCK (宇宙海賊キャプテンハーロック)  attracted the attention of the president of TOEI so much so that he entrusted Rintarō with the direction of the feature film GINGA TETSUDO 999 (銀河鉄道９９９)  which was a huge success. This is how animated television series reached the level of quality of a feature film. Subsequently, feature films were screened in international festivals, then occupied a dominant place with the arrival of video cassettes, laserdiscs and DVDs. And it is therefore thanks to the influence of these precursors that today young people are creating original animations all over the world.

By reading this comic, which closely combines the history of animation with Rintarô's personal life, from his childhood to his adolescence and adulthood, I realize how much I owe to my elders, the "anarchists" from the Showa era (1926-1989), which I warmly thank.

大友克洋



BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: KANA
Release date: 2024-I-26
Language: French
Number of pages: 256
Size: 22.8 x 2.8 x 30 cm
Retail price: 27.9€
ISBN-10: 2505076383
ISBN-13: 978-2505076384

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: -

●BOOK● OTOMO: LA NOUVELLE VAGUE DU MANGA

 

French publisher PIX N LOVE has published the book OTOMO: LA NOUVELLE VAGUE DU MANGA (Otomo: The new wave of Manga) written by Ludovic Gottigny with preface by Jean-Pierre Dionnet.  Gottigny previously worked in the AKIRA special number for the French magazine ROCKYRAMA.

The book was also published in a collector's hard cover limited and numbered edition of 1000 copies with an exclusive cardboard sleeve with selective varnish and a numbered certificate of authenticity.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
■Acknowledgments
■Preface
■Foreword
■Prologue: walking in the sky
■A youth in the heart of the Sendai plain
■Part 1: the path to prodigious deicide
-Chapter 1: On the shoulders of the giants, in the contesting typhon
-Chapter 2: On the influence of the New American independent cinema and Avant-garde manga
-Chapter 3: Tokyo vice
-Chapter 4: To the sound of the new wave
-Chapter 5: Children's dreams
-Chapter 6: Pop culture is about to explode!
-Chapter 7: Building on the ruins of Neo-Tokyo
-Chapter 8: Ghost writer
■Part 2: An animated destiny.
-Chapter 1: Omnibus departing from Armageddon
-Chapter 2: A.D. 2019.
-Chapter 3: Memories of digital issues.
-Chapter 4: Illusions lost in the steam
-Chapter 5: Short Peace
-Chapter 6: Staying original
■Part 3: From pencil to camera.
-Chapter 1: Cinema desires
-Chapter 2: In search of lost japan
-Chapter 3: A life on film
■Part 4: Inside Otomo
-Chapter 1: Jack of all trade, master of all
-Chapter 2: Quotes and thoughts
■Part 5: Side stories
-Chapter 1: The shadow of the AKIRA myth.
-Chapter 2: The book eater
-Chapter 3: All for the music
-Chapter 4: Corpus - A selective bibliography
■Bibliography

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: PIX N LOVE
Release date: 2023-XII-8
Language: French
Number of pages: 560
Size: 16.5 x 5.2 x 24 cm
Retail price: 29.9€
ISBN-10: 2371882283
ISBN-1: 978-2371882287

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: -


BOOK DETAILS -Edition Collector Neo Tokyo-
Publisher: PIX N LOVE
Release date: 2023-XII-19
Language: French
Number of pages: 560
Size: 16.5 x 5.2 x 24 cm
Retail price: 39.9€

AVAILABILITY
Editions PIX N LOVE website:


●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 2 BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ (大友克洋全集解説 2 BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ)

 

Independent Katsuhiro Otomo researcher and archivist Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也), who in 1999 started the website Apple Paradise: Otomo Katsuhiro Data Base has published the third of a series of booklets to accompany the KATSUHIRO OTOMO COMPLETE WORKS collection that is currently being published by Kodansha. This booklet commentaries correspond to Otomo's early manga works collected in the book OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 2: BOOGIE WOOGIE WALTZ

These COMMENTARY SERIES booklets scheduled to be produced for all volumes will include commentaries regarding each volume and as they have the same size as the books that will accompany, they will work  perfectly as dividers since they  prevent vinyl covers from sticking to each other.

The booklet was sold for the first time today in COMITIA 146 (コミティア146) in the stand M20a ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO KENKYŪ (M20a大友克洋研究). You can follow and contact Jun'ya Suzuki on Instagram and Twitter.


BOOKLET DETAILS
Author: Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也)
Release date: 2023-XII-3
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 36
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥1,000

●CONVERSATION● Katsuhiro Otomo × Minetaro Mochizuki

Katsuhiro Otomo talked with Minetaro Mochizuki (望月ミネタロウ) in his Special Issue Mook (Magazine-book) published by Kawade with the title: SŌ TOKUSHŪ MOCHIDZUKI MINETARŌ ― SŌZŌ TO HAKAI TO KAKUSHIN TO  (総特集 望月ミネタロウ ― 創造と破壊と革新と。)


TABLE OF CONTENTS
■First full-scale long interview
A 25,000 character interview that talks about everything from his upbringing to his debut to his latest work.
■Newly drawn manga “Lost Manga, Lost Life” (没有漫画 没有人生) Special Extra Edition
■Rare works included:
ZUBERBER (ズベルバー) (published in 2010)
STICKLERS! (スティックラーズ！) (published in 2017)
■Respect Conversation “Katsuhiro Otomo x Minetaro Mochizuki”
Minetaro Mochizuki's first conversation with Katsuhiro Otomo, a master artist whom he greatly respects.
■Special contribution (in order of appearance)
Inio Asano (浅野いにお), Taiyo Matsumoto (松本大洋), Shin'ichi Sugimura (すぎむらしんいち), Akira Sasō (さそうあきら), Masakazu Suzuki (鈴木マサカズ) , Jinko Kobayashi (小林じんこ), Haruki Izumi (和泉晴紀), Sayaka Yamasaki (山崎紗也夏) and  Yama Wayama (和山やま)
■Special interview
Hisashi Eguchi (江口寿史) , Tadanobu Asano (浅野忠信), Kaseki Cider (かせきさいだぁ)
■Essay
Ira Ishida (石田衣良), Junichiro Shimada (島田潤一郎)
■Mochizuki World Deciphering:
Jun Ishikawa [Bataashi Kingyo]
Hiroshi Odagiri [Tokyo Kaido]
Nobuhiko Saito [Dragon Head]
Minami Nobunaga [Food scene]
Aso Yamawaki [shoes and fashion]
Kiyoshi Kusumi [Bikemen]
■Color illustration gallery
Treasured illustrations such as “Bataashi Kingyo” and “Dragon Head”,
Contains plenty of illustrations from French newspaper and magazine covers!
■Work room & character sketch notes released
■Bike & Car Encyclopedia
■[Mochizuki Manga] Quotes
■Complete data pages such as explanations of major works, list of works, and chronology.


MOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kawade Shobo Shinsha (河出書房新社)
Release date: 2023-XI-30
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 288
Size: 14.8 x 21 cm
Retail price: ¥1,793
ISBN-10: 4309980635
ISBN-13: 978-4309980638





AVAILABILITY
Amazon US: 
Amazon CA: 
Amazon UK: 
Amazon DE: 
Amazon FR: 
Amazon IT: 
Amazon ES: 

●MAGAZINE● ANIMELAND No.244: AKIRA

 

The issue No.244 of French anime magazine ANIMELAND marks the arrival of a new formula, from now on, each issue of the magazine will present itself as an ultimate guide to a manga, a franchise or a theme including three times more text than before, thus making it a publication to keep and cherish. To mark this shift and to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the film AKIRA, this issue dedicates around 100 pages out of 144 to Katsuhiro Otomo and his film.

ANIMELAND has been a magazine dedicated to Japanese animation and manga published for over 30 years in France. A historical reference in the sector, it offers its readers cutting-edge content that is ever richer and more exciting year after year.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
■Photo report on the film's exhibition in Tokyo, 
■Extensive interview with the film's leading animator Toshiyuki Inoue (井上俊之)
■Interview with Satoshi Takabatake (高畠 聡) assistant of Katsuhiro Ôtomo in his AKIRA days. 
■Interview with Steve Oliff, the colorist of AKIRA for Marvel
■Portrait of Katsuhiro Ôtomo
■Revelations of the film's creation secrets
■Analysis of Ôtomo's trace in the manga industry
■Return on the reception of AKIRA in France and Japan
■Focus on music and much more
■30 pages to learn about the origin, meaning and representation of the Cyberpunk, a still evolving genre: Interview with Hiroyuki Ochi (越智 博之)
■Eight portraits of cyberpunk references in Japan: Masamune Shirow (士郎正宗),  Tsutomu Nihei (弐瓶 勉) and others
■Seven page mini-file on French SF including a very extensive interview with the staff of the film MARS EXPRESS  film directed by Jérémie Périn.
■The last third of the magazine consists on 5 parts:
-Wishlist: A notebook  listing the best manga, anime, goodies and blu-rays of the moment.
-Japan: School bullying, an investigation into a social subject in Japan.
-Let's talk VF: A subject on the work of dubbing actors 'Can we repair a failed dubbing?'
-Secret Files: Section focused on Japanese editorial content. A board illustrating a fight – with humor – between Yasuhiko Yoshikazu (安彦 良和) and Yoshiyuki Tomino (富野 由悠季)
-Tribute: Farewell and testimony to Buichi Terasawa (寺沢 武一), COBRA's dad.


MAGAZINE DETAILS
Publisher: Ynnis Edition
Release date: 2023-X-18
Language: French
Number of pages: 144
Size: 19.4 x 27.1 cm
Retail price: 14.95€
ISBN-10: 2376974151
ISBN-13: 978-2376974154

AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: -

Official Website Store

●EXHIBITION● AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION OSAKA

The exhibition AKIRA SERU GATEN (AKIRA セル画展) that took place in Mixalive TOKYO from August 10 to 31, 2023 will open today in Osaka in Shinsaibashi 心斎橋PARCO SPACE14. The event will take place from October 6 to 24, 2023.

The exhibition will showcase original cels from Katsuhiro Otomo's animation film AKIRA, some of which are being collected in the OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS volumes 23, 24 & 25, volumes related to Animation AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames that are being published by Kodansha these days.  

To learn more visit the exhibition's official website.


●BOOKLET● ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO ZENSHŪ KAISETSU 1 JŪSEI (大友克洋全集解説 1 銃声)

Independent Katsuhiro Otomo researcher and archivist Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也), who in 1999 started the website Apple Paradise: Otomo Katsuhiro Data Base has published the second of a series of booklets to accompany the KATSUHIRO OTOMO COMPLETE WORKS collection that is currently being published by Kodansha. This second booklet commentaries correspond to Otomo's early manga works collected in the recently published book OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 1: JŪSEI (銃声)

These COMMENTARY SERIES booklets scheduled to be produced for all volumes will include commentaries regarding each volume and as they have the same size as the books that will accompany, they will work  perfectly as dividers since they  prevent vinyl covers from sticking to each other.

The booklet was sold for the first time today in COMITIA 145 (コミティア145) in the stand P52b ŌTOMO KATSUHIRO KENKYŪ (P52b大友克洋研究). You can follow and contact Jun'ya Suzuki on Instagram and Twitter.


BOOKLET DETAILS
Author: Jun'ya Suzuki (鈴木淳也)
Release date: 2023-IX-3
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 30
Size: 248 x 172mm
Retail price: ¥1,000

●EXHIBITION● AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION

Today has opened in Mixalive TOKYO the exhibition AKIRA SERU GATEN (AKIRA セル画展) showcasing over 600 pieces of cels and other production materials from Katsuhiro Otomo's animation film AKIRA. The event will take place from August 10 to 31, 2023 in Ikekuburo (池袋), Tokyo.

Taking pictures at the exhibition is forbidden for the visitors except for the Night Bear scene reproduction  whose design and construction was supervised by Otomo. The only pictures available come from news pages such as NTV and ePLUS.

NTV NEWS coverage of the exhibition

●SIGNATURE● AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION Message Wall

Katsuhiro Otomo did this signature auto-portrait in the AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION Message Wall that opened its doors today.


●MANGA● ZENSHŪ-KUN GA IKU (全集くんが行く) part 5

 

ZENSHŪ-KUN GA IKU (全集くんが行く) part 5
Published in otomo-complete website
2023-VIII-9 | 1 strip | B&W

Read the 4 panel manga strip here: 

●BOOK● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 5: Fire-Ball


The fifth volume of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS collects 12 short stories created by Otomo from 1977 to 1978 when he was 24-25 years old. 

This volume collects two stories previously collected in the book SHORT PEACE (ショート・ピース) published by Kisōtengaisha in 1979 and re-published by Futabasha in 1984. Four stories from the book HIGHWAY STAR (ハイウェイスター) published by Futabasha in 1979, three stories from GOOD WEATHER published by Kitansha in 1981 and one story from the book HANSEL & GRETEL (ヘンゼルとグレーテル). Finally the last two stories: FIRE-BALL and HAIR, both were previously collected in Kodansha's 1990 book  KANOJO NO OMOIDE (彼女の想いで…)

In addition, the never before collected story TŌI MATSURI (遠い祭り) an original story by Nobuyuki Shirayama (白山宣之), was included in this book. As in the previous volumes, the manuscripts that had colors are reproduced in color, the same way they were first published in magazines but this time with a pristine printing quality. 


BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-VII-19
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 310
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥3,190
ISBN-10:4065273137
ISBN-13:978-4065273135

AVAILABILITY
Amazon US: 
Amazon CA: 
Amazon UK: 
Amazon DE: 
Amazon FR: 
Amazon IT: 
Amazon ES: 

COLLECTED STORIES
Manga Action Zōkan (漫画アクション増刊 )
7・8 | 1978-VI-23 | 23 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action ( 週刊漫画アクション)
7・21 | 1978-VII-12 | 16 pages | B&W

●TŌI MATSURI (遠い祭り)
Manga Action Zōkan (漫画アクション増刊)
8・18 | 1978-VIII-4 | 27 pages | B&W

●HENZERU TO GUREETERU (ヘンゼルとグレーテル)
Zōkan Young Comic (増刊ヤングコミック)
8・20 | 1978-VII-20 | 28 pages | B&W

●TAIKYŌ (大麻境)
Zōkan Young Comic (増刊ヤングコミック)
9・20 | 1978-VIII-20 | 24 pages | B/W & Limited 

●KAZOKU (家族)
Weekly Manga Action (週刊漫画アクション)
9・21 | 1978-IX-7 | 20 pages | B&W

●CINEMA CLUB (任侠シネマクラブ)
Young Comic (ヤングコミック)
10・25 | 1978-X-11 | 24 pages | B&W

●ASHITA NO YAKUSOKU (あしたの約束)
Weekly Manga Action (漫画アクション増刊 )
10・27 | 1978-X-13 | 26 pages | B&W + Limited Color

●KATSU KARE (カツ丼)
Weekly Manga Action (漫画アクション増刊 )
10・27 | 1978-X-13 | 26 pages | B&W + Limited Color

●SHINCHO SENKI (信長戦記)
Zōkan Young Comic (増刊ヤングコミック )
12・20 | 1978-XI-20 | 24 pages | B&W

●FIRE-BALL 
Action Deluxe (アクションデラックス) No.1
1・27 | 1979-I-13 | 52 pages | B&W

●HAIR 
Young Comic (ヤングコミック)
2・28 | 1979-II-14 | 25 pages | B&W

●BOOK● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 1: JŪSEI (銃声)


The first volume of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS collects 11 short stories created by Otomo from 1971 to 1974 when he was 17-19 years old. 

Among the collected works in this book, the first four are completely unpublished stories, studies and contributions drawn before Otomo's professional debut in 1973, at the young age of 19 with JŪSEI (銃声) published in August 4th issue of  Manga Action Zōkan for which Otomo also drew the cover illustration. 

The debut work and the rest of the stories have never been collected in any book after their appearance in their respective magazines and can be finally enjoyed with a pristine printing quality for the first time after half a century. 


BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-VII-19
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 320
Size: 248 x 172mm 
Retail price: ¥3,190
ISBN-10: 4065273153
ISBN-13: 978-4065273159

AVAILABILITY
Amazon US: 
Amazon CA: 
Amazon UK: 
Amazon DE: 
Amazon FR: 
Amazon IT: 
Amazon ES: 

COLLECTED STORIES
Honorable mention in the February issue of COM (コム) magazine

●SENJŌ ―SHŪSAKU― (戦場 ―習作―)


●LOUISE (ルイーズ)

●JŪSEI (銃声)
Weekly Manga Action Zōkan (漫画アクション増刊)
8・4 | 1973-VII-20 | 24 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action Zōkan(漫画アクション増刊)
10・6 | 1973-IX-21 | 29 pages | B&W

Weekly Managa Action Zōkan (漫画アクション増刊)
11・3 | 1973-X-19 | 29 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action (週刊漫画アクション)
11・29 | 1973-XI-15 | 26 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action (週刊漫画アクション )
12・20 | 1973-XII-6 | 22 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action Zōkan (漫画アクション増刊)
1・26 | 1974-I-11 | 24 pages | B&W

Weekly Manga Action (週刊漫画アクション)
2・28 | 1974-II-14 | 23 pages | B&W

●ADVERTISEMENT● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS vol.1+5

Advertisements for the upcoming publication of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS Vol.1: JŪSEI and Vol.5: Fire-Ball started to appear in the latest issues of Young Magazine published by Kodansha. 

Here some of the magazines in which the advertisement is printed:

YOUNG MAGAZINE (ヤングマガジン) No.29 | 7・3
MAGAZINE DETAILS: 
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-VI-19
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: -
Size: 25.8x18 cm
Retail price: ¥480

AVAILABILITY:
Amazon Japan: https://amzn.to/3qSHgbX


YOUNG MAGAZINE (ヤングマガジン) No.31 | 7・17
MAGAZINE DETAILS: 
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-VII-3
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: -
Size: 25.8x18 cm
Retail price: ¥480

AVAILABILITY:
Amazon Japan: https://amzn.to/3XZOibs


YOUNG MAGAZINE (ヤングマガジン) No.33 | 7・31
MAGAZINE DETAILS:
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-VII-14
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: -
Size: 25.8x18 cm
Retail price: ¥480

AVAILABILITY:
Amazon Japan: https://amzn.to/3XW3AxE

●ANNOUNCEMENT● AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION key visuals

The first two key visuals for the upcoming exhibition AKIRA SERU GATEN (AKIRA セル画展) that will take place in Mixalive TOKYO from August 10 to 31, 2023 have been presented in the official OTOMO ZENSHU twitter and instagram accounts. Both posters will be available for purchase during the event. 

The exhibition will showcase original cels from Katsuhiro Otomo's animation film AKIRA, some of which are being collected in the OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS volumes 23, 24 & 25, volumes related to Animation AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames that are being published by Kodansha this days.  

To learn more visit the exhibition's official website.

●BOOK● OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS 24: Animation AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames 2


Kodansha has published today the second of three volumes, that collect a huge amount of layouts, original drawings, and  corrections used in the production of the anime version of AKIRA. 

The layout is a drawing that has the information (such as art setting, background and character movement) of each scene of the film and serves as a blueprint to draw the animation. The animation director, the art director and the director Otomo, were involved in the creation of this layouts. The selected ones included in this book are mostly drawn by Otomo himself. In addition to those original drawings, replicas of the cels and background art that made into the final photography of the film are also collected in this book.

The film AKIRA was divided in four parts during production: A, B C and D. Animation AKIRA Layouts & Key Frames 2 (Volume 24 of OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS) collects the material selected by Otomo from his personal collection of parts B (continued from previous volume 23) and the beginning of part C. The next volume 25 will include the rest of the material. 

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release date: 2023-V-17
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 710
Size: 248×172mm 
Retail price: ¥7,700
ISBN-10: 4065293561
ISBN-13: 978-4065293560

AVAILABILITY
Amazon US:
Amazon CA:
Amazon UK:
Amazon DE:
Amazon FR:
Amazon IT:
Amazon ES:


●ANNOUNCEMENT● AKIRA CEL EXHIBITION at Mixalive TOKYO

Mixalive TOKYO will hold the first exhibition of original cels from Katsuhiro Otomo's animation film AKIRA to showcase the original artworks that are being collected in the OTOMO THE COMPLETE WORKS volumes related to AKIRA that have been recently published by Kodansha. AKIRA SERU GATEN (AKIRA セル画展) will take place from August 10 to 31, 2023 in Ikekuburo (池袋), Tokyo. Stay tuned to the official website for more information.

TWEETS by OTOMO (May 9, 2023)
■(Regarding the exhibition taking place in Tokyo) When this project came out, I thought about holding it in the Kansai area. When I told the people in the business department about the plan, they said they didn't understand. Of course, it would be difficult to hold the event anywhere but in Tokyo, so I don't think I had the energy to think about holding it in a rural area.  I was actually thinking about Hakata and Sapporo. We are looking for people who can help us! 

■Bamboo shoots are also welcome.

■I will design one T-shirt for event goods. I would like to create a design that everyone can wear stylishly, rather than focusing on characters.

■When I was looking for the AKIRA layouts, a lot of cels came out. They were so beautiful that I wanted everyone to see them. It's just what I kept at home, so I don't have all the cuts but they are 40 years old, so I think they are valuable.
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