Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Essay. Show all posts

●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: -
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JAPANESE EDITION
1-BYŌ 24 KOMA NO BOKU NO JISEI (秒24コマのぼくの人生)
Publisher: Kawade Shobō Shinsha (河出書房新社)
Release date: 2024-XII-2
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 256
Size: 22.8 x 29.7 cm
Retail price: ¥3,520
ISBN-10: 4309257844
ISBN-13: 978-4309257846

AVAILABILITY
Amazon US: 
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US EDITION
MY LIFE IN 24 FRAMES PER SECOND
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
Release date: 2025-X-7
Language: English
Number of pages: 256
Size: 22.8 x 29.7 cm
Retail price: $29.99
ISBN-10: 1419784048
ISBN-13: 978-1419784040

AVAILABILITY
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●ESSAY● THE ART OF OSAMU TEZUKA book FOREWORD





The book "The Art of Osamu Tezuka: God of Manga" by Hellen McCarthy collects the life and work of the famous manga artist Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫). This book includes a 45 minute documentary by NHK never before published outside Japan.

Helen McCarthy is the author of eight books about Japanese animation and comics, including the first book in the English language devoted to anime: Anime! A Beginners Guide To Japanese Animation (1993). She is also the curator of the Osamu Tezuka Film Festival at London’s Barbican Centre.


BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Abrams ComicArts
Release date: 2009-X-1
Language: English
Number of pages: 272
Size: 9 x 1 x 12.2 inches (hardcover)
Retail price: $40.00
ISBN-10: 0810982498 
ISBN-13: 978-0810982499 


AVAILABILITY
Foreword by Katsuhiro Otomo:

It is important to understand that Osamu Tezuka is not the founder of Japanese animation.There were animators in Japan before him, as well as those working at the same time. Tezuka's work, however, revolutionized the industry by transferring recognized cinematic forms of expression from the silver screen to both his manga and his anime in order to make his stories more appealing to his (initially young) audience. In Tezuka's anime especially, camera conceits such as close-ups, pan/tilt, and so forth contributed to the creation of a realistic feel to his animated features, though initially they caused all sorts of production problems. He also played with varied lighting to enhance mood. By Tezuka's time, manga and anime had ceased to be the throwaway items they had been before the war, and it is Tezuka's greatest success that he recognized the need to inject wider perspectives and social awareness into his work. This was important after the war, when Disney animation was contributing to the anti -Japanization of Japanese popular culture, and U.S. -supported reconstruction dominated Japan. Today, much of the manga and anime business stands far removed from the fragile system into which Tezuka breathed life, and from some perspectives, imagination seems to have largely given over to the sort of routine against which Tezuka railed. However, there still remain strands of the Master's imagination woven throughout the islands of Japan, and I have faith that even today many of his professional descendents remain true to the standards by which he built an industry. It is no exaggeration to say that it is largely due to the genius of Tezuka, in those formative years of the country's reconstruction, that Japanese animation and manga have developed into a form largely without comparison in the world. Influenced by the innovations of Disney but guided by his own emotional compass, Tezuka did not demand absolute rigidity of his staff, but he allowed them to explore their own creative processes and unique styles. These were animators who would later go on to create an entire industry, impassioned by their beloved teacher. 

Katsuhiro Otomo is the creator of AKIRA, the seminal manga and movie

PAPERBACK EDITION
It also includes the 45 minute documentary on DVD.

 BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Ilex Press
Release date: 2013-II-4
Language: English
Number of pages: 272 (paperback)
Size: 30.5 x 22.7 cm
Retail price: £19.90
ISBN-10: 1781570337
ISBN-13: 978-1781570333

 AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: http://amzn.to/10moCaj
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/10msUyr
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/1LREb0H
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1CrEEAR
Amazon DE: http://amzn.to/1CrELwq
Amazon FR: http://amzn.to/1CrEPfM
Amazon IT: http://amzn.to/1AWPlJY
Amazon ES: http://amzn.to/1zVZm5Y

JAPANESE EDITION ● TEZUKA OSAMU NO GEIJUTSU (手塚治虫の芸術)
BOOK DETAILS:
Publisher: Yumanishobō (ゆまに書房 )
Release date: 2014-X-24
Language: Japanese
Number of pages:: 271
Size: 30.6 x 23.4 x 3 cm
Retail prize:￥ 9,180
ISBN-10: 4843345792
ISBN-13: 978-4843345795

 AVAILABILITY
Amazon JP: http://amzn.to/1sahB3I
Amazon US:-
Amazon CA:-
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2HajIaL
Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/2HePO0T
Amazon FR: https://amzn.to/2Ha6afo
Amazon IT: https://amzn.to/2EXOM7O
Amazon ES: https://amzn.to/2qJpZzc
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●BOOK● THE ART OF STEAMBOY




The Art Of Steamboy by Katsuhiro Otomo (大友 克洋) and Shinji Kimura (木村 真二) covers the detailed work done for the creation of STEAMBOY the animation movie directed by Katsuhiro Otomo. This big size hardcover book contains background paintings, layouts, character designs, vehicle designs and more.

BOOK DETAILS
Publisher: Kodansha (講談社)
Release Date: 2004-XII-22
Language: Japanese
Number of pages: 270
Size: 11.8 x 10.6 x 1.2 inches
Price: ￥9,800
ISBN-10: 4063646025
ISBN-13: 978-4063646023

AVAILABILTY
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/126AEzE
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2JWz8go
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1U3XO88
Amazon DE: https://amzn.to/2qHF840
Amazon FR: https://amzn.to/2JXTSo4
Amazon IT: http://amzn.to/1AguX65
Amazon ES: http://amzn.to/1U3XNBg

PROLOGUE
Art direction isn’t simply about “art” or “paintings.” In animation, because the drawings resemble background art, they are often confused with it—but they are different.
Art direction begins with designing the entire worldview of the work. In Steamboy, the total number of cuts is just under 2,000. But rather than each cut having a single background image, many have two or three layers called “books,” and when you factor in the CG elements, the total number of components becomes too great to even count.
The story is set in late 19th-century Manchester and London. We went on a location scouting trip to the UK, but there were few buildings still standing from that time. While some of the design elements that remained in old train stations, the steam engines displayed in museums, and textures from old locomotives were helpful references, the majority of the setting had to be constructed from scratch.
The ideas for the townscapes and houses came from old photo books I bought at museums and secondhand bookstores during that trip.
At the start of production, some people even questioned why we would set the story in a foreign country from that era—saying that even depicting 19th-century Japan would be difficult, and doing it abroad was overly ambitious.
However, inspiration for a story doesn’t come from having materials and settings all lined up in advance. If the idea seems interesting, you go from there—in short, you make it up. It sounds crude, but it’s true.
Of course, we research local architectural styles, estimate what kind of furnishings would be appropriate for a family's income, look into clothing, and what seasonal flowers might be in a garden. We gather materials—but relying only on that results in nothing more than a collection of data.
There’s a famous story from the Kurosawa team’s art department: the director himself would polish the floors and dirty the walls of completed sets.
To me, that doesn’t seem like such a strange story. In fact, I think that’s how it should be. I also design houses, towns, and mechanical objects—not only because I enjoy it, but because it’s a ritual for me to enter the world of the work. I, too, want to polish the floors, but since there are no physical sets, I instead “polish” the drawings within the layouts and hand them over to Mr. Kimura in the art department.
Some animators and directors would say that when drawings are done in such detail, it becomes harder for the animators, and they’d prefer rougher sketches. So I did ease up at times, but I still drew in great detail for new or important scenes.
Working with Mr. Kimura and the art team wasn’t particularly difficult. Thanks to the large number of concept boards Mr. Kimura had drawn before production began, the quality was already ensured. More than that, my main concerns were about the technical side—how it would look when textures were applied in 3D, or how the effects would be layered.
If someone asked me what a film shows to its audience, I would say: “its worldview.”
And most of that worldview is contained in this book. It’s a spectacular sight.

Katsuhiro Otomo
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