:: 士郎正宗 :: Masamune Shirow Hyperpage Rebirth Version of Lucas' MSHP >> A Masamune Shirow Fan Page

The works featured are copyrights to Masamune Shirow and the respective companies. All copyrights infringements on my pages are un-intentional and these pages are NOT in any way for commercial purposes.
Please inform me of any inconsistencies, mistake or copyrights breach on my part and it will be ammended/corrected.
Also, Views & Opinions on the MSHP are my own (Lucas) and not that of Shirow or the respective companies.

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Senjutsu Chou Koukaku ORION

The Masamune Shirow Hyperpage Presents:

::: MASAMUNE SHIROW'S :::

Copyrights Masamune Shirow / Seishinsha
Kidding! ^_^ It's Masamune Shirow's 仙術超攻殻 ORION!

"Tonight, somewhere on the Planet Lurie, flower of civilization, a malevolent deity is about to appear...." - Orion Notes opening by Masamune Shirow, August 1990

A digest of the classic Shirow Manga Orion [仙術超攻殻オリオン]!

posted by: Lucas at 03/31/05 18:45 | link | comments | Category: orion

Masamune Shirow 2006 Wall Calendar

With the surprising no-show of the Seishinsha annual Shirow calendar this year, there was another line of Masamune Shirow 2005 wall calendar published by a certain US-based Tide-Mark Press. Tide-mark Press is a small publisher of distinctive calendars and books based in Windsor, Connecticut.

Tide-Mark's Masamune Shirow 2005 Wall Calendar,
published under license from Dark Horse / Studio Proteus

Recently Tide-Mark Press has announced the Masamune Shirow 2006 Wall Calendar which was available for pre-order through the April 05 issue of Diamond Comic's Previews:

SHIROW MASAMUNE 2006 WALL CALENDAR Legendary manga artist, Shirow Masamune brings fans of his work this portfolio calander that was ten years in the making! Featuring his most amazing works, this calendar proves the he is the undesputed master of manga!(5306/1-59490-101-5)(CAUT: 4) Wall Calendar, 11x14, FC SRP: $12.95

More information about this 2006 Shirow Wall Calendar:

Masamune Shirow: 2006 Wall Calendar Format: Standard Wall Dimensions: 13.75" x 10.63" Time Span: 12-month Publisher: © 2006 Tide-Mark Price: US$12.95 Product Summary: Shirow Masamune is the undisputed master of manga, the illustration style developed in Japan after World War II—his very name is synonymous with the genre. The Shirow Masamune calendar brings together some of Masamune’s best work from the last decade, including full-color images from his popular Intron Depot series.

The back cover gave a preview of the images that will be featured in this 12-month calendar;

Preview of the '06 Calendar Images

From the looks of it, most of the images were from various Intron Depots hence the ten-years in the making claim. For those of you who wish to get a Shirow calendar next year, this is your best bet as there is no announcement yet from Japanese publishers Seishinsha or Kodansha regarding next year's Shirow calendar. I don't think there will be any new Shirow images in this calendar, but for sure the images will be in high-quality, high-resolution format. This calendar should also be convenient to order since it was featured in the Previews and I'm sure most on-line comics shop will make it available for pre-order soon.

Thanks to Dragon for the clarification ^_^.

posted by: Lucas at 03/26/05 21:36 | link | comments (2) | Category: shirow news, shirow calendars

What's Dai Gassaku?

A little something from my humble little Shirow collection...

Dai Gassaku [ 大合作 ] Tony Takezaki (Part 1) / Kenichi Sonada (Part 2) / Yoshitoh Asari (Both) Afternoon KCDX 1504 Kodansha Release Date: 22nd February 2002 ISBN4-06-334504-1 C9979 Recommended Price: 1000Yen 158 pages Contributing Manga Artists: Kosuke Fujishima (Aa Megami Sama!), Hiroaki Samura (Mugen no Junin), Masamune Shirou (Independent), Megumu Okada (Shadow Skill), Yuzo Takada (3x3 Eyes), Satoshi Shiki (Kamikaze), Hiroyuki Utatane (Seraphic Feather), Kia Asamiya (Silent Moebius), etc... (Total no. of 30+ artists each part)

Dai Gassaku / 大合作 first appeared in Monthly AFTERNOON magazine (Kodansha) Feb 1997 issue to commemorate the magazine's 10th anniversary. It was a special collaboration project bringing together 30+ artists who are contributing / had contributed to the magazine's monthly manga installments at the time. The artists combined their unique art styles to come up with 50 pages of what could be best described as: madness and chaos! ^_^ The end result is a somewhat strange yet entertaining short manga mega-mix. The project was repeated again in Feb 2001 issue with Dai Gassaku / 大合作 Part 2 for the magazine's 14th year anniversary. These two parts were later collected in tankubon form in year 2002. Tony Takezaki was team captain for Dai Gassaku part 1 while Kenichi Sonada took charge for part 2.

For the Dai Gasaku project, all the major Afternoon stable of artists came out in full force with the popular ones contributing more artwork than the rest- names like Kosuke Fujishima, Hiroaki Samura, Kenichi Sonada, all are manga artists well-known worldwide. It is a bit of weird case for Masamune Shirow to be even included in this mix. Shirow Sensei's contribution were only in Part 1 about 3 pages worth, and an absolutely fabulous Belldandy in a massive group-art ^_^. In the credits page for the artists, all the contributors had some manga attributed to them... except Shirow! He was credited as a freelancer. I don't think Shirow Sensei ever contributed to Afternoon Mag before this project... 

For this Dai Gassaku project, Shirow contributed his trademark Takochu- or "Biological Weapon Masamune" as it was known in this manga strip. Its function is to shock the brains of evil man-eating dinosaurs into submission, but sadly the Takochu spawns (with numbers to rival Orion's massive Octopus fest) also attached themselves to the good guys. So it had to be destroyed for the story to progress. Poor Tako.... :) (warned you it made no sense!) By the way, in typical Shirow fashion, he's the only artist to include lenghty footnotes in his first appearance panel.

Biological Weapon Masamune Attack!
Notice the footnotes by Shirow Sensei...

Dai Gassaku is definitely one of the weirder ones in my Shirow collection. The main odd factor is the fact that this is the first time I've seen Shirow collaborating with other artists (and almost 30 of them no less!), which is very much different than contributing a short story of his own to the various mags and doujins. If you are inclined to get this book for your collection, be warned that this Dai Gassaku has some disturbing scenes of gore and violence (which is to be expected when you put Manji of BOTI in a crowd of weirdos! ^_^). For me, I am happy enough with the 3 pages of Takochu and a Shirow Belldandy, plus I do follow works of Hiroaki Samura, Kenichi Sonada, Satoshi Shiki.. most of the Afternoon artists, so its all good!

Feel the power of the Masamune Shock!

::::::: a little note :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Since we're on the subject of AFTERNOON magazine, I am really curious about something that was advertised many years ago. In this Afternoon mag advert for Summer 2000 manga line up:

Remember this item (Fujinsho?) from the old MSHP news?

Well, year 2000 has come and gone, and many years passed since. What on earth happened to this Shirow project? My impression after looking at this is an almost a done deal between Shirow Sensei and the Afternoon editors. What could have happened? Was the project dropped or delayed or...? I have no idea. It wouldn't be surprising for Shirow Sensei to drop announced projects, but I am curious as to the reason why this was unsuccessful. I sincerely hope this project has not become Galgrease or something in Uppers...! That would be a big shame.

posted by: Lucas at 03/25/05 12:21 | link | comments | Category: lucas collection, shirow misc

Toyota's Latest Robots (Landmate Concept?)

Could this be the foundation for Landmates? :)

December 3, 2004
Toyota Group Announces Plans for EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN Pavilion Performance

Tokyo—The Toyota Group* (the Group) today announced its plans for the performance to be featured in the Toyota Group Pavilion at EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN. The richly entertaining show, based on the theme “The Dream, Joy and Inspiration of Mobility in the 21st Century,” will introduce the concepts of “Mobility in Harmony with the Earth” and “Achieving the Dream and Joy of Worldwide Movement ” in its presentation of possibilities for a bright and fulfilling future.

Based on these themes, performance content will feature Toyota’s efforts toward achieving “optimal mobility,” “harmony with society” and “meeting the needs of individuals,” and the future technologies and vehicle possibilities that form part of the company’s vision for the society of tomorrow.

The performance will consist of two parts, a Welcome Show and a Main Show. The Welcome Show will feature Toyota Partner Robots, robots developed to embody kindness and intelligence and to assist with human activities. A robot musical band and an entertaining dialogue between the DJ robot and the emcee promise to bring the stage alive.

The Main Show, titled “MOVE, LIVE,” will feature a theme of “In Movement is Freedom. In Movement is Life.” Single passenger “i-unit” concept vehicles and a mountable, walking “i-foot” robot will join with dancers in a “mobility performance” that will introduce the concepts of “The Wonders of Living and Moving Freely” and “The New Relationship Between People and Vehicles.” A 360-degree large screen will surround the audience and actors, and, together with other stage equipment, present the audience with scenes of nature and tomorrow’s society.

The Toyota i-foot

Toyota i-walk and 2 versions of the i-unit

This is a really interesting concept, even if so far its just for entertainment and exhibition purposes. I'm particularly interested in the i-foot which I think has the foundations of Landmates in the making. The i-unit is pretty cool too, reminds me of Habana's wheelchair in Conflict:1 ^_^. I'm hoping to read more into this new showcase by Toyota, and if you have any new info regarding the technology, or photos, let me know! ^_^

"i-foot" Technical Specs & Design Concepts

Mountable, Walking “i-foot” Robot
This 2-legged, mountable robot was developed for three-dimensional mobility, with the ability to navigate staircases. The passenger climbs on and drives with a joystick. Toyota will present this proposal for a new type of mobility at EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN.

Design Concept
The egg-shaped design of the “i-foot” that wraps around the passenger is meant to express the dream of future three-dimensional mobility and the feelings of safety and reliability upon which that dream is built.

 

Main Features
* The ability to mount and dismount comfortably was of primary consideration in the design of the bird-like legs, which bend toward the rear.
* Steering and speed of the “i-foot” is controlled with a joystick, a fun form of driving different from that of conventional forms of mobility.

Main Specifications
Height 2,360 mm
Weight 200 kg
Degrees of Freedom 12
Weight Capacity 60 kg
Walking Speed 1.35 km/h

Hmmmmm..... still quite far from actual Landmate basic specs, but its a good start ne? Shirow Sensei must be curious and interested to learn more about these latest robots! Honda's Asimo is one thing, but these i-foot and i-unit thingies from Toyota are really quite different and I'm really impressed. Wonder if they have any intention to commercialize these new mobility concepts. For i-unit specs, search for them in the links I've put up at the end of this post. Seems to be a more conventional idea than the i-foot though.

In the meantime, here are some links for further reading:
Toyoto i-foot and i-unit
Toyota Official Press Release
EXPO 2005 Toyota Group Pavilion Official Site

By the way, the EXPO 2005 AICHI runs from 25th March to 25th September 2005. So those who are interested to attend the show can drop by.

posted by: Lucas at 03/24/05 05:33 | link | comments | Category: mshp post

Appleseed Complete Book: Prometheus Montage

I received my Appleseed Complete Book: Prometheus Montage (Mediafactory) yesterday, but I was too occupied due to Tank SWAT news ^_^. So I have been browsing the book today during my free time (which is very very limited this weekend) and I found it to be quite... errr.. uncomplete. Basically just a compilation of various screenshots and some black & white design stuff. However considering that it was published in April, almost half-year earlier from the release of the Appleseed 3D Live Anime it could have been interesting. Here are some information on the book for those who need them, and for my own record.

Book Info:

Appleseed Complete Book: Prometheus Montage ISBN4-8401-1061-1 Publisher: Media Factory Published Date: 30th April 2004 Selling Price: 2000 Yen 126 pages Contents Montage 0: Introduction Montage I: Deunan Knute Montage II: Briareos Montage III: Hitomi Montage IV: Olympus Montage V: Bioroid Montage VI: Landmate Montage VII: APPLESEED Extra Montage 01: Character & Production Design Extra Montage 02: Message from Staff & Cast

On a side note, I do find this a very interesting comparison:

Which one do you prefer? ^_^ Good ol' Shirow Appleseed, or spanking new 3D Appleseed? definitely the former for me!

posted by: Lucas at 03/19/05 23:49 | link | comments | Category: appleseed

TANK S.W.A.T. Official Web!

Follow up to the TANK S.W.A.T. 01 [Dominion] news post recently, the Official Website (Japanese) by producers(?) Project Team DOGA & Digital Tokiwa is up and running! At the moment, nothing there yet except for a "Coming Soon" message but everything looks positive so far! ^_^ Click on the link below to get to the website:

TANK S.W.A.T. 01  OFFICIAL WEBSITE

I have this bookmarked and linked from the MSHP! There's still no update on Romanov-Higa's site yet though. Let's see what's next~ ^_^ sTwo reported that there will be a press conference on this 3DCG feature in Osaka this afternoon, so let's wait for his update also. Hmmm... Shirow Sensei is based in Kobe (or somewhere in Hyogo) if I'm not mistaken and this is just next to Osaka... Wonders if he will be there for this Press Conference? ^_^

::: UPDATE ::: UPDATE :::

So fast! Within hours of posting the above, the TANK SWAT official site has updated, with TRAILERS! o_o I suppose this must be the trailer that came with the Animage April 05 DVD!

TANK S.W.A.T. 01 Trailers!

I'm really excited to see the trailer, from the accompanying soundtrack to the visuals, it has the Dominion mood ^_^ Hopefully they will be able to capture Newport City's atmosphere and feel in the animation. So far, the CG animation looks really nice! ^_^ Some screenshots from the new Tank SWAT Trailer:

Project Team Doga, Masamune Shirow, Romanov-Higa presents...

Leona Ozaki & the AI Tank Bonaparte!

Newport City Police!

One-on-one with enemy tank! Bonaparte's superior flexibility wins the shoot-out!

Annapuma, I assume; the familiar sight of Leona with Bonaparte~ More enemy tanks!

Copyrights 2005 Masamune Shirow; Seishinsha and DoGA; Romanov-Higa

As the saying goes, "an animation is worth a thousand screenshots" so view this new TANK S.W.A.T. 01 trailer at the official site! It's great! ^_^

Another interesting thing I found on the website is this section: TANK S.W.A.T. Dark... I'm not really sure what it says here but it seems to be some kind of information on fans participation. The BBS section is also here.

Tank SWAT Team: Bonaparte, Asada, Uni, Leona, Anna, Habana, Shinozaki

posted by: Lucas at 03/18/05 09:27 | link | comments (3) | Category: dominion, shirow news

Innocence at Tokyo Animation Festival 2004

The annual 2005 Tokyo Animation Festival (TAF) is scheduled for end of this month (31st March 2005) and I see that Production IG is one of the confirmed exhibitors. Wonder if there will be any surprises this year?

But anyway, something from last year (2004). I came across a really impressive picture while browsing through an old 2004 TAF Report. The 2004 TAF was held March 25th to March 28th last year and from that article, Production IG showcased GITS 2 Innocence conceptual material, including this really impressive doll statue below and storyboards as well as Kill Bill Vol.1 anime sequence materials.

Innocence is honestly more "Mamoru Oshii" in my opinion than Shirow, but this doll statue, especially the one on the right with the built-in weapons blazing is somehow very "Masamune Shirow" to me! Don't you think so? ^_^

Well, this is not news, Innocence has been around, and most of us Shirow/GITS fans have watched it. Just posting this because I was really impressed to see this picture from TAF 2004. ^_^ Found the link while reading Watashi to Tokyo. I'll explain next time why I linked to this blog, despite its non-Shirow (almost) content. The author likes Stand Alone Complex though ^_^. Its a vision thing for the MS Hyperpage, more about this next time... ^_^

posted by: Lucas at 03/17/05 22:20 | link | comments | Category: figures & toys

Shirow Films in Singapore Film Festival '05

Something a bit more closer to home, for Shirow fans in Singapore (you lucky devils ^_^) please check out the 18th Singapore Film Festival '05, 14th to 30th April 2005. TWO Shirow titles are showing in theatres, and this is an opportunity not to be missed! It's not every year that we get to see two Masamune Shirow - based films showing on the big screen at the same event.

An excellent line-up!

For this year's film festival, the programme line-up included Mamoru Oshii's Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence and Shinji Aramaki's Appleseed. Of the two films, Ghost has a higher profile, and in fact had been slotted as the Closing Film of the festival on the 30th of April. Seats are limited though, and the shows will not be repeated. Those interested will need to book their tickets right now.

APPLESEED (NC16) / Ticket Price: $8.40
23rd April 2005, Saturday 11am
Venue: Prince 1 (P1)
100 Beach Road
#03-00 Shaw Tower
Nearest MRT Station: Bugis / City Hall

GHOST IN THE SHELL 2: INNOCENCE (NC16 / Closing Film) / Ticket Price: $21
30th April 2005, Saturday 7pm
Venue: Prince 1 (P1)
100 Beach Road
#03-00 Shaw Tower
Nearest MRT Station: Bugis / City Hall

! Here are the necessary links:

:::::: 18th Singapore Film Festival '05 Official Website
All the info you need to know, including schedules & ticketing & movie sypnosis...
You can find the two films listed under the Special Programmes+ Asian Anime section.

:::::: SISTIC (Ticketing Agent for Singapore Film Festival)
Tip: search for Appleseed or Ghost In The Shell in the search section to get to the relevant ticket booking pages.

I hope this information is not too late... Pity I can't go and watch >_< Anyways, if any of you guys or gals manage to catch these two films, some feedback on the show and event ok? Hmm... Do any Singaporeans read this page anyway? ^_^||| I wonder if there will be a similiar event here in Malaysia / KL...

By the way, on an unrelated note, I do have my own film festival at home once in a while. Ever sat through an entire showing of Appleseed and 26 episodes of Stand Alone Complex all in the same day? I have, and it was a surreal experience. +_+ b Maybe in the middle of the year I will do a Stand Alone Complex Festival, 52 episodes of non-stop Section-9 action, followed by Tachikoma Specials O_O *bliss*....... but then again I should get a bigger TV set, and a better sound system. So maybe this isn't such a good idea after all :P

posted by: Lucas at 03/16/05 13:55 | link | comments (2) | Category: shirow news

Maxon Comic Pad (Masamune Shirow cover)

To be honest, I am real busy to do any long posts these past few days so I decided to do a fast and easy one for today :P. 

Comic Pad, Appleseed Cover

A little [insignificant] Shirow item from my personal collection: A Maxon Comic Pad featuring Shirow Sensei's Appleseed (book 4 art) on the cover. I got this item many years ago when I used to try and get anything at all even with just a hint of Masamune Shirow Sensei's art... ah, the good scary days! ^_^ Anyway, this is a "Comic Pad" by Holbein Art Materials Inc. (Made in Japan), and is just a piece of stationery. This comic pad is specifically for doujinshi or personal comic drawing use, 40 pieces of blank A4 sized high quality art paper with guides and ruler scales for comic drawing. I suppose its natural for Maxon to advertise with Shirow art on its cover, since Shirow Sensei is well-known to produce his comics alone. Shirow may be a pro, but he does operate like a doujinshi artist!

The cover of this Comic Pad uses a page from Shirow's Appleseed Book 4: The Promethean Balance superimposed on its A4 sheets to give an idea of how you use the Comic Pad to produce your own comics or doujins. So in some ways, the Shirow cover serves as a sample as well as a great promotion. (Do we really need to know this? ^_^|||)

To be honest, I don't think there's any point in tracking down this item, its old and I don't know if they are still printing or selling it in Japan. The product is definitely still available, but maybe featuring art from other popular artist of this moment (I don't know, I got this because of the Shirow art and never bothered finding out more about other cover versions). Not worth the effort just for a standard drawing pad. Just a little post to buy time and at least have a record that this thing exists :P Oh, and if you are curious, I got it for about 480Yen...

posted by: Lucas at 03/14/05 21:50 | link | comments | Category: shirow misc, lucas collection

TANK S.W.A.T. 01 in Animage (April 05)

Great news for Masamune Shirow fans, especially those with Dominion close at heart! ^_^

Animage Apr. 05

Shirow news websites are buzzing with news of a new 3D Shirow anime apparently in the works. This is reported in Animage April 2005 issue (Published by Tokuma Shoten), with a short article and screenshots, and a minute-and-a-half preview clip in the magazine's complementary DVD.

Oh Yes! Its been a LONG time since we last saw the sexy Puma sisters! ^o^ Surprising she doesn't need to shrink down though (maybe this isn't Bonaparte's interior!) 

The planned OVA is titled [ 警察戦車隊 TANK S.W.A.T.01 based on Dominion Tank Police by Shirow Masamune ] according to the article. Unfortunately other than some screenshots and a few info about the animator, nothing more is revealed by Animage. So we have no release confirmation, release date, info on progress of the project or story preview yet.

What we do know is that it looks like an independent CG film project by Romanov-Higa [ Bar Side-X ], a freelance CG artist / animator whose credits include Gungrave anime open/end sequence, Gungrave OD (Game) animation for Playstation 2, and a World War II CG film titled URDA. From the little preview at the URDA site, I think if this project is succesful, this Tank SWAT title could be interesting! ^_^ The anticipation is high~~

I myself haven't seen the DVD preview clip nor the magazine, but there's a good scan from the magazine at sTwo's Shirowledge  and [Layer-T], so if you want to see the full-page scan, go to the news section of these two excellent Shirow fan sites and check out the full scan of the Tank SWAT article: [1] [2]. I've tried searching for more news of this, but so far without any success. The MSHP will keep track of this though and will update as soon as there are more information available. In the meantime, let's wait and see~ ^_^

It is obvious from screenshots that Tank SWAT is based on Dominion Conflict, as we see (from left) Asada, Uni(?), Bonaparte, Leona, Anna(?), Habana, Shinozaki.

posted by: Lucas at 03/12/05 11:36 | link | comments | Category: shirow news, dominion