About me

Name: Lucas...
is a hyper-advanced cyborg- his body consists of all of his active drives; his memory of all of his active sources. These are all variable, but on a periodic basis his bio components crave energy and sleep and remind him of his basic identity-layer (yes, I crave sleeping)...

Email: lucas2501@gmail.com
Location: Malaysia
Mechanical Engineer

Holiday Notice: 18th to 22nd Aug 05
See you guys when I get back! ^_^

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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Intron Depot 4 Bullets

Book Info: Title: Intron Depot 4 Bullets Sub-Title: A Collection of Masamune Shirow's Full Color Works & Others 1995 ~ 1999 Author: Masamune Shirow Publisher: Seishinsha / Dark Horse / Studio Proteus Release Date: 9th August 2004 ISBN: 4-87892-294-X C0079 (Seishinsha) / 1-59307-282-1 (Dark Horse) Format: Softcover, 9-1/2" x 13" Pages: 112 Price: 2800 Yen / US$49.95 Intron Depot 4 Bullets collects Shirow's Animation Movies and Videogames design works for five projects from 1995 ~ 1999.

Intron Depot 4 Bullets is a collection of design works Shirow did for five projects in the 1995 to 1999 period: :: Blue Ray (Game) :: [D]'s Animation Rough (Anime) :: Gundress (Game & Anime) :: Horned Owl (Game) :: Sampaguita (Game) For this collection, Shirow omitted altogether the use of "Data Blocks" with the reason that most of the pieces uses almost the same techniques and tools. The production dates were included for most of the works though as reference for those who wish to find out more about the featured works. It can be said generally that the works in ID4 Bullets were all commissioned for clients and third parties. In most cases, with very strict and detailed specifications. Hence, what we get is mostly Shirow's adaptation or interpretation instead of original ideas and concepts. Although generally ID4 is a collection of design works by Shirow for Animation and Videogames, I think it is just a collection of the five projects mentioned above. Because if you want to be fussy, there are some works e.g. Landlock (Animation, 1995), Suraimu Siyou! (Playstation Game, 1995) which were omitted and was featured in fantasy-themed ID2 Blades instead (however, Shirow did mention in ID2 that these were merely cover art and single-illustration style commissions). The five projects collected in ID4 involves more extensive work I suppose.

Even in the opening introductions for ID4 Shirow mentions his uncomfortable association with the animation and game world, that somehow his works always turn out sub-par when applied to these purposes. Its a challenge for Shirow I suppose, his continuing struggle to "gel" with anime and game productions for the last 15 years. I do get the hint that one big factor could be the sense of ownership and pride. The Masamune Shirow we know is a lonesome creature, single handedly rendering those volumes of classic mangas that we all acknowledge as works of an individual master. It is this trait of Shirow that makes him even more alluring to his fans, especially those who have been following his progress since the early days of Appleseed. With animation and games, production studios and teams are necessary to realise mass-media theatrical releases. Shirow commented that although working on orders were pleasurable for him, the final product could never be called his own.

Although a hint of "Shirow" is present, details for this "Alien Robot" design for Animation Project [D] were fixed by the client, right down to the escape pod face feature.

On a positive note however, technology is once again shining a bright light on Shirow's pursuits. Software and techniques has enabled individuals to create and produce their own animation and film projects at a reasonable cost (still quite high however!) on their own without teams of specialists. Shirow's learning and mastery of computer graphics and 3D modelling of late is not without purpose, I believe. Hopefully, as Shirow himself mentioned in the afterword to ID4, a truly Masamune Shirow original video is in store for the future!

Personally I think ID4 is probably the least enjoyable of all the Intron Depots published so far. Shirow's mood shows in this collection, mainly in his comments or notes. Most of the time I think Shirow sounds optimistically defeated when talking about the designs. Also, Shirow made it a pre-requisite before taking any orders that he be allowed to collect them in his own artbooks. While he had to turn down projects because of this,  I suppose it is an important requirement for Shirow to allow him to explore more outside the boundaries of the stiff client specifications. Otherwise, there is little incentive to put in all the time and energy. The effort is definitely there, but looking at ID4, like Shirow Sensei I can't categorise this as a Shirow work confidently. However, it is still very informative and again reveals alot about these lesser known Shirow works which is helpful for the Shirow fan. So in that context ID4 is enjoyable.

If I hadn't known better I would say "Dominion Conflict!" but thanks to ID4, we can identify this as Kate from Project Horned Owl. This piece was drawn in 1995, the same period as Dominion C1 and personally I very much prefer Shirow's style then compared to now! ^_^

What next for the Intron Depot series then? We have four books covering different thems for different periods of time, so it is getting quite hard to properly categorise and chronicle this collection series. Word from the grapevine is that there are at least two more Intron Depots due in the near future, but whether or not they materialise, I would prefer to wait and see. Titles such as Eros Depot and Waste Depot were also thrown around in some interviews and articles. As far as Shirow Art Collections are concerned, I think we can expect quite alot to come from Shirow Sensei in the future.

posted by: Lucas at 02/16/05 10:28 | link | comments (2) | Category: intron depot

Comments:

#1  10 May 2005 - 18:47

 

hi you collection is very impressive but why nothing on Galgrease collection?

From Eric
cireharkonen@hotmail.com

Anonymous

#2  11 May 2005 - 11:17

 

Hi Eric, I will eventually do something on Galgrease but not now. And to be honest I do not have any Galgrease in my collection... Anyway this page is about Shirow Sensei's works, and not exclusively about my collection only. Patience ya? :)

bis2501

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