Just received this today, Michael Arias’s Tekkon Kinkreet 2 disc limited edition dvd, which I had also watched in Shinjuku a few months back. The limited edition comes in a thick, sturdy cardboard case, with the main feature labelled Kuro ( black ) and the specials on Shiro ( white ). There are also 2 booklets, ‘Director’s Notes’ and ‘Essence Tekkon Kinkreet Making of’. Everything is in Japanese, except a production note that Plaid wrote.
Tekkon is a visual powerfest conjured up by the top talents in the industry, and one viewing is simply not enough to fully appreciate the insane amount of detail and beauty created by the art direction team, headed by Kimura Shinji, who also worked his magic in Steamboy. ( Morita-san once lamented that it was a pity Kimura-san was unable to work with us on Freedom ) For those who can’t get enough of the artwork behind Tekkon, these 2 official art of books, Shiro and Kuro are must buys; there’s so much artwork to show, they couldn’t cramp in one book.
Update 20/01/08
I’ve been receiving alot of email asking about the 2 Tekkon Kinkreet artbooks “Black” and “White“. These 2 books are now completely sold out in Japan. Some obscure bookstores might still carry a copy or two, I will put it up for sale if I ever come across them, so check back every once in a while.
I loved the manga when it first came out in the mid-90s. It’s something that has a rather indy and comix feel when compared to the litany of shonen/seinen junk on the shelves.
I’m rather embarrassed to say that I didn’t know it was adapted from a comic till a colleague told me so. Maybe I should pick up the comic one of these days so that I can better appreciate the film more.
There’s an English-translated version from Viz but titled “Black and White” and the page order was reprinted from left-to-right. Hong Kong also made the Chinese translation available under the title “????”
Interesting. I was wondering if Singapore would release it in the cinemas, considering Toki wo Kakeru Shojo made its run too. My friends were hoping it would be in this year’s SIFF animation program but unfortunately it wasn’t. I don’t think there has been an Anime bountiful at the SIFF since 1999.
Yeah 1999…who can forget that year. Didn’t we have SPRIGGAN, Jin-Roh, Black Jack and Perfect Blue for that SIFF? There was also that year when they screened Ghost in the Shell and MEMORIES for the same festival. I think it was the 1998 one?
There were also the 2 excellent shorts, Studio 4C’s NoiseMan Sound Insect and Glassy Ocean in 1999. GITS and Memories were in 1996 I think, I remember almost fainting from excitement seeing Otomo in person for the first time, haha.
Absolutely!
Seeing your idol in person is exhilarating!
I will probably pee in my pants if I see Shinichiro Watanabe in person LOL.
Shinichiro Watanabe is one of the contributing directors for Genius Party. Can’t wait to catch this one.
Vong,
Thank you for commenting on my blog! It must be gratifying to be working in the animation industry in Japan. As you may know, there are legions of anime fans here in America (myself included) who appreciate all the fine work and artistry.
I am such a big fan of Katsuhiro Otomo, Hayao Miyazaki, Koji Morimoto and all the other fine artist/directors working the industry right now.
Great job on your blog and I hope to stay in touch regularly!
Best regards,
You’re most welcome Louie. Its an honour to know someone who works in Pixar, i’m also a big fan of Enrico Casarosa’s work. I will definitely be visiting your blog frequently. :]
ARGH!
Its a must get…a pity i wont be able to get it in sunny singapore…
Don’t give up yet! We’re working on bringing Tekkon Kinkreet in for Animation Nation 2007 this Nov.
Cross your fingers and wish us luck! ^_^
Wow ! SFS guys to the rescue, fantastic ! Morita-san ( director of Freedom and Kakurenbo ) was in the 2005 program, so are you guys going to invite Michael Arias to Singapore too ? That would be so cool ! I’ll still be stuck in Japan ! Shieks !
oh man, that is a total must buy. how much was it?
Arggghhh! I really want to see that, when I was working on the Fantasia Film Festival i found out about it and started reading all about the original artist. Looks like I am gonna have to wait for the DVD here…(so frustrating!) Hope you don’t mind but I’m gonna blog about that one too!
CMWilly, Amazon is selling it at a 20% discount price of 8232 yen. It might be a good idea to wait for the US version and see how it holds up.
Andrea : I think you are going to like this very quite a bit. :]
Wow this is rather new to me! i think i gotta check this one out and learn more about it. Yeah i just hope there would be a better awareness and influx of Japanese animation films coming to Singapore. Its really hard to come by. The last time I watched a Japanese animation on a local big screen was “Howl’s Moving Castle” if im not wrong…
Tekkon is definitely something I would highly recommend. Let hope StrangeKnight and SFS will bring it in for this year’s Animation Nation. :]
I think the anime lovers in Singapore are much luckier these days because the film distributors are bringing in more anime films for general release, back in my student days we only had the film festivals to hope for. I wish I could have seen films like Mononoke Hime on the big screen, that would have been quite an experience.
oh yea… i m anticipating Genius Party too =D
Hopefully SFS have that planned in their itinerary!
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title n Kinkreet limited edition dvd at Halcyon Realms - Freedom Project/anime/photography/film. Thanks for informative article
Hello Jacob and thanks for dropping by. I’m glad you found what you were looking for here. :] Please visit again !
argh, i wish i could be like you,//in japan// meet great artisstt..studio4c…arghhhhh…..
Hello plueh ! We work really long hours here, so I guess the chance to meet these artists is just a small reward. ;]
Does anyone know if the english version of tekkon kinkreet was heverly edited?
Our company is releasing this film on DVD soon, we, unfortunately, could not include “Essense Tekkon Kinkreet Making of” though.
I was totally hooked by all the superb artwork of this film. And what a color!! It’s an absolutely beatiful animation I think.
And wish you good luck with your work on Freedom!
From Korea.
Hello bluemoon ! Thanks for visiting ! What company do you work for ? :] Are there any special features not found in the Japanese edition ?
It’s almost same as Japanese one but we had to cut off some scenes where Nino’s been seen. Oh, ours comes with 3 illustrated cards.:)
BTW, I work for film company. I’ll probably get to work on Evangelion 1.0 as the next project. We’re releasing it on theater this time, tho. Hopefully many Korean ppl will be going see this animation, just like you guys did in Japan!
Looking at your Update 15/10/07 about having some artbooks for sale: I know it’s quite late to ask, but there’s no harm in being overly optimistic! Do you still have any left?
Anyway, awesome post, thanks for sharing!
I’m interested in one of your copies of the artbook if you’ve got one spare - Thanks.
Hello March, unfortunately I do not have any books available for sale at the moment. I will be sure to let you know if I get my hands on any. Nice work you have, by the way. :]
I wish i can get a hold of one of these artbooks ..The Art is Breath-taking. :’(