“Kikan S” is a popular Japanese illustration magazine released quarterly ( in March, June, September and December ), and contains a superb collection of the latest art work from the top illustrators and comic artists working in Japan. Browsing a copy is a great way to be introduced to new and upcoming artists, as well as staying in touch with the latest news and development in the Japanese comics/animation industry. Every issue comes with a pull out poster illustrated by Range Murata. ( image above )
The theme for this issue is “(of things) mysterious and strange/fantastic” – Several guest artists paint their interpretation of the theme in the few illustrations below.
(below) This month’s featured anime is “Hipira-kun”, and upcoming film by renowned background artist/art director Kimura Shinji; see the amazing background art he created for “Tekkon Kinkreet” and “Steamboy“.
(below) Art work from the manga “Aoi no Exorcist”. I can’t say I’m too familiar with this one, folks who read this do tell us more. :]
(above) Animator/concept artist Tatsuyuki Tanaka ( of “Cannabis Works” fame ) gives a “masterclass” on animation. ( below) An interview with the ever popular illustrator/concept artist Range Murata, where he mentions an upcoming publication/collection of his art works, now that’s great news, always.
(above Art work by regular contributors Pinfan ( see a review of their art book “Sweet Days here ) and Tanji Yoko. (below)
Kikan S magazine, being a periodical, gets limited prints so do purchase your copy early. Once the issue is sold out, you won’t be able to get it anymore as the publisher does not do reprints.
“Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 32″ details :
– Dimensions –11.6 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
– Softcover, 185 pages
– Full color / b & w
– Comes with fold-out Range Murata Poster ( see top image )
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You might also be interested in these items :
Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 31
Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 47 Book Review
Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 36 Book Review
Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 61 Book Review
Kikan S Illustration Magazine No. 33
October 28th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
i gotta say, i’m not so much into the Range Murata stuff. i mean, he’s a very good illustrator, and he does a great job with his coloring and rendering and stuff, but i’m not too keen on his subject matter. he just seems to oversexualize young looking girls. i don’t mind sexualization in the stuff i like, the young girl thing just turns me off of his work because it seems creepy to me.
October 28th, 2010 at 11:54 pm
Zack – Its interesting, because I’ve made the exact same observation in an earlier post :
http://halcyonrealms.com/anime/range-murata-illustrations-kikan-s-magazine/
In his art book Prismtone, Murata clearly demonstrates a formidable skill set that allows his to render very realistic human features, so I think its safe to say that he’s simply playing to market demands for the more Lolicon content, which is hugely popular in Japan.
All that said, I’ll be more mindful of the images I post in the future.
October 30th, 2010 at 11:45 am
Impressive collection! I would really like to know who the artists whose works are featured in the first six photos (after the Range Murata title picture). The first, second and third are my personal favorites and I really like the picture on the right-hand side of the sixth photo [the one with the lady surrounded by the red objects (mail boxes…?)].
October 31st, 2010 at 7:02 am
Yesterday I’ve got really excited when I’ve read about this Kimura Shinji’s movie, just to find out later that its a CGI movie. Nothing against CGI, I my self enjoy Pixar’s movies a lot, but this one just seemed so well suited for a classic 2d animation… Hipira-kun looks pretty good though, the backgrounds are ridiculously good and mind blowing and the characters seem pretty funny.
It’s just that I often got nostalgic about 2D animation since CGI it’s sort of monopolizing animation (even Disney is making a CGI fairy tale movie)…
Yonghow, how is this process/tendency affecting Japanese animation?
October 31st, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Hina – From top to bottom ( after the murata picture ); Duedue, Ju, Mushiyoshi, Tadahiro Uesugi ( very famous Japanese illustrator/concept designer that worked on Coraline ), Yooani (right panel), Mika (left panel), Eris (right panel), Abaraheiki ( left panel)
sommer – Kimura-san works closely with Studio 4C and they have been embracing 3DCG, and many of the short films in the latest Genius Party were 3D too. That said, the majority of animation studios in Japan are still focused on traditional animation, using 3D only for mecha and background/props. I too feel Japanese animation should retain their tradtional animation as it shows off their true strength and style.