One of the most influential artist/director working in the anime industry today, Mitsuo Iso (磯光雄) has animated some astounding sequences, including the Asuka VS MPE fight scene in End Of Evangelion and also directed the highly acclaimed Denno Coil series, among many other acclaimed titles.

I had previously reviewed his “Animation Works” art books Vol 1 and Vol 2, and both books are excellent, covering a lot of beautiful genga and layout pieces on animated films and series that he was involved in.

This new art book delves more into the pre-production work of Mitsuo Iso, covering both intellectual property and ideas for stories that were never fully realized into actual content, as well as a really huge collection of splendid concept art drawings and sketches for animated films that he had worked on. Personally for me, it is the latter that is really the highlight of this book.

From Mamoru Oshii’s magnum opus Ghost In The Shell, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Magnetic Rose ( Memories ), MS Gundam, Roujin Z, Steamboy as well as Studio 4C’s Noiseman Sound Insect animated short, this book is a veritable treasure trove of concept art drawings, from elaborate, detail weapon designs to mecha and much more, running a full 400 pages in total. Feast your eyes –

(above & below) A huge collection of weapon designs from Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost In The Shell. I think some of these are also featured in The Analysis Of Ghost In The Shell art book, but they are presented here in a much bigger print size and the detail and quality of Mitsuo Iso’s draftsmanship just blows me away.

(above & below) Concept art drawings and ideas for Katsuhiro Otomo’s Magnetic Rose.

Honestly, the concept art drawings for Ghost In The Shell alone was enough to convince me to pick this up, but the book has so much more and is totally worth the price. I’m looking forward to reading the book in detail and discovering all the cool designs that Mitsuo Iso has created for some of the best animated films ever made. Highly recommended.

Mitsuo Iso Animation Concept Art Book 磯光雄 プリプロダクション details :

– Dimensions – ‎8.27 x 11.69 inches
– Softcover, 400 pages
– Full color, in Japanese language

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