Halcyon Realms - Animation.Film.Photography and Art Book Reviews » Freedom Project

Kaba 2 – Otomo Katsuhiro Artwork Book Review Part II

yonghow — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 16:46:38 +0000

Part II of the book review for Otomo Katsuhiro’s latest art book Kaba 2. You can read part I here.

(above) Panels from Batman – The Third Mask. These are the only few pages in the art book that has English content – many readers here have expressed disappointment that there are no English translations for the captions in the book, unlike the first Kaba. Why this is so is anyone’s guess – thankfully illustrations still make up the bulk of the content.

(above) Mecha designs for the animated film Roujin Z. I saw this a very long time ago and can hardly remember anything from it- this is probably one of Otomo’s less memorable works for me. ( below ) Some amazing character design sheets from his Memories film, which I love to bits. There is another art book “Memory of Memories” that is dedicated to the making of the film. ( read the review here )

(above and below) Character and mecha designs from Nissin’s Freedom Project, which I was more than thrilled to work on from about 2006-2008 at Sunrise Studios. Otomo was only involved in the main character designs so he seldom came into the studio, working mostly at home. He did turn up for this year-end party though. You can read more about my work at the studio and Freedom Project here.

(Below) The last ten pages or so Otomo-san talks about several topics, including the numerous projects he handled since the first Kaba art book, his love for bicycles, thoughts on traditional animation and technology’s influence on the art form, etc. Nothing incredibly important that his fans are missing out on, I think.

Anyone who recognizes the incredibly value of Otomo-san’s beautiful body of work will know this book is well worth the rather hefty price it commands – I think the images speak for themselves. My highest, highest recommendations.

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Yoda + Nissin Cup Noodles Commercial = Boil Japan

yonghow — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 15:06:27 +0000

How awesome is this ??!! Yet Again !!

After summoning some of the country’s most iconic heroes – giant robot Gundam and Slam Dunk manga artist Inoue Takehiko to star in their series of “Ganbarre Japan” motivational commercials in the wake of the Sendai tsunami/earthquake, Nissin Cup Noodle ups the ante with none other than the ultimate badass – Yoda from Starwars -

Now if this doesn’t help Nissin sell an extra cup noodle or two I don’t know what will. The commercial is a whimsical mix of nostalgia and amusement for me, having once worked for Nissin ( on the anime series Freedom Project ) and now Lucasfilm’s ILM.

May the Force be with Japan !

Gundam + Nissin Cup Noodles Commercial = Boil Japan.

yonghow — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 14:14:38 +0000

How awesome is this ??!!

Japanese Cup Noodle maker Nissin and Sunrise band together to create this mind-blowing Gundam Nissin Cup Noodle commercial -

Folks who have been visiting my blog for a while will probably know my love for Nissin Cup Noodle commercials, having worked on the Freedom Project commercials/anime series back in 2006, a collaboration between Sunrise and Nissin, just like this one. Good times. :]

This is series of motivational “Ganbarre Japan” commercials aimed to raise spirits ( and sell more noodles, of course ) in wake of the Sendai tsunami and earthquake earlier this year. I’ll follow up with more in later posts.

Jamiroquai Cup Noodle / Nissin Light commercial

yonghow — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 13:52:05 +0000

Folks who have been following my blog for a while will know that I used to work on Sunrise’s Nissin Cup Noodle’s “Freedom Project”, so naturally any new commercials from the noodle maker is sure to pique my personal interest.

The latest commercial sees Nissin pulling in the famous UK Acid funk/electronica group Jamiroquai to plug the brand, and what better music video to use for the advertisement than the legendary “Virtual Insanity” ? ( the original was directed by Jonathan Glazer, who also shot the controversial, yet astounding looking film “Birth” ).

I’ve included both the original MTV (top) and the Nissin Noodle version below for your enjoyment :

Next up are the Nissin “Light” commercials, touting ostensibly noodles that offer less calorie intake per serving; think a noodle version of Coke Light, if you will. These ones they went unabashedly for the “sex sells” tactic , but hey, I don’t hear you guys complaining.

You folks here eat Nissin Cup Noodles too right ? Light or not, Cup Noodles aren’t too nutritious, so go get some real food, please !

Freedom Project Blu-ray box

yonghow — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:15:07 +0000

Finally got around to taking some picures of my Freedom Project Blu-ray box. I received my copy from Amazon quite a while back but I’ve been busying watching other blu-rays. ( like Kungfu Panda, for example. )

(above) The front and back covers of the box. ( There are actually two boxes – an inner, thin cardboard box where the cover art is printed on, and an outer translucent plastic box with the Freedom typography. ) The cover design is actually a montage of illustrations used for the previously released dvd cover art, as well as promotional posters ( you can seen a couple here, here and here. ) but it still looks good. Same goes for the individual cover designs of the four cases. (below)

(above) Back cover design of the case. (below ) Design for the blu-ray disc, very similar to the Japanese SD dvd.

(Below) The mini manga “FREEDOM – Just short of heaven’s gate”, drawn by Gundam manga artist Yoshihiro Sono ( who also painted many of Freedom’s dvd cover art and posters ). The manga is in english with Japanese and French translations at the side panels.

Those were the physical contents of the box – four blu-ray discs and the mini manga.

And how do the video and sound quality of the actual animation hold up ? For a more professional review you can find a fairly detailed and in-depth article on Highdefdigest.com; for me the picture quality was fantastic – way, way better than the standard definition dvd release. Colors are dynamic and vibrant, and the pictures crisp and clean, and I’m only watching it on a 24 inch monitor.

On a side note, they got my name in the end credits right. ( see this older post ) Thank goodness ! I wonder why its all in CAPS though…

Watching Freedom again brings back great memories of my time at Sunrise Emotion, and I miss my ex colleagues quite a bit; I think I really ought to pay them a visit soon.

Anyone else getting a copy of this ? You can find the Freedom Blu-ray box on Amazon.