Halcyon Realms - Animation.Film.Photography and Art Book Reviews

Koinobori, Takadanobaba, Tokyo.

yonghow — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:43:11 +0000

A colorful display of Koinobori ( wind socks fashioned in the shape of carps to celebrate Children’s Day in Japan on the 5th of May ), a stone’s throw away from the JR Takadanobaba station. I used to hang around these parts often back in 2005/6 as my film school Toho Gakuen was located just around the corner, close to Waseda University ( it has since moved ).

(above) A wall of Doraemon coloring sheets from a nearby primary school on display near the canal.

Take a closer look at the drawing of the little boy riding on the Koinobori ( carp ) and you’ll notice he is wielding a Katana sword and a donning Japanese warrior head-dress; its perhaps an intrinsic nature of Japanese culture to imbue their children with an indomitable sense of fighting spirit even at such a young age.

Ultraman Special Issue – Pen Plus Book Review

yonghow — Sun, 13 May 2012 05:45:49 +0000

A great find while browsing in a bookstore in Takadanobaba – Japanese magazine Pen Plus’s Ultraman special issue, choked full of of goodness on the country’s most beloved Tokusatsu hero. Like many others I loved Ultraman as a kid but was never a super big fan, but this book is an excellent resource for some great Kaiju (monster) reference material. SHAAA !

(above) A 4 page wide spread listing every Ultraman since its inception. Very informative. ( below ) Discussions on Ultraman’s projectile beams and list of arsenal.

(above and below) Kaiju Galore ! This section I love the most – a list of the 50 most popular Ultraman monsters. That Alien Baltan ie pincer dude ranks at No.1 is no surprise at all I guess.

Some great coverage on the artistic work going on behind the scenes. (below) Concept designs for some of the later Ultraman series. I still love the original one I watched as a kid the most because of its campiness and sense of nostalgia it brings.

At only 780 yen and with such a bonanza of material, what’s not to like ? This is a periodical and might not get a reprint once it is sold out, so act fast if you’re interested.

“Ultraman Special Issue – Pen Plus Magazine” details :

- Dimensions – 28 x 21.6 x 0.6 cm
- Softcover, 106 pages
- Full color, in Japanese language. Comes with a foldout poster featuring cover design.

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Visiting The Otomo Katsuhiro Genga Exhibition

yonghow — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:23:39 +0000

Running from the 7th of April to the 30th of May 2012 the Otomo Katsuhiro Genga Exhibition is a celebration of the famed manga artist/anime director’s superlative body of creative work, with about 3000 original art pieces spanning over 3 decades on display. The exhibition venue is at 3331 Arts Chiyoda Centre, located about 5 minutes walk from the Akihabara Electric town.

I arrived on a rainy Wednesday afternoon right smack in the middle of the Golden Week and was expecting a huge crowd, but thankfully it wasn’t too bad and I had a comfortable time looking at the exhibits.

(above) The information booth in the main lobby of the building, just before the entrance to the exhibition on the right. Photography within the exhibition hall (art pieces section) was prohibited, but here are some press pictures I found, courtesy of Gizmodo Japan and Radiokaikan :

Needless to say it was an absolute thrill to see so many of Otomo’s most iconic pieces of artwork in their original, unvarnished splendor, right down to the individual brushstrokes. The art pieces were broken up into 2 main sections – his colored illustration works and the full collection of all his original Akira manga panels. Yep, every single one of them that make up the 6 complete tankobon volumes. (images below)

During the exhibition I was poring through many of the above B4 sized Akira panels looking for little imperfections/misaligned screen tones ( stickers with varying shades of gray that pre-digital comic artists used for applying textures and shades ). I was not able to find a single one- a true testament to the amazing technical quality of these manga panels.

(above and below) An empty white wall serves as a giant sketching board for visitors to leave their impressions. Earlier sketches have already been taken down, some drawn by notable manga artists like Inoue Takehiko ( Vagabond ), Katsuya Terada ( Monkey King ), and more. I hope the exhibition organizers archived them.

(above) A life size reproduction of the wall crater in Domu for visitors to pose and take pictures with. (below) A Kaneda wannabe dons the red jacket. It’s 500 yen a pop to sit on the bike and have your photo taken.

(above) A quick doodle that Otomo-san drew on the wall the day I visited. (below) The exhibition merchandize shop. The physical size of the store was really small and couldn’t really accommodate the steady flow of customers so only a limited number was allowed at one time – the rest of us were waiting patiently in a long line for our turn to go in.

(above) A huge stockpile of posters. There were 3 different designs, 2 of which were created specially for the exhibition. I ended up buying all three.

For those who are unable to attend the exhibition in person, I highly recommend the exhibition catalogue ( image above – read the review here ), which collects most of the art pieces that were on display. I dare say by the sheer size and wide gamut of its content that its possibly the best Otomo art book ever published.

The exhibition runs till the 30th of this month, so if you are in Tokyo or plan to visit sometime in the next 2 weeks, you know where to be. :]

Girl On The Phone With AKB48, Shinjuku Station, Tokyo.

yonghow — Wed, 09 May 2012 14:02:56 +0000

A young girl chatting on the phone while standing next to a life-size print ad of AKB48 ( for NTT Docomo ) seemed too good a photo opportunity to miss.

So I just returned from a 10 day trip to Japan and dare I say how universally stupid was I to choose the Golden Week to visit ? Traffic on the expressways were unbelievable, the weather, which should have been of a pleasant, Spring like nature, was instead belching out a dampening mix of torrential rain on some days, scorching desert sun on others, topping off with a climatic tornado. I was down with a bad cold and then fever for the last 3 days of the trip.

Despite all these mishaps I did manage to take a size-able collection of pictures ( quality yet to be determined, ahem ), had my fill of Tokyo food and of course, the Otomo Genga Exhibition was divine. I must of course once again thank my good friends Takeshi & Kojima for being the best hosts, as always.

Regular posting will resume momentarily.

Kimiya Masago – Romance Of The Three Kingdoms Art Book Review

yonghow — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 01:41:10 +0000

Japanese manga/illustrator/concept artist Kimiya Masago’s impactful rendering breath life into the numerous titular characters in the Romance Of The Three Kingdoms saga, a part historical, part fictional tale of three warring states set during the Han Dynasty. The stories and characters were probably made more familiar to western audiences after John Woo’s Red Cliff film and games like Dynasty Warriors.

(above right) The character Zhao Yun, known for his immense skills with the spear, and a big favourite among fans of the story. He and four other generals ( Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, Ma Chao and Huang Zhong form are often known as the Five Tiger Generals.

Each illustration comes with a short English and Japanese caption with some background information regarding the character.

Besides full page spreads featuring individual characters, the last section of the book also covers some of the more iconic battles and events that took place throughout the Romance saga, including Battle Of The Red Cliff (image above), made famous by John Woo’s sweeping film adaptation.

If you like Kimiya Masago’s style of art, I also recommend his series of graphic novels Suikoden ( The Water Margin ), based on yet another classical Chinese tale where a bunch of highly skilled outlaws band together to fight the corrupt Imperial government.

“Kimiya Masago – Romance Of The Three Kingdoms” art book details :

- Dimensions – 26.2 x 21.8 x 1.8 cm
- Hardcover, 117 pages
- Full color, in Japanese language with English captions

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