Katsuhiro Otomo appreciation thread

[ZE_501]

These are all great, thanks for this. It's hard to describe, but certain artists' work seems to come directly from a time long gone, where their vision was the only way to see these images. Contemporary digital effects give us an incredible cinematic spectacle that I'm very thankful for, but there was something about the time before and the talented, obsessive masters that rendered all that incredible imagery for us.

 

[Otomofan]

Otomo is appearing at next month's Anime Expo in Los Angeles.

https://www.anime-expo.org/guest-category/guest-of-honor/

What the hell is an artist of his caliber doing attending such a ridiculous trash event? Not even one of the "guests of honor" comes close to his level, and the other "guests" are all a bunch of weebs and fat chicks in costumes. Unreal.

I guess he was up for a paid vacation or something, but this just makes me cringe. I bet he signs stuff for these ungrateful bastards too. He never signs in Japan but he always seems willing in the States.

 

[Otomofan]

 

[Khev]

Very intrigued about the new manga based AKIRA anime series that Otomo just announced, especially if he'll be returning to direct. That will definitely help take the sting out of Watiti's version if the live-action version sucks.

 

[Otomofan]

That announcement was so vague, combined with Otomo's known slow pace for output, I wouldn't be surprised it that just plain never happens.

I have high hopes for Orbital Era since it seems like it's already in production.

The announcement I was most excited about was the "Otomo Complete Works" of his manga, but again, until I see concrete evidence that it's definitely on its way, I won't get my hopes up too high.

Still....a very exciting time to be an Otomo fan!!

 

[Otomofan]

 

[Otomofan]

 

[Otomofan]

I went to the Art of Wall exhibit in Tokyo last week and it was actually very disappointing. It was a chance for them to display all those gorgeous oversized panels one more time, but it was actually a very small space with some random knick-knacks thrown in for decoration.

Fortunately I took some pics of the actual walls while they were still up, and I think the pics are all right, but they don't give a sense of scale of just how big the artwork was. It was really breathtaking to see.

 

[Otomofan]

Hopefully Otomo is still in a studio somewhere working on Orbital Era, but he found the time to draw some new record covers for a Japanese band called Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra.

These appear to be portraits of the actual band members. I think the drawings are good, as always, but I'm not a fan of these guys so I doubt I'll pick up the records just for the covers.

 

[Otomofan]

Ya know....



Everyone thought it was such a great coincidence that my man Katsuhiro Otomo predicted the Tokyo 2020 Olympics back in 1982 in his manga AKIRA.



Maybe they should have actually read it to find out that the Olympics never actually happen cause Tokyo was destroyed.



If that isn't enough, they should have watched "Memories," his 1995 anime movie.



There's a spaceship in it called "The Corona" and in the second segment, a bioweapon is accidentally released that kills everyone that comes into contact with it.



He's my favorite artist, but damn dude.....enough with the bleak prophecies.

 

[Otomofan]

Here's a new Otomo self-portrait from the 40th anniversary issue of Young Magazine, where AKIRA was first serialized.

 

[Otomofan]

I posted this pic earlier in the thread, but here's a clearer scan, even though it's smaller.



This pic was used as a title page to his manga "Domu" as it was being serialized in weekly installments. This piece is not in the collected edition, but it IS included in the artwork for the soundtrack. Yes, there was a soundtrack to the comic book. Domu, in case you've never read it, is about a psychic battle between a little girl and an old man at a sprawling apartment complex. Domu means "child's dream." So this piece has absolutely nothing to do with the story; it's just a whimsical little drawing showing sleep and dreaming.

I love it....the little space ranger and his tiny spaceship, the big dragon creature, the small robot and the big robot....they're all nuzzled up and taking a peaceful nap.

I've had crippling insomnia my whole life. If I get three or four hours of sleep a night, that's a good night for me. A few weeks ago I made a copy of this drawing and taped it above my bed to try to help inspire me to get peaceful sleep somehow. Not sure if it's worked, but I like seeing it.

 

[Otomofan]

Well, it looks like it might actually be happening! Back in July of 2019, Kodansha said they were gonna reprint the entire collection of Otomo's stuff. In both Japanese AND English. And then....we heard nothing. But as of today, there's a website....so there's progress at least.



So this will ruin the "value" of all my out of print stuff, I suppose. That's a bummer, but I'll still buy it all cause I'm such a sucker. Most likely it'll come out in Japanese first and then we'll see if they really follow through on their promise of English. If it happens, it might take a while.

 

[Otomofan]

Happy 67th birthday to the greatest artist in manga.

 

[Otomofan]

Otomo finally opened an official website!

https://otomo-complete.com/

The intention is to start from the beginning and reprint everything in chronological order. I hope he can pull it off; he's notoriously slow with this kind of stuff. In the end, if it happens, it's gonna make all my "rare" stuff obsolete, but oh well. I just want more Otomo, and he's promised to put a lot of out of print stuff back out there!

Go check out the website, there's some awesome illustrations all over it.

Here's some samples I grabbed, especially good for desktop backgrounds:





And of course another self portrait of the man himself. Geez, I'd kill for one of these...

 

[marvinmyles]

Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira by Vance Kelly.

just got this back from having Vance sign it.Last bit of space on my wall.. with the US comic from 1988.

 

[Otomofan]

Never heard of Vance Kelly, but that's a nice piece!

 

[marvinmyles]

Vance is part of the Art gang at Hero Complex Gallery. https://hcgart.com/collections/vance-kelly-collection
I also have a couple of his Batman/Joker Prints which are also real nice.If you have some time check him out he does some nice work.

 

[Otomofan]

 

[spindrift]

What did you think about STEAMBOY? Yikes very decisive film to say the least!


Ooooops, i read the first page of this thread. Yeah I was prepared for it BIGTIME- I kept thinking AKIRA type genius.......it was entertaining but out of his element completely- trying to reach out and make a popular crowd pleasing hero movie. Even at that- not quite there.