Category: Animation
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Visual Influences: manga, comics, Ukiyo-e, Art Nouveau
The terms manga or anime generally suggest the same stereotype: a character with huge eyes and stylized features. This visual aspect has precise origins. Let’s travel back in time to understand the visual influences between manga, comics, and Japanese woodblock prints. There are two surprising threads of influence. The first concerns Japanese Woodblock prints, Art… Lire la suite
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Meet the Protoculture Addicts: Miyako Matsuda
Long before social media clashes and the rise of the internet, small groups of passionate fans dedicated themselves to spreading their love for Japanese animation. This is the story of how Quebecers, writing in their unique English, influenced Parisians and helped shape the anime and manga landscape in France. For young people nostalgic for the… Lire la suite
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Ghost in the Shell and the Tachikoma – Biomimicry and Mecha design
What is the link between Ghost in the Shell, spiders, and modern robots? Biomimicry, i.e., technological design inspired by nature. Here’s how a manga creator got ahead of robot production companies. Most western science fiction series are lazy as they opt for photo-realism. For the mechanic’s design, most SF series only adds a slight modification to… Lire la suite
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Nobuteru Yuki, Art Director and Character Designer
We already spoke about character designer Nobuteru Yuki during the interview with the CEO of CyberConnect2 in IG 11. Renowned in the world of animation, he also did the character design for Tail Concerto and other video games. Namco Bandai called on him for Solatorobo, an action/RPG on DS that takes us into a fantastical… Lire la suite
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Masamune Shirow: Portrait of the Manga Artist Behind Ghost in the Shell and Appleseed
Ghost in the Shell is 25 years old, and this manga has not aged a day. Dense, rhythmic, intelligent, and gripping, it remains a window onto our near future. Unfortunately, the general public knows little about this major work of Japanese science fiction. Many have only seen the films or series adapted from it (out… Lire la suite
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Interview Ilya Kushinov – The Russian Artist That Conquered Japanese Animation
Born in Russia in 1990, Ilya Kuvshinov is an illustrator and character designer now based in Tokyo. Trained in architecture in Moscow, he first worked in the video game industry before devoting himself fully to animation after moving to Japan around 2015. He rose to international prominence as character designer for Ghost in the Shell:… Lire la suite