"Provocative Artistry: Masamune Shirow's Controversial Illustrations."

Masamune Shirow whose real name is Masanori Ota was born in Kobe on November 23rd 1961. The info about his childhood is very sparse as the eccentric Shirow has gone to great lengths to keep this a secret. He went to the Osaka University of Arts where he studied oil painting. Somewhere a long the way, Shirow developed an interest in ɱaпga and after seeing the movie The Terminator (1984) became fascinated by dystopian technology. This fascination led to his first cyberpunk ɱaпga Black Magic, which would later be adapted into a OVA (Original video animation) entitled Black Magic M-66.

Legendary Swordsmith

Being a private ɱaп, and a bit unconventional, he decided he needed a pen name and named himself after the legendary swordsmith Masamune. Shirow lives and dies by the creed ‘I’m doing what I want to do.’ So he started doing ɱaпga because it interested him, and his background as an oil painter made his style so unique more in the line of Frazetta and Moebius instead of the traditional ɱaпgaka.

Fig.1. ‘Appleseed ‘ (1985)

Ethnically Oriented Figures

In fact, Shirow was a pin-up

When the French painter, sculptor and drawer Alain ‘Aslan’ Bourdain (1930-2014) was 12, he already made his first sculptures after putting aside money to obtain two soft stones. The Bordeaux-born..

and calendar artist and a designer who first and foremost decided to create ɱaпga just so he could earn a living making these things. But this doesn’t mean he isn’t a great ɱaпga artist. He is both a fantastic character designer with unique, often ethnically oriented figures, as well as a great mechanical designer who adds realism by looking very critically at the workings of all the items he designs, often dedicating entire panels or even pages to explain how this particular mechanical device works.

Pseudo-Realistic “Mecha”

Shirow’s ɱaпga are characterized by their high tech themes and pseudo-realistic “mecha”; an information-dense visual and narrative structure; and an entertaining, often tongue-in-cheek approach that never lets anything get too serious. His stories frequently tackle philosophical ideas and social commentary without getting bogged down or feeling preachy. He never lets the message of the story get in the way of telling a good story.

Fig.2. From the comic ‘Ghost

During a humid summer night a ɱaп has taken off all his clothes while sleeping naked underneath a mosquito-net . Squatting next to him holding his erected member in her hand is the smirking appearance of a female..

in the Shell ‘ (1989-91)

Ghost in the Shell

In other words, Shirow is to cyberpunk ɱaпga what Tolkien is to fantasy literature. He is so interested in the nuts and bolts of how the universe works that he creates vibrant landscapes in which fully realized characters really draw you into the story. His love for drawing quality scripts, shot in beautiful detailed illustrations have revealed themselves in noteworthy masterpieces such as Appleseed (1985-89, Fig.1), Ghost in the Shell (this ɱaпga series published between 1989-91 was first filmed as an animation in 1995 (Fig.2 and 3) and later as a live-action movie in 2017 with Scarlett Johansson), Dominion (1985-86), and Orion (1990-91)..

Fig.3. Film poster for the anime movie ‘Ghost in the Shell ‘ (1995)

Bit of Controversy

Toward the end of the 1990s, Shirow contributed as character and mecha designer to the anime feature Gundress (1999), that generated a bit of controversy among anime fans. The film had a difficult production and was eventually released unfinished and flopped. Partly because of this debacle, Shirow decided he didn’t want to get involved in the rat race of studio production any longer and withdrew from anime and ɱaпga.

Oiled Up

Ever since, Shirow has produced posters, paintings, calendars and a series of erotic art books entitled Galgrease, so-called because it almost exclusively features hot women who are oiled up. This oddity makes him one of the few artists who started with conventional ɱaпga and then resorted to the erotic niche. Shirow’s transition caused much dismay among fans of his ɱaпga, but since he prefers to work alone (without studio pressure) and gets enough money in royalties (Ghost in the Shell is an evergreen) and from his erotic work, he goes on his merry way. And you won’t hear us complain when the arousing tableaux below are the result…

Fig.4. ‘Wild Wet Quest ‘

Fig.5. ‘Wild Wet West ‘ (2002)

Fig.6. ‘God Tier ‘

Fig.7.

Fig.8. ‘Absurdres ‘ (2001)

Fig.9. ‘Wild Wet West ‘ (2002)

Fig.10. ‘Lilynna Blueberry Greaseberries ‘

Fig.11. ‘Lilynna Blueberry Greaseberries ‘

Fig.12.

Fig.13. ‘Hell Cat

In the majority of cases the sexual act depicted in shunga take place in the bedroom, either in a private house, an inn or a brothel. But there is also a great diversity of locations. Sex While Cooking For example,..

‘ (2003)