Masamune Shirow
Its hard to imagine a Japanese artist as influential as Masamune Shirow. And not only is he an artist, he is a talented writer of complex multi-layered stories as well. Famous world-wide for creating landmark manga series that have gone on to inspire several feature film franchises, he has had an immeasurable impact on the world of anime as a whole, not to mention the hentai underworld itself!
Born Masanori Ota on November 23rd, 1961 in the Hyogo Prefecture of Kobe, Japan, Shirow’s artistic interest and talent was noticed early on in his life, during his earliest years of school. Taking a break during junior high and high school to pursue sports, he eventually returned to the world of art while he attended Osaka University of Arts. It was here that Shirow was introduced to manga, and it ignited him on fire. He began working on his own manga and at 22 years old he self-published Black Magic (1983) under the pseudonym “Masamune Shirow”, a name taken from a famous swordsmith.
Shirow’s manga came to the attention of Harumichi Aoki, president of a publishing firm in Osaka called “Seishinsha”, who signed Shirow on to do his first commercial manga. And so Appleseed (1985) was released, instantly considered a masterpiece of cyber-punk, a genre of anime featuring futuristic societies where technology has run amok. In 1986, the same year Shirow released Dominion, Appleseed won the Galaxy Award for the best sci-fi comic. Shirow’s engineering degree shows through in Appleseed‘s designs and artwork, from the city-of-the-future landscapes to the hulking mecha with stylistic yet functional design. The latter part of the ’80′s saw him putting out follow-up volumes of the smash hit Appleseed as well as Black Magic M-66 (1987), the first anime movie based on Shirow’s works and the only anime film Shirow really played a direct role in the production of. In 1988 both Appleseed and Dominion: Tank Police were made into anime movies, but Shirow was not very involved.
In 1991 Shirow released the hyper-surreal Orion, which was overshadowed that same year by the release of what is perhaps his crowning achievement: The Ghost in the Shell (GitS) manga. GitS is his best-known work, and for good reason. Expertly balancing blistering action with philosophical concepts concerning the ethical ramifications of merging humanity and technology, GitS explored fresh territory with intelligence and imagination. GitS has been extremely popular in both the east and the west, and has gone on to inspire two full-length movies: Ghost in the Shell (1995), and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004). The sequel to the original manga, Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface, was released in 2001. Shirow’s GitS manga has also spawned the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex (2003) TV series that is currently in its second season, as well as various merchandise and even video games.
In my opinion, some of Shirow’s best work has been released in a series of four absolutely gorgeous full-color illustration artbooks under the title Intron Depot. These artbooks chronicle his foray into the world of CG (Computer Graphics) where he is pushes the medium to its limits and is consistently breaking new ground. The first book is mostly a sci-fi themed collection of his work from 1981 to 1991. Intron Depot 2: Blades (1998) is fantasy-themed, featuring sexy female characters with armor and swords and other bladed weapons. The third artbook was released in 2003, and as the name suggests Intron Depot 3: Ballistics is military-themed, complete with battle-ready anime babes with big guns. Intron Depot 4: Bullets (2004) collects his work between 1995 to 1999 and the subject matter mostly showcases Shirow’s designs for characters, mecha, and vehicle designs for video games.
Click here for an exclusive gallery featuring some of Masamune Shirow’s most recent hentai works!
Hentai Reviewer Recommends:
Appleseed (manga)
Appleseed (anime movie)
Appleseed (CG movie)
Ghost in the Shell (manga)
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Ghost in the Shell 2: Man/Machine Interface
Intron Depot 2: Blades
Intron Depot 3: Ballistics