#hiroshi minagawa

[sorenblr]

thoughts on Akihiko Yoshida? hes done several greatest game of all time contenders but I still don't know how 2 feel about him tbh

I would rank him highly, although I do think his best work belongs to a bygone era. I've always had a lot of affection for Yoshida as the Square-affiliated artist most likely to describe form with profuse hatching. The original Tactics Ogre cover is one of my favorite pieces of game art:

I think he produced his most compelling work around this period, in collaboration with Hiroshi Minagawa, and more generally prior to the onset of HD development. I don't know how deeply involved he was with the process (Minagawa is credited as supervisor in both cases), but between Vagrant Story and Final Fantasy XII, his designs have been treated to the most compelling applications of texture mapping in the medium.

I also love the lush storybook style he adopted for Four Heroes of Light, and I wish that quality had carried more cleanly into Bravely Default.

His contributions to FFXIV are obviously accomplished but they don't really stand out in my mind due to their proximity to so many other artists on that project working in a style that roughly approximates his own. I think that's something that has muddled my impression of his work over the past decade, the glut of designers seemingly trained in his style, or the new prominence of those who simply came up in the industry working in a comparable idiom, usually in the Ivalice games. The deliberately abstracted faces contrasted with baroque or luxuriously rendered dress, the almost exclusive use of earth tones etc. It's evident everywhere from certain of Kazuya Takahashi's key art in FFXVI to Naoki Ikushima's entire corpus of Yoshida-lite emulations, even Hideo Minaba's work on Granblue Fantasy.

At one point this was a perfect triangular complement to the sectors defined by Amano and Nomura, but as we recede further and further from any remaining stylistic imprint of the former and all the appealing extravagance is bled from the latter, a sort of repetitious sameness sets in. It's no fault of Yoshida's, and I think his own work still consistently outshines his "imitators", but it probably accounts for my cooler feelings of late.

As an aside, the guy has definitely indulged his predilections to a greater degree as time goes on. He's settled on an anatomical template for his female characters that I find vaguely disquieting, as evinced in this Tomb Raider illustration. That one has especially chitinous proportions, but most of it is basically just, like... hippy zettai ryoiki shit. A fetish so mild that it's one step removed from being really 'into' big titties. Guys with active accounts across multiple booru image boards will be cranking their shit to 2B for long and silent aeons, when even the memory of man is only a shadow over the wine-dark sea.

I would still like another game where he's allowed a fuller reign over design responsibilities. Like Nomura, he's reached a position of seniority that precludes him from designing anything beyond a few core characters and some key art, leaving the heft of the work to younger artists or middle-talents like Roberto Ferrari. Hopefully he'll be on tap for something other than Nier Automota phone games or FFXIV package illustrations or whatever the fuck Little Noah: Scion of Paradise is supposed to be. Damn, videogames are rough! This shit is not cooking!

[curiousrentals]

Spriggan | スプリガン, 1998

“You’ve finally shown your true face!”

[kartaematita]

Spriggan (スプリガン) Norihiko Sudo (1998)

[neovallense]

Spriggan, de Hiroshi Takashige y Ryouji Minagawa

[ahb-writes]

Manga Review: 'Spriggan' #2 (Deluxe Edition)

Spriggan by Hiroshi Takashige, Ryouji Minagawa, Deniz Amasya

action

fantasy

mythology

science fiction

superhero adventure

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

The peril never ends. Ominae's increasingly frantic and increasingly complex missions soon foist upon him numerous, devilish deals that require difficult decisions and agonizing trade-offs. SPRIGGAN v2 proves that no secret organization isn't without its faults, leaks, and traitors. This omnibus also shows how the value of such an organization is defined by the resilience of its individual agents. Craftiness and skill are essential, but grit and personal resolve are much firmer markers of success when combatting the criminal underworld.

SPRIGGAN v2 dips its toes into character backstory, retrieves a few excellent secondary characters from prior episodes, and carves out significant space for a worthy rival or two. To begin, the surrounding cast expands significantly in this book. For example, when tracking a few relics in a cursed forest on the Indian subcontinent, as well as during a demon-hunting expedition to the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq, Ominae encounters the leader of an enemy paramilitary unit. The mobile unit leader, Akatsuki Iwao, works for the Trident Corporation, which exists as a darker, more nefarious version of ARCAM.

Other exploits allow readers to cross paths with Akiha (Ominae's adoptive older sister), Oboro (a top-class spriggan and Ominae's martial arts instructor), and a handful of villains tied to a resuscitated U.S. Special Forces project. The creative team weaves these characters and more into the wider narrative with extraordinary cunning. The story never feels overburdened by too many characters or oversaturated with unwieldy character motivations. One highlight of the previous omnibus was how the story focused on the damage intelligent villains can effect when given the time and liberty to act. One highlight of the current omnibus is that when characters fail, or are overshadowed by the exploits of others, they know when to step aside and let someone else guide or take control of the story.

Readers learn about Oboro, for example, at precisely the point when one starts to wonder if Ominae and Jacquemonde (the shapeshifting Frenchman) really are the only decent spriggan around. Oboro, it turns out, is brilliant, patient, and stoic — a few shades more mature than his student. The man's ability to sniff out trouble, whether tactically or among legendary demon summoners, is entertaining. Readers encounter another spriggan, Tea Flatte, a sorceress, while poking through Jacquemonde's past as an impoverished kid in east-central France. Tea's cool demeanor likely betrays a sadness, or pity, of some kind, but the woman absolutely never loses her temper. A notable helping hand for the compulsive Frenchman.

The omnibus moves the story forward with several large steps. One such shift focuses on the expanded activities of the Trident criminal organization. Another concerns the book's incorporation of backstory — for both Jacquemonde and Ominae.

Interestingly, Trident succeeds at undermining a few of ARCAM's efforts to seal away dangerous materials (e.g., intelligent villains). Akatsuki, who hates to lose, forges a rivalry with Ominae when it's clear they're both skilled fighters who work for sketchy organizations. As far as backstory is concerned, good backstory, in this manga, often manifests as means of selectively compelling a character to take action in a crisis. The examples are numerous. But the most prescient concerns the Child Operative Soldier Machine-Organism System, run by the U.S. Special Forces Machiner's Platoon. To be brief, COSMOS is why Ominae is the way he is. And Trident is keen on resurrecting the project at all costs.

In terms of the practical and organic nature of Ominae's missions, SPRIGGAN v2 offers variety, to modest success. Some missions see the young man skulking abandoned dungeons in the middle of the desert, whereas others find him hunting the bowels of ARCAM's own building so as to fight back against a rogue computer intelligence system. Some missions take place in humid jungles, whereas others make their way into the urban sprawl. The difference in locations is clever, and the variation in villains is often written to match. Scope and emphasis are difficult to sync, as with a few chapters over-emphasizing a random, foolhardy nun's role in tracking down an out-of-the-way relic, but most episodes are solid.

The creative team's skilled integration of new villains, new allies, dark histories, and ominous futures makes SPRIGGAN v2 another quality omnibus. Even better, side characters, such as Yamamoto (Ominae's ARCAM handler), Yamabishi (prodigy linguistics professor), and Yoshino (blacklisted treasure hunter) either return for a brief stint or enjoy much greater time on the page, as with Yamamoto.

❯ ❯ Manga Reviews || ahb writes on Good Reads

[fashionbooksmilano]

Japanese Fashion Designers

Bonnie English

Bloomsbury, 188 pages, ISBN 9781847883100

euro 50,00

Over the past 40 years, Japanese designers have led the way in aligning fashion with art and ideology, as well as addressing identity and social politics through dress. They have demonstrated that both creative and commercial enterprise is possible in today's international fashion industry, and have refused to compromise their ideals, remaining autonomous and independent in their design, business affairs and distribution methods. The inspirational Miyake, Yamamoto and Kawakubo have gained worldwide respect and admiration and have influenced a generation of designers and artists alike. Based on twelve years of research, this book provides a richly detailed and uniquely comprehensive view of the work of these three key designers. It outlines their major contributions and the subsequent impact that their work has had upon the next generation of fashion and textile designers around the world. Designers discussed include: Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Naoki Takizawa, Dai Fujiwara, Junya Watanabe, Tao Kurihara, Jun Takahashi, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Junichi Arai, Reiko Sudo & the Nuno Corporation, Makiko Minagawa, Hiroshi Matsushita, Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Walter Van Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Helmut Lang.

24/02/24

[teragames]

Netflix estrena los promocionales de la nueva temporada de Spriggan

El nuevo video del anime Spriggan (@spriggan_anime) estrena una nueva imagen promocional por parte de @Netflix.

El anime Spriggan, basado en el manga de Hiroshi Takashige y Ryoji Minagawa -producido por el estudio responsable de JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, David Production-, nos regala una nueva imagen promocional para su estreno en Japón el 7 de julio próximo. Spriggan se emitió en Netflix desde el 18 de junio de 2022, y para celebrar su llegada la mercado asiático también se lanzó un nuevo trailer. ⚔️アニメ…

[saturdaynightmatinee]

CALIFICACIÓN PERSONAL: 5 / 10

Título Original: Death Note AKA  Desu nôto

Año: 2006

Duración: 126 min

País:  Japón

Dirección: Shusuke Kaneko

Guion: Tetsuya Oishi. Manga: Takeshi Obata, Tsugumi Ôba

Música: Kenji Kawai

Fotografía: Hiroshi Takase

Reparto: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kenichi Matsuyama, Shigeki Hosokawa, Erika Toda, Shunji Fujimura, Takeshi Kaga, Asaka Seto, Yu Kashii, Shido Nakamura, Takeo Nakahara, Sota Aoyama, Sarutoki Minagawa, Hikari Mitsushima, Matt Lagan

Productora: Death Note Film Partners, Nippon TV, Shueisha, Warner Bros.

Género: Crime; Drama; Fantasy

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758742/

TRAILER:

[lioncid]

Did a thing

[fighterxaos]

Octopath Traveler: Wayfarer's Edition Unboxing (RRPG Reviews)

#OctopathTraveler: Wayfarer's Edition Unboxing (RRPG Reviews)

From the minds that brought about the Tenchu franchise, Acquire teams up with Square Enix and Nintendo to bring forth a new Japanese Role-Playing game. Now, Octopath Traveler pays more of an homage to JRPGs of old like the early Final Fantasy games, and Dragon Quest! Of course, RRPG could not pass up on the opportunity to get the game’s own collector’s edition, so he is coming out to do an…

[koopadumpling]

Spriggan by Hiroshi Takashige & Ryouji Minagawa

[omercifulheaves]

Spriggan: Lunar Verse (1999) So I was today years old when I found out that From Software made a game based on Spriggan and it’s apparently some kind of proto-Devil May Cry.

[anamon-book]

スプリガン 東宝（株）出版・商品事業室 原作＝たかしげ宙・皆川亮二、総監修・構成＝大友克洋、監督・脚本＝川崎博嗣

[fashionbooksmilano]

Japanese Fashion Designers

The Work and Influence of Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto and Rei Kawakubo

Bloomsbury, London 2011, 188 pages, 17,5x24,8 cm, 24 colour & 40 bw illustrations, paperback, ISBN 9781350088146

euro 50,00

email if you want to buy booksinprogressmilano@yahoo.it

Over the past 40 years, Japanese designers have led the way in aligning fashion with art and ideology, as well as addressing identity and social politics through dress. They have demonstrated that both creative and commercial enterprise is possible in today's international fashion industry, and have refused to compromise their ideals, remaining autonomous and independent in their design, business affairs and distribution methods. The inspirational Miyake, Yamamoto and Kawakubo have gained worldwide respect and admiration and have influenced a generation of designers and artists alike.

Based on twelve years of research, this book provides a richly detailed and uniquely comprehensive view of the work of these three key designers. It outlines their major contributions and the subsequent impact that their work has had upon the next generation of fashion and textile designers around the world.

Designers discussed include: Issey Miyake, Yohji Yamamoto, Rei Kawakubo, Naoki Takizawa, Dai Fujiwara, Junya Watanabe, Tao Kurihara, Jun Takahashi, Yoshiki Hishinuma, Junichi Arai, Reiko Sudo & the Nuno Corporation, Makiko Minagawa, Hiroshi Matsushita, Martin Margiela, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Walter Beirendonck, Dirk Bikkembergs, Alexander McQueen, Hussein Chalayan and Helmut Lang.

09/01/24