Intron Depot 1 by Masamune Shirow

Intron Depot

by Masamune Shirow

Japanese artist Masamune Shirow is well known to discriminating comics readers. American editions of his spectacular graphic epics have been highly praised and voraciously collected. Now, his gorgeous and highly detailed color art has been collected for the first time into a single, handsome trade paperback. Beautifully printed in Japan and featuring text in both Japanese and English, this package features nearly two hundred full-color Shirow works, 47 published for the first time anywhere in the world! This book is a nearly complete archive of Shirow's color work from 1981 to 1991, including material from Appleseed, Dominion, Black Magic, Orion, and much more. This is an absolute must for fans of Shirow, science-fiction and fantasy art, and manga.

Genres: Manga, Art, Comics, Science Fiction, Cyberpunk, Fantasy, Japan

JP Oversized

First published July 14, 1992

About the author

Masamune Shirow is an internationally renowned manga

Masanori Ota, better known by his pen name Masamune Shirow (Japanese: 士郎正宗), is a Japanese manga artist renowned for his influential contributions to the cyberpunk genre. Born in Kobe in 1961, he studied oil painting at Osaka University of Arts, where he developed an interest in manga. His early work Black Magic led to the critically acclaimed Appleseed, which won the 1986 Seiun Award for Best Manga. Shirow achieved global recognition with Ghost in the Shell, a groundbreaking manga that inspired multiple anime films and series, a live-action Hollywood adaptation, and numerous video games. His stories are known for blending action with philosophical inquiries into AI, post-human existence, and the ethics of technology. He has collaborated with Production I.G on projects like Ghost Hound and Real Drive. Shirow’s distinctive style and thought-provoking narratives have left a lasting impact on manga, anime, and science fiction worldwide, influencing creators including the Wachowskis of The Matrix fame.

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

So a quick update - after having a tidy I spied my collection of artwork books and I have to admit that it wasnt until I checked here that I realised how long ago it was that I first read this book! The artwork is still great fun (and reminded me of all the various anime series I used to watch while at uni) and the fact that it has multi-lingual text along side each other meant that I could follow the text that accompanied each piece. I forgot how much thought was put in to each set piece. really did enjoy reading this - the only thing now is I have to go and find the other books in the series.



Okay let's try this again after losing the Internet.

This book I think needs a little bit of an explanation. I was first introduced to anime while at university and I was hooked.

Akira was like nothing else I had seen before and I was fascinated. And so began my interest in anime giant robots and over the top action. As you can imagine this eventually brought me to the works of Mr Shirow. From Ghost in the shell to appleseed and tank police the creative mind behind them all fascinated me.

Now I will admit that his work does start to become exploitive but that neither appeals or interests me. For me I see the Japanese's continued fascination with technology to the point where they are willing to give up their identity to embrace it more deeply.

And so to this book. Rather than showing threads comic book work this is a collection of his set pieces and commissioned work.

[Alex Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

During the 1990s, reading and digesting Masamune Shirow's work was like watching Michael Jackson music videos in the 80s. It was recognizable, but so technically sharp and artistically tight, you thought for a moment you might actually be witnessing a revolution.

Intron Depot 1, much more than the later volumes, captures this feeling exactly.

[Babs]

FALSE

[JCW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent compilation of Shirow Masamune's earlier artistic works in full color with commentary in both Japanese and English. Highlights works such as Appleseed, Black Magic, Ghost in The Shell, and Dominion.

[Cornelius Moy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love his artwork and followed his manga and animes for years. If you love science fiction of where the world could go technologically-wise then Shirow's works will show you a very interesting path that humans could take in the next several decades. I always enjoyed how wonderfully he could capture the beauty of the female form and meld it with highly imaginative tech or mecha. Masamune Shirow will always have a place in my heart for his style and imagination that still inspires me to this day.

[Burt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A friend of mine got this book while we were in college together and I had to go out and get my own copy. Though the works in this book are now outshone by the second, third, and fourth Intron Depot books, this one still has a near and dear place in my heart.

[Seth · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Collection of Shirows mecha Manga art, decent, more for the completist (which at one time I was) than anything else.

[Babs]

FALSE

[Davino Nascimento · Rating 5 out of 5]

-aw-