Name: Masamune, Shirow (pseudonym)
Born: November 23, 1961
Birthplace: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan
Hometown: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan (in the southern part of Honshu, Japan's main island), following the destruction of his home and studio by the 1995 Hanshin earthquake, Shirow has since moved, but still lives in Kobe.
Education: Graduate of Osaka University of Arts
Manga Works: Black Magic, Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police, Ghost In the Shell: ManMachine Interface, Ghost In the Shell: ManMachine Interface 2, Orion, Hide Hard, Neurohard: The Planet of Wasps, Exon Depot, Intron Depot 1, Intron Depot 2: Blades.
Anime Works: Black Magic M-66, Appleseed, Dominion Tank Police, Gunsmith Cats, Ghost In the Shell, Appleseed, Bounty Dog, Gundress, Landlock.
Game Works: Aimpoint, Appleseed, Black Magic, Eternal City, Ghost in the Shell, Horned Owl, Gundress, Orion, Suraimu Siyou!, Trinea, Winds of Thunder, Sampaguita.
Shirow's Style
Incorporates the traditions of early Japanese animation
(e.g.., has abstracted, but refined beautiful young women).
Features "mecha that are not absurd, (with human, animal, or insect-like features)" spiced with high tech themes.
Incorporates an "information-intensive story-telling technique," with visual and textual information so concentrated it almost interrupts the flow of the story itself.
Strives for easy entertainment, and avoids over-dramatizing or emotional posturing.
Heroes are usually police women, and the genre mainly consists of sci-fi. First Manga Works In 1983 Shirow self-published his first manga paperback Black Magic while enrolled at Osaka University of Arts. Later debuted commercially in 1985 with Appleseed Volume 1 (most manga artists in Japan, usually, first debut with a short work in a commercial magazine, before their works get serialized).
Features "mecha that are not absurd, (with human, animal, or insect-like features)" spiced with high tech themes.
Incorporates an "information-intensive story-telling technique," with visual and textual information so concentrated it almost interrupts the flow of the story itself.
Strives for easy entertainment, and avoids over-dramatizing or emotional posturing.
Heroes are usually police women, and the genre mainly consists of sci-fi. First Manga Works In 1983 Shirow self-published his first manga paperback Black Magic while enrolled at Osaka University of Arts. Later debuted commercially in 1985 with Appleseed Volume 1 (most manga artists in Japan, usually, first debut with a short work in a commercial magazine, before their works get serialized).
In depth
Shirow Masamune 
written in kanji. Shirow comes from shi-
(it can mean "samurai") and
-row meaning "man" (used as suffix in men's given names).
shi can also be read as the combination for "ten" and "one"
and the left part of row as "born" meaning "eleventh
born", which is his month of birth November. Masamune is the
name of the greatest sword in Japanese history. It comes from sei
meaning "right" or "correct"
and shu meaning "source".
Who is "Shirow Masamune"? Only Shirow himself, close friends, and family know the answer. "Shirow Masamune" is a pseudonym for a person with exceptional artistic vision, talent, and creativity. An extremely private person, Shirow has no intention of making a public appearance or even photographed, which is understandable, he wants his artwork to speak for it's self, and not for who made it. So I guess fans will have to make do with the "Octopus" self-potraits. Let's respect Shirow's privacy by not probing any deeper, but focus on his works instead.
Arguably one of the best science fiction manga-ka, Shirow's pro manga debut was Black Magic, which he wrote, drew and published for the fanzine Atlas during his years at Osaka University of Arts. Upon graduation Shirow went on to teach art in a high school, where he created the first volume of Appleseed, that was published in 1985. Appleseed went on to become a huge success, earning Shirow a Galaxy Award for best science fiction comic in 1986. It continued to be Shirow's "life work" with 4 volumes as of 1989, and the promise of more to come. More and more Shirow's popularity grows, with his work getting distributed worldwide.
Shirow's works have also been adapted for anime series, movies, and even games. Most notable are Dominion Tank Police anime series, and Ghost In The Shell (still one of the most successful anime movies ever), and was also made into a Playstation game. However, Shirow has openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the anime industry as being discriminate towards manga-kas, and prefers to work alone, rather than be involved in team projects. His involvement in the anime and gaming industry is minimal, and more often just doing character and/or conceptual designing.
Shirow gets his creative influences from extensive reading in things like: insects, medicine, general science, supernatural, philosophy, military strategies, mythology, biology, marine biology, nanotechnology, sword-fighting, and even comedy is apparent in all his work.
An interesting fact about Shirow, is that he is a "one-man show". preferring to work without assistance and doing practically everything all by himself, except for a brief time he worked with an assistant, Hagane Kotetsu, who is still a good friend of Shirow. Shirow writes all his stories and all illustrating of every piece (including inking, and screen toning, to the point that it is ready-to-publish). Which explains why it takes so long for his work to be published.
written in kanji. Shirow comes from shi-
(it can mean "samurai") and
-row meaning "man" (used as suffix in men's given names).
shi can also be read as the combination for "ten" and "one"
and the left part of row as "born" meaning "eleventh
born", which is his month of birth November. Masamune is the
name of the greatest sword in Japanese history. It comes from sei
meaning "right" or "correct"
and shu meaning "source".Who is "Shirow Masamune"? Only Shirow himself, close friends, and family know the answer. "Shirow Masamune" is a pseudonym for a person with exceptional artistic vision, talent, and creativity. An extremely private person, Shirow has no intention of making a public appearance or even photographed, which is understandable, he wants his artwork to speak for it's self, and not for who made it. So I guess fans will have to make do with the "Octopus" self-potraits. Let's respect Shirow's privacy by not probing any deeper, but focus on his works instead.
Arguably one of the best science fiction manga-ka, Shirow's pro manga debut was Black Magic, which he wrote, drew and published for the fanzine Atlas during his years at Osaka University of Arts. Upon graduation Shirow went on to teach art in a high school, where he created the first volume of Appleseed, that was published in 1985. Appleseed went on to become a huge success, earning Shirow a Galaxy Award for best science fiction comic in 1986. It continued to be Shirow's "life work" with 4 volumes as of 1989, and the promise of more to come. More and more Shirow's popularity grows, with his work getting distributed worldwide.
Shirow's works have also been adapted for anime series, movies, and even games. Most notable are Dominion Tank Police anime series, and Ghost In The Shell (still one of the most successful anime movies ever), and was also made into a Playstation game. However, Shirow has openly expressed his dissatisfaction with the anime industry as being discriminate towards manga-kas, and prefers to work alone, rather than be involved in team projects. His involvement in the anime and gaming industry is minimal, and more often just doing character and/or conceptual designing.
Shirow gets his creative influences from extensive reading in things like: insects, medicine, general science, supernatural, philosophy, military strategies, mythology, biology, marine biology, nanotechnology, sword-fighting, and even comedy is apparent in all his work.
An interesting fact about Shirow, is that he is a "one-man show". preferring to work without assistance and doing practically everything all by himself, except for a brief time he worked with an assistant, Hagane Kotetsu, who is still a good friend of Shirow. Shirow writes all his stories and all illustrating of every piece (including inking, and screen toning, to the point that it is ready-to-publish). Which explains why it takes so long for his work to be published.
Resources
Seishinsha
This is Shirow Masamune's main publisher. Seishinsha is an independent publishing house based in Osaka, Japan, where Shirow first published his works, and still continues to. Visit their website which is also the official source for Masamune Shirow goods, news and events (for Seishinsha publications only) which any fan would find very useful. Also, while you're there, pick up some of Shirow's images from their Data Library (strictly for personal use, mind you!). If you have any questions, write to the good folks at Seishinsha, info@seishinsha-online.co.jp.
This is Shirow Masamune's main publisher. Seishinsha is an independent publishing house based in Osaka, Japan, where Shirow first published his works, and still continues to. Visit their website which is also the official source for Masamune Shirow goods, news and events (for Seishinsha publications only) which any fan would find very useful. Also, while you're there, pick up some of Shirow's images from their Data Library (strictly for personal use, mind you!). If you have any questions, write to the good folks at Seishinsha, info@seishinsha-online.co.jp.
Kodansha
Kodansha is one of the big mainstream publishers in Japan. They publish numerous manga series and also weekly series, including Young Magazine in which Shirow's Ghost In The Shell was first serialized. Shirow also does quite a bit of his "one shot" or short mangas in this magazine.
Kodansha is one of the big mainstream publishers in Japan. They publish numerous manga series and also weekly series, including Young Magazine in which Shirow's Ghost In The Shell was first serialized. Shirow also does quite a bit of his "one shot" or short mangas in this magazine.
Studio
Proteus Online
Studio Proteus does the translations, touch-ups and publishing of manga series (mostly with Dark Horse Comics). They do all the English translations for Shirow's works. Visit their website for more info and check for upcoming Shirow mangas.
Studio Proteus does the translations, touch-ups and publishing of manga series (mostly with Dark Horse Comics). They do all the English translations for Shirow's works. Visit their website for more info and check for upcoming Shirow mangas.
Dark
Horse Online
Dark Horse publishes in conjunction with Studio Proteus the English versions of Shirow Masamune's books and mangas. Visit the website for information on back issues, and how to get them.
Dark Horse publishes in conjunction with Studio Proteus the English versions of Shirow Masamune's books and mangas. Visit the website for information on back issues, and how to get them.
Foot Note
the resources for this document were compiled from Dark
Horse Online, Studio Proteus Online, Kodansha, Seishinsha, Masamune Shirow
Hyperpage.