Otomo - The Complete Works

[skoden]

Anyone else been following the release of the complete works by Otomo Katsuhiro? It was announced this past February with a publication date of 2021 (which has since been pushed to Jan 2022). I'm pretty excited to see works that haven't been able to circulate in the united states, though I'm curious what will fill out the over 40 volume set? We might be in store for ad campaigns he's worked on, storyboards for all of the anime, preliminary sketches of manga, and who know what else? The website setup for this release has been pretty scant on updates, but consistent enough that fingers crossed we'll see steady releases thoughout next year! A formal pre-order is expected for Monday, the 15th, but you can also reserve a copy of Vol. 8 and 21 now though Amazon Japan. 



These are all Japanese language releases so far, so I'm hoping for an English translation sometime soon. Though, I worry that would entail a stateside publisher agreeing to pick up the translation and distribution costs and therefore a long wait before it's all finalized. I would love a translation of collected works like SOS! or other short stories that are long out of print.

[BubblesZine]

Oh man this is awesome. Super curious to see what's in here.

Not to derail, but a Dash and I had an interesting conversation where he was surprised Otomo really slowed down after Akira. You'd think a creator who's as driven to make Akira and the movie wouldn't want to stop. Like there's something in them to always be making. But it seems like Otomo really did slow down a lot. A bummer. No hate, just seems uncharacteristic for creators of that level of genius.

[skoden]

I also wondered if he struggled with writer's block or just being caught up in directing and producing anime (which might have brought him considerable more income than putting out manga). Akira has been such a worldwide phenomenon, I'm sure it would give pause to any artist on what to do next, if not fill them with the paralyzing fear of failure.

I always thought he would pursue a space/robotics epic similar to the stuff explored on Farewell to Weapons or the "Construction Cancellation Order" short and seemed to be hinted at with the Orbital Era trailer. Though these rumors always seem to exist, he's been working intermittently on something comparable to the size and scope of Akira for the past 10 years if not longer. 

If anyone gets a bead on where to order the complete volumes through a US seller, let us know!

[mikesheawright]

holy shiiiit did not know about this. i have a few of his books in japanese and the Genga book which i am obsessed with. hyped to see where these complete works go.