|
Azumi
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Yū Koyama. Its story concerns the title character, a young woman brought up as part of a team of assassins, charged with killing the warlords that threaten the uneasy peace in Feudal Japan in the aftermath of its long Sengoku civil war period. ''Azumi'' was originally published by Shogakukan and serialized in ''Big Comic Superior'', and received an Excellence Prize at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival and the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1998. The manga was later adapted to two feature films starring Aya Ueto (2003's '' Azumi'' and 2005's '' Azumi 2: Death or Love''), and a video game and a stage play in 2005. Plot ''Azumi'' focuses upon the life of the titular young female assassin. The manga begins an indeterminate number of years after the Battle of Sekigahara. As Azumi begins her duty, the manga introduces its characters into mainstream history. Many of the early missions that Azumi undertakes are the assassination ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azumi (film)
is a 2003 Japanese jidaigeki film directed by Ryûhei Kitamura and starring Aya Ueto, Yuma Ishigaki, Shun Oguri, Hiroki Narimiya, Takatoshi Kaneko, Eita, Shogo Yamaguchi and Joe Odagiri. ''Azumi'' is an adaptation of Yū Koyama's manga series of the same title, and was followed by the sequel '' Azumi 2: Death or Love'' in 2005. Plot As in the manga, the old master Jiji is tasked by the Tokugawa shogunate to raise a band of assassins. Their task is to finish off Toyotomi Hideyoshi's three allies: Nagamasa Asano, Kiyomasa Kato and Masayuki Sanada, to prevent an outbreak of the new civil war. Azumi is discovered as a little girl kneeling without visible emotion next to the body of her dead mother by Gessai and his entourage of young students. She is then raised by him in the martial skills of sword fighting and the art of assassination. Azumi and her classmates, now at young adult age, are constantly being told about a "mission" they must accomplish, though they have no idea wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meisa Kuroki
Satsuki Shimabukuro (Japanese: 島袋 さつき, ''Shimabukuro Satsuki'', b. 28 May 1988 in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan), better known by her stage name Meisa Kuroki (Japanese: 黒木 メイサ, ''Kuroki Meisa''), is a Japanese actress, model and singer. She is represented by the agency Sweet Power and is signed to Sony Music Japan. She made her acting debut in 2004. She has modeled for the popular Japanese fashion magazine '' JJ'', among others, and is the current Japanese representative for Epson and Giorgio Armani. She has appeared in numerous television dramas, commercials, films, and stage productions. Biography Early life and career Kuroki was born Satsuki Shimabukuro in Okinawa, Japan. While in her second year of junior high school in Okinawa, Kuroki was discovered by a fashion scout and subsequently began modeling, initially modeling exclusively for the popular fashion magazine '' JJ''. While studying at the Okinawa Actors School, from which she graduated in 2007, she was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yū Koyama
is a Japanese manga artist. After graduating from the University of Shizuoka he moved to Tokyo and in 1968 took a job with Saito Productions, the company run by Takao Saitō. In 1971 he worked with Kazuo Koike at Studio Ship. Koyama debuted in '' Shōnen Sunday'' in 1973 with ''Ore wa Chokkaku''. He has won multiple awards in the manga field, winning the Shogakukan Manga Award twice, once in 1977 for ''Ganbare Genki'' and again in 1998 for ''Azumi''. ''Azumi'' also won an Excellence Award at the 1997 Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a .... Works * * * * * * * * * * * * References * Gifford, Kevin. "Azumi". (November 2006) ''Newtype USA''. p. 154. External links Yū Koyama's Official Websiteat The Ultimate Manga Page * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ryuhei Kitamura
(born May 30, 1969) is a Japanese film director, producer, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Kitamura was born in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. He dropped out of high school at age 17 and relocated to Sydney, Australia, where he attended a school for visual arts. His first film as director was the short ''Exit'', which he made as his graduation piece at age 19. Career After graduating, he returned to Japan to establish Napalm Films, his independent production studio. His featurettes ''Down to Hell'' and ''Heat after Dark'' were successful in film festivals, and he soon found his first mainstream success with the cult film '' Versus''. The film launched the career of stars Tak Sakaguchi and Hideo Sakaki, and brought Kitamura international recognition when it was released on DVD outside Japan in 2004. In 2002, Kitamura directed the short film ''The Messenger: Requiem for the Dead'' as part of the ''Jam Films'' project, as well as ''Alive''. In 2003, he directed a feature film ad ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Entertainment Software Publishing
(ESP) was a Japanese video game publisher headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo. It was founded in 1997 as a publisher for games developed by the Game Developers Network (GD-NET). GD-NET, which included companies such as Treasure and Game Arts, was established due to concerns over smaller developers not having the same financial backing like larger game companies did, as production of console games was beginning to rise. ESP was best known for publishing shoot 'em ups and role-playing games. While primarily a publisher, ESP also developed a handful of games internally. ESP primarily published games for the Sega Saturn and Dreamcast. When both systems met their demise, the company started shifting operations towards consoles such as the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, and Nintendo DS. ESP was purchased by Game Arts in 2002 and became its publishing division. In 2004, ESP was sold to D3 Publisher, which had noticed ESP's track record and lineup of well-received titles. ESP was merge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Japan Media Arts Festival
The Japan Media Arts Festival is an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by a jury of artistic peers, awards are given in four categories: Art (formerly called Non-Interactive Digital Art), Entertainment (formerly called Interactive Art; including video games and websites), animation, and manga. Within each category, one Grand Prize, four Excellence Prizes, and (since 2002) one Encouragement Prize are awarded. Other outstanding works, are selected by the Jury as Jury Selections. The winning works of the four categories will receive a certificate, a trophy and a cash prize. Digital Art (Non-Interactive Art) awards Digital Art (Interactive Art) awards Art awards Entertainment awards Animation awards Manga awards See also * List of animation awards * List of manga awards * Lists of animated feature fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, and is sponsored by Shogakukan, Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga and features candidates from a number of publishers. It is the oldest manga award in Japan, being given since 1955. Categories The current award categories are: * * * * Each winning work will be honored with a bronze statuette, a certificate and a prize of 1 million yen (about US$7,500). Special awards are also occasionally given out for outstanding work, lifetime achievement, and so forth. Recipients The laureates were awarded for comics published during the years listed in the table. However, the laureates were not presented and the prizes were not given out until the beginning of the following year. The prizes are often referred to by the numbers listed below instead of the years. See also * List of manga awards References ;General * ;Specific External links * List of winners 1956–2021 {{Manga Industry Awards A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Comic Superior
is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since July 1, 1987 by Shogakukan in Japan. Its target audience is somewhere between the audience for ''Big Comic Original'' and ''Big Comic Spirits''. The magazine has published works by a number of well-known manga artists, including Ryoichi Ikegami, Mochiru Hoshisato, Yū Koyama, Yūji Aoki, Fumi Saimon, Norifusa Mita, George Akiyama, and Buronson. ''Superior'' was originally a special issue of ''Big Comic Original'', published twice monthly on the 1st and 15th. However, since it was selling just as well as the main three magazines (''Big Comic'', ''Big Comic Original'', and ''Big Comic Spirits''), it began to be released every other week. It is currently released twice monthly on the second and fourth Fridays. As of 2015, ''Superior'' has a reported circulation of 115,334 for each issue. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shusuke Kaneko
is a Japanese filmmaker. Life and career Shūsuke Kaneko was born in Tokyo on June 8, 1955. According to the biography on his official website Kaneko was interested in science fiction, particularly Godzilla and Gamera films, from a young age. He became involved in amateur film making in his teen years, but majored in education when he attended Tokyo Gakugei University. After graduation, he found a job at the major Japanese movie studio Nikkatsu. By 1982 he was a screenwriter and assistant director for Nikkatsu's ''Roman Porno'' film series. He made his debut as a director with Nikkatsu in February 1984 with ''Kōichirō Uno's Wet and Swinging'', part of a long-running Nikkatsu series based on the works of erotic novelist Kōichirō Uno. That work along with two other ''Roman Porno'' films he directed for Nikkatsu that year, and , won him the Best New Director award at the 6th Yokohama Film Festival. The next year, his manga-based April 1985 movie for Nikkatsu, '' Minna Agecha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anime News Network
Anime News Network (ANN) is a news website that reports on the status of anime, manga, video games, Japanese popular music and other related cultures within North America, Australia, Southeast Asia and Japan. The website offers reviews and other editorial content, forums where readers can discuss current issues and events, and an encyclopedia that contains many anime and manga with information on the staff, cast, theme music, plot summaries, and user ratings. The website was founded in July 1998 by Justin Sevakis, and operated the magazine ''Protoculture Addicts'' from 2005 to 2008. Based in Canada, it has separate versions of its news content aimed toward audiences in four separate regions: the United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and Southeast Asia. History The website was founded by Justin Sevakis in July 1998. In May 2000, CEO Christopher Macdonald joined the website editorial staff, replacing editor-in-chief Isaac Alexander. On June 30, 2002, Anime News N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tankōbon
is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ... term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or monthly List of manga magazines, manga anthology with other works before being published as volumes containing several chapters each. Major publishing Imprint (trade name), imprints for include Jump Comics (for serials in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' and other Jump (magazine line), ''Jump'' magazines), Kodansha's Weekly Shōnen Magazine, Shōnen Magazine Comics, and Shogakukan's Shōnen Sunday Comics. Japanese comics (manga) manga came to be published in thick, phone book, phone- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
