1988 Appleseed Calendarbook
Thanks to Alucard
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: 10 November 1987
Price: 854 yen
Code: 0071-874045-4034
Manga: Appleseed
This calendar has come out some years before Intron Depot 1, so you can find a good review there (but there aren't the small illos about super deformed characters).
The cover (on the left) has been reproduced at page 33. Shirow: "This was the cover of the 1988 Appleseed calendar. The overall coloring is quite subdued, but its still one of my personal favorites. Maybe I should have put a little more twist into Briareos' pose? [...]". You can find the monthly pictures starting from page 142. The problem is that there isn't any translation. Shirow: "[...] Since two thirds of the text in the calendar has already been published in English, I'm not adding translations to this section. My apologies to the English language readers - but there should be opportunities to make it up to you in the future". Voices say that they did so to avoid adding more pages. I don't know if English readers have never read those translations, I haven't! (help me!)
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1997 Dominion Calendar
Thanks to Stephen
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: October 1996
Price: 1,262 yen
Code: ISBN4-87892-107-2
Manga: Dominion
This is a really good product! Full color pictures about all the various events of the Dominion universe. Sometimes you can see super deformed Anna (form Dominion Conflict 1) whereas in other pictures there is Al (the other member of Bonaparte's crew) or even Nam (one of policemen/soldiers recruited by the Tank Police) from the original Dominion. Unfortunately this is due to the fact that Shirow hasn't worked too much to create this calendar: look at the list below (printed on the front of the calendar) about the first publications of the images.
January | New |
 |
February | LD 3 cover |
March | LD 4 cover |
April | GAIA 14 cover |
May | Novel cover 1 |
June | Conflict 1 cover |
July | Conflict 1 page 1 |
August | LD 2 cover |
September | New |
October | LD 6 cover |
November | LD 5 cover |
December | Novel cover 2 |
In the same way: the small b/w images of each month have been taken from the Conflict 1 manga and the Puma logo on the inner cover (look above) has been drawn as an advertisement for Seburo replica. Anyway all the pictures are really beautiful. Try to get it (I did but it was too late!). Click to look at the original Dominion Novel covers.
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Gemcat (1998 Calendar)
Thanks to Lucas
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: October 1997
Price: 1,400 yen
Code: none (?)
Dimensions (mm): 250x210; 500x210 (unfolded)
Gemcat is the first work by Shirow to show fully his passion for fantasy drawings. In fact the pictures are about beautiful girls who are handling long swords (too much long) and generally there are fantastic birds as background (because most drawings have been originally drawn for the Griffon magazine and Shirow had to follow a "mythological birds" theme). Only one image (July) has a science fiction look. Even if some pictures aren't top quality, this calendar looks quite good.
If you haven't this calendar but you'd like to watch its images, you can buy ID2 "Blades". In fact there are many pictures used inside Gemcat and the differences are small:
|
Date
|
Number
|
Page
|
|
Date
|
Number
|
Page
|
Cover
January
February
March
April
May
|
1994/2
1994/2
1995/1
1993/11
1996/12
1993/4
|
2145 byp.1
2052
2070
2049
2149
2031
|
085
046
058
047
063
013
|
June
August
September
October
November
December
|
1995/3
1993/1
1996/10
1993/7
1996/10
1994/7
|
2073
2023
2146
2040
2148
2064
|
017
012
062
059
048
108
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Date: the creation date of the original picture (not retouched). Number: used by Shirow to indicate his pictures. Page: where you can find it inside Blades.
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Rebirth (1999 Calendar)
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: October 1998
Price: 1,400 yen
Code: ISBN4-87892-154-4
Dimensions (mm): 250x210; 500x210 (unfolded)
In the last years Shirow has showed how much he likes fantasy pictures and Rebirth follows this tendency (10 images of 13). But this calendar shows a greater care than Gemcat and the drawings look really accurate and beautiful.
Amongst the best Shirow's works.
As for Gemcat, inside ID2 "Blades" there are many pictures used for Rebirth (the differences are small):
|
Date
|
Number
|
Page
|
|
Date
|
Number
|
Page
|
Cover
February
March
April
May
June
|
1998/1
1998/5
1997/12
1995/7
1998/6
1998/5
|
2187
2207
2171
2185
2211
2209
|
111
002
087
042
055
010
|
August
September
October
November
December
|
1997/9
1996/10
1998/4
1994/11
1997/7
|
2145.2
2141
2203
2068A
2157
|
088
020
045
022
109
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Date: the creation date of the original picture (not retouched). Number: used by Shirow to indicate his pictures. Page: where you can find it inside Blades.
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ARMS 1999
Publisher: Kodansha
Date: January 1998
Price: 2,000 yen
Code: ISBN4-06-340105-7
Dimensions (mm): 183x258x12; 740x258x3 (unfolded)
For 1999 there is another calendar by Shirow, but this time the publisher is Kodansha. The price is quite expensive, but it's particular too: in fact it is formed by four hard cardboard connected each one in a W shape. Months and days are printed on stickers and you can glue them where you want (if you are so mad to ruin it).
The four page of the Arms manga (published by Kodansha at the beginning of 1998) have been reproduced on one side; on the other there are the cover and three original pictures (one has been previously used as October image for the Gemcat calendar).
Inside the package you can find four "New Year's Card" too: one 3D Tacochu (Shirow's own portrait) and three reproductions of the main pictures (with little differences). On the back of these cards there is written EXON DEPOT [ARMS] YOUNG MAGAZINE. This proves that the manga (full color and without balloons) is a part of the Exon Depot series.
It has been quoted inside ID2 "Blades" at page 60: "This character was reprinted by Kodansha, along with several other new characters that couldn't be included here, in a 1999 calendar. Perhaps someday it'll be possible to include images related to this character in a collection. Then again, it may not....".
In practice all the drawings used for this calendar, have been reprinted inside Blades at pages 59 and 60, but many are only thumbnails.
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Millennium 2000
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: October 1999
Price: 1,400 yen
Code: ISBN4-87892-179-X
Dimensions (mm): 250x210; 500x210 (unfolded)
The Millennium - 2000 Calendar has been released during November 1999. This time the argument is mechanism & girls (a new one!) and, as usual, it contains 13 illustrations, of which only "June" has been published inside an Intron Depot (inside ID2, number 2208). The illustration used as cover is the same published inside the Comickers magazine (issue number 10, 1998).
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Angel Star 2001
Publisher: Seishinsha
Date: November 2000
Price: 1,400 yen
Code: ISBN4-87892-198-6
Dimensions (mm): 250x210; 500x210 (unfolded)
As in the past years, the Seishinsha calendars have proved to be the main source of interesting pictures otherwise impossible to get (since most come from Japanese magazine). The Angel Star - 2001 Calendar has confirmed this since most of its illustrations come form the Comic GUM magazine.
Anyway this year there is something new since Dark Horse has released an English version. It has been printed in Japan and it is different from the Japanese edition since there are written various other holidays (not US national holidays only) and there are the "Studio Proteus" and "Dark Horse" logos on the back of the envelope. This edition has been released on November 22, 2000 and its price is 19.99 dollars.
The picture on the right has been released by Dark Horse to advertise this calendar. Anyway it represents the original illustration used for Comic GUM October 2000 cover (except for the deleted "GUM" logo, which wasn't replaced by "Evening Star" yet) and it is different from the one used as October page (read below).
Picture | Origin | Notes |
Cover | New! | |
January | Comic GUM,
February 2000 (cover) | This picture was heavily retouched since the dress and background colors have been turned red. Comic GUM logos have been deleted from both the right palm and the top of the sceptre (where it was replaced by the well known five tips magic star often used by Shirow). The sceptre itself has been repasted on the left hand since it doesn't fit anymore between thumb and forefinger. This picture was created on October 30, 1999. |
February | Comic GUM,
August 2000 (cover) | The GUM logo on the hat has been replaced by a cross, whereas the right glove has changed in dimensions (shorter) and color (from golden to metal). Small GUM logos are still visible on many buttons. | |
March | Comic GUM,
April 2000 (cover) | Another heavily retouched illustration since the dress of the character is now red (the dress was green on a poster from the same issue, whereas it was pink on the cover) and the background characters have increased from two to four and have different position. The GUM logo has been deleted from the hat. |
April | Comic GUM,
? | I didn't knew this picture, but on the glasses there is written GUM, so it was very probably drawn for the Comic GUM magazine. The various buttons look retouched (small GUM logos as always?). |
May | Comic GUM,
June 2000 (cover) | The skin of the main character has been darkened; the background changed and a fabric decoration was moved from over the left shoulder to the left side. |
June | Comic GUM,
July 2000 (cover) | The dress color was turned red, but this was already done for the plastic card. This time the GUM logos on the buttons haven't been erased. This picture was created on April 18, 2000; AM 04:14, in Kobe. Note the Poseidon Industrial sign in the background. |
July | Comic GUM,
September 2000 (cover) | The GUM logos on the buttons have been covered by green dots (but they are easily recognizable anyway) and a larger GUM logo has been deleted from the left sleeve. Also a blue shirt under the blouse has been erased. This illustration was created on April 25, 2000. |
August | New! (?) | I didn't know this illustration, but, if I'm not wrong, a Japanese magazine called Neko exists, so I'm not sure if this picture is really original or no. |
September | New! |
October | Comic GUM,
October 2000 (cover) | The number and the positions of the aliens in the background are different (as for the mine). The GUM logo on the left arm has been replaced by "Evening Star". This illustration was created on June 26, 2000. |
November | Comic GUM,
February 2000 (poster) | The uniform color was changed from green to camouflaged and the GUM logo has been deleted from the hat. The position and the number of the background target and rifles (note that they are "Seburo") are different. The name on the left gun is flipped probably because Shirow had created only one 3D weapon and he had to flip it to represent two different guns, viewed from the same side. |
December | Comic GUM,
January 2000 (cover) | The GUM logo on the helmet has been substituted by "Fire Cats" which was the name of the poster that was inside the same Comic Gum issue. The dress is more orange than red and the gray accessories were turned green. Inside the round on the background, fireworks were covered by the "Fire Cats" poster background. |
As you have read above, for this calendar Shirow has decided to retouch the illustrations he had drawn for Comic GUM, often deleting the GUM logos. Personally I think that these pictures looked better in their original versions and often the modified particulars seem to be make in hurry, but this is still a very good product.
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Japanese National Holidays
If you have any of these calendars, here is a list about the names of all those unknown holidays.
January
February
March
April
May |
1 New Year Holiday
15 Coming of Age Day
11 National Foundation Day
20 Vernal Equinox Day
29 Greenery Day
3 Constitution Memorial Day
4 National Holiday
5 Children's Day |
July
September
October
November
December |
20 Marine Day
15 Respect for the Aged Day
23 Autumnal Equinox Day
10 Sports Day
3 Culture Day
23 Labour Thanksgiving Day
23 Emperor's Birthday |
These days are subject to change. For example the Rebirth calendar shows "Vernal Equinox Day" on March 21 and Millennium shows "Coming of Age Day" on January 10 and "Sports Day" on October 9.
If you know more about Japanese holidays, please mail me.
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American Calendars
Above there are all the Japanese calendars about Mr. Masamune Shirow, but there are few more published by the American company Golden Turtle Press.
During 1999 they have released The Best of Manga 2000 calendar which features art by manga artists used as covers for Dark Horse comic books. Shirow is present with four illustrations about Appleseed (ID1 page 22), Dominion, Ghost in the Shell and Orion (ID2 number 2001).
This calendar is sold out, anyway it was available worldwide except Japan and the code is ISBN1-55811-760-1.
But I think that the next calendar it's more interesting: 2001 Best of Masamune Shirow (Master of Manga). It is available worldwide including Japan. The cover is the Morning Star illustration (ID2 number 2141) and the calendar features 13 pictures of which two haven't been printed inside Intron Depot 1 or ID2. There will be Shirow comments throughout the calendar. Anyway all the pictures are well know and often already printed inside the older Japanese calendars.
Date: July 2000
Price: 12.99 dollars
Code: ISBN1-55811-9310
Dimensions (mm): 350x280
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About Shirow's Calendars
I have something to think about these calendars: excluded the Appleseed Calendarbook, all the others have been mainly realized using stuff drawn for other works.
Dominion Calendar (1997): Shirow has created on purpose only two images.
Gemcat (1998): the cover is a retouched illustration for the Griffon magazine; also January, March, May, August, October, November, December have been originally drawn for Griffon; February is one of Shirow's personal 1995 New Year's Cards.
Rebirth (1999): the cover was conceived for the copyrights page of ID2 "Blades"; November was a cover for the RPG Dragon magazine; July and December were covers for the Comic GUM magazine; the January science fiction picture was out many months before Rebirth.
ARMS 1999: the four pages of the manga has been published at the beginning of 1998; one illustration was created for the Griffon magazine and another for a Sonorama novel.
Millennium (2000): the cover was originally drawn for the Comickers magazine (number 10, 1998); January is a very old picture, it was published on Comickers magazine (number 9, 1995);
May and July have been created for the Ultra Graphics series of the Ultra Jump magazine; June comes from Intron Depot 2 (illustration number 2208); October was the cover of the Black Magic videogame. February (the background was blue), March, April, September, November and December come from Comic GUM magazines. Look for the GUM logo somewhere; March and September haven't it, anyway they are the covers of issues #02 1997 and #16 1998.
Angel Star (2001): look directly in the Angel Star section.
So these calendars haven't been created as a new product, but mainly as a collection of previous works. I'd prefer new images, but in this way we have the opportunity to watch pictures that we couldn't get without great difficulties (and obviously to enrich the publishers who make the best of Shirow's fame).
Many of these information have been taken out from ID2 "Blades".
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