The Odds & Ends of Masami Kurumada: Artwork & Music

Hey, I'm back after a month hiatus! You miss me?

*silence quieter than deep space, with not even a cricket chirping*

Ahh, same as it ever was. Anyway, no better way for me to come back than to write something about my favorite mangaka, Masami Kurumada.

Over the years, I've written a lot about the works of this man, & ideally I'd love to one day cover all of his lesser known manga. To be fair, there are only so many titles left to cover, namely 1976 one-shot Mikeneko Rock (which was included in Volume 2 of Sukeban Arashi, so I may never cover this one), Jitsuroku! Shinwakai (a collection of gag short stories from 1979 to 1983), 1992's infamous Silent Knight Sho, 1993's Bakumatsu Era story Akane-Iro no Kaze -Shinsengumi Keppuroku-, & finally Ring ni Kakero 2; there's also the occasionally ongoing Otoko Zaka that I'll continue reviewing in chunks. I still hesitate to cover his various Saint Seiya manga, namely due to the series' notoriety, & I don't count the various spin-offs done by other artists in this list. I take my time getting to these, though, mainly because of a lack of English translation, official or otherwise, as well as a simple lack of availability at the moment.

Something I have also wanted to cover, though, is the various other bits of artwork Kurumada has done over the decades for stuff not related to his catalog. Most of it is simply for promotional purposes, but they are still interesting little pieces of his oeuvre, and some of them have neat stories behind them. Therefore, as a quick little return to blog, allow me to show you the "Odds & Ends" of Masami Kurumada's history.

While anime based on video games are easily known of, what's lesser known is the vast ocean of manga based on video games. One series that's no stranger to manga adaptations is SNK's Samurai Spirits, or Samurai Shodown abroad. While only one of them, Kyoichi Nanatuski & Yuki Miyoshi's single-volume series from 1995, actually saw release in English by Viz during the 90s, there were FIVE that never saw official release outside of Japan, and two of them were even done by iconic mangaka Kazuhiko Shimamoto in 1994 & Ken Ishikawa in 1995! That number could have been six, however, if things played out differently. Shinseisha's Gamest magazine about video games was a big enough of a hit during the 90s that it debuted a manga magazine spin-off, Comic Gamest, that ran from 1993 to 1997. During that time, the magazine saw manga adaptations of all sorts of games, like Undercover Cops, Captain Commando, Power Instinct, Tekken 2, Fighter's History Dynamite, & even two different series for The King of Fighters, among many others. In fact, Street Fighter character Karin Kanzuki originally made her debut in Masahiko Nakahira's 1996 manga Sankura Ganbaru!, which ran in Comic Gamest. There were also some original titles, but the focus was most definitely on adaptations of video games. There were even two manga that were announced but never came to fruition. One was an adaptation of Capcom's Vampire Savior by Kei Sanbe, that never started because of the magazine's cancellation, but the other is more curious.

Across three issues from October to December of 1994, Comic Gamest had cover illustrations & posters advertising an upcoming manga adaptation of Shin Samurai Spirits: Haohmaru Jigoku-hen, better known as Samurai Shodown 2, that would be done by Masami Kurumada, who at the time had just debuted B't X in the newly-debuting Shonen Ace magazine for Kadokawa Shoten. Kurumada drew his take on Haohmaru, Nakoruru, Galford & Poppy, Charlotte, Genjuro Kibagami, & Ukyo Tachibana, as you can see above. Readers were encouraged to send in their support for the new series, & the issues detailed Kurumada's progress. However, during this time, plans looked to have changed, with the "Tactician Kurumada Version" (as Gamest called it) looking to be replaced by a new version done by the recently-debuted Sora Inoue, who would later make a name for himself with 1999's Real Bout High School. In the end, neither artist wound up doing anything, and the manga adaptation itself would eventually be announced as cancelled in a later issue's table of contents. Kurumada would eventually publish the promotional art in his 1996 art book Burning Blood: Masami Kurumada 23th Anniversary, and you can still find them on his website's Gallery, under the "Never End" section. Personally, it would have interesting to see how Kurumada would have handled something like Samurai Shodown, especially in comparison to how Shimamoto & Ishikawa handled the property.

Nihon Housou Kyokai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation, better known worldwide simply as NHK, is Japan's equivalent to PBS, i.e. a public broadcaster paid for by "viewer's like you".  I bring this up simply to explain the kind of network that would air a variety show titled Tele Asobi Pafoo!/TelePlay Perform!, later known simply as Paphooo! (yes, that's the official romanization). From what I can parse, the show was all about viewers submitting original videos, photos, illustrations, etc. to the show's server via its official website, all matching specific themes. On each episode, hosted by Terry Ito & narrated by Masashi Ebara (Might Guy in Naruto), said submissions would get judged by a panel of judges & special guest "Perform Masters", who all handled their own specialty categories; for example, Do As Infinity & Marty Friedman judged music submissions, while Koji Suzuki judged writings. Overall, it seemed to be a Japanese take on a talent show, but with viewer-submitted products, ala America's Funniest Home Videos.

So where does Masami Kurumada factor into a variety show about celebrities judging submissions made by the general populace? Well, he was asked by the producers to submit some illustrations that would be be shown as part of the opening sequence of each episode. Above you can see the end result of that, though I must admit that the final result looks more like how an anime studio, like Toei, would adapt Kurumada's drawings, as the characters do look a bit more like how Shingo Araki would draw them, rather than Kurumada, but I can't find any proof of that. Anyway, Kurumada's illustrations look to do a good job at demonstrating what kinds of submissions you'd see on Paphooo!, whether it's from a musician, dancer, artist... circus clown... or a wild animal. I especially like how it's easy to see that the musician is simply a modified Phoenix Ikki from Saint Seiya, and the artist a modified Takeshi Kawai from Ring ni Kakero 1; see, even here Kurumada shows his love for the Tezuka Star System. These illustrations were there from the start of the show in April 2008, & I wouldn't be surprised if they stuck around until the show's cancellation in March 2010.

To say that Saint Seiya was an international smash hit would be an understatement on the level of the Greek pantheon itself. Similar to Captain Tsubasa, Masami Kurumada's major work on the second half of the 80s would become a massive inspiration for many people around the world that didn't live "North of Mexico", and one country in particular was France. Specifically, Seiya was a big favorite of Louis Leterrier, the son of French film director François Leterrier & costume designer Catherine Leterrier. With that kind of pedigree, it's not too surprising that Louis would enter film himself, and eventually would mark his directorial debut with 2002's The Transporter. After following that up with Unleashed, Transporter 2, & even MCU entry The Incredible Hulk, Leterrier would finally get the opportunity to return the favor to the manga & anime that inspired him as a teenager with the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans.

While the original 1981 is still considered a classic, especially because it marked the end of special effects legend Ray Harryhausen's career, the remake wasn't quite as well received, though there were those who appreciated its wild & fun energy. The film did wind up earning nearly four times its budget, however, which prompted a 2012 sequel that didn't involve Leterrier in any way. Regardless, eagle-eyed viewers noticed that the outfits that the Greek gods all wore in the remake did look (& shine) remarkably similar to Cloths from Saint Seiya, and Leterrier did that on purpose in homage. Not only that, but Kurumada himself was hired by Warner Brothers to make his own hand-drawn versions of the official movie posters to help promote the film's Japanese release in 2011, the results of which you see above. Obviously, Kurumada didn't simply trace over the posters, instead framing them in ways that are more familiar to his own style. Also, & most amusingly, Sam Worthington's Perseus was simply turned into a Leo Aiolia expy, right down to Perseus suddenly being given a full head of golden hair. Still, while the film itself may not wind up being as iconic as the original film is, it was really cool to see Louis Leterrier be given the chance to pay his respects to Saint Seiya, and even was able to get the creator himself to be involved in the promotion of his movie.

Most recently, professional Japanese baseball team the Hiroshima Toyo Carp have entered into a collaboration with Sunrise, as part of the 40th Anniversary of Mobile Suit Gundam. Along with the Hanshin Tigers, who the team will face on May 17, & the Orix Buffaloes, who are getting their own High-Grade model kit, the Toyo Carp are being "joined" by the iconic Char Aznable, likely because he matches the team's red & white color scheme; the Tigers, in turn, are enlisting the help of Amuro Ray. Just a couple of years prior, though, the Toyo Carp had another collaboration, this time on the manga side of things, when they worked with Masami Kurumada for some merchandise.

At the start of 2017, it was announced that the Toyo Carp would be selling a special collaborative t-shirt featuring a drawing by Masami Kurumada. Said drawing would be of outfielder Seiya Suzuki, but donning Pegasus Seiya's original Pegasus Cloth over his usual #51 jersey, and below him would the title of Kurumada's iconic manga, only with "Seiya" being spelled with the player's kanji, rather than the character's. How much was this t-shirt being sold for? A mere 3,400 yen, or about $30! Yes, even in Japan sports swag is absurdly expensive. That's really all there is to say about this bit of artistry from Kurumada, honestly, and it wouldn't even be the Toyo Carp's only manga collaboration that year, as later that April they'd sell a t-shirt & face towel featuring Fist of the North Star's Kenshiro & Raoh in Toyo Carp regalia; "hard ball", indeed. In response, the Hanshin Tigers would announce a collaboration with Dragon Ball Super, though this was more like Kurumada's involvement with the Toyo Carp, i.e. reinterpreting actual players in new ways. So right now, the Hiroshima Toyo Carp have Kenshiro, Raoh, Char Aznable, & an outfielder who now has the power of cosmo at hand, while the Hanshin Tigers have Amuro Ray, a Gundam, & a bunch of Super Saiyan-ed players...  Oh, and the Orix Buffaloes have a Gundam of their own, too. I'm now suddenly interested Japanese baseball teams, because this sounds like the formula for a wild & crazy game, the likes of which have not been seen since the Astro Supermen of the 70s!

This brings us to the end of Masami Kurumada's non-manga happenings as an artist, but we're not quite done yet. Along with being an accomplished manga artist, Kurumada is also an occasional lyricist, too, so let's go over that to finish things off.

A mid-2009 draft for Ring ni Kakero 1: Shadow's "Asu he no Toushi Part II",
before it got renamed to "Asu he no Hishou ~flap your wings~".

While most mangaka are also writers by trade, the concept of a mangaka also writing the lyrics for songs related to their works is extremely rare. For example, the only other person I can name off the top of my head is Kazuya Minekura, who wrote the lyrics to the OP theme for the Saiyuki Reload -burial- OVA series. Regardless, Masami Kurumada has been writing the lyrics for songs based on his manga since 1987, when he wrote two songs for Saint Seiya OP theme band Make-Up. Following that, he'd make his proper "anime debut" when he wrote the OP & ED themes for the Fuma no Kojirou: Fuma Hanran-hen OVA, with Hidemi Miura performing them. Kurumada would then write a quartet of character songs for the B't X anime, which in turn were sung by Nobuyuki Hiyama (Teppei), Nozomu Sasaki (Kotaro), Megumi Ogata (Karen), & Atsuko Yuya (Aramis); these were not used in the anime itself. After those, Kurumada's song writing pen would lay dormant until 2004, when he returned to write the OP theme to the Ring ni Kakero 1 anime, sung by Marina del ray, and he'd continue to write lyrics for theme & character songs for the later seasons of RnK1 up through 2011, all of which were heard in the anime itself, plus two of the pachislot machines. He'd also return to Saint Seiya starting in 2005, when he wrote the new OP & ED themes for the Saint Seiya Hades OVAs; in fact, he even co-composed the ED theme to Hades Elysion! Finally, he also wrote the lyrics to the ED theme for the Saint Seiya: The Lost Canvas OVA series.

All of these songs would be compiled across two Kurumada Complete Works CD releases: 2005's Seisei Ruten: Kurumada-ism, which included two new "Shonen-ki" Saint Seiya songs sung by Hironobu Kageyama and Masaaki Endoh & a "bonus track" for Otoko Zaka, & 2013's Doudou Raiden: Kurumada-ism Vol. 2, which was nothing but Saint Seiya & Ring ni Kakero 1. Through these songs, Kurumada has worked with composers like Akira Senju, the late Toshiro Imaizumi, Kenichi Sudou, Gouji Tsuno, & Hirofumi "Kacky" Kakigawa, while music producer Koji Matsuo (Baki, Megalobox) has primarily helped Kurumada with writing lyrics ever since 2004. Overall, the songs cover a nice range of genres, from hard rock to soft ballads to even one that sounds a bit like a song you'd sing around a campfire, but just about all of them focus on giving inspirational messages & on becoming a better & stronger person in life, much like Kurumada's manga, in general.

While this covers everything that Kurumada has written that can be heard in anime, he has done more songwriting since 2011. First, in 2013, he wrote new songs for the CR B't X pachislot machine, effectively giving that series a Kurumada-written "theme song" that it never received before, it's also sung by Marina del ray, as well as two other songs sung by Kazumi Morohoshi (formerly of band Hikaru Genji) & Kanako Hoshino (of Bemani fame); these, in turn, actually sound like appropriate ED themes for a hypothetical new anime. The following year, as part of his 40th Anniversary celebration, a new version of "Otoko Zaka" was released as a maxi single CD, along with a brand new "sister song" written by Kurumada, both sung by Mayumi Gojo (or Pretty Cure fame); similar to the B't X songs, this new song is effectively the ED theme to the other's OP theme. Finally, in 2016, Kurumada returned to Fuma no Kojirou & wrote four new songs to go with a new pachislot machine that was released, all of which were performed by Marina del ray (though YUKA, of Kiddy Grade & Dragon Ball Z fame, was featured on one of them). Once again, these songs sound like anime theme songs, with two of them sounding like OP themes & the other two being ED themes.

Does this mark the end of Kurumada's time as a lyricist, especially considering that he's now written his own personal theme songs for all four of his biggest works, as well as his own magnum opus? I doubt it, because I honestly think some of his best songs have been from the past decade, but I guess only time will tell.
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And that just about covers everything Masami Kurumada has done outside of drawing manga to this point (early 2019). When you've been in the industry as long as Kurumada has, it's not surprising to be invited to be a part of various other productions & promotions, whether it's for TV, film, sports, or even video games. Really, the most impressive part of these "Odds & Ends" is the man's catalog of songwriting credits. You just don't hear of mangaka doing something like that, and especially to the sheer amount that Kurumada had done. Over the course of 32 years, he's written the lyrics to 32 songs, and while that averages to one song per year, which would still be impressive, the fact of the matter is that a large majority of them were written in just the past 15 years! It's a side of the man that most don't really think about, but it's definitely an interesting one & should be given more credit to.

Shin Samurai Spirits: Haohmaru Jigoku-hen © SNK

Paphooo! © NHK

Clash of the Titans © 2010 Warner Brothers Entertainment Inc. & Legendary Pictures