Takei Draws Two More Cards and Models a Trading Figure

Update: Additional corrected information about Hiroyuki Takei’s Cardfight Vanguard card art can be found in this news post.

Continuing in Cardfight Vanguard, Hiroyuki Takei has drawn a third piece of art for the series. Takei has created artwork for each expansion set for the Cardfight Vanguard card game. The card is called “Tsukuyomi Moon Goddess ( 満月の女神 ツクヨミ ).” It was featured as a “Card of the Day” on the official Cardfight Vanguard blog on August 2nd. The sample image can be found on the left.

Additionally Takei has drawn artwork for the card game Samurai Wars (戦国大戦) with two familiar looking characters from Shaman King. The card is called “Kenshin Uesugi” (上杉謙信), and looks very similar to Yoh and Amidamaru. The card game also features art from other mangaka such as Kōji Kumeta who writes Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei (さよなら 絶望先生). The card game is published by Sega who also published Phantasy Star Portable 2on the PSP where Takei created a special character for the game (with references to Jyuki Ningen Jumbor).

Finally, coming onNovember 25h, 2011, Takei will have his designs in an figure in the Battle Break ( バトルブレイク ) trading figure game. The design has not be released yet. A promo image has been included.

(Sources: Takei-Fan http://blog.livedoor.jp/takeifan/, It’s like the Japanese version of Shaman King Nation, but we’re older.)

Takei Talks with Lasseter from Pixar

In the latest issue of Jump SQ a full page interview between Hiroyuki Takei and John Lasseter was printed  because of the recent release of the Cars 2 movie in Japan. John Lasseter was the director for Cars 2 as well as many other Pixar movies (Toy Story, Toy Story 2, A Bug’s Life, and Cars). John Lasseter is also a close friend of Hayao Miyazaki. They use Skype as their medium for talking between each other for this interview in a very friendly manner.

In the discussion they first talk about their children and how Lasseter’s sons really love reading manga. Then they discuss about Ghibli’s catbus (ねこバス) and the My Neighbor Totoro movie (となりのトトロ, directed by Hayao Miyazaki). Next, the two of them talk about how much they love cars, and Takei even says he himself has a Mustang. In the end they talk about their jobs and that it’s always funnier to focus and work on something you love, like cars and spirits. In the closing commments they talk about their children again, whether they’ll follow in their footsteps or not in the future.

Takei also drew a picture which included Ultimo and a picture of a car from Cars 2. This drawing will be going to Lasseter’s sons since they love manga. The picture is included in this news post.

Thanks to Dit for her quick summery of the interview.

“Jumbor Japon” Book Review

Back in 2007, after the conclusion of Shaman King and working as a supervisor for the cancelled manga Smash Bomber, Hiroyuki Takei started is new manga series called Jūki Ningen Jumbor. However this too was another failure. This manga was a long time in development and did not take the traditional route of having a oneshot first to judge the success of the manga. During this time Takei and his staff worked on developing the “World Xand,” various EMs (Earth Movers), and character designs over multiple time-skips. As a result, Takeihad material and ideas to work with for Jumbor to last many years as a manga series. However, it was cancelled from Weekly Shonen Jump after only 10 short weeks.  In the single compiled volume release, Takei added a portion of the materials he produced in a section called “Jumbor Japan.”

However, on October 7th, 2007 for Comiket 73, Takei produced a new addition to the  Jūki Ningen Jumbor series, titled Jumbor Japon. This book was a self-published and was originally sold only at this event, where it was completely sold out. The volume contained 48 full color pages plus 14 black and white pages. The book was edited by “Genber Publising,” an inside joke to the leader of the Dr. Docult’s Jumbors. The book was printed by Akatuki Insatsu. The exact number of volumes printed is unknown, but it is extremely rare.  This book as a whole is a close to Takei’s only artbookever released and is not officially recognized or owned by Shueisha (who owns Weekly Shonen Jump).

In October 2010, the book went into a limited reprint which orders were taken via Twitter. The price for this reprint was 1600yen (plus 80yen for shipping) and was only available to residents in Japan. In addition to this reprint, the book came in an envelope with “Genber Publishing x Takei” on it and a hand written receipt. This reprint was referred to as 「JUMBOR JAPON希望」, though the cover and a majority of the content remained the same from the original 2007 release. A complete page-by-page listing of the contents of the 2007 release can be found at the end of the article. At this time there is no page-by-page comparison between the two versions.

Some of the original color images were also reprinted in the dual volume reprint of the original Jūki Ningen Jumbor series known as ” Jumbor Ang Zeng Bang” (安全版, “Anzen ban”) which also translate to “Security Edition.” (This occured shortly after the release of the “Shaman King Kang Zeng Bang,” 完全版, “kanzenban”, or “Perfect Edition”) There was a pull out page in both volumes (“Up” and “Down”) which contained small versions of many of the color images in Jumbor Japon. However Jumbor Japon in addition contains all of the color pages used in the Weekly Shonen Jump release without any text on them. There is some other earlier concept art that received color as well in this release. Interestingly, two of the images have Baru dressed in a more pirate-style clothing withone of his hands being replaced with a crane hook (image to the left).

Looking at some of the earlier sketches (and “name”, a rough sketch of a chapter) provides some insight on how earlier versions of the story progressed. Many of the characters, including Baru and Rivetta appear much younger than they do in the actual release. The numbering system on the Jumbor “horns” was not in earlier sketches either. Additionally the meeting with Nipper was moved into the first chapter on an early version of the story.

Overall the book is a rare and unique look at Takei’s internal thought process on creating a new manga series and is high recommended for serious fans of the original Jūki Ningen Jumbor manga series. The book also has very little Japanese and all name are in English, this book can easily be enjoyed by both Japanese and English speakers alike.

Additional sources: m_oge blog for 2010 version comparison.

Complete contents of the 2007 Jumbor Japon are below. Comments are in parentheses. All page numbers are as printed in the book (errors including). Some images have been provided thoughout the article. If you would like to use any portion of this article (including translations), please provide a link back to this article as it may be updated in the future.

Pages 1-2: (not printed, assumed to be the inside of the front and back cover)
Page 3: Title page
Page 4: Table of Contents (which is inaccurate…)
Page 5: Characters title page
(The following are full color images of characters)
Page 6: Jumbor 1D Genber Diode 2999
Page 7: Crane and Vice 3002
Page 8: Road Docult
Page 9: Jumbor 11D Baru Craw
Page 10: Nipper Toruss
Page 11: Rivetta Gounte Helmate Dovork
Page 12: Tabil Gounte Twomessio Dovork
Page 13: Rod Boring
Page 14: Genber Diode
Page 15: Jumbor 12D Drill
Page 16: Jumbor 2D Crane Docult
Page 17: Jumbor 3D Vice Vervender
Page 18: Jumbor 4D Kili Sasara Gimnecurette
Page 19:  Jumbor 5D Hubsus Jali
Page 20: Jumbor 6D Blow Hopper
Page 21: ??? Mixia
Page 22: Jumbor 7D DozaRipper (With Tabil for size comparison)
Page 23: Jumbor 8D Chain Dogleg
Page 24: Jumbor 9D Wrentch Monkey
Page 25: Jumbor 10D Petica Chip
Page 26:  Baru Craw 3012
Page 27: Jumbor 13D Rod Boring
Page 28: Drill 3012
Page 29: Vice 3012
(The following are full color pictures of Earth Movers)
Page 30: D-30A
Page 31: D-51E
Page 32: D-53E
Page 33: D-51S Baru Craw Special
Page 34: D-51EB Nokita
Page 35: D-51ED Nitro
Page 36: D-28B Shaft
Page 37: D-47 4CS Biggarm
Page 38: G350
Page 39:  (4 purple water-colored backhoe sketches)
Page 40: G200 (4 angles)
Page 41: G48000 4A4B Barubaster
Page 42: G55 Shoberius III
Page 43: Illustration
(The following are clean full color images of various original Jyuki Ningen Jumbor artwork)
Page 44: Original Volume Title Page
Page 45: Original WSJ Issue Cover page
Page 46: (2 Pictures of “Pirate Baru,” appears to be early concept)
Page 47: Early Baru Promo art
Page 48: (3 Drawings, 1. 3002 Baru with young Nipper; 2. Author’s Note picture from the original JNJ volume; 3. Early Jumbor Baru wearing a cape, appears to be early concept art)
Page 49: Jyuki Ningen Jumbor Original Volume cover art
Page 50: Chapter 4 Title Page
(All pages till the end are in Black and White)
Page 51: Rough & Sketch Title page
Page 52: Baru & Nipper
Page 53: Crane; Kili
Page 54: Hubsus; Blow; Chain
Page 55: Doza; Monkey
Page 56: The Early Jumbor, Team Baru Craw + Jumbor Baru
Page 57: (continuation of page 56)
Page 58: (pages 1, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 42, 50, 51 of an early draft of Jyuki Ningen Jumbor Chapter 1)
Page 59 (marked as page 21): Rivetta + “Dr. Docult’s Assistant”
Page 60: Jumbors; Baru; Crane
Page 61: Kili(Powda); Doza(Bull)
Page 62: Others; Earth Movers
Page 63: (More Earth Movers)
Page 64: Credits Page

New Interview with Takei in “S” Magazine

In the July issue of “S” magazine, Takei has a brand new, 6 page interview. The interview starts on page 34, and Takei talks about his manga series “Karakuri Dôji Ultimo” (機巧童子ULTIMO). “S” is a magazine than runs quarterly, and this is the 35th issue that went on sale last Wednesday for ￥1,300. Additional information about the magazine can be found on their official website found here.

New Ultimo Releases & Takei’s Cardfight!! Vanguard Card

With Viz’s new faster volume release schedule, Ultimo volume 4 was released today in the USA. It is $9.99 for chapters 13-16. The ISBN is 978-1421539522 and is 200 pages. Viz’s summery:

Karakuri New Dawn Yamato wakes up again on the 21st century day that he first encountered Ultimo, and soon learns that he was sent back in time and it’s up to him to prevent total world annihilation. But does he really have the ability to stop the apocalypse–and save Ultimo!–in just 24 hours? On a breakneck tour to meet up with all the dôji, Yamato gets into a skirmish with Iruma and Jealousy and must again go back (way back) in time to make things right…

Being released later on March 4th, is Ultimo volume 6  (機巧童子ULTIMO　6巻) in Japan. It will be priced at 460円. It will be 194 pages and the ISBN is 978-4088702025. The final cover image is shown on the left. It will contain chapters 21 through 24. These chapters have not yet been released by Viz in English.

In other Ultimo news, Ultimo chapter 26 will be released in JumpSQ next month. This chapter will feature a color page.

In a previous news story, Takei commented that he has drawn some card artwork for the new series, Cardfight!! Vanguard. Shown on the left is the card that Takei drew. This creature has been featured in the Anime series (which can be seen on Crunchyroll), though doesn’t follow Takei’s exact design. More information about the card (in Japanese) can be found on the official website.

Sources: Negative Syndicate, Bushiroad Inc.

Ultimo manga “Part III” will be coming soon

Viz has recently updated it’s website with a bunch of interviews and pictures from San Diego Comic Con 2010. You can read the full articles below:

http://shonenjump.viz.com/features/index.php?id=408

One of the biggest announcements is that “Part III” of the manga will be coming soon, starting in chapter 21, which will be released in JumpSQ in October. This would be the first chapter in volume 6 of the manga. Currently, chapter 20 will be released in Jump SQ on September 4th in Japan. This chapter would also complete the 5th volume of manga, which will be released in November 2010.

SDCC 2010 – Shonen Jump Panel Report

Yesterday, Viz held it’s annual Shonen Jump Panel at San Diego Comic Con, which covers details about current and upcoming releases. This year, new announcements were very limited, but some information about Shaman King and Ultimo were hinted at. Additionally, the Shonen Jump magazine will also be recieving a “face-lift” in December. This could include additional content online (such as online chapters), though this statement was not made at the time.

At 5:32 in the video, the question of “Will there be an end to Ultimo at some point?” was asked to the Shonen Jump Panel (not Takei). The response basically was it would be up to Takei when he feels the ending should be.

At 6:16 in the video the following was asked: “Are we going to be seeing the extended Kanzenban endings for Shaman King and DragonBall?” The response:

“Uh.. Do you mean Today…? Ever…? We’ve had a few fans ask… Do you want to see that? Do you know what he’s talking about? [*crowd cheers*] So in Japan after they put out the first manga in the magazine then it goes into regulat takoban format, after that, a few years later, after the series has ended, they collect it and do a nicer edition. Sometimes there is an alternate ending, or extra content, or stuff like that. So that’s what he is refering to. So there is one for Shaman King and Dragonball, and we haven’t published those here. But is that something you guys would like to see? [*crowd cheers*] I’ll officially put that on the consideration list.

At 11:14 in the video, the panel announces that Stan Lee wasn’t feeling well, but their surprise was Hiroyuki Takei would make an appearance instead.

Joel: First off, new cover [of Shonen Jump USA], right there. Really quickly volume 2 just came out this month, number 3 is coming out in December here. So what were your first impressions seeing the book in English?

Takei: So my answer to what I think about it… So when work is translated into English it becomes something of it’s own entity. So that would also influence how awesome a series is as well. So I really honestly hope all of you study Japanese.

Joel: So in Shonen Jump magazine we are a little bit into Part 2 of the story now. And part 1 is finishing up in the graphic novels. So without giving any spoilers is there anything cool you can tell us that’s happening? Part 1 was really epic story. What do we have coming in Part 2 that you can talk about?

Takei: [*Takei laughing*] The interesting thing about chapter 2 is that it won’t get interesting until chapter 3. [*crowd laughs*] But! But! I promise you Part 3 is going to be really, really awesome! [*crowd applause*] I’m always constantly searching for something in the darkness… blindfolded completely… but finally I recently reached this path that’s definately going to be kick ass. So please look forward to that and please bear with Ultimo. [*Takei laughs, crowd cheers*]

SDCC 2010 – Hiroyuki Takei & Stan Lee to appear at SJ Panel

On Saturday, Viz’s Shonen Jump panel will be from 10:30am to 11:30am in Room 9 at San Diego Comic-Con International. Attending the panel will be the following people:

  • Hiroyuki Takei (Creator of Shaman King, Jumbor, and Co-creator of Ultimo)
  • Stan Lee (Head of POW Ent., Co-Creator of Ultimo)
  • Mr. Kosuge (小菅) (Editor at JumpSQ)

We will have full coverage of the panel relating to various Takei series throughout the weekend. Please check back often.

8 Reasons Hiroyuki Takei is the Greatest Shonen Manga Artist

Posted on May 10th, 2010 on ComiXology.com by Jason Thompson. He was also the editor for the Shaman King manga until volume 7 of the English version by Viz. Really detailed article with only a few details that could have been clearer. The list of “additions” are after the excerpt.

If I could live the life of one manga artist, I would be Kazuo Umezu. If I could live a second, I would be Hiroyuki Takei. Takei’s manga, Shaman King and Ultimo, have never been as popular as his Shonen Jump contemporaries Bleach, Naruto and One Piece. But his work is, in many ways, deeper and more interesting, with a humor that few other artists match. Why are you the one manga artist I’d love to get drunk with, Takei? Let me count the ways.

1. He’s a self-referential pop culture satirist.

Takei’s interests are legion. Shaman King could be interpreted as a religion-infused riff off of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, the first manga to popularize the idea of heroes with invisible spirit buddies. He’s a fan of Western artists like Jamie Hewlett, Mike Mignola and Tony Daniel, as well as Japanese artists like Osamu Tezuka and Hiroaki Samura. Shaman King contains visual references to Ren & Stimpy, J-pop bands and Bollywood film star Rajnikanth.

Takei’s sense of pop-culture irony is well-developed—what other manga artist would pose for his official SHONEN JUMP USA photo shoot wearing a kimono and wielding a samurai sword? In a casual conversation during the same visit to the U.S., he confessed to loving Quentin Tarantino’s samurai-violence-packed Kill Bill (Takei: “But it wasn’t so popular in Japan, most people didn’t get it.”) In the same way that Tarantino plays with Asian pop culture, Takei helps himself to Western pop. This spirit infuses Ultimo, his collaboration with Stan Lee, in which Lee himself appears as a character (under the name “Dr. Dunstan”). And it infuses the Shaman King scene in which Takei, fully aware that the oldschool Shonen Jump slogan was “friendship, perseverance, victory” (as explained by Frederik Schodt in his great book Dreamland Japan), pays tribute to this tagline. As the heroes look back on how far they have come, and what they have endured, the words “FRIENDSHIP”, “PERSEVERANCE” and “VICTORY” flash over a montage of flashback scenes, taking up most of a two-page spread.

Click here to continue reading the article.

Additons/Clarifications:

- Reason 5: Part of this delay in a new series was that he moved to a new office to work on his new series. Also, he hinted at it, but didn’t directly express that Jyuki Ningen Jumbor will be getting it’s own new series “Jumbor” in Ultra Jump starting this summer.

- Reason 8: The original Shaman King manga was cancelled because of poor ratings. These were in both surveys and volume sales. Takei also became very burnt out from drawing the manga every week (with comments about how his hair was falling out).

Also, there is one other really, really big reason why he is so great. And that is SKN’s exclusive Reason 9:

9. Editors in Japan really like him

It often goes overlooked, but he can get what he needs done. He knows what’s a winning and losing battle. Having Shaman King cancelled from Weekly Shonen Jump hurts, but then years later brings it back. More so than brings it back, he brings a TON of new content, a new ending, tons of redraws of the manga, and a unique new slip cover for the volume releases. These were even bigger and fancier than Dragonball re-releases! And for a series that had been dead for years? He pulled in some big favors. Then on top of that he made a completely new fanbook to be released as well. Now he is working for two different montly publications. Granted, Jyuki Ningen Jumbor was his third cancelled series in Weekly Shonen Jump, but for other mangaka, that would be a career-ender. However, now he is just as busy as he was before and other mangaka have nothing but wonderful things to say about him.

Interviews with the creators of Ultimo

With Hiroyuki Takei’s and Stan Lee’s latest appearance at Comic Con, several interviews were conducted with the two creators. Below are three interviews with them. Some of the questions and answers came from Viz’s Shonen Jump panel that both were at.

4 page interview with Lee and Takei: http://manga.about.com/od/mangaartistinterviews/a/stanlee_hiroyukitakei_2.htm

1 page interview with Lee: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/15526.html

1 page interview with Takei: http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/15527.html

Ultimo is currently up to chapter 3 in Viz’s monthly Shonen Jump magazine with the latest issue currently on newsstands.

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