What do Michelangelo, Clint Eastwood, Lady Gaga, Stephen King and Gianni Versace have in common? They are among the thousand and one influences of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, one of the most unclassifiable mangas of all time. This is also one of the most popular ones, with more than 100 million copies sold in Japan and a publication that has been going since 1987! Between portraits of artists, behind-the-scenes tales, in-depth analyses and a critical essay, this book investigates every aspects of this crazy work, which has become a worldwide pop-cultural phenomenon.
Will you dare to immerse yourself in the troubling universe of Bersek in order to discover the themes, the depth and the genius of this artistic, philosophical and symbolic work? Anyone who dares to analyze Berserk embarks on a quest that is almost as painful as that of Guts. And those who read Berserk will sink down in the same way, alone and incessantly, into Kentaro Miura’s troubling universe. For 30 years, this unique author has been developing a story whose every page has its readers trembling with fear and pleasure, given its themes, depth and genius. Berserk is not just a story of adventure, it is an artistic, philosophical, symbolic work that is an ode to the dark side of human nature, a declaration of love for the imaginary. For you, Quentin Boëton has braved the borders of Midland to analyze every aspect of the work: its characters, its story, its themes and its secrets. Discover a detailed analysis of all aspects of Bersek's complex universe, including its characters, its story, its themes and its secrets. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Better known under the alias of “ALT 236”, Quentin Boëton is a video maker who passionately explores the dark corners of human imagination.
Discover Katsuhiro Otomo’s visionary work and post-Akira Japanese comic culture. The catalyst of an era, of a world that was unaware of its downfall, Katsuhiro Otomo’s visionary work marked a turning point in the industry. First, in his homeland, Japan, in terms of graphics and plot on an entire generation of post-Akira artists who adopted his attention to detail, his realism and his dizzying views. But above all with his international reach, which threw Japanese comic strips and animations into the limelight in numerous countries, by trampling the rest of the world’s notion that cartoons are exclusively for children. This book dives headfirst into the radioactive culture that is the creative power of Katsuhiro Otomo, from the mangaka’s— already explosive—beginnings, up to winning recognition for Akira. Discover the themes and influences of this fundamentally anti-establishment work by exploring its socio-economic or simply literary aspects. The author of the work analyzes the phenomenon, from its tiny seed to the mighty tree, and reveals why Akira is, above all, a purely Japanese series. This book will provide you with an analysis of the socio-historical context of Akira. It aims to help Western readers to better understand the escence of this graphic and narrative treasure. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Rémi Lopez graduated with a degree in Japanese from Bordeaux III University. In 2004, he cut his teeth as an author when he wrote website columns on video game soundtracks. Two years later, he joined the Gameplay RPG magazine in which he carried out the same task. He then followed the then editor-in-chief, Christophe Brondy, and his entire team to a new project: the monthly Role Playing Game magazine. Rémi wrote The Legend of Final Fantasy VIII and the book on the Original Soundtrack for Pix'n Love publications in 2013.
Explore the world of Hirohiko Araki! Hirohiko Araki changed the face of manga forever when he created JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! The epic story of the Joestar family spans generations, and iconic stories like Phantom Blood, Battle Tendency, Stardust Crusaders, and Diamond Is Unbreakable have made the series a fan favorite—and Araki himself the ultimate fan-favorite artist. JoJo 6251: The World of Hirohiko Araki celebrates his work with an incredible collection of illustrations, foldout posters, and highly desired behind-the-scenes information. Explore the characters, their Stands, and everything you ever wanted to know about heroes like Jotaro Kujo and Josuke Higashikata, and cruel villains like Dio!
His poetic directing and universal themes, such as the importance of nature, have turned Hayao Miyazaki into one of the most respected artists on the movie and animation scene. Initially intended for Japan only, his works eventually reached the Western market. Spirited Away is one of the most successful animated movies worldwide. This book aims to explore the personality of this unusual author and his collaborators, and to decipher, movie by movie, the profound themes found throughout his entire work, which reveal the humanist nature of this essential filmmaker.
Story of a saga video games... If the Dark Souls series managed to seduce players and journalists, it was mainly by word of mouth. It was such a great success that Dark Souls 2 was named “Game of the Year” 2014 by the vast majority of gaming magazines and websites. To date, this saga is one of the most important in the gaming industry. The odd thing is that these games are well known for their difficulty and their cryptic universe. This publication narrates the epic success story, but also describes its gameplay mechanics and its specific lore across more than 300 pages. Characters, plots and the scenario of the three Souls (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls and Dark Souls II) are deciphered by Damien Mecheri and Sylvain Romieu, who spent a long year studying these dense and enigmatic games down to the smallest detail. The serie Dark Souls and her spiritual father Demon's Souls will not have secrets for you anymore! EXTRACT "In May 2014, Hidetaka Miyazaki succeeded Naotoshi Zin as president of FromSoftware, after the studio was purchased by Kadokawa Shoten. This was a highly significant promotion for the person who had led the company’s most successful project, Dark Souls. And yet, he did not lose from view what had attracted him to the field: an insatiable creative drive. In spite of his new status within the studio, one of the conditions he requested and was granted was to remain creative director of his new project: Bloodborne. This allowed him to successfully design this spiritual successor to the first Souls game, while also assuming his new responsibilities. Given his drive to work and create, it is not surprising how quickly Miyazaki moved up through the ranks." ABOUT THE AUTHORS Passionate about films and video games, Damien Mecheri joined the writers team of Gameplay RPG in 2004, writing several articles for the second special edition on the Final Fantasy saga. He continued his work with the team in another publication called Background, before continuing the online adventure in 2008 with the site Gameweb.fr. Since 2011, he has come aboard Third Éditions with Mehdi El Kanafi and Nicolas Courcier, the publisher’s two founders. Damien is also the author of the book Video Game Music: a History of Gaming Music. For Third Éditions, he is actively working on the “Level Up” and “Année jeu vidéo” collections. He has also written or co-written several works from the same publisher: The Legend of Final Fantasy X, Welcome to Silent Hill: a journey into Hell, The Works of Fumito Ueda: a Different Perspective on Video Games and, of course, the first volume of Dark Souls: Beyond the Grave. Curious by nature, a dreamer against the grain and a chronic ranter, Sylvain Romieu is also a passionate traveler of the real and the unreal, the world and the virtual universes, always in search of enriching discoveries and varied cultures. A developer by trade, he took up his modest pen several years ago to study the characteristics and richness of the marvelously creative world of video games. He writes for a French video game site called Chroniques-Ludiques, particularly on the topic of RPGs, his preferred genre.
Golden Wind is here! The highly-acclaimed fifth arc of Hirohiko Araki’s JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure shifts the action from Japan to Italy, as Koichi Hirose heads to Europe to find an aspiring gangster named Giorno Giovanna, the secret son of Dio Brando, scourge of the Joestar family. Organized crime meets family drama and unbelievable enemy Stands in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5—Golden Wind! -- VIZ Media
Not too long ago, Giorno Giovanna was just an ordinary hoodlum, but now he dreams of being something bigger... He dreams of being a true mafioso! Giorno is ready to join one of the most dangerous gangs in town, and the first step is learning everything he can about their operations. The second step is gathering the friends and allies he’ll need in order to take control of the gang for himself! -- VIZ Media
Discover an analytic work of Sekiro, a game that spectacularly marked the 2010s. Few video game series can boast having marked the 2010s as much as Souls. FromSoftware mainly owes this amazing and unexpected success to the talents of the now-famous Hidetaka Miyazaki, whose radical vision of video games was quick to charm and win around players. In May 2014, the director was promoted to president of FromSoftware. He could have continued to create Souls forevermore, but instead chose to develop new franchises. The first true representative of this new era was Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a game with unprecedented richness and flawless thematic consistency. This book will discuss the work’s development process, an analysis of the storyline and characters, the soundtrack, themes, and its historical, cultural and artistic influences. It will also present an analysis of the problem with Sekiro’s difficulty—which saw a lot of ink spilled at its release—and take a look at the evolution of Miyazaki’s games. This book will provide you with an analysis of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice : it will discuss the game creation process, as well as the themes, the storyline, the characters, the soundtrack and its diferent influences. The book will also present an analysis of the problem with the game's difficulty and the evolution of Miyazaki's games. ABOUT THE AUTHOR It is by exploring the world of Super Metroid at the age of seven that Ludovic Castro finds himself for the first time captivated by a world of video games. A big fan of Japanese RPGs, he later became passionate about the background stories about his favorite games in Gameplay RPG magazine. Now a doctor of theoretical chemistry, he sometimes manages to find enough free time to write about his favorite series, Megami Tensei.
Throughout his career, Taro Yoko was despaired by the image of humanity returned by most big budget video games. Taro Yoko's strange work reviews the entire career of this extraordinary creator, his games (Drakengard, NieR) and sheds light on the link that constitutes his work. Check out this complete book on Taro Yoko, which explores the contours of its games, their development, the complexity of their stories and their thematic depth. With a preface by Taro Yoko himself ! EXTRACT Nowadays, most of the players who have heard of Taro Yoko do not associate his name to any particular face. Inconvenienced by public appearances, the director systematically equipped himself with a device to cover his face during meetings with the press, at least since the creation of NieR. Shortly before the announcement of NieR: Automata at the E3 2015, Yoko even had a mask made, based on the character Emil, by a plastic artist from PlatinumGames for a mere four hundred euros. Since then, he has worn it every time he is in the presence of photo and video cameras. His persistence in hiding his face under this thick layer of plastic naturally arouses curiosity. One might be led to believe that this is a communication strategy or the eccentricity of an enigmatic creator. Nevertheless, the visual anonymity of the director is in no way a means to nurture the mystery of his personality. Far from comparing himself to the likes of Banksy (a famous street artist and statement maker, who prefers to remain anonymous), Yoko just prefers to let his games speak for themselves. In fact, ask him, and he will answer with no difficulty that he grew up in Nagoya, in the Japanese prefecture of Aichi. Restaurant managers (izakayas, ramens, tempuras, etc.), his parents flitted from one restaurant opening to the next and entrusted their son’s education to his grandmother. WHAT CRITICS THINK "Overall, I enjoyed my time with The Strange Works of Taro Yoko, especially as a fan of the man’s works [...] It’s a great companion piece for long-time fans, and if you’re looking for more unofficial content to read about for the Drakenier universe, you can’t go too wrong." - RPG Site ABOUT THE AUTHOR Nicolas Turcev - Journalist specialized in pop culture, he has contributed to the following magazines: Chronic’Art, Carbone, Games and Gamekult, and occasionally participates in the video game analysis site Merlanfrit. He is also the author of several articles of the Level Up collection at Third Éditions.
