#atsuko ishida

[hotwaterandmilk]

Hi there! I just discovered your blog today while hunting for info about the Shamanic Princess novel, and I'm SO thankful for the scans you posted of the novel art! They're so pretty ;o; Are you able to tell me if there's any more illustrations in the novel? I'd love to see scans if so, but I understand if that's not possible. Thanks so much!!

Hi, always happy to see another Shamanic Princess fan online! From an illustration perspective alone, the novel is worth owning. There are quite a few pictures within the light novel and most were never included in Ishida Atsuko's art books. So if you're a fan of her work then I highly recommend tracking the book down second hand someday for the rare art.

I'm not really able to do much complicated scanning at the moment, but what I have done is take photos of almost all the images for you so at least this way you have an idea of what's inside. Please enjoy :3

^ This is the double-sided fold out poster within the novel. One side is of course the cover illustration (right) while the other is a gorgeous one of Tiara and Kagetsu.

^ Colour title page and first b&w illustration.

^ All the remaining black & white illustrations from the novel.

^ Original character designs by Ishida.

^ Original colour sketches by Ishida. The project once had a far more majokko-esque angle to it than what we saw in the finished product (Ishida gives some details at the end of the book).

The only images missing are this colour page and the cover, which I've scanned previously. Newtype light novels from the 90s tended to have additional colour pages and with their larger print format than standard light novels, they really are gorgeous.

The actually written content of the novel is a bit more middling imho, but it has been about a decade since I've read it. I prefer to focus on the art with this one, let's put it that way.

Anyway, hope that helps.

[happymappy]

[manekinekocake]

[artcllctn]

[mastomysowner]

Ishida Atsuko Artbook

[itsfantasticac]

Money Idol Exchanger illustration, by Atsuko Ishida.

Flowery Orange Pekoe - Atsuko Ishida Works 2 (Jul. 15, '98), pg. 30

[kudotsurugi]

Random Thought: Why does all "90's Anime style" fanart just look like Sailor Moon?

Okay, obviously not all fanart looks like it. But if you were to type in "90s anime style" here on Tumblr or DeviantArt at the time of this post, it at least seems to be the majority stand-in for 90s anime aesthetic, right? Especially in the characters' eyes.

Don't me wrong, this is not a knock against Sailor Moon. It is a great anime, and the collective character designs by Kazuko Tadano, Ikuko Ito, and Mari Tominaga among other staff are iconic. So iconic that Tadano was brought back as the character designer for the latest Sailor Moon movies. That is quite the staying power.

But let's be fair, there are plenty of 90s anime out there that can also be used as inspiration. So, here are the names of 11 character designers alongside some gifs of shows/projects they worked on in that role. Some you may not know but you've seen their work, and others you probably know for their distinct art style or association with a franchise.

Things worth noting: First, the years listed here with some anime may reflect when the artists' work started airing, rather than when the anime itself actually started. Some folks listed here enter their projects mid-production in other roles, while others are in the role from the start. Second, each entry will list 1 or 2 projects aired/released during the 90s, but it will be noted if the artist's role continues beyond that with certain franchises. Lastly, these artists are listed in no particular order, so no "top 11" hierarchy. With that said, here's our examples:

Hisashi Eguchi (Roujin Z[1991], Sonic the Hedgehog CD [1993])

2. Katsuyoshi Nakatsuru(Dragon Ball franchise (Z [1993-96], GT [1996], Daima [2024]), Digimon franchise [1999-2002, 2019-2023])

3. Kumiko Takahashi (Cardcaptor Sakura [1998-2000], Birdy The Mighty[1996])

4. Takahiro Yoshimatsu (Trigun[1998], Slayers franchise[1995-97])

5. Atsuko Nakajima (Ranma 1/2[1989-1992], You're Under Arrest[1996])

6. Sayuri Ichiishi (Pokémon[Pokémon design: 1996-present, human character design: 1996-2017])

7. Atsuko Ishida (Magic Knight Rayearth[1994-1995])

8. Masaya Onishi (Yu Yu Hakusho[1993-1994])

9. Toshihiro Kawamoto(Cowboy Bebop[1998-1999], Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team[1996])

10. Hiroshi Osaka(Gundam franchise[Mobile Suit Victory Gundam: 1993-1994, Mobile Fighter G-Gundam:1994-1995])

11. Yoshiyuki Sadamoto(Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water[1990-1991], Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise[1995-1997, 2007-2021])

Might've leaned a bit more on the Shonen side of things than Shojo, but I hope you can see my point😅. There are tons of 90s anime out there with their own unique feel and aesthetic. These are only 11 names that I found.

For anyone drawing 90s anime style fanart, I hope this has given you some inspiration, and I encourage anyone reading this to look up your favourite anime on Anime News Network's encyclopedia and see who's responsible for helping bring your favorite characters to life on screen and what other shows they've worked on.

[cureprecure]

illustration: Atsuko Ishida / 石田敦子

[bungeegum28]

[ 𝗔𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘁 ]

𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐞 Magic Knight Rayearth • 魔法騎士 レイアース (1994) 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 CLAMP 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 TMS Entertainment 𝐝𝐢𝐫. Toshihiro Hirano 𝐜𝐡𝐫. 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐞𝐫 Atsuko Ishida

𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦: e08 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘴

[desultory-novice]

Clamp, yes! I'm a huge Clamp fan! (They were the character designers for Code Geass. And I was a Code Geass dork but I mostly love their manga work like CCS, Clover, Wish... I dream of being able to come up with and draw outfits like theirs.)

Funny, I always thought of myself as more Digimon inspired than Pokemon, but I could go either way! I wouldn't be surprised if there was a dash of Yugioh and Detective Conan in there too! Precure as well! (Before anyone asks, Fresh is my favorite but I like Smile and Princess and Delicious Party and like... all of them.)

I've also been trying to work more Miyazaki into my studies because, imo, he's a master at making diverse face and body type look beautiful when so many anime characters can get... cookie cutter-y.

Speaking of classics, I've been reading Please Save My Earth and a couple other of the older landmark shoujo manga. They're SO good and that retro style is just...I love it!! (If you start seeing more vertical panels in MariPav, that's 100% inspired by PSME.)

And of course, I've been watching various recent stuff too just to study how gorgeous and fluid modern animation is! (...Shame about all the horrible, awful work-abuse problems in the industry...)

(1) Not so much an anime influence, but the character designer for the anime adaptation of Rayearth, Ishida Atsuko, is one of my favorite illustrators! I'm a former "Tales of" fan so I also love Kosuke Fujishima and Inomata Mutsumi! Even if I can't draw like either of them. And speaking of character designers I don't have a chance in heck of ever learning to draw like, I love love love the work of Tomomi Kobayashi, who works with Square Enix on the SaGa games!

[scumcoin]

watched the first episode of shamanic princess

i really missed watching quick one and done OVAs and what better to put on than the ishida atsuko romp, shamanic princess? i watched it dubbed. i think for stuff like this, watching dub is just pure vibes. takes me back to the days of yore when i had a few stray anime dvds and what i ended up rewatching the most were not the anime on them but the trailers bundled in the bonus sections on the menus.

it's about what you'd expect for a stylish OVA of the age: it's full on aesthetic and showmanship, but in true 90s OVA fashion the plot is yet to be explained but it's not in a bad way especially since a lot of newer shows suffer from too much handholding and treating the audience like they can't be left unattended lest they think for themselves. you're left to collect the clues the characters leave behind in their banter and biting back at each other.

speaking of banter— the tension between the protagonist tiara and her former childhood friend and current adversary lena is delectable. there's quite a heavy subtext despite a few things standing in the way. there's even a conversation between tiara and her new college classmates about how lena would be a good match for men and women (something tiara curtly objects to given they were implying she was smitten, she certainly is not— they have in fact become bitter rivals)

overall, i enjoyed the first episode, and honestly this really does seem like one of those cult classics so long as you take it at face value and for what it is putting on the table and not what you expect it to be nor what it should be to you. i think it'll be fun going forward!

[iminthetunnels]

Atsuko Ishida

[saint-miroir]

An original illustration by Atsuko Ishida for the 1999...2000 Animage Original Calendar--Featured in the January 1999 issue of Animage Magazine. Scanned from my personal collection.

[manekinekocake]

[fairyetc]

[hotwaterandmilk]

Series: Magic Knight Rayearth Artist: Ishida Atsuko Publication: Animedia Magazine (11/1994) Source: Scanned from personal collection