Azumanga Daioh is getting a Kindle edition in Japan. Kio hopes more people get to experience the joy of reading it for the first time. In response to this, manga author Nakamura Hirofumi expresses his love of Sue in Genshiken referencing Azumanga Daioh. Kio responds with the line from when Sue punches Sasahara in the solar plexus: “Here?”
Kio recalls feeling truly moe over Sasaki-san from Azumanga. A fan mentions being a fan of Osaka, and both talk about how great it is being an Osaka fan right now, given recent Yotsuba&! News.
Former editor-in-chief of Gamest magazine created a history of Japanese arcades during the golden age from 1986 to 1999. Kio thanks Gamest for helping him all those years.
Kio especially likes how the book mentions all the help that was needed to make it, and that there are actually still plenty of photos that didn’t make it in.
Having read the manga version of the award-winning Kuni o Ketta Otoko (The Men Who Kicked the Country), and really enjoyed the artist Ikuhana Niiro’s interpretation of the Warring States era.
According to his schedule, Kio swore he was on track to finishing Part 2 of the sequel to his 18+ doujinshi, but he was off by quite a few pages: 30 vs 54.
In response to a fan hoping that Kio will release his 18+ doujinshi in print format, the man says he’s considering it because of all the credit card payment issues as of late.
Zenbu Sensei no Sei. 2, Part 1 has sold over 5,000 digital copies on FAFSA and over 2,000 on DLSite. Good numbers, but Kio can’t help but be impressed by the really big sellers.
Kio had a slight headache, but it got better after reading Shibata Yokusaru’s manga Toma Tonzaburo Wants to Become a Masked Rider. (Shibata is the author of Air Master and one of my favorite manga, 81 Diver).
He recalls a similar thing happening back in college, and he even got a CT scan that turned up nothing. But what fixed his headache then was the manga Shakariki! by Soda Masahito (author of Change!!, Firefighter Daigo, Capeta). Apparently, there’s nothing quite like a devastating loss by a main character to let out some of brain fluid, whether it’s in Shakariki (a bicycle manga) or Air Master (a fighting manga).
Kio recalls Shirow Masamune (author of Ghost in the Shell) once saying, “Amphibious assault ships sure are nice.” When shown the Albion, a real-life example from seven years ago that was near Summer Comiket, Kio responds that he thought it looked like a wooden horse. This is a reference to Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory, which features a Federation ship called the Albion.
Kio read Volume 10 of Koukaku no Sukima (Scheme in the Crimson Shell), a series about the world of Pandora in the Crimson Shell by the original author, Koshi Rikudo (of Excel Saga fame). Kio likes the “Shiromasa World” (which I assume has to do with Shirow Masamune?), and the fact that one particular story gets a continuation.
Kio is overjoyed that he could relate to the main character of From Bureaucrat to Villainess: Dad’s Been Reincarnated!, an anime adaptation of a manga about a 52-year-old salaryman who is reincarnated as a villainess.
An online preview is available for the sequel to Kio’s 18+ doujinshi, Zenbu, Sensei no Sei. (It’s All Your Fault, Sensei.) on the adult site FANZA. Note that the site is region-locked. The full 82-page version is out now.
Otani Ikue (voice of Pikachu) was trending on Twitter. Kio jokingly claims that she’s known primarily for her role as Kamishakujii Renge in Kujibiki Unbalance.
A fan mentions being surprised when Kujibiki Unbalance became its own standalone title. Kio concurs, though mentions that all the voice actors had to change from the OVAs that were packaged with the first Genshiken anime.
Kio also watched the movie Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In. He enjoyed the portrayal of the people living in Kowloon Walled City and the free-flowing action.
WIth the doujinshi out on FANZA, Kio talks abouts how he originally intended it to be a single 134-page work, but found that doing so meant cutting out too much of what he wanted. Now, it’s been split into two roughly 80-page parts.
For a color illustration with a lot of skin tones, Kio tried a high-contrast style with lots of layers and some airbrushed red. He thinks he could figure out how to replicate what he did, but is holding off on that for now.
Kio was interviewed by Yomiuri Shinbun a little while back along with fellow manga artists Toyoda Minoru and Shito Reisa. (Unfortunately, I can’t seem to access the site.)
Kio is shocked to discover that yuzu pepper sauce has no black pepper in it. Apparently, in Kyushu, they call chili peppers (karashi) “black pepper” (koshou). It might have something to do with English.
Kio never made an account on mixi (an older Japanese social networking site), so while he might be an old man himself, he can’t jump in on discussions related to it.
In the new year, Kio plans to release part of It’s All Your Fault, Sensei2, the sequel to his 18+ doujinshi. In the meantime, the first book is on sale at various sites.
I want to preface this month’s Kio Shimoku Twitter Highlights acknowledging the recent exodus of Twitter users. There’s always a chance that the site might go under, which would make a lot of these posts hard/impossible to read. While it would make sense to take screenshots, a lot of Japanese artists are not comfortable with that, so I’ve been using quotes all this time to avoid any potential issues (and also to save time).
My compromise has been that I try to make my tweet summaries useful to read even if the tweets themselves disappear. Hopefully it’s enough.
Kio really likes the new Ranma ½ anime. It’s not a total copy of the original manga, but it captures what makes the series interesting.
He recalls how Ranma came out after Takahashi Rumiko had achieved her “perfect form” from working on Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, and that Ranma was good from the start.
Kio decided to start re-reading the manga Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn because the series ended. He remarks that the satisfaction he gets from reading manga is amazing.
The author of Pandora in the Crimson Shell, Rikdo Koshi (of Excel Saga fame) thanks Kio, and talks about how he was inspired by the cosplay in Kio’s work. Kio says he’s the grateful one because he got to read Rikdo’s work.
Kio’s art is included in a illustration collection to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the manga magazine Rakuen: Le Paradis. It will be on sale at Comitia 150.
Kio went to VOTOMS Model Exhibition 2024. To him, nothing beats seeing this stuff in full three dimensions, and he particularly admired the work of modeler Aihara Yoshiyuki.
Kio had to do a factory reset on his PC last month, but when he tried to re-download his saved assets for Clip Studio Paint, it didn’t work for some reason.
For the Rakuen artbook, Kio went back to using analog tools after 17 years away from them. This is why he was looking for his old supplies back in September.
The Part 2 DVD for the Vietnam special of How Do You Like Wednesday? Kio did not originally watch this as it aired, but because this was seen as the final HDYLW special at the time, watching it now brought tears to his eyes.
When he was little, Kio used to draw overhead diagrams of his own model hobby shop that included all the Gunpla he wanted but couldn’t buy. He would then pretend that his Kinnikuman and kaiju erasers were customers for his shop.
Kio elaborates on his childhood dream of owning a model hobby shop in his art book interview. He then calls the tweet an advertisement that happened naturally.
Kio has been thinking up the plot of an eromanga (different from the one he’s currently working on), and is now up to 4 chapters. He hopes he can get around to actually drawing it eventually.
Kio watched The Queen of Villains, the Netflix series about the iconic Japanese heel pro wrestler Dump Matsumoto. He found it to be a really good and intense work. The scene where Dump “awakens” to herself was cathartic.
Kio’s PC went into factory reset mode. He thinks it might have been because there was a power outage when Windows was updating. A person in the replies helped Kio with some troubleshooting, but seemingly to no avail. Kio had stuff backed up, though, so it should be okay.
Kio is a fan of the manga Fist of the North Star: Legend of the Apocalyptic Drama Shoot, which presents Fist of the North Star as if it were a live-action television production where all the characters are actors. He likes that the production issues feel plausible for what happens in the original work.
Kio watched Gundam: Requiem for Vengeance. He likes how the Zakus really comes across as weapons, whereas normally mobile suits come across as more like living beings, or like ASIMO vs Atlas.
Requiem for Vengeance is practically a monster movie.
Kio watching another DVD from How Do You Like Wednesday? This time, they’re in Vietnam.
One person in the replies talked about how at the time, it seemed like this might be their final show, but Kio didn’t get into How Do You Like Wednesday? in real time, so it was different for him.
Kio finally inked the line work for the final 80 pages of his doujinshi. He still has to add grays, blacks, text, and color for the cover, though (all of which take quite a bit of time).
Kio talked to a younger person who was aware of the fact that Patlabor came out first with Yuki Masami’s manga. As Kio looked at this month’s issue of Model Grafix, it hit him that the people who would naturally know this are probably around 50 years old.
Having seen the anime movie The Colors Within, Kio points out how the images look euphoric and characteristic of director Yamada Naoko. There are also very few long shots, making the movie feel very personal and character-focused.
Kio describes being happy to discover that manga artist Nakano Deichi is able to make a work like h na h to A-ko no Noroi, which has a different feel from his previous works.
Fantasista mascot Sis-tan really likes Hashikko Ensemble, and shetells Kio why she likes the character Hachida Shinji so much (she also likes Orihara). Essentially, Hachida can’t seem to leave others alone, like when they’re going through hard times (e.g. Orihara, Masshy).
Kio replies that he pictures Hachida having an older sister who’s actually a yankii, and that he actually has a lot of experience with tough guys. Also, Masshy has light footwork, and knows how to interact with those who take singing very seriously.
Kio loves the Turn A Gundam novels so much, he’s read them countless times. He was originally shocked at where Tomino concluded the anime, so he was glad the novels show what happened after that. The fact that the series is all about the consequences of the foolishness of humanity is very “Tomino.” He has felt that this is the kind of thing he could not pull off as a manga artist. He also praises Turn A mecha designer (and legend) Syd Mead.
Kio did not tweet his own reaction to the death of voice actor Shinohara EMi, but he did retweet these drawings from Togashi Yoshihiro, author of Hunter x Hunter and husband of Sailor Moon creator Takeuchi Naoko.
He also had to gather a lot of old material for the talk, including work he finds embarrassing. He wonders if this is going to turn into a cringe session for him.
With summer ending and some work concluded, Kio is feeling that he should start something new. In the meantime, he declares that he will finish his doujinshi.
Kio read Volume 2 of The Kinks, a manga by Enomoto Shunji. While reading the serialized version Kio, always finds himself going “Well, that’s a first!”
The talk at Umeda Lateral also had a raffle for special signboards with art by Kio. The person who won Saki’s also happens to be an artist. Here’s Kio thanking him for some Saki fanart.
Kio visiting his section of the Rakuen: Le Paradis gallery in Shinjuku. He also bought all the postcards and pins.
He also informs a person replying that all the images are not actually analog, but merely recreations made to look as such. Kio currently works digitally.
After many days, Kio finally beat the final boss of the Elden Ring DLC. He had to consult online videos, and there’s still some stuff in the game he can’t seem to access.
One lucky fan got the autograph and was surprised to find out that it also came with an illustration! Kio apparently drew a wide range of characters for them.
Kio retweeted a t-shirt of the Fantasista mascot Sistan, which has art by Koume Keito (who worked on the Kujibiki Unbalance manga. Sistan thanks Kio, who responds that this makes him happy.
The electricity and water were out in Kio’s apartment, so he went to a super sentou (large bathhouse) and had a good time. Kusada and him talk about how losing power and plumbing should be a bad thing, but the bathhouse makes for a great way to relax.
Kio contributed art to a special Rakuen: Le Paradis 15th anniversary exhibition (and you can buy a replica if you’re in Japan!). He also realizes that he’s been a manga artist for 30 years, and half of that was with Rakuen doing Spotted Flower.
Kio is going to have an artbook! (I wonder if this is why he’s been posting high-quality images of his old art over the past year or so.) More details here.
He wondered when would be the right time to release the book, and reflects on the fact that it’s been 30 years since he started his manga career.
Kio has a color illustration job deadline coming up, so he’s been plugging away at it little by little. He thinks he can finish in time. That said, he has a lot of other work due the week after. It also means he can’t work on his ero manga.
Terry and Mai from Fatal Fury will be in Street Fighter 6. Kio is surprised at the news. One commenter says they’re looking forward to seeing Sue in SF in 15 years, to which Kio says maybe in 30.
It turns out this drawing from last month is for the cover to the artbook! It’s one of his characters from an older work (I think the Yonensei/Gonensei series?).
Kio bought all of the original Oblivion Battery manga out, only to find out that it doesn’t progress as quickly as the anime. Now, he wishes he stuck with just the anime.
There’s a Yasuhiko Yoshikazu and Koizumi Yuu exhibit titled “Modern Japan and Russia/Soviet.” Kio couldn’t go the previous day but has decided to check it out.
While waiting for a Pre-DLC Elden Ring update to download, Kio works on his ero manga and gets a page done. He’s also wondering how the hell he’s listening to an audio book of Buddha’s Teachings while working on said 18+ comic,
Otomo Katushiro is releasing an album called Akira Remix. The Otomo recent cel exhibition was playing music from it, and Kio remembers going to the exhibition and hearing the music the whole time.
OGIUE MANIAX 