Kaishaku: the Manga Artist
Kaishaku, as said in the Manga Section, are the team behind the Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto manga and the are original creators of the series itself.
Kaishaku is a two man team, made up of Hitoshi Ota ("Kai") and Terumasa Shichinohe ("Shaku"). They represent themselves in all of their works as a cat and a fish (pictured above). From the kanji on their bodies, Kai is the cat and Shaku is the fish.
They do own their own homepage, which can be found here - and a complete list of their anime and manga works can be found at Anime News Network.
About
Kaishaku have done a lot of manga-related works from their start in the late 90's. Their works have spanned manga series and spinoffs, anime and live action series, promotional goods, doujinshi, novels and collaborative works for not only their own works, but also for many other works.The majority of their artwork between 1998 and 2002 was hand drawn with inks. In late 2002 and during 2003 onwards, their coloured artwork moved from traditional to digital, resulting in cleaner and more refined coloured artwork.
Whether Kaishaku remain to draw toned manga traditionally or digitally is unknown, but from references in series - for example, Christianne Amagi of the Steel Angel Kurumi manga - who, in one chapter introduces her own manga series to the readers and characters within; and Reiko Ota of Kannazuki no Miko, who is usually inking artwork, worrying about submission deadlines and controls a mech that fires fountain pens at opponents. From these characters and references, it could be suggested they still work traditionally, while their colour artwork is digital.
They work with a large number of assistants who help with digitising, artwork, toning, and writing. In the original Steel Angel Kurumi manga, after each volume, there is commonly an omake (extra) featuring Kaishaku and their assistants with the Steel Angels, in which Kaishaku mock both themselves and their assistants.
Series History
Their first major series, Steel Angel Kurumi (1998), has to some extent been their most popular series. Steel Angel Kurumi spanned 11 manga volumes, two animated television series, two OVA series and one live action television series, as well as merchandise and collectibles. Kurumi has been licensed and released by ADV Films in the USA, and the manga was released by ADV manga up until volume 9, when production of the manga was stopped.After Kurumi's success came a number of small projects (e.g. The Cross Triangle), and Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto (2001). Taruto spanned 3 manga volumes before ending between 2001 and 2003, and the television series aired in Japan in 2001.
Taruto was a small project for Kaishaku, and was somewhat overshadowed by the production of their next major project and ongoing manga series UFO Princess Valkryie (2002). Even now, Taruto features very little in Kaishaku's portfolio. While some new art has been produced for promotional features, Taruto remains overshadowed and out of the spotlight - possibly because of a lowered popularity, or because of it's age. Taruto has been licensed by Bandai in the USA, but there are no plans to release the manga.
UFO Princess Valkryie (2002) is still one of Kaishaku's biggest projects as well as one of their most popular series, having reached it's 11th volume in late 2007 as well as four anime seasons and one OVA series. It is frequently known as either "UFO Princess Valkyrie", "UFO Princess Warukyure", "UFO Princess Walküre" or "UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie" to fans worldwide, due to various spellings and interpretations. UFO Princess Valkryie has been licensed by ADV Films in the USA, but there are no plans to release the manga.
During UFO Princess Valkyrie's production, Kaishaku began work on various other projects, including Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo (2004) and the manga equivalent of Kannazuki no Miko (2004).
Kagihime Monogatari Eikyuu Alice Rondo (2004) is an original 4-volume manga based around Alice in Wonderland. It also had a 12-episode series air in Japan in 2006. The manga was released in the USA by Dr. Master productions, but the series has yet to be licensed.
Kannazuki no Miko (2004) lasted two volumes in Japan, and had a 12-episode television series air in Japan in 2004. The series was licensed by Geneon in the USA in 2005 after it's popularity with fans, and the manga has been announced to be released by Tokyopop in 2008. Kaishaku still continue to produce artwork and doujinshi for the series, for holidays and events. It has been suggested that Kannazuki no Miko is Kaishaku's favourite series, even though it was very short, because of the amount of supplimentary artwork and pieces made after it's end. After the television series ended in Japan, Kaishaku announced that depending on it's popularity, another season may go into production. While Kannazuki no Miko "season two" does not currently exist, there have been suggestions that the second season Kaishaku spoke of resulted in Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (2006).
Kyoshiro to Towa no Sora (2006) is Kaishaku's newest original manga series. It is finished at three volumes in 2007. It also had a 12-episode series in 2007. "Kyoshiro Sora" or "Shattered Angels" has been explained as a multi-series anime, taking characters from various Kaishaku series - most notably from Kannazuki no Miko, Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto, UFO Princess Valkyrie and Steel Angel Kurumi, with 'alternate' characters based on originals and a 'new' storyline. For example, 'Taruotte', the green-haired catgirl character, could be seen as a merge of Taruto and Charlotte from Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto. Characters 'Kaon' and 'Himiko' are alternate versions of Chikane and Himeko from Kannazuki no Miko, and 'Valteishia' is an alternate version of Valkyrie. The story also resembles that of Steel Angel Kurumi, and there are many character links to suggest it is based upon it, such as the name 'Ayanokouji' (the scientist behind the Steel Angels in Kurumi) and the construction of 'Absolute Angels'. Other suggestions are that the story is a direct merge of the story of Steel Angel Kurumi and Kannazuki no Miko, combining the 'angels' with the 'mecha' which is present in either series.
At current, Kaishaku are working on various other small projects as well as original manga projects. Who knows what Kaishaku will come up with next?
