Masanori Ota (太田正典, Ōta Masanori, born November 23, 1961), better known by his
pen nameMasamune Shirow (士郎 正宗, Shirō Masamune), is a Japanese
manga artist.[1] Shirow is best known for the manga Ghost in the Shell, which has since been turned into three theatrical
anime films, two anime television series, an anime television film, an anime
ONA series, a theatrical
live action film, and several
video games.
Life and career
Born in the
Hyōgo Prefecture capital city of
Kobe, he studied oil painting at
Osaka University of Arts. While in college, he developed an interest in
manga, which led him to create his own complete work, Black Magic, which was published in the manga dōjinshiAtlas. His work caught the eye of
Seishinsha [
jp] President Harumichi Aoki, who offered to publish him.
The result was best-selling[2] manga Appleseed, a full volume of densely plotted drama taking place in an ambiguous future. The story was a sensation, and won the 1986
Seiun Award for Best Manga. After a professional reprint of Black Magic and a second volume of Appleseed, he released Dominion in 1986. Two more volumes of Appleseed followed before he began work on Ghost in the Shell.
In 2007, he collaborated again with
Production I.G to co-create the original concept for the anime television series Ghost Hound, Production I.G's 20th anniversary project. A further original collaboration with Production I.G began airing in April 2008, titled Real Drive.
Pieces GEM 01: The Ghost in The Shell Data + α (2014)
Pieces GEM 02: Neuro Hard Bee Planet (2015)
Pieces GEM 03: Appleseed Drawings (2016)
W-Tails Cat 1 (2012)
W-Tails Cat 2 (2013)
W-Tails Cat 3 (2016)
Greaseberries 1 (2014)
Greaseberries 2 (2014)
Greaseberries 3 (2018)
Greaseberries 4 (2019)
Greaseberries Rough (2019)
Galgrease
Galgrease (published in Uppers Magazine, 2002) is the collected name of several
hentai manga and poster books by Shirow. The name comes from the fact that the women depicted often look "greased".
The first series of Galgrease booklets included four issues each in the following settings: