Idiosyncrisy is often a trait associated with either the mad or the simply genius. In the world of manga, Masamune Shirow is certainly one of the latter. He may prefer to work alone and live in virtual isolation but when one can crank out work as thought-provoking yet entertaining as Appleseed and Ghost in the Shell, a little idiosyncrisy never hurt any one.
Born in 1961 in the Hyogo Prefecture of Kyoto, Shirow - real name Masanori Ota - was always interested in art and enrolled in the Osaka University of Arts to learn oil-painting. It was here that Shirow was introduced to manga and the rest, they say, is fate and destiny.
"Shirow to me is about high tech techno stuff that is hip, functional and very, very cool."
It must be noted that the images used here are the copyright of Masamune Shirow and his publisher.
His first body of work, Black Magic was published in a manga fanzine called Atlas in 1983. This early work caught the eye of Harumichi Aoki, president of the Seishinsha publishing firm who offered to release Shirow's official debut when Shirow graduated. In 1985, Appleseed was published to huge sales and rave reviews.
Surprisingly, Shirow didn't pursue a full-time career as a manga writer/artist but instead taught at a high school for the next five years.
It was only when he quit teaching that he became a full-time writer/artist. It was at this time that he released - under the Seishinsha stable of course - Orion and his seminal masterpiece Ghost in the Shell.
Television provides Shirow with many of his inspirations and influences. He is a huge fan of US & UK TV dramas and is a self-confessed anime-freak. He cites the classic Gundam and Macross anime serials as primary influences to his work.
Aside from Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Shirow has also released Dominion, Orion and Intron Depot Art Collections.