News
Dark Horse to Release Illustrated Yoshitaka Amano Biography
posted on by Karen Ressler
Dark Horse Comics announced at its panel at Crunchyroll Expo on Saturday that it will publish Yoshitaka Amano—Beyond the Fantasy: The Illustrated Biography (Yoshitaka Amano Biography Officielle—Au-delà de la fantasy), Florent Gorges' biography of artist Yoshitaka Amano, in English. Pix'n Love Publishing first published the book in France in 2015.
Dark Horse will release both regular and limited editions, both pictured above. The biography itself will be a 320-page hardcover book sized at about 11 1/4 inches x 9 5/16 inches, similar to the softcover French edition. On its own it will be priced at US$49.99.
In addition to the hardcover biography, the US$99.99 limited edition will include a softcover "Paris Sketchbook," two lithographs from Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy VI, a signed and numbered card from Amano, and a Blu-ray Disc. The "Paris Sketchbook" is a photo essay of Amano sketching people and sights in Paris. The Blu-ray Disc will have scenes from Amano's Paris trip, a talk between the artist and the author and publisher, and a live painting session at Amano's studio. The videos will have audio in French and Japanese with English subtitles.
The book will include over 100 of Amano's sketches and paintings, as well as over 80 photographs spanning his childhood, family, and work. The book covers his early work in anime and devotes sections to his studio and methods, work illustrating the Final Fantasy series, and family life. Amano himself collaborated on the biography.
Amano is most well known for his contributions to Vampire Hunter D and the Final Fantasy series, as well as his collaboration with English graphic novelist Neil Gaiman on Sandman: The Dream Hunters. He has been in the anime industry since he was 15, when he joined the veteran studio Tatsunoko Production, and has contributed to many anime and video game projects. He is attending Crunchyroll Expo.
