Source: Shogakukan Inc.
Official Website: https://serai.jp/ (Japan)
Cover of the July 2023 issue of Serai. Photo courtesy of Shogakukan. TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
Nostalgic but new! The July issue of Shogakukan's Super Premium Magazine Serai (サライ, Serai) offers a feature article on FX legend Eiji Tsuburaya plus a special supplement of painted postcards depicting Tsuburaya's Ultraman characters.
The main article is "Eiji Tsuburaya, Pioneer of Japanese Special Effects " (円谷英二が拓いたニッポンの特撮, Tsuburaya Eiji ga Hiraita Nihon no Tokusatsu). As the creator of the internationally renowned icons Godzilla and Ultraman, Tsuburaya became known as the "god of special effects". He was born on July 7, which is now called "Special Effects Day" in Japan.
The Super Premium Magazine Serai article looks back at the history of special effects from a modern perspective and the influence of Eiji Tsuburaya on later generations of filmmakers and artists. It also presents a visit to Tsuburaya's birthplace of Sukagawa City in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as other related facilities across Japan.
In addition, manga artist Naoki Urasawa, creator of 20th Century Boys and Pluto, shares his love of the monster scenes in Tsuburaya's works.
The article is accompanied by artwork by Yuji Murakami, an up-and-coming painter for the Japan Art Institute.
Godzilla towers over the magnificent Mt. Fuji in a painting by Yuji Murakami. Photo courtesy of Shogakukan.© MURAKAMI YUJI TM & © TOHO CO., LTD.
Murakami's work is also the focus of the Special Appendix to the article, "Yuji Murakami 'Ultraman Series Japanese Painting Postcard Book'" (村上裕二『ウルトラマンシリーズ日本画ポストカードブック』, Murakami Yūji Urutoraman Shirīzu Nihonga Posutokādo Bukku), that combines Ultraman, Ultraseven, Alien Baltan, and other characters with traditional Japanese painting themes and techniques. The postcards feature a number of large paintings created with his unique imagination using gold paint, mineral pigments, and dot painting techniques. There are eight postcards, each 12.0 x 18.6 cm in size, with a cover that can be unfolded to form a single piece of artwork.
The July issue of Shogakukan's Super Premium Magazine Serai is on sale now and can be purchased from online retailers including Amazon Japan.
Super Premium Magazine Serai July 2023 Issue
Publisher: Shogakukan
On Sale: June 8, 2023
Price: 1150円 (Approximately $8.26 U.S., Tax Included)
© Shogakukan Inc. 2023
Ultraman's special move, the Spacium Ray, as pinted by Yuji Murakami. Photo courtesy of Shogakukan. © MURAKAMI YUJI ©TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS
The monster Eleking, depicted with a pointillist technique using gold paint, battles Ultraseven in a Murakami postcard. Photo courtesy of Shogakukan. © MURAKAMI YUJI ©TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS
Foldout cover for the Ultraman Series Japanese Painting Postcard Book. Photo courtesy of Shogakukan. © MURAKAMI YUJI ©TSUBURAYA PRODUCTIONS
About Shogakukan Inc.
Shogakukan, founded in 1922, began by launching educational magazines targeting elementary school children. Currently, while expanding from children's magazines to the general magazine field, it has also become a general publishing company with a book division that releases picture books, illustrated guides, dictionaries, encyclopedias, literary works, among many others.