Star Wars: Tribute to Star Wars, a newly announced artbook from VIZ Media, will feature artwork by 45 manga artists, including Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.
The recently announced Star Wars artbook will feature illustrations by dozens of popular manga artists.
American manga publisher and anime distributor VIZ Media announced on Twitter that it will distribute an upcoming Star Wars-themed art book. Titled Star Wars: Tribute to Star Wars, the book will be released in spring 2022 and features artwork by 45 different Japanese manga artists and artists. While all 45 artists have yet to be revealed, VIZ Media has confirmed that Akira Himekawa, Taiyo Matsumoto and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko will be among the participating artists.
Announcement: Explore the galaxy through the beautiful artwork of 45 outstanding Japanese manga artists and illustrators, including Akira Himekawa, Taiyo Matsumoto, and Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. Star Wars: Tribute to Star Wars drops Spring 2022! pic.twitter.com/wyFCZ6IZSb
— VIZ (@VIZMedia) July 9, 2021
Akira Himakawa is the pen name of two female mangakas known simply as Honda A and Nagano S. For nearly three decades, the two have collaborated on a number of manga, including the 2003 Astro Boy anime adaptation and the series Original anime 1998 Nazca. Most famously, they wrote several manga based on The Legend of Zelda series, starting with The Ocarina of Time. Their manga based on Twilight Princess is still in serialization. Himakawa is no stranger to illustrating Star Wars manga, as the two have previously collaborated with other manga artists on Star Wars: The Legends of Luke Skywalker.
An accomplished and award-winning author, Taiyo Matsumoto has written many critically-acclaimed and critically acclaimed manga over his 30+ years of career. His most recognized work, the sports manga Ping Pong, has received an anime adaptation as well as a film adaptation, but Matsumoto has also published another award-winning manga, albeit less well known. Matsumoto also released a manga called Yakuza Tekkonkinkreet (Black & White), which was adapted into an anime, and No5, a sci-fi horror film about the apocalypse. Currently, Matsumoto is illustrating the historical manga series Mukashi no Hanashi.
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko has published several manga, notably the science fiction series The Venus Wars and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, but he is also well known for his work in the anime field, especially with director and character designer. He is the director, writer, character designer, and animation director for the science fiction anime Crusher Joe, as well as the anime adaptation of his own Arion manga. He also directed the Mecha Giant Gorg series and an adaptation of his The Venus Wars manga. As a character designer, Yaushiko has been heavily involved in the Gundam franchise since the beginning, having designed characters for Mobile Suit Gundam, Mobile Suit Gundam I, Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow, Mobile Suit Gundam III: Encounters in Space, Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam and more. While the extent of his contribution to the art book has yet to be announced, Yasuhiko illustrated the cover art of Star Wars: Tribute to Star Wars.
