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Saekano's Megumi and Date a Live's Kurumi Get Limited Run of Ukiyo-e Woodblock Prints
posted on by Kim Morrissy
Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend heroine Megumi and popular Date A Live character Kurumi are getting a limited run of 200 ukiyo-e woodblock prints each. The Megumi art is drawn by Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend light novel illustrator Kurehito Misaki and the print is created by carver Kazuo Watanabe. The Kurumi art is drawn by Date A Live light novel illustrator Tsunako and the print is created by Kayoko Suga. (Suga carved the ukiyo-e for Re:Zero's Rem last year.)
Kadokawa's official YouTube channel posted videos of Watanabe and Suga at work, showing the delicate craftsmanship involved in the task. The manufacturing process is completed entirely by hand. The carver first carves the image into wooden printing blocks, each to be used for printing separate colors or designs on a print. After the blocks are complete, the print artist spends several days printing an image.
Orders for the prints opened on Sunday. The first 100 prints of each character are expected to ship in February, while the second 100 prints are expected to ship in March. Each print will cost 55,000 yen (US$507). More details about the product specifications can be found on the online Kadokawa store pages for the Megumi and Kurumi prints. It was also revealed that Utaha and Eriri from Saekano will also get ukiyo-e prints in the future.
Fumiaki Maruto's original light novel series Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend inspired an anime adaptation that premiered in January 2015 and a second series in April 2017. Saenai Heroine no Sodate-kata fine, the upcoming Saekano: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend film, will open on October 26.
Koushi Tachibana's Date A Live light novel series has inspired three television anime series. The Date A Live Fragment: Date A Bullet spinoff novels, which focus on Kurumi, will be getting an anime adaptation.
Many manga, anime, and other aspects of Japanese popular culture have already inspired ukiyo-e. In 2017, voice actress Sumire Uesaka, the first Eureka Seven: Hi - Evolution film, and Leiji Matsumoto's works became woodblock prints.
Source: LN-News
