archipel

NEW | A Metaphor in Fantasy - with Katsura Hashino, Shoji Meguro and Shigenori Soejima

Hi everyone,

We know many of you were waiting for this one - our documentary around Katsura Hashino, Shoji Meguro and Shigenori Soejima and their approach on the journey towards Metaphor: ReFantazio is out now.

You can expect a followup update in the next few days about our future projects, meanwhile we hope you'll enjoy!

Thank for your support,

-the Archipel team

Coming Soon | Metaphor: ReFantazio, defined

Hi everyone,

We recently released on the channel a teaser for our upcoming content on Metaphor: ReFantazio, as we dug deeper in the game with creator trio Shigenori Soejima, Shoji Meguro & Katsura Hashino. As players are discovering the game through the playable demo, we looked more at the each creator's approach, on character design, music, writing & overall direction.

As w...

Archipel Log | Kickstarter Campaign Launch

Hi everyone,

As previously shared in our last update, we are launching Archipel Log, our first editorial project, an original guidebook introducing places behind the inspiration and memories of Japanese artists. It channels years of following creators in the video medium, this time in editorial form.

For this first edition, we’ll discover locations in Tokyo and its dire...

NEW | Content Update & "Archipel Log" Kickstarter Pre-launch

Hi everyone,

We're excited to share a couple updates on what we've been working on.

Content updates:

• We're finally seeing progress on our documentary about the animation legend Mahiro Maeda, who has been recently featured for his early conceptualization work on Mad Max: Furiosa and an upcoming art book. The documentary will be coming l...

  2024-06-26 08:23:51 +0000 UTC View Post

NEW | Junji Ito x Yoshiki Fujimoto - Tomie Renaissance

Hi everyone,

A new video is now online on the channel - following the final steps of a collaboration between horror manga legend Junji Ito and modeler Yoshiki Fujimoto.

For the creation of another look at Ito’s iconic “Tomie”, we learn more about the mutual respect they share for one another as we visit their work.

As a side note, our process of rene...

[NEW] Toryumon Takeda - Drifters in Manga

Hi everyone,

New portrait out on the channel today, shedding light on manga artist Toryumon Takeda, whose stories show flawed, yet endearing characters embarked together on an adventurous journey. 

We discussed her influences, her thoughts put in character creation and her posture towards manga creation, as we learn more about two of her series: "BADDUCKS" and the upcoming "DOG...

NEW | Mai Yoneyama Portrait

Hi everyone,

With a small delay to what we had announced, we just released our portrait on animator and illustrator Mai Yoneyama, where over a day spent at her atelier she took us through her career path leading up to her evolution as a broad artist.

So without going too much further into an extended description, we hope you'll enjoy and continue supporting us! Feel free to share ov...

Memories of Kenji Eno - Out now

Hi everyone,

After a long wait, our Kenji Eno documentary is finally here.

Commemorating the 10th anniversary since his sudden passing, we look back at a brilliant mind of the game industry, through testimonials from his family, friends and colleagues.

Behind unique titles such as "D", "Enemy Zero" or "Real Sound", Kenji Eno was disruptive in his titles, also making bold moves...

NEW | A day with Mai Yoneyama - Teaser

Hi everyone,

It's been a while since we haven't posted anything new on the channel, but please be assured that we have a few projects in the works set to be released in the following weeks.

Today we're sharing a glimpse of a portrait we are making of animator & illustrator Mai Yoneyama. After starting her career at Gainax as an animator, her talent now ranges between animation, ...

Archipel Caravan | Tokyo | December 2023

Hi everyone,

We know it's been a while since we haven't posted, so first we would like to give a big thanks to everyone who is still supporting us on Patreon. Here's what we've been up to.

First, we will be releasing our Kenji Eno documentary this December. We will hold three screening sessions ...

NEW | Memories of Kenji Eno - Teaser

Hello everyone,

As announced in our end-of-year update, we've been working on a long documentary to commemorate the brilliant mind of Kenji Eno, a unique creator of Japan's game industry with works including D, Enemy Zero or Real Sound, through a series of testimonials with some of his friends, colleagues and family.

Today, for the 10th anniversary since his sudden passing, we are p...

Archipel | 2023

Hello everyone,

It's that time of the year. 2022 has been slightly different than usual as we've spent a lot of time planning and producing new projects, that we're looking forward to sharing more about.

Nevertheless, we've been happy to release our longer feature on alternative paths to manga, our portrait of illu...

Introducing Dialekt | Culture-oriented content for Japanese learners

Hi everyone,

This post is slightly different than usual as we're not announcing nor releasing any new video.

For quite some time, we have seen many requests on our videos to add Japanese subtitles for people learning Japanese. We did so for a selection of videos, but this got us thinking that there could be something more that we could do, especially as we are fully aware that learn...

NEW | Hiroyasu Ishida: Being an Animation Film Director

Hello everyone,

We've mentioned it in our last Patreon post - here is our new portrait of animation film director Hiroyasu Ishida.

As a prolific creator of a new generation in animation, we looked back together at his career, ranging from his student debut, the early days of Studio Colorido, to his first feature-length film "Penguin Highway" and his latest film: Drifting Home.

Patron Update (New Video Coming Soon)

Hi everyone,

We're back with a status update on some of our ongoing projects. Our documentary on Mahiro Maeda is still in the works, we're taking a bit more time to let it breathe a bit and can come back to it to polish it some more. There are some additional logistics involved as well considering the large number of studios that Maeda has worked with throughout his career, but please be ...

Status Update

Hi everyone,

We know it's been a while since we shared any news -  but please be assured there's been a few projects in the works. Our documentary on animation director Mahiro Maeda is set to be a long one, probably the longest portrait we have ever done so far, we hope to be able to share more soon (still juggling with work projects as well to maintain everything). 

Meanw...

NEW | Layout, Ep. One: Acky Bright

Hello everyone,

Today we’re launching the pilot to one of our new series projects: Layout, focusing on Japanese drawing artists, their inspirations and their work.

For this first episode, we’ve met Acky Bright, a multi-talented illustrator navigating between various techniques, whose works are inspired by many artists and pop culture titles, with a strong influence from Akira To...

Bonus Content | Alternative Paths to Manga

Hi everyone,

To patrons on the $5 tier and above, we thought we'd share a small bonus content from our last video on alternative manga artists Yuriko Akase and Junichiro Saito, where we asked two additional questions to their editor that we were curious about, namely:

- At which point does Torch consider a publication to be a success?

- How much is Torch paying its authors? 2022-02-21 13:22:16 +0000 UTC View Post

NEW | Alternative paths to manga

Hello everyone,

We just launched our documentary on alternative manga artists that we had teased about a few months back. Through a day spent with authors Yuriko Akase and Junichiro Saito, discover their diametrically different styles, ranging from watercolor to hard-boiled noir, as we learned more about their backgrounds and motivations behind their respective titles Sazan & Comet Gi...

Happy New Year

Hi everyone,

First of all we would like to wish everyone a happy new year 2022 and all the best for this year. 

We've been thinking, adjusting, then readjusting again on the direction we will be taking with our content for this year. Last year, we've posted 8 videos (including our long interview with Hideki Kamiya, which we ultimately split over 7 parts), most of which you saw ...

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles - Neo Classic (Final Part)

Hi everyone,

Our series on game creator Hideki Kamiya comes to completion as we just released its last chapter, out now on Cutscenes.

We went over to BitSummit, Japan's top indie game festival, opening for an offline edition over in Kyoto, under strict sanitary restrictions. PlatinumGames was showing Sol Cresta, a shoot 'em up opening up the company's Neo Classic Arcade series.

Patron Update | Next on Archipel & Cutscenes

Hi everyone,

We're hoping all things are well for everyone. We wanted to share a quick update on some of the content we are planning or that is currently in the works.

- Non-mainstream manga artist documentary: we're aware we're taking more time than expected, but please stay assured that this is still in the works. We have taken all the shots we needed, but still h...

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles - The Wonderful 101, then Scalebound

Hi everyone,

For the 6th part of the Kamiya Chronicles series, we looked back at two titles: The Wonderful 101 and... Scalebound.

The former started quite differently from what we might think, while the latter's development led to an unfortunate ending. This chapter is next to last, as our following video will bring the series to a close, scheduled to come out on December 6th.

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles: The Conjuring of Bayonetta

Hi everyone,

The Kamiya Chronicles continues, as we now dive in our 5th chapter, during the very beginnings of PlatinumGames and the making of one of the studio's flagship titles: Bayonetta.

We hope you'll enjoy.

Thank you for your support.

- the Archipel team

NEW | The Call of a Craftsman - Shigeru Kancho

Hi everyone,

As briefly shared yesterday, we just posted a new video on the Archipel channel. While we were in Wajima, located in Ishikawa prefecture for a project, we met with Shigeru Kancho, a 5th-generation artisan specialized in wan-kiji, a bowl cutting technique which initiates the process of the traditional Wajima lacquerware creation.

With an accelerated population decrease i...

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles: The Brush Up of Okami

Hi everyone,

Friday means it’s time for a new part of Kamiya Chronicles, this time focusing on the development of Okami, a critically acclaimed title of the end of the PlayStation 2 era. Director Hideki Kamiya looks back at how the game’s development started, with its share of twists mid-development in order to achieve the game’s unique art touch and gameplay mechanics.

We hop...

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles: No Average Joe

Hey everyone,

The Kamiya Chronicles series keeps going.

This latest video goes back to the making of Viewtiful Joe and how the game came to life, starting from a spark of Shinji Mikami's looking to make a series similar to Mega Man.

We hope you'll like it.

Cheers,

- the Archipel team

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles: Speak of the Devil

Hi everyone,

Our "Kamiya Chronicles" series continues, this time focusing on the development of Devil May Cry, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

Hideki Kamiya looks back to what was originally meant to be a sequel in the Resident Evil series, while also discussing the legacy it has left, becoming one of Japan's most renown action game series.

We hope you'll enjoy and...

NEW | Kamiya Chronicles: First Steps

Hi everyone,

We are launching today the "Kamiya Chronicles", a long interview of Hideki Kamiya, one of Japan's most prolific game creators who directed Resident Evil 2, Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Okami, Bayonetta and The Wonderful 101, as he goes back on his career spanning over 25 years.

The first part of this interview is out now on Cutscenes, our secondary channel. Kamiya told...

NEW | Yoichi Erikawa, the origin of Koei

Hi everyone,

We just launched a new video on Cutscenes; an interview with the CEO & Founder of the Koei Tecmo group Yoichi Erikawa, celebrating this year his 40th anniversary as game creator under the alias Ko Shibusawa.

As a pioneer of the simulation game genre, he reminisced on the three titles that layered his path as a game creator, starting with a title unknown in Japan, Ka...