This book can be said to be both a resource that unravels the structure of the animation “STEAMBOY” and another version of the “STEAMBOY” story to be read as a printed book. It is the first volume of a two-volume set compiling the vast number of storyboards created by Otomo himself during the ten years from planning to release.
The film “STEAMBOY,” released in theaters in 2004, is a feature-length animation conceived, written, and directed by Katsuhiro Otomo—his first such work since “AKIRA.”
At the time of the film’s release, the Young Magazine editorial department published “STEAMBOY Storyboards” as a single massive 780-page hardcover volume, which quickly became a rare item and later a premium collector’s book.
This time, it has been divided into two volumes and reissued in a larger format—the same size as the Otomo Complete Works, rather than the original A5 size. This volume includes the first half of the film (Parts A, B, and C in their entirety), plus nearly 100 pages of “rough storyboard sketches” published here for the first time. As a result, this first half alone amounts to approximately 500 pages of content.
Otomo’s storyboards are by no means rough sketches; they are extremely detailed and information-rich, complete with settings, and can be appreciated on their own as works possessing both density and quality as reading material.