I wonder why...

[Shewolf of Ga]

...sombody besides Shikidouji did the illustrations for the FMP manga. I just don't like that guy's character designs. Shiki makes Sosusuke so hot I want to maul him, but the manga graphics, are just blah. I so wish she would do another art book! The $35 I spent on Colorful Wind was worth every penny, and then some.

The animator was almost as good, but Shikidouji rules in my book. Anyone agree/disagree?

[GigaBowserG]

Agreed.

I was thinking the same thing the other day...
Maybe because Shikidouji has a busy schedule and doesn't have the time to make the manga? (Busy doing what, I do not know, but still. Just my opinion.)

[darkbane]

Second agreed. I don't like the illustrations in the manga that much.

The new stuff in FMP Sigma is good tho, plus it's by the same mangaka as Beijing Opera. Very cute. But doesn't look too much like Sousuke heh.

[Jae]

...sombody besides Shikidouji did the illustrations for the FMP manga.

It was ShikiDouji's art that got me into FMP, and that will always be my favorite FMP style

But it takes different technical skills to be a mangaka- the ability to lay out pages, convey motion, keep it simple, work on a rigid schedule. AFAIK SD's only work is illustrations. There are other titles SD works for, too. Er, it'd be kinda nasty to the mangaka to say 'We're gonna have someone else do the pretty work'

Personally, I'm on the fence about Sigma. When the mangaka's style is consistent, it seems edgy and exciting (and wierdly cute!) But I'm not sure if he has to just get into the FMP groove or if I just need to get used to it ...? I think it's a he this time... anyone confirm?

[KashimArbalestAS]

I also think Shikidouji is a male. In some screenshots of a special of Full Metal Panic!: The Second Raid that aired in Japan, a member has noted that one of the people in it was Gatoh himself, and then there's this guy who's in a lot of the scenes with him, who might be Shikidouji. I think Retsu Tateo, who was the mangaka of the first Full Metal Panic! manga, should be also doing Sigma. I like her style better than the new mangaka. Sousuke especially looks strange in Sigma. Shikidouji's art is awesome, after all, it can probably be said that it's the "official" look of the Full Metal Panic! series characters, since the anime has to copy Shikidouji's look on the characters, and that they kind of keep changing how some of the characters look in the anime. Sousuke looks pretty much the same in the 3 seasons, but I have the most gripes about Kaname. The first season was so much better, and FUMOFFU was also pretty good. I guess it's just TSR's style.

[Shewolf of Ga]

I seem to remember reading an interview with Gatoh-san that stated that he himslef was surprised to learn that Shikidouji was a young woman. Perhaps it was the one in the Anime Mission film book?

[Shewolf of Ga]

Um. I just went over to boku-tachi and read the first part of Sigma. Sousuke looks like a twelve-year-old boy! And I thought Kurz was Leonard and had to resist the temptation to punch out my computer screen. The whole cast looks like they haven't eaten in a few weeks, IMO. And is the long-haired girl at the end Nami?

[KashimArbalestAS]

What the? I mean, not knowing the gender of someone you work with in order to complete a project that requires both person's efforts? This is reminding of Wraith, and Wraith turned out to be a woman. I forgot to post this in my last one, but, what other things is Shikidouji working on?

Edit: Here's the 2 people in the special I'm talking about.
http://fmp.abstratica.org/images/mags/d ... -01-02.jpg

I think the girl is supposed to be Sigma's version of the 2 brother/sister assassins. Here's a picture containing them. Who're those with purple hair? The anime's version of the assassin brothers?
http://fmp.abstratica.org/images/mags/d ... -06-02.jpg

[Circle]

The Second Raid that aired in Japan, a member has noted that one of the people in it was Gatoh himself, and then there's this guy who's in a lot of the scenes with him, who might be Shikidouji.

Edit: Here's the 2 people in the special I'm talking about.
http://fmp.abstratica.org/images/mags/d ... -01-02.jpg

The tall guy is Gatou-sensei. The shorter man is the director for TSR. I've seen the special and know enough Japanese to match pretty much all of the staff shown in that special to ANN's TSR staff list.

Shikidouji is a woman, she's the one that briefly appears near the begining of that special, sitting in a room with some dark background. Too bad I deleted that special, somebody find me that screen cap of her and I'll point out the "Shikidouji" in kanji that appears at the bottom of the screen.

[Wild Goose]

Somehow, I always thought Shiki Douji was a guy...

I know people were surprised that Retsu Taeto was a girl......