SUSHIO is arguably best known for their character design and animation work on classic anime like Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill. In fact, they’re one of the biggest names associated with the Studio TRIGGER family. However, they do a lot of freelance and music-based illustrations as well. This new collection, titled ‘ALTERNATiVE SiDE of SUSHiO’, collects a whopping 304 pages of illustration he’s made over the years based on the BiS/BiSH extended idol family which also includes groups like Gang Parade. Whether you’re in it for the Anti-Idol culture or really appreciate SUSHIO’s illustrative talents, you’re not going to want to miss this collection when it drops on October 11.
The above drawing is giving me some serious Patlabor vibes with its vibrant orange vest. Whether that was intentional by SUSHIO or just a happy coincidence, who knows. What I can say is that SUSHIO’s known for sharp designs and emotive facial expression. You can see plenty of both in the image above. Of course, these drawings are all, or at least the most part, based on real people. He has drawn these people at least 304 times so it’s safe to say he has their cartoon likenesses down perfectly.
While I love classic BiS, I wasn’t too into BiSH until their 2019 album ‘CARROTS AND STiCKS’ dropped. I was glad the group leaned more towards their BiS flavored origins instead of trying to come across as a more accessible version of the revolutionary anti-idol group. ‘ALTERNATiVE SiDE of SUSHiO’ will retail for 7,000 yen which is no small chunk of change for a book, but I really may have to bite the bullet and buy this one myself. Whether he’s simply illustrating or creating actual animation, SUSHIO’s one of the best and I think this would be a unique piece, not based on anime illustration, to be part of anyone’s collection.
‘ALTERNATiVE SiDE of SUSHiO’ comes out October 11.