http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/jrc.html
I also wrote the Projects & Articles page, so check it out too:
http://mystara.thorf.co.uk/projects.html
I just wrote an article about the Japanese version of the Rules Cyclopedia, which I got today. Have a look, it's got photos of the books and some of their illustrations!
Interesting. The books seem to have a much larger amount of illustrations than we usually get. And they're quite nice as well.
I could have never imagined they had this liberty of adaptation in terms of product style and artwork, but it seems to me it's perfect for Japan! I LOVE the Japanese version of the RC more than the original actually (but it's just me, you see..) It seems it captures better the "amazing and amusing" style of the old D&D games.
Thanks again, it's really enlightening!
I had previously noticed (and saved to my HD), the japanese covers of Classic D&D mags from the Acaenum, and I like seeing more. I suppose these should be considered official Mystara illustrations?
I wish I could get my hands on a copy myself, or even a pdf, just to get an even closer look at the illustrations, but thanks for providing what you have.
I read from your article, that you suggest that the choice of manga style is chosen to make the illustrations seem more familiar to the readers. Could it not also be that such artists can be found at a lower price in Japan?
Oh, and about those "replay" books. You know that you will have to track down and translate all of those for us now, dont you?
There is a world of Mystara products out there that we had no idea existed!
Håvard
Somehow this is exactely how I imagined a Japaneese version of D&D would look like :D
I never cared much for manga style cartoons myself (all characters look too alike for my taste) but it is interesting to see.
Particularly the star map from the Known World. Does it correspond to the Elvish star map in CM7 - The Tree of Life? And the star signs and zodiac from the Trail Maps?
:-) Jesper
Thanks Thorf!
Out of curiousity, when were the books published?
Liked the picture of the "merman"! :D
Yeah, I laughed at that caption too. :D
Hugin, the books were published in 1994. It looks as if the Monsters part may have come out first in July, with the other two following in August, although I could be reading it wrong.
I have some good news - last night I discovered a whole slew of Japanese D&D products on Yahoo Auctions, including two of the ACJ series, which was a Japan only series of accessories. (See the TSR Archive: Japanese for the titles and a look at the covers. If I can manage to get signed up to Yahoo Auctions before the auctions end, I will definitely try to get them.
If I can manage to get signed up to Yahoo Auctions before the auctions end, I will definitely try to get them.
BTW, I see that the later B modules (B10 to B12) had graphics in the style of the japanese RC.
BTW, I see that the later B modules (B10 to B12) had graphics in the style of the japanese RC.
Well, thanks to the help of a friend, I just won http://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/84507380?]an auction on Yahoo Auctions!
It includes the three volumes of the Rules Cyclopedia (again), but also all five Mystara Replay books, and the three Scenario books, which are the Japanese versions of B10 to B12. :D The last book in the set is a book called "Understanding D&D".
At 5,360 yen, that comes to quite a lot less than the original combined price of about 10,000 yen! 5,360 yen is about £27, or US$50 (?).
If all goes well, I should have this by the end of the week.
The other good news is that last month we bought a new phone/fax/copier/scanner/printer thingy. I haven't got it connected to the computer yet, but I'm hoping to get it working tomorrow. That means that I should be able to get better quality images of all the illustrations, and do reports on the other books too.
And since I got such great feedback from my first article, I might well decide to scan all of the illustrations for you. (But don't expect too much, because there aren't that many altogether...)
Check out this link for GAZ4 which is being auctioned right now. Look at the counters and the map. See how the map is much smaller than the English version maps? And how the counters have a big white border not present on the English counters?
I'm going to have to buy one of these things, but at 5000 yen +, they're rather expensive.
It seems that a great deal of the Japanese releases were dojinshi works, but I have yet to find a good source for clarification of this.
It seems that there were two companies which put out D&D stuff: Shinwa, which did the BECM sets, quite a lot of modules, most of the AC series, and a Japan-only ACJ accessory series - all in the style we know so well; and Media Works, which did the Rules Cyclopedia, B10, B11, B12, the Mystara Replay series, the Penhaligon series in five volumes, a "Master Screen", as well as some AD&D stuff - all in the manga style I introduced on my web page.
I also know that there were fan translations going on. And I read on a Japanese message board that a doujinshi circle was threatened by lawyers from the aforementioned Shinwa. One poster asked whether the circle being given an 800,000 yen fine was an urban legend, or if it was true. Whatever the truth was, it seems certain that the doujinshi producers were shut down.
I am still unclear as to whether Shinwa released any official Japanese Gazetteers, though - or which they released. From what I can see, they may have released at least GAZ1 through GAZ5.
Edit: All sources are pointing to official releases only of GAZ1, GAZ2 and GAZ5. Moreover, the first two came out in 1988, soon after the original English versions, while GAZ5 came out years later in 1992, and from what I can see, it may have been the last product from Shinwa. According to a fan translation site I stumbled across, the official translation of GAZ5 was especially bad.
Any details on what the ACJ series were? And were they related to Mystara?
I'll have more details when I can get my hands on some of them, but you can see their covers at least at the TSR Archive. The titles are:
- D&D Scenario Design Set
- D&D Beginner's Guide
- D&D Spell Cards I
- D&D Spell Cards II
- D&D Visual Guide
- D&D Rescue Guide
- D&D Spell Cards III
- D&D Spell Cards IV
- Player Character Sub Sheets
- D&D Spell Cards V
- D&D Spell Cards VI
- D&D NPC Cards
- D&D Monster Assortment
So it seems likely that they are entirely unrelated to Mystara.
And since I got such great feedback from my first article, I might well decide to scan all of the illustrations for you. (But don't expect too much, because there aren't that many altogether...)
Wow, thanks!