When Capcom announced that new Shooting Star Rockman goods would be featured in the latest Cap Kuji lottery, the series quickly began trending on Twitter—at least in Japan. Masaya Itagaki, the author and illustrator of the official Shooting Star Rockman and Tribe manga, took notice and was instantly inspired to draw his Blue Bomber once again for the first time in several years.
"Yesterday, Shooting Star Rockman was trending on X, so I thought I’d jump on the bandwagon and draw something. But I forgot some of the finer details, so I’m currently practicing. Even with a hazy memory, it's still really cool," writes Itagaki.
And sure enough, just a day later, he found his groove:
With his fans cheering him on, Itagaki got to work on another new piece: Rockman VS Gemini Spark.
Still on his Shooting Star kick, Itagaki shared an old piece from the Tribe manga in hi-resolution. He writes, "While digging through an old hard drive, I found a color illustration from Shooting Star Rockman Force Tribe! It was based on an original setting from the manga, and I was given a lot of creative freedom back then. Looking back... I feel like I was running purely on passion. But I still really love fiery characters."
While it never reached the same level of popularity as Ryo Takamisaki's Rockman EXE manga, Itagaki's Shooting Star stories clearly still resonate with fans. It's a shame the two volumes have never been reprinted or officially translated into English. But if we're truly on the verge of a Shooting Star resurgence, perhaps the powers that be will finally consider bringing his work back to print.
Source: https://x.com/itagaki_masaya
Nice to see starforce being treated well
ReplyDeleteMe too, i used to play all three and completed them. the games artstyle inspired me as an artist, hopefully they'll make a star force legacy collection or revive star force 4.
ReplyDeleteIdk what that white Mega Man’s about, but it’s neat. Looks like Omnimon.
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