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A pretty girl is depicted in front of yellow flowers blooming against a deep blue green backdrop.
Julius, dressed as a man, attends the music school affiliated with the Church of Saint Sebastian. This portrait exudes both strength and fragility, as she lives with a secret that she cannot reveal.
Ikeda particularly favors sharp collars, but here, it appears as if the collar might pierce Julius' slender left wrist. This sharpness is contrasted against the softness of the black lace edging and the rich fabric.
Where does this complex depiction of Julius' internal experiences originate?
If you cover the left half of her face, she appears to be smiling with her eyes.
But if you cover the right half, she appears lonely and angry.
These two expressions blend into a single illustration.
What has happened in the past? What is happening now? What is about to happen?
The left hand seems to be grasping something, and we feel as if she is asking us about something important. It is indeed a mysterious picture.
*The work is made up of a set of 2prints
*Signature on prints (handwritten)
In 1967, Ikeda made her debut with Bara Yashiki no Shôjo while she was a student at Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba University). In 1972, her Margaret series The Rose of Versailles became a bestseller. In 1980, she won the Japan Cartoonists Association Award of Excellence for The Window of Orpheus. While in her forties, she decided to pursue a career in music, and in 1995, she enrolled in the Vocal Department of the Tokyo College of Music. Since graduating, she has been performing as a soprano singer and has appeared in numerous opera productions. She received France's Legion of Honour in 2009.
Riyoko Ikeda refers to The Rose of Versailles as her most representative work, and to The Window of Orpheus as her life's work. Serialization of The Window of Orpheus began in Weekly Margaret in January 1975. The series was moved to the magazine Monthly Seventeen starting with Part 2. The series lasted for a total of about seven years until Part 4 concluded in 1981. It is a long story spanning 18 Comics volumes. In 1980, she received the 9th Japan Cartoonists Association Excellence Award. In 1983, it was adapted for the theater as a Takarazuka production.
Never-before-seen color and detail
A collection featuring realistic colors that cannot be produced with the offset printing process used for comics and manga magazines. Available in two sizes, A2 (420 mm x 594 mm) and A1 (594 mm x 841 mm). This collection is printed on the 100% cotton velvet fine art paper used in museum collections.
At Shueisha, we have been digitally archiving manga since 2007. We initially captured color originals with the EverSmart Supreme II high-precision scanner. Since 2015, we have been using the Phase One IQ180 high-resolution digital camera. As of 2020, we are using the iXG100MP model from Phase One's Cultural Heritage series. We are able to capture and save ranges of color that cannot be reproduced by commercial printing, and we can even capture the texture of the paper that the artist used.
For the Real Color Collection label, we send these captured and adjusted images to a printer that has undergone color management. The pigmented inks used in Epson inkjet printers are light-resistant and retain their original color even in the kind of light conditions that would cause dye color inks used on the originals to fade.
Not only do the ranges of color exceed those produced by the offset printing methods used for comic covers, but we are also able to achieve levels of light resistance and durability that even exceed those of the original pictures drawn on paper.
A set of original size prints and enlarged original prints
The collection, based on works drawn on paper, contains a set of two types of prints, one in the original size (often B4) drawn by the artist, and another enlarged to A2–A1 size. One can witness the precision that went into the original size prints. The blown-up prints allow one to feel the impact of the work and notice details that only become apparent when the artwork is enlarged.
The original box includes a blockchain-linked sales certificate
All works are registered to Startrail PORT, NFT management service. Works include a blockchain-linked sales certificate with an affixed NFC tag sticker (letterpress printed by Kazui Press). You can view the information recorded on the NFT by scanning the NFC tag sticker with a smartphone. We will send you your product in an original Shueisha Manga-Art Heritage box.
Work Size A2 (420 mm x 594 mm) or A1 (594 mm x 841 mm)
Paper used Velvet fine art paper
Printing Method Archival Inkjet Print
Package Contents
Main product
Blockchain-linked sales certificate (letterpress printed by Kazui Press, linked with NFC tag sticker)
Matte paper
Special paper to absorb any harmful substances
Instruction manual
Storage case (Foil stamped interior/exterior)
