Description
So, here’s the story: After spending the better part of this year painstakingly restoring the 1999 Chiho Saito Original Illustrations Collection, I decided I would make myself a calendar for the next year. After all, I worked so hard! Naturally, this took a good couple weeks of editing the images, almost all of which are significantly altered in some way to better fit the form factor of the calendar. I added a bit about each one, too! It’s now past mid-December and both my test runs had problems with the print aligning of those bits, though, so I have removed them from the calendar since at this point, some orders won’t arrive until the new year as it is. Instead, here’s a breakdown of where each image is originally from!
Cover: Feature Cover Illustration for the 1999 Chiho Saito Artwork
January: Ciao! Magazine, June 1996. “The Rose Seal” Part 1 Cover. Chiho Saito’s first full color published Utena!
February: King Records’ 1998 Revolutionary Girl Utena CD Album “Now, Engage Yourself to Me…” Jacket
March: Newtype Magazine, May 1997, Feature Poster
April: King Records’ 1997 LaserDisc “L’Apocalypse :2” Box
May: Ciao! Magazine, June 1997, Manga Installment 10 Cover
June: Ciao! Magazine, November 1996, Manga Installment 3 Cover
July: Ciao! Magazine, January 1997, Manga Installment 5 Cover
August: Newtype Magazine, May 1997, Feature Cover
September: Ciao! Magazine, August 1997, Issue Supplement Postcard (Furoku)
October: Flower Comics! 1998 “Revolutionary Girl Utena” Volume 5 Cover
November: Animedia Magazine, January 1998 Feature Cover. (Done to celebrate the completion of the TV series.)
December: Ciao! Magazine, December 1997. Issue Appendix: Christmas Enjoyment Book
Having now seen a couple prints, there are some small alignment issues they have that includes the actual calendar part–which I have no place in positioning myself. This does alleviate the worry I had that it was my fucking up, but it does mean that not everything is down to the pixel perfect I usually aim for. This will only even remotely show in the images in a couple that do involve centering, but I cannot control for it from print to print, so keep that in mind! That said, the actual print quality is quite decent, and IMO does well show-case the work both Chiho Saito and I put into these! (Mostly her, but hey!) These are large prints, also, I tried to utilize the format in a way that would leave you with some impressive prints after the fact, which is why there is no added text or design features in any but the last print, which all but needed it! The print is also a nice matte, which rules. Here’s a pic of the prints and what I mean by the alignment being a bit off sometimes, taken in too dark a room so keep in mind the prints are brighter lmao:
All that said, you may be wondering: VANNA ISN’T THIS STEALING YOU ARE JUST SLAPPING CHIHO SAITO ART ON A THINGIE HOW ARE YOU ANY BETTER THAN REDBUBBLE??? Well. 1. I digitized these images myself. It took over a year. 2. RedBubble will be full of these images, my work, soon enough. I see nothing from any of that and they sure as shit have never credited or kicked back anything to me. 3. I am pricing these at just enough mark-up to break even on most sales with maybe a dollar or two profit from others, which honestly just folds into the cost of the test prints anyway. I am explicitly avoiding making an overall profit on these. I did literally make the calendar for myself, after all, and I do agree that even with all the value-added effort I’ve put in here, it’s kinda skeevy to profit off Saito’s art.
If you want money to come our way, consider joining our Patreon! Otherwise, enjoy! I’m really proud of the work I put into this archiving project, and this is a really cool way to celebrate it with everyone! Let’s Revolutionize 2024!!!
PS. I haven’t gotten the test print of the smaller form factor, but it should inherit both the benefits and drawbacks of the larger print. The shape is a bit wider, and I processed the images with that in mind!
PPS. The sample images might have the text still on the bottom, ignore that.
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Keep track of important dates in 2024 with a calendar that reflects your style and spirit! This stylish calendar not only helps you stay organized but also works as a decorative piece with unique artwork to go with each month.
• Paper pages bound with a silver-color metal wire
• Paper weight: 8 oz/yd² (271 g/m²)
