The Chinese illustrator Hansey and his illustrations for the PRC edition of 'The Legend of Galactic Heroes' novels

Imagine my surprise on discovering (better late than never) that a few years ago a huge controversy was caused by the original covers for the legitimate PRC edition of Tanaka Yoshiki's novels The Legend of Galactic Heroes, illustrated by the Chinese artist Hansey (see below):

 

The gist of the controversy was that fans in the PRC seem to reject them with overwhelming hatred. In the end, the covers were pulled from publication. Of course I am curious to know why the PRC fans find these covers despicable. Unfortunately, from what I glimpse online I found it rather difficult to discern any clarity of expression behind all the hate message as to why they hated the novels to the point of calling for a boycott. Much of it seems to be mired in personal attacks against the illustrator than any rational assessment of why the covers do not suit The Legend of Galactic Heroes. Worse, I seem to sense the undercurrent sentiment that 'anything made in China is rubbish'.

I personally am delighted with the air of mysteriousness of Hansey's covers - I actually prefer them to the more dull-looking but more hard-sci-fi looking covers of the Japanese edition. I learned that in the end the PRC publisher recycled the illustrations of Michihara Katsumi (道原かつみ), the Japanese shoujo artist who illustrates and adapts the story into manga format. Her artwork has a shoujo-feel which I always adore (see below), but to be honest,  I love the bold and imaginative style of Hansey that is somehow expressive of the vastness of time and the galaxy as novel covers better. Michihara's illustrations in themselves may be nice - but I find the colour coordination of the background of the novel covers rather wanting - it looks as though her drawings were cut and pasted against dull backgrounds of red, blue, yellow and what-have-you.

So, tell me, you fans of The Legend of Galactic Heroes - what do you feel about Hansey's illustrated covers? Am I the only one to think that they are wonderful? That the PRC fans do not know what they are missing out?

Comments

[jhr]

It always seems to be a bit of a waste when conventional, manga-style drawings are used for book covers or illustrations despite the absence of any need to be able to churn them out rapidly. I think Japanese light novels are the weirdest example of this; if you are going to have a handful of illustrations in a novel, why choose the most generic, economical drawing style possible instead of using more detailed, artistic illustrations. The second set of shoujo style covers isn't bad, but the first set seem much more suitable as book covers.

Just when I'm finally becoming decent at Japanese, your blog has been making me wish I knew Chinese!

[susperia1]

i don't understand, these illustrations are gorgeous! especially the first set, they have a very galactic feel to them i love the artwork and the colours used as well so i really don't know why people wouldn't consider them fit for story. i feel sorry for the illustrator as well because these pictures are amazing and for people to hate them for no good reason must be irratating (i mean c'mon these pictures are seriously a work of art!)

[charmian]

I don't understand either. They look okay.

Maybe the illustrator is just so personally unpopular for some reason?

JHR: why are they detailed? I'm at a loss to understand why you think they shouldn't be. The illustrations are a selling point! Many people buy light novels by judging a book by their cover. I know someone who reads BL novels, and sometimes says "this story was crappy, but the illustrations are wonderful!" If they are going to be illustrations, if they're going to be perfunctory and generic, it's entirely a waste, and there might as well not be any. Better that they should be the best (however you define it) illustrations possible.

BTW, I never understood why they chose a shoujo illustrator for LoGH. Not that she's not a good shoujo artist... but I never imagined that LoGH would be shoujo. 0_o I would have liked to see it with a polished seinen artstyle.

[LifeCarrier]

First post in your blog yay!

I agree wholeheartedly. I haven't read the novels so I might be missing something, but personally, I don't understand why the novels' original covers are mostly about things and places, when the story focuses on people and their relations, convictions, values, etc.

I think LOGH leaves a feeling that personality and human will shape and color the universe, something which I feel is well represented on Hansey's illustrations, and completely missing on the japanese covers.

Do you have a link to a higher res version of those pictures by any chance?

[I.R.]

Could it be less of a "what fits the mood of this story" problem and more of a "this wasn't a part of the original work published in Japan" type thing? I don't know.

I'd like to know if there are higher res scans, too. The art looks abstract, and my eyes are ... kind of straining that details that aren't really there.

[Wabisabi]

jhr:

I think manga-style drawing can be as ornate or as simple as you make them. Just because it is manga-style does not mean you can churn them out quick. Though to be fair most light novel illustrations do have that generic look that do not come off as time-consumingly ornate.

Yeah, it's a heck of an exciting time in the Chinese scene.

superia1:

It's a case of an artist being crucified by a philistine public, I am tempted to say. Only I had not expected that philistine public to be fans of The Legend of Galactic Heroes, whom (out of all fandoms) I would have expected to behave more rationally.

charmian:

I think the illustrator is too obscure to actually be personally unpopular.

About the choice of a shoujo artist to illustrate the Logh manga - from a fangirl point of view I have always thought that quite a few of Tanaka Yoshiki's works have great potential as otome games and/or shoujo romances... Logh is one, The Heroic Legend of Arislan is another... Anyway, the anime is seinen enough already, but with a shoujo-ish manga, you get to capture female fans as well, so I suspect it may have been a commercial strategy.

LifeCarrier:

Nice to meet you and looking forward to hear more from you. ^-^

I have changed the images into the highest res images I could find. I agree with your feeling that the original Chinese covers are in line with Logh's story of mastery of the universe being shaped by human wills.

I.R.:

I can understand the reverse-xenophobia you refer to. It is curious, how xenophobia and reverse-xenophobia can exist alongside and manifested in such exaggerated terms in the PRC.

The images are of higher res now, please take a look.