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Samurai Shin – The Saga Begins EP

Samurai Shin – The Saga Begins EP
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Samurai Shin – The Saga Begins EP

Executive Producer: Mikel Miles
Artwork: Sukma Agustriyana

Comic book writer and Executive producer Mikel Miles released a stellar project earlier this summer in Samurai Shin’s “The Prelude” EP. It features heavyweights like Torae and Medaphor the Great, but I was most impressed by some of the other underground artists on the project flexing their skills along the same ilk of the Samurai Champloo soundtrack series.

Samurai Shin is back with the Second EP Of 2017 “Samurai Shin – The Saga Begins” in 2017, inspired by the title “Wu-Tang – The Saga Continues”. It features the underground Emcee such as Anonymuz, Sage, the 64th Wonder, Core Demonstration & More. The EP will showcase an interview with Frank Flor & Ty Smith talking about the Hip Hop & animation on Channel 10 Podcast.

The Saga Begins” Also Means New Issue & Upcoming Short Animations Films That Will Be Based Samurai Shin Comic Series Created by Frank Flor & Ty Smith

Mikel Miles, Ivan Earl Aguilar & Harley Dela Cruz are the three creative minds behind Samurai Shin

Samurai Shin is highly influenced by anime such as Afro Samurai, Samurai Champloo, and Sword Of The Stranger.

 

The Toronto Native Samurai Shin Is Looking To Give Hip-Hop Something Different With This Hot New EP Titled “The Saga Begins”.

We Here At VMG Has The Exclusive On The Project And Had The Opportunity To Sit Down To See What’s Next For Samurai.

1. To start with, tell our readers just what is Samurai Shin?

Mikel Miles: Samurai Shin means the Samurai of Truth. This story is based on two young samurai, Amir Atsuko & Keith Masaru trying to find the enemies who destroyed their village. They are trying to find the truth about everything that happened in the village, and who actually is behind it.

2. What inspired you to make something that fused hip-hop, manga and samurais?

Mikel Miles: The inspiration came from two of my favorite anime of all time, Samurai Champloo and Afro Samurai. When I watched them for the first time, I was amazed with the fusion of hip-hop with anime. I loved how the creators combined two different art forms and made them look so cool. That is what inspired me to make Samurai Shin and people accepted and loved such a fusion.

3. With your most recent EP “The Saga Begins” is Crazy, I Really Like It… can you give us some details on how you came up with that name?

Mikel Miles: We Released Previous EP Called “Samurai Shin – Prelude EP” With Features Such As Metaphor The Great, Keem THe Cipher, Kuro Silence & More we released it with a digital comic called “samurai shin issue 1.5” based on keith masaru who is one of our characters on the samurai shin comics , So i wanted to release another EP before the year ended so i had the title “The Saga Continues” BUT! haha, WU-Tang got to the title before i did, Quickly Changed It To “The Saga Begins”.

4. Spinning off from that, how does this unique blend of ingredients work for the listener?

Ivan Earl Aguilar: Well, music has always been used by movies and animation to enhance the experience of the audience, invoke certain emotions to heighten the feelings whether it is tension, sadness, or whatever the scene is trying to portray. So, with Hip-Hop music on Anime, it gives off a different flavor that is profoundly Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop started from the underground of music and its roots are from strong emotions like rebellion, angst, violence, love, poetry and the hardships of life.

5. How did artist Ivan Earl Aguilar join Samurai Shin?

Mikel Miles: Well, I saw one of Ivan Earl Aguilar art on Facebook and then contacted him about doing a comic book. We shared some ideas from samurai movies and anime, and figured out what kind of a manga we want ours to be and came up with Samurai Shin.

6. Given Samurai Shin’s idiosyncratic identity, how does your relationship as writer and artist function?

Mikel Miles: We both try to be open to each other’s ideas and try to let the story and art evolve in a very fluid form. We don’t give each other creativity restraints. For example, if I send my ideas for the next few pages, I expect to get ideas from Ivan as well. I take and use them to give the story some more flesh and volume. It is the same with Ivan’s artwork, I throw in some ideas here and there relating to the art but I try not to hinder him from his creativity too much.

7. Who might this comic be for, exactly?

Ivan Earl Aguilar: Samurai Shin comic series is for everyone, and not only for the comic readers, who love Hip-Hop culture. We try to bring diversity into our comics, so that everyone can get something fun and valuable out from our comics.

Mikel Miles: Well, it is mostly for the teenagers because adults don’t read things like this that much.

8. What may the future hold for this diverse comic?

Ivan Earl Aguilar: I feel like there is so much opportunity for this comic to be successful, as you can see from popular culture today, Music, Fashion and Film, all of them have been interlaced with Hip-Hop’s culture. It was inevitable that the culture would also influence the comic industry as well as animation. I could only see brighter things for the comics since it would bring more audience, familiar or not to the Hip-Hop culture and see how diverse and creative it is.

9. I Notice There a unique Character from afro samurai that looks like kuma/jinno any idea we see more of him?

Mikel Miles: The character is inspired by “Kuma/Jinno” from Afro Samurai. His name is “Mekura Shin”, but, he is much more different than Kuma/Jinno. You will see his growth in the upcoming chapters.

10. What’s the most rewarding thing when bringing this comic to life?

Mikel Miles: It is rewarding seeing that we are all working together on this project and everyone is enjoying and supporting it so, a huge thank you to everyone!

11. Any Last Remarks?

Mikel Miles: I like give a Shout out Ty Smith,Sukma Agustriyana and Frank Flor For Helping with The Art & Animatin, Hm Also Harley Dela Cruz & Ivan Earl Aguilar With The Illustrations of the manga series.

12.Where can your fans & supporters find you online? Via Twitter, Facebook, etc.?

Mikel Miles: They Can Support us

Twitter: http://twitter.com/sshincomics
Facebook: http://facebook.com/samuraishin1
Instagram: http://instagram.com/samuraishin
Website: http://samuraishincomics.wordpress.com

 

 -END-

VMG Reviews

8.5

Toronto's Native Is Looking To Shock The World With His Highly Anticipated EP Called "The Saga Begins". Instantly We Were Hooked With The Trailer Alone, Then Listened To The EP And Was Pleased To Hear Good And Creative Music From Samurai Shin. The 6 Track EP Produced By Mikel Miles Has A Great Combination Of Creative Production And Clever Wordplay. Being From Toronto Where Artist Like Tory Lanez, Drake Are Considered The Trend, The Young Guy Shin Is Making His Own Noise. I Would Recommend That You Take A Listen To This EP, And Also Watch The Trailer As The Trailer Prepares You For The EP.

Replay Value9.0
Production8.5
Originality9.0
Wordplay8.0
Content8.0
Reader Rating: ( 1 vote ) 8.3

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