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Drown in the Clouds of Dew

Akira (1988) dir. Katsuhiro Otomo

Koji Morimoto / Ken Ishii / "Extra" Music Video / Animation / 1995 Koji Morimoto is animator who cofounded Studio 4°C in 1986. Shortly after opening his design studio he was credited as assistant to chief animator for his work on Katsuhiro Otomo's film Akira(1988) and would go on to work with Satoshi Kon on another Otomo film called Memories(1995). That same year Morimoto was tapped for the art direction role of then up and coming DJ Ken Ishii's LP Jelly Tones(1995) on R&S Records. The art direction and subsequent music video for "Extra" utilized similar sci-fi and cyberpunk visual motifs as Morimoto's previous work with Otomo. The music video for "Extra" was extremely well received and would go on to win MTV's "Best Dance Music Video of the Year" for 1996. Jelly Tones took the world by storm in the mid 90s and led to the DJ being one of the first world renowned Japanese Techno musicians. While existing in a pure Techno space Jelly Tones' sound has been characterized as a warm, futuristic, and optimistic style that captures Tokyo's atmosphere.