Tag Archives: Goro Shigeno (茂野吾郎)

“Go Time” Goro Shigeno

【プロレスMAJOR】「 GO TIME」茂野吾郎
PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR: ”GO TIME” GORO SHIGENO

ハッピーバースデー、茂野吾郎!(11月5日)
Happy birthday, Goro Shigeno!

私はあなたがそれを好き願っています。 あなたのフィードバックは非常に高く評価されています。
I hope you will like it. I would appreciate your feedback for this drawing.

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Additional Notes:

It’s that time of the year again. It’s November 5, which means it’s the fictional birthday of Goro Shigeno, the main character of the baseball anime/manga series MAJOR. And thus I continue my personal tradition that started since 2014.

For this piece, I decided to go for a baseball theme. One main reason for this is that the past couple of years saw the rise to baseball superstardom of Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani, who has been frequently compared to the original Goro Shigeno. As such, I also wanted my piece to be a nod to the man often called as the real-life Goro.

As part of my nod to Ohtani, I decided to use colors often associated with his current Major League Baseball (MLB) team, the Los Angeles Angels. As such, I put aside the green and white that I often used for Goro, and brought in red, white, navy blue, and grey. The nickname I used for Goro in this piece is “Go Time”, which is a nod to Ohtani’s nickname “Shotime”.

The baseball theme was also inspired by the planned (but eventually cancelled) pro-wrestling event of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Yokohama Stadium, which seems to be the place where the Yokohama Ocean Stadium in MAJOR was based on. I conceptualized Goro being in a wrestling match in the middle of the Yokohama Stadium, thus the background. If ever I get enough time and energy for it, I may expand this further into drawing the match itself.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece. Happy birthday, Goro!

Alternative Versions

‘The Major Champion’, Goro Shigeno!!

「プロレスMAJOR」: ザ・メジャー・チャンピオン、茂野吾郎!!(2020)
PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR: THE MAJOR CHAMPION, GORO SHIGENO!! (2020)

アナウンサー: 赤コーナー、180cm、83kg、メジャーチャンピオン、茂野 吾郎!!
Announcer: Red Corner, 180 centimeters, 83 kilograms, The Major Champion, Goro Shigeno!!

ハッピーバースデー、茂野吾郎! (11月5日)
Happy birthday, Goro Shigeno!

私はあなたがそれを好き願っています。 あなたのフィードバックは非常に高く評価されています。
I hope you will like it. I would appreciate your feedback for this drawing.

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Additional Notes:

Every year since 2014, I’ve made it a point to commemorate Goro Shigeno’s fictional birthday on November 5 by turning one of my favorite anime/manga characters into a professional wrestler. For this year, I decided to try something I’ve always wanted to draw: streamers.

In many Japanese pro-wrestling promotions, a pro-wrestler is usually introduced in their match as they are standing on their assigned corner. Once their name is introduced, audiences throw streamers towards the pro-wrestler, which is honestly a beautiful sight to see. This moment is what I aimed to capture in this piece. That’s why I also added what I imagine the ring announcer would say before the streamers are launched in the air.

The background was based on the current ring and arena design for Pro-Wrestling NOAH. I’ve always modeled the Pro-Wrestling MAJOR universe on Pro-Wrestling NOAH, so even if the mat is no longer green, I still continued to take some cues from it.

For this piece, I opted not to draw Goro Shigeno with a championship belt. That doesn’t necessarily I’ve “taken away” the belt from him; I simply didn’t want to draw the championship belt once again in favor of the streamers. Besides, by the time the ring introductions are made, the champion would have already given their belt to the staff or the championship committee.

I know that I’ve published this piece quite late already, since Goro’s fictional birthday has already passed by the time I’m posting this. But I guess it isn’t too late to celebrate it. (Also, I am monitoring a highly significant event in the global community, which you probably know at this point.)

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece. Happy birthday, Goro.

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Alternative versions

 

Goro Shigeno, Pro Wrestling Champion (2019)

「プロレスMAJOR」: 茂野吾郎、プロレス王者 (2019)
PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR: GORO SHIGENO, PRO-WRESTLING CHAMPION (2019)

ハッピーバースデー、茂野吾郎! (11月5日)
Happy birthday, Goro Shigeno!

私はあなたがそれを好き願っています。 あなたのフィードバックは非常に高く評価されています。
I hope you will like it. I would appreciate your feedback for this drawing.

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Extra Notes:

November 5 is pretty much a special day for me. This day is marked as the fictional birthday of MAJOR protagonist Goro Shigeno, who has been one of my favorite characters to draw. And ever since 2014, I’ve made it a personal tradition to draw a portrait of him as a wrestler on this day. This year is no exception.

For this year, I opted to give it a much different feel, to represent the shift that has taken place over the last few months. As some of you may know, I originally conceptualized Pro-Wrestling MAJOR (my alternative pro-wrestling universe for MAJOR) from the Japanese pro-wrestling promotion Pro-Wrestling NOAH. As such, my previous works have significantly emphasized the use of the color green.

This year, though, Pro-Wrestling NOAH had a huge makeover in its logo, ring mat, vibe, and (most recently) its championship belt. As such, I opted to depict Pro-Wrestling MAJOR in a similar way.

I also experimented with the eyes for Goro in this piece. In the official art for MAJOR, Goro is sometimes depicted with eyes that show an aura of confidence. I decided to go ahead and try it out myself. After all, I’ve made him a champion for quite a while already, so I think it makes sense for him to display it prominently.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.

Happy birthday Goro!!

———-

Alternative versions

Goro Shigeno, Pro-Wrestling Champion

「プロレスMAJOR」: 茂野吾郎、プロレス王者
PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR: GORO SHIGENO, PRO-WRESTLING CHAMPION

ハッピーバースデー、茂野吾郎! (11月5日)
Happy birthday, Goro Shigeno!

私はあなたがそれを好き願っています。 あなたのフィードバックは非常に高く評価されています。
I hope you will like it. I would appreciate your feedback for this drawing.

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

==========

Extra Notes:

It feels like yesterday when I first decided to draw Goro Shigeno as a pro-wrestler for his fictional birthday, November 5. And yet here we are, five years later, commemorating the occasion once again. And for the 5th year, I’ve decided to make it more special than ever. If Goro became a champion last year, this year he gets to bask further in his championship reign.

This piece is by far the one I gave the most effort. Sketching began on September. After some revisions, inking then followed less than two months after. Then, coloring was made.

The biggest shift, however, is the shading. Ever since I started making wrestling illustrations, I’ve been very averse with shading, since I’m not too sure if I can ever get it right. But for Goro’s birthday, I decided to give it a shot. To be honest, I’m pleasantly surprised with how it came out.

The background is mainly inspired by the vibe of the arenas of Pro-Wrestling NOAH. After all, Pro-Wrestling MAJOR was originally conceptualized as a promotion with shades of NOAH.

The belt was drawn mainly by hand. Thanks to a super fine drawing pen and onion skin paper, I’ve managed to produce a belt that just looks far superior to all the other belts I’ve ever drawn before.

I also decided to add new pro-wrestling gear for Goro, inspired from his Mifune Dolphins uniform. Prior to his Misawa-inspired gear, the blue and red scheme was how I originally conceptualized Goro to be as a wrestler. I’m glad that I finally got a chance to turn that idea into an actual artwork.

I also want to give a special credit to the reigning GHC Heavyweight Champion Takashi Sugiura. Goro the champion was largely inspired by Sugiura and his championship. At 48 years old, Sugiura looks really good as the top man of the company, and the body mass fit perfectly with Goro. I do hope to release a few more Sugiura-inspired wrestling art featuring Goro.

This is by far my favorite illustration in Manga Pro-Wrestling. I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed making it.

Happy birthday Goro!!

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Alternative versions

Goro vs. Mayumura (STF)

【 プロレスMAJOR 】茂野吾郎vs眉村健 – STF
[PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR] GORO SHIGENO VS. KEN MAYUMURA (STF)

プロレス技: STF (ステップオーバー・トーホールド・ウィズ・フェイスロック)
Pro-Wrestling Technique: STF (Stepover Toehold with Facelock)

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Extra Notes

One pro-wrestling illustration series that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time is Goro Shigeno vs. Ken Mayumura. I’ve really enjoyed the tense baseball rivalry that these two had in MAJOR, so I really wanted to depict it in a pro-wrestling setting. And though that series has not really materialized yet, consider this as a little teaser.

This isn’t the first time I’ve drawn Goro and Mayumura wrestling each other. In the previous piece I made, Mayumura was dominating Goro with a crossface (which I referred to as the Nagata Lock II). As such, I decided to let Goro get his revenge here by locking Mayumura up with the STF.

I opted with the STF for this piece mainly because it’s set in my mind that this would be one of Goro’s finishing moves. After all, I did conceptualize Goro as a John Cena-like character in the alternate universe. I also wanted to improve from my previous attempts to draw the STF, so I hope this one looked much better than the other attempts.

I’m not sure if the Goro vs. Mayumura pro-wrestling series would ever materialize. But I’m still hoping it will, and that I would be able to give out my very best in every piece.

I hope you enjoy this piece.

Goro vs. Toshi – Tiger Suplex ’85

【 プロレスMAJOR 】茂野吾郎VS佐藤寿也 – タイガースープレックス’85
[PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR] GORO SHIGENO VS. TOSHIYA SATO – TIGER SUPLEX ’85

プロレス技: タイガースープレックス’85
Pro-Wrestling Technique: Tiger Suplex ’85

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Extra Notes

Major 2nd, the sequel to the anime series Major, is finally on air in Japan. To commemorate the return of Major (albeit in a different form), I decided to use this time to re-introduce another one of my favorite drawings from 2017’s Manga Pro-Wrestling: Goro vs. Toshi. And that is the Tiger Suplex ’85.

This was another piece that was somewhat “buried” in the Goro vs. Toshi compilation series.  This is a rare move usually associated with its innovator Mitsuharu Misawa. Because it’s rare, you also don’t get too see many pictrues of it. I’m not even sure if a drawing of this wrestling move even existed before. Because of the positive reaction that this illustration generated, I decided to formally give it a single release.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece.

Goro vs. Toshi – Half-Nelson Suplex

【 プロレスMAJOR 】茂野吾郎VS佐藤寿也 – ハーフネルソンスープレックス
[PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR] GORO SHIGENO VS. TOSHIYA SATO – HALF NELSON SUPLEX

プロレス技: ハーフネルソンスープレックス
Pro-Wrestling Technique: Half-Nelson Suplex

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Extra Notes

Major 2nd, the sequel to the anime series Major, is finally on air in Japan. To commemorate the return of Major (albeit in a different form), I decided to use this time to re-introduce one of my favorite drawings from 2017’s Manga Pro-Wrestling: Goro vs. Toshi. And that is the Half-Nelson Suplex.

This piece ended up being somewhat “buried” in the compilation of the Goro vs. Toshi series, which I thought was a shame because this is one of the more unique suplexes in pro-wrestling. This was even popular back in the 2000s, when Pro-Wrestling NOAH used it as one of his signature moves. Plus, it’s actually hard to find many pictures of this move, let alone a drawing. As such, I decided it should get its own single release.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this piece.

Manga Pro-Wrestling: Have a Slammin’ 2018!

MANGA PRO-WRESTLING: HAVE A SLAMMIN’ 2018!
【漫画プロレス】スラミング2018!

Manga Pro-Wrestling wishes you a slammin’ 2018. 💪 💪 💪

🎆Happy New Year!!🎆
🎆あけましておめでとう!!🎆
🎆Feliz Año Nuevo🎆
🎆Feliz Ano Novo🎆

プロレス技: エメラルドフロウジョン
Pro-Wrestling Technique: Emerald Flowsion

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

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Extra Notes:

It’s the year 2018 already, so I’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year. And what better way to do that than to release a fan art on the first day of the year.

This piece started out as a sketch for the Goro vs. Toshi illustration series that was eventually scrapped in the final release. After some Twitter discussion about drawing Goro doing the Emerald Flowsion, I decided to work on that sketch and release it for the new year. In the end, I liked how good it turned to be.

I hope you enjoy this piece. And may all of you have a slammin’ 2018!

Alternative versions

Goro Shigeno, Pro-Wrestling Champion

「プロレスMAJOR」: 茂野吾郎、プロレス王者
PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR: GORO SHIGENO, PRO-WRESTLING CHAMPION

ハッピーバースデー、茂野吾郎! (11月5日)
Happy birthday, Goro Shigeno!

私はあなたがそれを好き願っています。 あなたのフィードバックは非常に高く評価されています。
I hope you will like it. I would appreciate your feedback for this drawing.

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

【 プロレスMAJOR 】茂野吾郎VS佐藤寿也
[PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR] GORO SHIGENO VS. TOSHIYA SATO

Issue # 4: Goro vs. Toshi


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Extra Notes:

It’s November 5 once again, and that means it’s Goro Shigeno’s fictional birthday. And for the fourth year in a row, I get to turn him into a pro-wrestler for his birthday.

This year, it’s extra special because I’ve finally concluded my long-planned Goro vs. Toshi project. And as you can see in that pro-wrestling illustration series, Goro walked away as the proud champion .

I’ve always wanted to draw Goro Shigeno as a pro-wrestler. He’s got the looks, the athleticism, and the drive that would fit well if he embarks on a pro-wrestling career. It’s great to see that throughout the past years, I’ve managed to turn him from the baseball legend in the anime world to a pro-wrestling champion in my alternative pro-wrestling universe. And it’s also cool to see his design morph from being a Mitsuharu Misawa cosplay design to one that could be identified as unique to him.

If you were wondering, by the way, GMC in the picture refers to “Global Major Crown”. This was based on the real-life GHC (Global Honored Crown) Championship.

Now do I plan on drawing him again? Yes, I do. It’s all about finding the right time at this point, though.

Anyway, I hope you were able to enjoy this piece.D

Issue # 4: Goro vs. Toshi

Click here to view Issue # 4

Issue # 4 – Goro vs. Toshi (Click the image to view the entire series.)

【 プロレスMAJOR 】茂野吾郎VS佐藤寿也 (最終版)
[PRO-WRESTLING MAJOR] GORO SHIGENO VS. TOSHIYA SATO (FINAL EDITION)

これは友情の戦いです。茂野吾郎VS佐藤寿也。だれが夢の舞台に上がれますか?
It’s the great battle of friendship. Goro Shigeno versus Toshiya Sato. Who will rush up to the stage of dreams?

漫画: MAJOR (メジャー)
Manga/Anime: MAJOR

Click here to view Issue # 4