Shirow Miwa

Manga

 
Japanese mangaka, Shirow Miwa (Miwa Shirow,  三輪士郎 ) has enjoyed a working relationship with popular regular Manga publication, Ultra Jump.  His work first appeared in Ultra Jump in 1999 with his debut manga Black Mind, a collaborative work with Darai Kusanagi.   
 
Miwa is best known for his solo title, DOGS: BULLETS & CARNAGE.  The series began under the name DOGS and was released between 2000 to 2001.  Initially it introduced readers to the four main protagonists of the story, and was collected in a single tankōbon (like a miniature trade paperback).    It was a few years before work on DOGS was resumed.  In the meantime, Miwa continued to work with contributions to magazines, tribute books and Monthly Shō nen Gangan for the video game producer Square Enix.   
 
A new DOGS story was created for an Ultra Jump anthology.  Featuring deadly under-aged twin assassins who had previously been support characters, DOGS: HARDCORE TWINS proved that there was still interest in the DOGS world.  Therefore, a follow-up on-going series was announced.  DOGS: BULLETS & CARNAGE began publication in 2005.  Popularity for the series continued to rise, which lead to it being translated into French, English & other languages.  Upon it's release in America, the original volume was renamed DOGS: PRELUDE, while DOGS: HARDCORE TWINS was included in DOGS BULLETS & CARNAGE Volume 2.
  
 

Doujinshi

Meanwhile, Miwa had continued to self-publish his own work.  Under the Circle (like a studio group) name 'mmm Gee', he regularly produced art work & short stories for DOGS.  This was usually mixed in with pin-ups and covers he had produced for others, as well as his own fan-art of video games & anime.  This doujinshi Circle also produced an unofficial art book for Dogs, featuring work from dozens of Miwa's colleagues & friends from other popular manga. 
  
 

Music

 
Shirow Miwa unashamedly loves rock music from Europe & America.  Two of his most popular characters have been named after the rock bands Rammstein & Nine Inch Nails.   
 
His love for music has lead to a collaboration with 'ryo' on the track Love Is War.  While ryo provided the music and vocal track using the popular Japanese music package, VOCALOID2, Miwa drew images of the VOCALOID character Hatsune Miku which were turned into a PV (promotional video) for the track.