Fans of Silent Hill may recognize Masahiro Ito’s name, because he’s lent his considerable talents to every installment of the video game series since 1999. Despite the latest game, Silent Hills being prematurely cancelled in 2015 as developer Konami was in the throes of implosion, Ito’s kept himself busy by working on a personal project called Acid Bufferzone.
Released in conjunction with the Japanese model kit manufacturer Modelkasten as a series of limited resin kits and art books, Acid Bufferzone combines Ito’s horror chops with post-apocalyptic imagery straight out of the former Soviet Bloc. Given Ito’s history in video game development, it isn’t hard to imagine Acid Bufferzone as a sort of extra-creepy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. or Metro 2033, but for now it’s just resin kits and books.
Despite the official Acid Bufferzone website including plenty of backstory and detail in English, the series isn’t easily accessible to people outside of Japan: While Modelkasten kits are regularly available from the usual online suspects like Hobby Link Japan, Acid Bufferzone products are unfortunately web exclusives that require the purchaser to be located in Japan or use an proxy.
Check out the illustrations and links below for more of Ito’s unique vision.
