With Ran, I think the images were more for the crew.

Vili, I thought that the works about the time of Ran were done because Kurosawa was frustrated with being unable to make the film…and that they were also made as visual aids to persuade potential producers…?

But, I did not know that the images for Dreams were also preparation for film, although, of course it makes sense.

And to answer your question, I think Kurosawa meant these just as film making aides, not as stand-alone works of art. If my memory doesn’t fail me, he said something to that effect in some interview somewhere, and commented how funny it is that there is now so much interest in his drawings, but a cursory scan of the usual books didn’t give me the source. It might be on one of the video interviews.

I like this page. What drew my attention in this new lineup was the image of the armor and helmet (armet…? ) . This image, in it’s mimesis of observed detail is a wonderful example of expressionist strokes building a believable illusion. But, really, I enjoy all of these images.
The question I have, and perhaps you can answer: are these “notes” for greater compositions (that is: film) or are they supposed to be stand-alone? It makes little difference to me personally, since I cannot undo my knowledge of the films, and this feeds into my interest in the paintings (they are mixed-media, watercolor, goauche, oil pastel? It would be good to note both size of actual work, support…that is to say; canvas, gessoed wood,etc. But, I think these are on paper and media..tell us if watercolor, colored pencil, etc.) Perhaps, Vili you can illuminiate the issue of whether or not these were ever meant to be stand-alone images.

Great artwork in there.

There are also some documentaries available online, although quality varies:
http://akirakurosawa.info/online-videos-documentaries/