Hattori Mitsuru's Shitagi-Biyori falls somewhere between a picture book and an art book. Its small size and narrative would make you think picture book. But for the sheer amount of new art work by the artist, it's definitely an art book.

The book itself is about the height of an average manga volume, but unlike manga, it's as wide as it is tall, making it a perfect square.

A small line of text (sometimes very small, as you can see in the picture above) accompanies each image, expressing the idea or the feeling of the girl in the picture. But not understanding it certainly doesn't detract from the art work.

The art work theme if you haven't guessed it, is girls wearing their underwear outside, in what would be considered very public places. Lingerie, boxers, slips, camisoles, garters---you name it, it's in there. Amazingly, even though it's all about underwear, there isn't any nudity in the art book.

You might recognize Mitsuru Hattori's art style from Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho---a series where the girls spent the better part of their day in bathing suits. Well, it's pretty much the same thing in this book except with underwear.

The strongest point in Hattori Mitsuru's illustrations is the colors, which are full of soft yet vivid gradient transitions, in particular in the hair. Some of the art works in the book are hardly more than colored sketches, with rough outlines. But the majority are fully finished illustrations, if you're accustomed with the artist's style.

With 55 different illustrations of girls in underwear, along with a full color 7-page comic it's quite a steal at the cover price of ¥1300. Hattori Mitsuru's girls are unique in style, and really stand out in a world of increasingly common moe designs. So if you're up for a change, do give this book a try!