nattoli.net Blog: Nattoli's blog

Nilitsu's About 18 Songs 2

Natalie — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:56:46 -0500

Nilitsu's About 18 Songs 2 captures girls with headphones in a variety of surreal scenes and fan art illustrations. Every girl is in some way involved with music, be it through listening or playing it, so this short doujinshi has an easy to follow theme overall.

About 18 Songs 2 is full color, B5-sized and 20-pages, although not every page features an illustration. Some pages feature the sketches and comments for other illustrations, while others are graphic text and messages from the artist.

Nilitsu has a really distinct style, one that can be especially recognized in the faces which have an almost alien-like quality to them. Though Nilitsu's art work is still rare to find in commercial collections, there was an illustration from the artist in K-ON! Super Illustrations Vol. 1. Interestingly, there are two more K-ON! illustrations in About 18 Songs 2, but they're not from the art book ^^; Guess it's just a favorite subject (Ritsu especially!)

All in all, there are 14 illustrations About 18 Songs 2, which isn't half bad for a doujinshi. If you like the style, it's definitely one to get into! As for the site, I'm sure a lot of you know it's easier to just be a consumer, especially when it comes to hobbies that don't ever get mentioned in your day-to-day life. And yeah, I fall into that zone sometimes and just need to kick start myself out of it. I'll be going through things I've already taken photos of for a while before I attempt to even touch the pile of stuff I've accumulated in the last few months, so I will be out of date, but still in a lot of cases, it should be unfamiliar material ^^;

Title: About 18 Songs 2
タイトル: About 18 Songs 2
Pages: 20 (including covers)
Release date: 02/20/2011
Buy: eBay

Miki Miyashita's Raisonne IV

Natalie — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 15:24:46 -0500

Miki Miyashita's Raisonne IV was a hard cover sequel to Raisonne III with new illustrations and a larger B5-sized format. Raisonne IV already really showcases how Miki Miyashita's style has grown, with better coloring and more proportional character designs. There's a mix of fan art and original works in the art book as well, ranging from Vocaloid to Code Geass.

Raisonne IV is an impressive 128-pages and all color. Physically, it's more what you would expect from an art book than a doujinshi, with a very professional hard cover finishing. There are no page numbers or sections, it's really just page after page of illustrations. Most of the works are full to page, but there are also some that have borders on all sides.

The two page spread illustrations in the collection do suffer a bit, as there isn't any overlap and the binding is quite tight, making for images that are cut off in the center. On the bright side though, the majority of illustrations do get their own page.

There are eight pages of Code Geass fan art illustrations that are really well done, but many also include some degree of nudity. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann gets two pages, with Yoko and Nia. Also featured are characters from Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Gundam 00, and Mahou Sensei Negima.

Hatsune Miku and Kagamine Rin from the Vocaloid franchise are featured on about 12 pages through out the art book, though the majority of the illustrations are at the end. All in all, Raisonne IV is a really nice art book, and a big improvement from Raisonne III. Though it was only released for Comiket 76 (and Miki Miyashita hasn't had an art book since), you can still find it pretty consistently on sites that sell used art books!

Title: Raisonne IV
タイトル: Raisonne IV
Pages: 128
Release date: 08/15/2009
Buy: eBay

Miyu's Strawberry Waltz Illustrations

Natalie — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 10:27:37 -0400

Miyu's Strawberry Waltz is a lovely but brief collection of her original characters in frilly dresses, trimmed in lace and framed by flowers. Though the majority of the illustrations are monochrome, the color portion of Strawberry Waltz definitely makes it worth a look!

Strawberry Waltz is B5-sized and 28-pages including the covers, with eight illustration pages in color and the rest monochrome. The covers have a shimmering finish, and the cover illustration is featured again inside, with a less cropped version. Even though this collection is from a few years back, Miyu's attention to detail and colorful palette are still present (and honestly, in some cases better than in her more recent works).

The monochrome illustrations for the most part are originally black and white and not just gray-scaled color illustrations, which makes quite a difference. The screen tones, shading and lacy details are all adapted with a manga-esque quality that really showcases how comfortable Miyu is working with monochrome as well as color. Overall Strawberry Waltz is a nice collection that isn't weighed down by its monochrome section, though one can't help but want to see a little more color from Miyu ^^

Title: Strawberry Waltz
タイトル: 苺のワルツ
Pages: 28 (including covers)
Release date: 12/31/2009
Buy: eBay, Toranoana

CARNELIAN's Benigyokuzui Vol. 30

Natalie — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 19:11:40 -0400

CARNELIAN's Benigyokuzui Vol. 30 is filled with all new illustrations and pays tribute to several recent anime series, including ones that are guy-centric. Released for Comiket 80, it includes fan arts from Blue Exorcist, Tiger & Bunny, No.6, [C] - Control, Mawaru Penguindrum and several more.

Benigyokuzui Vol. 30 is B5-sized and 28-pages including the covers. Msyu from [C] - Control graces the cover and first page, although the first page illustration is a color-isolated version of the cover. Aside from the first one though, all of the other finished illustrations in Benigyokuzui Vol. 30 are two-page spreads. Pictured above are fan arts of The World God Only Knows and Kamisama Dolls.

There are a lot more illustrations of male characters in Benigyokuzui Vol. 30, like Nezumi and Sion from No.6 as well as Kotetsu T. Kaburagi and Barnaby Brooks Jr. from Tiger & Bunny. Not pictured, but also in here are the boys from Uta no Prince-sama - Maji Love 1000%.

The final two-page spread is of Himari from Mawaru-Penguindrum, which is really well done. Benigyokuzui Vol. 30 was certainly more appealing than CARNELIAN's other summer release, Benigyokuzui Taiwan Version 02, in large part because there were so many new illustrations (that were more relevant to my interests ^^;). It's one of the better Benigyokuzui volumes, and I'd definitely recommend it if you can grab it for a good price ^^

Title: Benigyokuzui Vol. 30
タイトル: Benigyokuzui Vol. 30
Pages: 28 (including covers)
Release date: 08/14/2011
Buy: eBay

Connection: Madoka Magica Illustration Book

Natalie — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:21:06 -0400

Connection: Madoka Magica Illustration Book is a project led by Purinpurin (プリンプリン) that includes illustrations from eight different artists. And all of that sounds good in theory, but there's only one illustration by each artist, making it a rather short collection ^^ But, it was released for the one day event Magi Madoka ONLY - Mou Nanimo Kowaku Nai (魔まマオンリーイベント～もう何も恐くない～) so there wasn't a lot of turn around time.

Connection is B5-sized, staple-bound and 16-pages including the covers. The cover art and first illustration are by Purinpurin and feature Madoka. All of the main girls are included in an illustration, with two solo Tomoe Mami illustrations and two solo Kyouko Sakura illustrations.

Other artists featured in Connection are Poyamu (ぽやむ), Kaiware (かいわれ), Takeiooki (タケイオーキ), Subaru (すばる), Ichiri (イチリ), Yukie Megumi (ゆき恵), and Mitsu King (蜜キング). Not a well-known bunch overall, though Ichiri is getting there. Two pages feature the line art and making-of sketches for the finished illustrations.

Overall, Connection is pretty forgettable, and there really aren't a lot of illustrations. There are a lot of better Madoka books out there, especially post Comiket 80. That is, if your Madoka interest hasn't fizzled out yet ^^;

Title: Connection: Madoka Magica Illustration Book
タイトル: Connection: Madoka Magica Illustration Book
Release Date: 04/24/2011
Pages: 16 (including covers)
Buy: eBay

Ito Noizi's Mon Étoile Illustrations

Natalie — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 18:01:19 -0400

Ito Noizi's Comiket 78 release Mon Étoile Notre Constellations du Ciel is easily one of my favorites from her in recent memory. Her interpretations of the Zodiac astrological signs are unique and beautifully illustrated, keeping true to her style and the subject matter.

The original Comiket 78 release came with an interestingly designed transparent carrier bag. While it has a handle on one end, it doesn't open from that end and instead has a slide-lock zip on the long side. It seems like it would be perfect for carrying prints or other art works in a stylish way. Not so much for books though, as it doesn't expand much ^^; Mon Étoile is A4-sized and 36-pages including the covers. The cover illustration is the line art of Aries, with a holographic foil embedded into it.

Each finished Zodiac illustration is placed next to a rough sketch page with artist's comments and information about the astrological sign. The coloring for this collection is one thing that really stood out, as it's different from Ito Noizi's usual style, with more color gradients and less shading, giving it a flat look. The print quality in Mon Étoile is also top-notch, with high quality FM screening and very little color noise.

There are 13 illustrations total, with 12 being the individual Zodiac character portraits. The 13th illustration is a 2-page collaboration between Koji and Ito Noizi, featuring a male version of Aries with the female Taurus. Mon Étoile Notre Constellations du Ciel is definitely one of my favorites from her, but odds are they'll be in her next art book as that's been the pattern for the last few years ^^;

Title: Mon Étoile Notre Constellations du Ciel
タイトル: Mon Étoile Notre Constellations du Ciel
Pages: 36 (including covers)
Release date: 08/15/2010
Buy: eBay

Naru Nanao & Kokonobi's Twilight Cherry Blossoms

Natalie — Sat, 01 Oct 2011 16:58:51 -0400

Naru Nanao & Kokonobi's Twilight Cherry Blossoms, released for COMIC1☆5, re-packages illustrations from earlier doujinshi releases as well as some posters from Dengeki Moeoh (電撃萌王) in a shiny new book.

Design-wise, Twilight Cherry Blossoms has an interesting look, with a more square shaped format, textured covers and golden inlaid decoration pages. It's still B5-sized in height, and about 50-pages.

Most of the illustrations are fit to page in height, though not in width. The only part that gets a bit repetitive are the nine pages dedicated to Kokonobi's cover character, and her clothing designs by layer and color. And conveniently, pages are labeled either Kokonobi or Naru Nanao, depending on whose illustration is pictured. Even though there are subtle differences, it looks like they wanted to take out the guess work for this collection!

The art work in Twilight Cherry Blossoms really jumped around time-wise. The last section of the book is mostly illustrations from 2005, although they look as polished as the works Kokonobi and Naru Nanao put out now. But that may be because they were originally calendar illustrations ^^; Naru Nanao & Kokonobi's Twilight Cherry Blossoms is a nice collection overall, though probably better for folks who don't mind the occasional art flashback ^^

Title: Twilight Cherry Blossoms
タイトル: 宵桜
Pages: 50
Release date: 05/01/2011
Buy: eBay

Takehito Harada Art Works I

Natalie — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:18:13 -0400

Takehito Harada Art Works I comprises of illustrations from the Disgaea series, Phantom Brave, Makai Kingdom and a few cross-over works. There aren't any non-commercial original works by the artist, making it feel more like a game collection than an artist's collection.

Takehito Harada Art Works I is A4-sized and 208-pages. The cover art is newly drawn for the book, and underneath the slip cover is a textless version of the cover illustration that's also differently cropped. The book starts right in with the art work on page two, commencing the start of the Disgaea section which covers all the games and the anime and runs through page 125. Illustrations from the first Disgaea game cover pages 2 through 23.

The section for Disgaea 2 goes from pages 24 through 42 followed by Disgaea 3 from 43 through 63. One thing I'm not a fan of in Takehito Harada Art Works I is the way illustrations are presented. With just about every illustration, a portion of the page is dedicated to showing the coloring and illustrating process for the picture. Most of the time, this makes the illustrations B5 format on A4 pages. Other times, the page opposite an illustration will be occupied with an illustrated coloring and drawing process.

The worst is when the actual finished image is covered in part by the process illustrations themselves. It's just not the right format for an art book where the main intention is to show of the finished product. Then again, it couldn't even serve as a guide really, as there isn't any explanation and steps are skipped. If anything, I would describe it as showing different layers in a PSD file. The section for Disgaea Portable art work starts on page 64 and goes through page 73. It's immediately followed by the short section for the art of Disgaea Portable 2 on pages 74 through 85.

Art from Disgaea DS, Disgaea 4, Disgaea TV and Prinny 1&2 makes up the content for about the next 40-pages before having a look at some of Takehito Harada's other works, like Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom.

Nearly every illustration in the 25-page Phantom Brave section was printed in a size better suited for a B5-size art book. Makai Kingdom on the next few pages wasn't much better, though it did have at least four full-page illustrations.

Considering that Takehito Harada Art Works I and DISGAEArt!!! Disgaea Official Illustration Collection were released just days apart, I had hoped that would be all the more reason for it not to just be a Disgaea art book. But it pretty much was, with most of the same art works from DISGAEArt!!! So word to the wise; don't buy both of them ^^;

Title: Takehito Harada Art Works I
タイトル: Takehito Harada Art works I 原田たけひとおしごとのーと
Pages: 208
Release date: 07/27/2011
Buy: Amazon Japan