blog:nattoli, +tag:AZ PLAY

I think Ranka should have gone for a more embarrassed look on her cover, as fair warning that the RANKA Macross Frontier Official Book would be nothing like the Sheryl Nome Visual Collection published earlier by Kadokawa. Suffice to say, Ranka's book did not meet expectations.

Mezzo Perfect File is an anime visual book that was released a few years ago (May 2004) that focused not only on the TV anime series Mezzo DSA, but also on the one-shot OVA Mezzo Forte. Like most visual books, it focuses on a both the promotional illustrations for the series, and the episode summaries, background art, interviews and character arts. Basically, everything any fan could want to know about the show in one place.

YahaKo's full color doujinshi RE:UNION released during the Vocaloid Master 9 (ボｰマス９), brings you Hatsune Miku and the other Vocaloids like you've never seen them before: as bad-ass gun-toting idols. With the success of Black Rock Shooter, it almost makes you wonder why so many artists try to keep the characters looking cute!

Okama, whose circle is UB, has worked on a lot of popular (and not so popular) titles ranging from Diebuster Aim for the Top 2!, Himawari!, and Getsumen To Heiki Mina, the animation for the live action Densha Otoko that later became an anime. He also has a long running manga called Cloth Road, which is serialized in Ultra Jump Magazine.

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.

You know, a lot of the time when a doujinshi has the word "color" in its title, the contents do tend to be in color :D Too bad there isn't an absolute rule for that kind of thing. But Mario Kaneda's SLC!! Saving Life Colors!! goes with that trend. It's a full color, 24 page (including the covers) doujinshi.

As some of you might know, Gundam has been celebrating its 30th anniversary year all year long. It's going to culminate this December (last month of the year right? :D) with a final gigantic Gundam art book collection called Mobile Suit Gundam Tenchi Souzou 30th Anniversary Art Collection, which is retailing for a hefty ￥ 9,450.

It would be hard to have missed Huke's meteoric rise onto the artist scene, sparked by his animation and illustrations for the Vocaloid BLACK★ROCK SHOOTER music video. Huke was around before that, but his appearances in magazines like Gelatin, and character design jobs (STEINS;GATE) have definitely increased since his association with the music and art circle Supercell.

Mizuiro Syoujo Kuuchuu Yousai Illustrations is an art book that really showcases the best works from this artist, sampling across a wide variety of games, copyright art and original girls. Though the title might lead you to believe otherwise, not all of the girls in the book are blue-haired ^^;

I bought Shigunyan Art Works 2003-2007 during Comiket 76, even though it had been out for a year at that point. And I'd almost passed it up too, because for some reason the online shops like Toranoana and Melonbooks were only highlighting the very ecchi and adult pictures in it. But, there's a lot more to it than that!