blog:nattoli, tag:AZ PLAY

Range Murata's most recent doujinshi publication is the Comiket 78 release, Glass Tile, whose name describes the photograph that spans across the front and back covers of the release. As with his other more recent doujins, it includes illustrations drawn for ROBOT along with Kikan S Magazine posters and other publications.

I was surprised to see such a large collection in Kousaki Rui's Comiket 78 release Tokimeki Mono when he had just released a sizable amount of illustrations for C77 with his GLASS HEART 5 publication. But I guess it helped that several of the illustrations in the last one were reprints. Some of the ones in Tokimeki Mono are as well, but since they were done outside of Kousaki's doujinshi circle, they're new to me ^^

My Favorite Girls is a full-color illustration collection of Touhou character works by Korean artists Nyanya and Cu-rim. Though I purchased this because of Nyanya's involvement, I quite like Cu-rim's colorful style as well. For Nyanya, this was one of two books that she participated in for Comiket 78.

Hisakata Souji is an artist whose work leaves an impression not only because of the softly painted fantasy characters, but even more so because of the elaborate and detailed fantasy landscapes they're placed in. Esora Sekai - Memories features a collection of handpicked color illustrations, and while there aren't many, they are pieces that made the artist proud.

Work C2 Illustrations is a very colorful collection of Ryuga Syo's more recent commercial art works all packed into a A4-sized doujinshi and released for Comiket 78. It's easily one of my favorite Comiket purchases and includes many finished pieces that drastically move away from the muted colors in his earlier 2008 art book One Form - Ryuga Syo Illustrations. Even though some of the art work in Work C2 predates One Form, I'm glad to say there is only one overlap illustration, which appears on a full page in Work C2.

THROWLINE is an older Range Murata publication, released for Comiket 73 at the end of 2007. Unlike his most recent doujinshi publications, it features monochrome sketches along with color art works. The gorgeous cover art work on this book still hasn't managed to find its way into another re-collection, though Range Murata has indicated in a recent Kikan S issue that he's working on another illustration collection tentatively titled GAME WORKS. I didn't think he worked on a lot of games though...

Chen Shu Fen and Ping Fan are a well-known Taiwanese artist duo that also have a strong presence in Japan, with their regular appearances in Kikan S magazine and multiple art book releases. They were also interviewed in a recent issue of Etsu Magazine, where some of their newer works were showcased. Though I didn't think they were active on the doujin scene, P+F Ping Fan & Chen Shu Fen Illustrations was released at Comiket 78, featuring several new illustrations along with the line works for the photorealistic art works.

Hirano Katsuyuki, probably best known as the artist for the video game Record of Agarest War, will be releasing his first art book this December. But until then, his most recent release was from Comiket 78, titled Lateral Records 5. This doujinshi features full color illustrations as well as monochrome works that hopefully won't also be in the upcoming art book ^^;

CHOCO is coming out with his first commercial art book next month, but much like with Aoi Nishimata, he has already released several art book-like doujins in the past and today I'm going to cover his Comiket 69 release Chocolate Geometry #0003. While I'm sure there'll be some new works in CHOCOLATE GOUACHE, we can also expect to see some older works considering the previews provided so far, many of which will be pulled from past doujinshi publications.

Harinpikku 2010 (ハリンピック2010) which by the sound of that title and the sports theme of the images, I'm assuming to be a play on the word 'olympic.' But it could mean anything! The collection features anime girls you should recognize from shows like K-On!, HeartCatch PreCure!, Darker than Black and a few others, all wearing the undergarment that Nadeara Bukichi is famous for.

Noriyuki Matsumoto is a long time illustrator who will soon be adding original character designer to his list of titles, with the upcoming Mouretsu Pirates. Though that's not the focus of the Comiket 76 release WATER, there is at least one inspiration illustration from the upcoming series included. The majority of other works in this collection are originals, manga illustrations and the occasional fan arts.

Mikoto Akemi romanizes his name as Miko&Akemi in his Yellow Avantgard publication Kick-Ass, from Comiket 78. But! Dragon Magazine writes it as Mikoto Akemi, and as it gives everyone a better idea on how to pronounce it, I'm going to stick with that. So on this occasion, Kick-Ass is not a film, but in fact a full color illustration fan book collecting works from K-On!, Angel Beats!, Durarara!! and others. I just noticed exclamation marks have become quite the trend for anime titles...