April 25th, 2010, 7:48PM by nat | 10 comments
I always tell myself, I'm not going to buy anymore doujinshi from Ito Noizi at the start of each Comiket. I think I've forgotten the reason why... oh wait, it's because no matter what she releases, it will be expensive. Noizi Collection "H" Specialty 2001-2009 wasn't an exception to that rule, but it was definitely worth it, with a 100-page (covers counted) full color collection that was more of an art book than a doujinshi.
This collection is really well-made as well. It's paperback, a with a clear plastic slip cover that creates an overlay effect on the drawn cover below. The print quality is also exceptionally high, with no visible printing dots, and light barely-there noise.
Noizi Collection "H" Specialty gathers the promotional art works from the UnisonShift: Blossom games that she's illustrated over the years. These art works from Flyable Heart, Alice Parade, Peace@Pieces, Nanatsuiro Drops and others have never found their way into the three commercial art books the artist has released (though I'd really been hoping for them in the most recent Ito Noizi Illustrations SO-U-E-N).
The first game featured is Flyable Heart with 18 pages (including the cover art) dedicated to it. Nearly all the illustrations occupy a full, B5 sized page, with one illustration being a two-page spread and another page with two stacked illustrations. Alice Parade is the next game, with 16-pages of coverage. There is a bit more nudity in this section, but it's all very tastefully done, especially considering the source is an H-game ^^;
In case it isn't obvious, the games series featured in Noizi Collection "H" Specialty are chronologically ordered, with the newest at the front. It's quite nice in that you can't really see any drastic art style changes until you're into her oldest work like Komorebi ni Yureru Tamashii no Koe or Wasurenagusa Forget-Me-Not. The above works are all from Nanatsuiro Drops, which is the only one of the games to have an anime adaptation so there is art work from this series in Ito Noizi's third commercial art book, but none of the same illustrations that appear in here.
The Peace@Pieces section of the book was longer than I expected with 14-pages of art work. In this section, though most art works are full page, there is one page of 6-stacked images though because of the high quality printing, there is hardly a loss of detail.
The book ends with Komorebi ni Yureru Tamashii no Koe and Wasurenagusa Forget-Me-Not, covering 12-pages and 7-pages respectively. Both of these section have some nudity as well, though nothing explicit. There are a few non-game related colored sketches in the back, along with the illustration of the maid in purple shown above. I'd assume the art works were done in relation to UnisonShift, as I haven't seen any of them published in other books before.
I was really happy with Noizi Collection "H" Specialty 2001-2009, and it was easily one of my favorite purchases from Comiket 77. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the promotional art work from the games, but not necessarily the games CGs and summaries, thus avoiding the pricey (and increasingly hard to find) game materials visual books for these titles. Having said that, this book isn't easy to find either---I can't find a single auction listing for it at the moment ^^;
- Title: Noizi Collection "H" Specialty 2001-2009
- タイトル: Noizi Collection "H" Specialty 2001-2009
- Pages: 100 (including covers)
- Release date: 12/31/2009
- Buy: Yahoo Japan!
14 years, 6 months ago
So very pink _
14 years, 6 months ago
I actually have this one, I highly recommend it if you can manage to find it.
14 years, 6 months ago
I'd go so far as to say it's better than the commercial art books she has out, but I guess it's really all about what you like more! :3
14 years, 6 months ago
I am a very big Itou Noizi fan. I really hope I can get the book from ebay some day >.<
14 years, 6 months ago
Damn, I knew I should have bought this one. I like Ito Noizi's work, more attributed to Haruhi and Nanatsuiro Drops more than anything. I was going to say it was too bad I don't have anything that is just solely her art work but I remembered buying Sweets+Sweets back when it came out. I'll rephrase and say it's too bad I don't have anything substantial that's just her work. S+S was nice but way too short for my tastes ^^;
I'll have to buy this one. If you don't mind me asking how much was it and did Toranoana have it in stock? I'll just need to keep my eye out on eBay or YJ! for now.
14 years, 6 months ago
I never saw it on Toranoana, and some back searching shows me it wasn't ever listed (they leave up items even after they've sold out). I bought mine off of Yahoo! Japan in auction for ¥3050. Prices were really fluctuating though, I saw a bunch go for +- ¥1000 of that price. Haven't seen it recently though, so it's hard to say what the asking price is for it now. Good luck though, I do think it's worth it ^^
I remember not being too happy with Sweet + Sweets either, way too short IMO. I think I have another short one from her though, I never seem to learn my lesson...
14 years, 6 months ago
For the price I paid just to acquire Sweets+Sweets since I had to proxy through YJ! at the time, it wasn't worth it. That's why I resolved to only buy art books or doujinshi that break 50+ pages of colored illustrations, if not pushing three-digits already. Anything below that page count has to have something else with it that I can't get anywhere by itself (ex. Nijiiro Densho Collection 5 that came with the limited 2010 Post Card).
Considering Ito Noizi's reputation I definitely need something in my collection that truly boasts about her style and I think this doujinshi is it. Between 2-4,000 yen isn't too bad...I hope I can get it for the lesser amount. The only time I ever paid the higher amount for a Comiket piece was Tinkle's Byakuya Chakai released during C75 (http://www.pireze.org/blog/?p=9389) and even with proxy and shipping costs added, that's one art book I would buy all over again ^^ I'm looking for its commercial release predecessor - Tsukiyo no Chakai - which originally sold for around $30 USD but now is almost impossible to find for anywhere near that. While it's a high-priority want, I don't think I can bring myself to drop $150+ for it.
14 years, 6 months ago
Pretty sure I overpaid for Sweet + Sweets too, it's definitely a hazard of buying right after the event/anything by Ito Noizi XD Byakuya Chakai is a beauty, I managed to get that one for ¥3000 because at the time everyone seemed to be fixated on winning the Tinkle sets. I don't think I could ever get myself to pay what people ask for Tsukiyo no Chakai, probably a better chance of it getting a re-print! XD
14 years, 6 months ago
Last (and only) time I saw this doujin on YJ!, the auction was around 6k yen, and it wasn't finished. I suppose it's better to wait, and some'll resurface one day... About Tsukiyo no Chakai, I see some from time to time on ebay, around 80-120 dollars. You might get lucky ^^
14 years, 6 months ago
I don't feel comfortable buying expensive art books off of E-bay, there's always a greater chance to end up with pirated goods since they don't regulate that kind of thing.
6K yen for this book is up really up there, I'd wait for a commercial version at that price ~_~