So it looks like after 22 issues of Megami Magazine Creators and a bit of a break, the publishers have decided to change things up a bit. Though the content has remained essentially the same for Megami Magazine Creators Vol. 23, the actual size format of the magazine has changed. It's still A4-size in height, but it's about an inch wider like Newtype Magazine. It's also gone up in price, from the standard ￥980 to ￥1200 an issue.

CARNELIAN's Benigyokuzui Vol. 27 is less like an illustration doujinshi and more like a product catalog, seeing as how the majority of illustrations included come from merchandise releases. And speaking as someone who seldom buys the extras, it's a welcome addition to my small pile of CARNELIAN art works.

Masato @ Takashina has thrown naming conventions to the winds and decided to also call his Comiket 79 release 47PF, as he did his previous Comiket 78 release. Perhaps it's to show that 47PF (Winter 2010) is more or less a continuation of the previous idea, with a random assortment of fashionable girl illustrations from the past year just grouped together.

In case you missed the memo, DMYO is now known as Shirahane Nao (白羽奈尾). She actually had an illustration in Eshi 100 - Contemporary Japanese Illustration under her new name, even though she isn't Japanese, a point she mentioned on her blog ^^; Under her new name for Sunshine Creation 51, she released a full color collection titled WHITE ALBUM +A, which as you might guess contains fan art from White Album, but isn't limited to that.

Metronome ~Mitsui Mana Art Works~ felt like it went to press too early, leaving out a the most crucial element: the art work. I'm exaggerating of course, but it's not that far off the mark; the numbered art work pages end on 63, and from that point on it's all the illustrated story Koyoi mo Kanojo ha Gatsu ni Utau (今宵も彼女は月に謡う) that ran in E☆2 Magazine, complete with the story text still on it. And as they were initially designed with story telling in mind, the panel art work just doesn't have the same impact as the full-page illustrations.

Fuzi Choko's Fuji Shiki 2007 - 2011 is an amazing selection of illustrations, showing the strength of her work in a barrage of color and imaginative dreamscapes. While I've seen an illustration or two of hers in a variety of different collections, I've never had the chance to flip through page after page of her A4-sized art works, and it's a truly inspiring experience.

For COMITIA 96, which was held at the beginning of May, Shirabii released a full-color original illustration collection titled L.i.F. Life is Free. Though it's a shorter doujinshi, all of the illustrations are featured on a full page or spreads, and have the lovely overall theme of being school girls in uniforms ^^

The lastest installment of collected E☆2 Magazine illustrations is Girls Girls Girls! 7 ~Anniversary Girl Collection~. The title belies the underlying theme, and the pictures on the whole tend to have a celebratory theme, or were illustrated for that purpose. In all there are 52 artists participating in this volume, with some of the illustrations gathered from E☆2 Magazine issues as far back as 2007.