blog:nattoli, tag:AZ PLAY

Rabbit Net Chronicles 2004-2010 is an art book-sized doujinshi, released for Comiket 78 featuring art works from many big name artists like Tinkle, Ginta, Ikegami Akane, Tsubasu Izumi and many more. These illustrations covered a variety of goods from decorative bags, to pencil boards, to dakimakura that were released through Rabbit Net over the past few years.

I don't want to call it a 'comeback' (he's been here for years) but Haritama Hiroki's Comiket 79 release Mile Stone is probably the first illustration collection I've seen from him since his 2004 art book Splendor. Though the works collected in Mile Stone aren't all new, they bridge the gap between between his last publication and the present.

Splendor: Haritama Hiroki Color Art Work Collection is a rather uniquely made book, and perhaps even ahead of its time in design. Though Haritama Hiroki is a rather prolific artist, his name might not be immediately familiar as his heyday was in the early 2000's. He's best know as the character designer and illustrator for the games Ensemble and Natural 2 -DUO-, and art work from both of those can be found in Splendor.

Tony's ART Works from Shining World is easily one of the best art books I've ever purchased, and with its impending release in the US, even more people have the chance to enjoy this fantastic art book. I'm reviewing the Japanese edition, which may not be the same presentation-wise, but should have the same content.

STAR DUST -Development- 2 is much like Minase Lin's first volume in layout and style, but it's nearly double the length of the original. It's a full color illustration book once again, though it does include some sketches.

For Comiket 79, Yoshida Seiji released his third illustration doujinshi titled Et In Arcadia Ego. Unlike his previous doujinshi titled PAST, Et In Arcadia Ego features new illustrations that really showcase his current art style.

GELATIN 2011 Spring marks the eighth volume of this quarterly color comics collection and features many of the same artists as the last couple of issues. Pin-ups and a poster of the cover illustration by Hidari (左) are included, along with a subtle increase in price for the second time in a year; now ￥1714 an issue pre-tax instead of ￥1600. It's now almost priced like an art book per issue.

Kirakira Kawaii Sunshine-san is a very short doujinshi dedicated solely to Heartcatch Pretty Cure's Cure Sunshine that came out during Comiket 78. Bakutendo enjoys doing these kind of character concentrations in his ACPERIENCE doujinshi series, with his latest concentrating solely on background characters from K-ON!

Ikegami Akane is a prolific artist, who has release many doujinshi along with several doujin-like art books. But Akaneiro Ikegami Akane Art Works marks her first commercial art book, released in both standard and limited editions at the end of March.

La Pêche! Hinamatsuri Touko Art Works is the first collection by the artist, and collects both her illustrations from magazines like Dengeki HIME, as well as her self-published works from various Comikets and COMIC☆s. Add to that the fact that nearly every illustration is fit full-to-page and we've got ourselves a winner ^^

Artists Miyasu Risa and Hinayuki Usa joined together for their Comiket 78 release of RB16, which features a collection of newly drawn color-themed girls. Miyau Risa's solo collection Azalea Floating---which was printed after this doujinshi---actually includes a couple of the illustrations from RB16.

Though I've toned down my expectations for Quarterly Pixiv issues, Quarterly Pixiv Vol. 03 still managed to be a bit of a let down in terms of illustration content. But the lovely cover illustration by Mebae was enough to convince me to buy it in the first place ^^;