blog:nattoli, +tag:AZ PLAY

There have been visual books released in the past for the Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica series, but Kannazuki Noboru Illustrations - Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica is the definitive collection of Kannazuki's work, with page after page of gorgeous illustrations.

Quarterly GELATIN magazine has now been running for a full year, so I guess they decided it's a good time to shake things up. Gone is the almost impossible to unfold poster of the cover art work, and in its place are three pin-up illustrations by three different artists. I think I'll be liking this magazine more with this new addition, I'd guess most people after full color comics would appreciate some extra art work as well.

Kazuhiro Takamura is an animation artist who has been the character designer for shows such as Mahoromatic, Strike Witches, This Ugly Yet Beautiful World, Binbou Shimai Monogatari, and He is My Master. But that doesn't even begin to cover the number of series he's been a part of as an animator or an animation director and rest assured, Kazuhiro Takamura ANIMATION WORKS beautifully brings together a multitude of anime series all in one book.

Shigeki Maeshima's first illustration collection, titled SERENDIPTY covers a multitude of works from the currently popular Tatakau Shisho The Book of Bantorra to Magna Carta and even Lineage. With an art style reminiscient of Yamamoto Yamato of Kure-nai fame and a master of that mix between beauty and the beast, Shigeki Maeshima's heroines are not frail little girls. They are deadly beautiful women, armed with sexy pouts, curves, and oftentimes actual weapons ^^

Takoyaki's moe girl styling strikes again in another full color illustration collection called Observe, released at this past Comiket 77. Takoyaki is really one of the few artists out that that seems to be able to consistently deliver a full color illustration doujinshi each Comiket, and the quality is as always top notch.

Prior to this Comiket 77 release, my most recent exposure to the artist YahaKo came from her Vocaloid theme doujinshi RE: UNION, which was released at Voc@loid M@ster 9. Eight Fortune 01, or EF 01 for short, is interesting in that while it still contains Vocaloid art work, YahaKo moves slowly into original territory with a gorgeous original cover girl named Blue Night who will be serving as the mascot for the artist's circle.

I was initially going to skip buying Jun Ikeda Works Collection & CG Technique, as most books with the words "CG Techique" in the title tend to have few illustrations and more tutorials. But this art book manages to find a nice middle-ground, with an extensive display of art works along with visual work-in-progress guides to many of the finished illustrations featured in the book.

I've been following the work of the artist Ukke through the last few Comikets mostly due to her adorable anime style illustrations that always manage to be both colorful and fashionable. Her style continues to grow and develop and is increasingly in demand, so I thought before I went into her newer works I would start with something older.

Rin Tohsaka Portraits is the second portrait book to come out from the Fate/Stay Night series after the premier book featuring Saber. This art collection follows the now conventional format of portrait books; the majority of illustrations are brand new and drawn exclusively for the art book. They're all Rin focused, and much like in an idol portrait book, she wears a variety of outfits and strikes several poses.

I feel like Koutaro (こうたろ) is one of those artists where you may not know the name, but you've definitely seen his work. If you tuned into the girls baseball anime Taishō Yakyū Musume last year, then you were looking at his adapted character designs. Operating under the circle name Nijiiro Zakura, Nijiiro Densho is the 5th colorful illustration book released in this series.

Korean artists CUTEG and Piah jointly released a collection of glasses girls illustrations (which are also nearly all fan arts) called Meganeko (メガネ子) at the past Comiket 77. It's full color, and inside you have the chance to see everyone from Hatsune Miku to Yuki Nagato sporting cute and classy frames.

Enami Katsumi Illustrations Baccano! came out at the end of February, and marks the first art book for this artist. While the Baccano! art work from the light novels and DVDs is the focus (and title) material, there are also illustrations from other light novels along with original art works.