365 Reasons to Love

Title: Pixiv Girls Collection.

Artist(s)/Creator(s): Various Artists.

Pages: 162.

Release Date: March 19, 2009.

Retail Price: 2000yen; 26.00USD

Price I bought it for: $36.00

Place I bought it from: Yesasia.com

For those who don’t know what Pixiv is: “Japanese online community for artists. It was first launched as a beta test on September 10, 2007 by Takahiro Kamitani. Pixiv Inc. is headquartered in Sendagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Pixiv aims to provide a place for artists to exhibit their illustrations and get feedback via a rating system and user comments. Works are organized in an extensive tag structure which forms the backbone of the website.” - Wikipedia.

If you want to discover new artists, art styles, or simply love a smorgasbord of different artwork, Pixiv is the way to go. Anywhere from newbie amateurs to famous professions are members of Pixiv, although their art book collections consist mainly of the best. This A4 book comes with a matte dustcover and high-quality thick pages laden with vibrant artwork. The entire book is in Japanese and being how illiterate I am in Japanese, I can’t really translate any of the Artist’s info. Accompanying each image is the Title, Artist’s Name, and Comments.

Inside cover of the Artbook; Artist of said illustration is in the lower right corner. >.<

The featured Title page is by Sayori; I know without looking since her work is very recognizable and unique.

The book is divided into the following Categories:

-Illustrations (90 pages)
Original creative girl, Glasses girl, sister, etc …
Kimono, Cheongsam, maid uniforms, swimsuit, etc.
Devil, angel, fantasy, fairy, cat ears, etc …
Mecha, Musume SF · etc …

-Concept Art
Fantasia pixiv Pikugaku 1.2
Wing 妖 pixiv
Tan Add a Comment
VOCALOID
Drawing girl

Also, as you can expect from the title, all illustrations are of Girls. =]

This one is by Siro.

I really loved this picture for it’s wonderful creativity.

This sexy picture is by Junny.

Gotta love Fuzi Choko.

It’s rare to find work by Huke, so I really loved it when I found a couple of pieces by him.

John Hathway, Sime, and I can’t translate the last one. The pieces do not always get a full page. They come in full page, half, quarter or sometimes just a small image.

“Majestic Gospel” by Kitchen.

I wished Redjuice could have had a full page.

Moving on to Concept Art (the rest of the book).

As a fan of Vocaloid, I really loved that they had their own section. =]

The last section of “Drawing Girls” is also very adorable.

Awww Sayori. =]

I wish my crappy camera would do these pictures more justice.

At the end, there’s a 6 page interview/information about the people and work behind Pixiv.

In conclusion, I really love Pixiv Artbooks. And I wish I knew have to read Japanese so I could get more out of these books. It is a very high quality book for the low price that it’s at. The art styles may not fit everyone’s tastes, but in trade off for the lovely (majority) pieces, I’d say this books is great. Should also check out the website for more lovely artwork.

Title: Shugo-Chara! Illustrations 2.

Artist(s)/Creator(s): Peach-Pit.

Pages: 80.

Release Date: October 21, 2008.

Retail Price: 2381yen; 31.00USD

Price I bought it for: $27.00 (it was on sale)

Place I bought it from: Yesasia.com

AKA: My Guardian Characters. “The story centers on elementary school girl Amu Hinamori, whose popular exterior, referred to as “cool and spicy” by her classmates, contrasts with her introverted personality. When Amu wishes for the courage to be reborn as her would-be self, she is surprised to find three colorful eggs the next morning, which hatch into three Guardian Characters: Ran, Miki, and Su.”-Wikipedia.

It’s a very cute story that’s reminiscent of Sailor Moon. I haven’t read the manga, but I did watch like a dozen episodes of the anime adaptation. Only reason I haven’t continued is because 127 episodes, and I really don’t have the time. -_-

Book comes in A4 format with a very nice dust jacket that folds out to be a giant poster. Poster is glossy. Paper Quality is very thick and gives off a matte finish.

^Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

I found this book to be very balanced: it has nearly equal numbers of one-page, two-page spreads, and small illustrations.

Since the pages are really thick, it is a bit hard to enjoy the two-page spreads. You have to really push the book apart and I really hate doing that to artbooks.

Colors are not as vibrant, since the illustrations requires pastel colors in order to give off a feeling of innocence and purity. However, the coloring is very solid and sharp.

The whole book uses a lot of stars. And Pink.

I love this spread of Amu and her guardians, Ran, Miki, Su, and later Diamond. It’s so adorable. ^^

Utau looks so pure that you can’t really dislike her. Crazy brother-complex. =]

Cuuute. I hope this isn’t spoiling anything for people who haven’t read or watched the series. I haven’t finished it either, so eh. =P

After the initial section of Title pages, you hit the Nakayosi Covers, which is basically just full-pages close-ups of Amu.

The next section is the covers of the manga comics. You can see Amu signaling the volume with her fingers:

The last section is titled “Others.” Basically, miscellaneous work which composed of mostly Amu in different costumes.

At the end is the Author’s notes/commentary. This is the Japanese version, so I don’t really know what it says.

I do like this artbook, but I much prefer Volume One, which I do not have. I’m waiting to get it for cheap somewhere, probably eBay. I’m most happy with the giant poster that comes with it and the way it was included is quite creative.

Title: The Arina Tanemura Collection: The Art of Full Moon.

Artist(s)/Creator(s): Arina Tanemura.

Pages: 68.

Release Date: October 21, 2008.

Retail Price: $19.99 (English publication)

Price I bought it for: I got it for free due to a series of combined discounts and Border bucks. =P

Place I bought it from: Borders.

Book comes in standard A4 format with a lovely matte dust jacket. 68 pages of thick paper with colors covering nearly every inch of the book. Contains English translations of artist’s commentary and explanations for every illustration. It also comes with a double-sided poster in the back.

I have never read the manga (or watched the anime; 52 episodes!) but I love artwork by Arina Tanemura. Her style is fluffy and cute, comparable to CLAMP; it’s also very detailed and extensive in her use of different elements in each piece. I guess her trademark would be the very large eyes and pointy chin of all(?) her characters.

The inside cover and part of the dust jacket.

The first Illustration covered by rice paper.

Behind the rice paper is the artist’s very vibrant and detailed illustration.

You can see the artist’s notes and comments along the borders of the illustrations.

The book mainly contains full-page illustrations, nestled among numerous pages of smaller illustrations; there’s only a couple of two-page spreads.

Example of author’s commentary: “Cherry Blossom Color”: Mitsuki-chan is naked because this is an image in her mind. Whenever I draw cherry blossoms, I color the branches a deep cherry-pink, not brown. That’s something i insist on. Full Moon (Ribon, Jan. 2003, Title page.)

I have to say every page is filled with images and text that cover the whole page. You’ll rarely find white space, except for the text. Some might find the book a little cramped and overwhelming, but I don’t really mind.

There’s a nice half-page picture of the dust cover.

One positive for such an arrangement of pictures is that the art doesn’t get stuck in the gutter.

There’s always a lot going on in the picture.

This is artwork from Time Stranger Kyoko, which takes up a section in the back of the book.

Also, with this format of Illustration-Artist’s commentary, there’s no need for a whole Artist’s Explanation section in the back of the book. Although some people might prefer their artwork absent of text.

Fold-out poster!

Artist’s Afterwords.

Overall, even though I’ve never read/watched any of Arina Tanemura’s work, her artwork and unique style makes this an artbook you can’t pass over. Plus, the American Version is always so cheap compared to the Japanese version. It’s still available on Amazon for a discounted price!

I don’t really buy artbooks based on what I’ve already read/watched. I buy it for the art. =] Cheers!

Hakuouki Anime Post Card Box Set (21 Piece)

Part Two.

Plot: “Chizuru Yukimura heads to Kyoto to search for her father. While there, she witnesses a fight between Rasetsu and members of the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi take her into custody and, once learning she is the daughter of the doctor they are searching for, decide to keep her close at hand. Chizuru follows the Shinsengumi in their battles to help the shogunate.” - Wikipedia.

Comes with DVD with, I believe, the first season of the anime. I think it might be Region restricted and there is only Japanese audio with no subtiles. The postcards have a nice patterned texture to them and nice glossy finish. Very thick quality paper and colors are vibrant. Got them off eBay for $12.

Hakuouki Anime Post Card Box Set (21 Piece)

Part One.

Plot: “Chizuru Yukimura heads to Kyoto to search for her father. While there, she witnesses a fight between Rasetsu and members of the Shinsengumi. The Shinsengumi take her into custody and, once learning she is the daughter of the doctor they are searching for, decide to keep her close at hand. Chizuru follows the Shinsengumi in their battles to help the shogunate.” - Wikipedia.

Comes with DVD with, I believe, the first season of the anime. I think it might be Region restricted and there is only Japanese audio with no subtiles. The postcards have a nice patterned texture to them and nice glossy finish. Very thick quality paper and colors are vibrant. Got them off eBay for $12. This is based off an otome (maiden) game and I have two of their artbooks that I will review later on.