Hunting the Elusive

Hey! Another one from the Comic Market 75 goodie box. One of the books released by Kei on 30 December 2008, I actually got this through Toranoana on preorder ahead of the event. Yes, despite the fact that this stuff really leeches on the finances, there are ways of saving on fees and stuff, if you do a mass order of stuff through shops like Toranoana, as opposed to playing with individual auctions. Kei as an artist has such a distinctive style that for me, his stuff has become somewhat of a benchmark, upon which I can compare other artists. For those not already familiar with Kei’s style, check his artbook out. [Download: Review pictures JPG] [Download PNG]

Of course, Kei has played around with Rozen Maiden before, so “Lost” is really a compilation book for the Rozen Maiden artworks. And really, Rozen Maiden has been a perfect series for Kei to cover, partly because of the gothic atmosphere, and partly because ball jointed dolls are pretty sinister in their own right.

As always, Kei’s style is at once dark and ethereal, with a remarkably smooth skin texture due to minimal shading.

Most backgrounding in the early parts of the book is sparse, presenting characters in their own colour themes as abstract subjects. This is offset by the filled page of Shinku sitting against a window, her edges bleeding out. I love how her eyes stand out.

In the thumbnails, it is possible to see just how sinister Kei can depict the dolls. Ball jointed dolls remind some people of skeletons sometimes, which does add to the whole fear factor.

Another effect of Kei’s style is to make the characters appear very different from their original source, giving them a sharp, sophisticated, and cruel beauty.

The stark style also allows Kei to very effectively combine positive or negative space with lighting (although it’s not so much light he plays with, but shadows).

Ah, a troublesome page spread, with a softer look.

Note the nature of the embellishments or frames, which have a metallic/jewellery look, but at the same time incorporates human motifs like hands, exuding a sense of uncanny.

A very abstracted battle-scene, the near monochrome slashes of ink, which when seen close-up must look so abstract, successfully unite to convey a sense of movement. Kei is a master.

Of course Suigintou is a favourite, seeing how she has the gothic style and the long hair and features and sinister motives to match.

And the book ends on a duet contrasting dull red with azhure.