Hunting the Elusive

Dmyotic 6.5, 2010 Summer dmyo Illustrations, was released by *Snow Ring* (dmyo’s circle) in the middle of June 2010. It is 16 pages, a fairly thin book, but then again we have come to expect that of dmyo. Short as it may be, Dmyotic 6.5 has to be one of the best books I have come across recently. Now, I am not denying that I am somewhat biased by the fact that the artist is dmyo, but the fact is she has very beautifully executed the art in this book, and her adaptation of popular characters into her own style is done with extreme sensitivity to the original concepts, while endowing them with the very appealing characteristics her art is recognised for. [Release] [PNG]

Before we go too far off into the deep end, let’s look at the covers for Dmyotic 6.5, which as far as I can see are original characters.

The green haired girl is on the front cover, the brunette on the back. Very fitting with the season during which Dmyotic 6.5 was released, the girls are eating an ice cream/popsicle.

I have elected to stitch pretty much all the pages within Dmyotic 6.5 because most of the art is spread across the pages. In any case, the inside front cover is the introduction along with the cover girl but with different colours.

I think Dmyotic 6.5 is a bit of a more special release because usually the x.5 books aren’t specifically full colour. In fact I have come across a few monochrome dmyo books in my time. But yes, Dmyotic 6.5 is full colour. I think it is only a x.5 release because dmyo has not bothered to put in backgrounds for what are essentially character studies. The use of the scrapbook motifs, grids and lines indicate as much, although the colour illustrations are pretty much finished works quality.

Are the Vocaloids over-depicted in the scene? That question is irrelevant as long as artists like dmyo keep churning out such outstanding works. I love how Rin and Len are depicted on the left hand side, it’s almost like a cel out of an anime. An anime which would be mindblowingly beautiful if it ever happened.

Shy maid Miku and a costume design from Project DIVA. Can dmyo do any wrong? I want a figure of that pose with the headphones and swirling cable!

A schoolgirl Miku to bring us to the next theme for Dmyotic 6.5: K-On! S2 ED 1 Listen!! Possibly the most risque depiction of Mugi I have seen to date.

Unexpectedly, I find indications of dmyo’s immense skills in her depiction of Yui. dmyo’s character designs may be described as cute, but her Yui has preserved the mature, almost “realistic” feel which was really the province of the character designs in Listen!! (and to a certain degree, in No, Thank You!).

And of course no one can go past the butterfly version of Mio.

The inside back cover has the back cover girl (the brunette), again with a different colour scheme, as well as closing comments.

With Dmyotic 6.5, dmyo has once again demonstrated unbelievable skill and the enduring power of her style. As a foundation, her choice of subjects to depict put the book in a very strong position in terms of awesomeness. When I first got my hands on this, I really wasn’t expecting to see the character designs from Listen!! so I was pleasantly surprised, to say the least.