Hunting the Elusive

This post was actually ready some time ago, but this week has turned out busier than I anticipated (had to build a new computer) so here it is. This book was published on 30 July 2008, retailing for 2200 yen ex tax. ISBN 978 4 8291 7669 6. 96 pages, of which 64 are full colour (2/3 colour, 1/3 monochrome). It contains only illustrations by Takanae for the Ninomiya-kun series of novels, comics and anime. [Download review pictures] [JPG version]

Takanae was one of those artists which I discovered some time ago. I was pretty much hooked once I saw some illustrations, although this artist’s doujin releases are usually not much to write home about.

Now, I know what most people are thinking. 2/3 colour! Is it worth the money? Well that’s what this review is for, so make up your mind after you have seen this. As for me, I’m not sure either.

The book comes with a fold-out poster, as is standard with most artbooks.

Note how different the character can look. I really prefer the second version. :)

One thing which strikes me as I go through the book is the way page spreads are handled – they’re basically splashed across the spine without much of a consideration. It’s like “size this to fit into the book” without thinking about the content of the picture too much. It gets rather annoying sometimes (as is obvious in these above scans).

Please keep in mind that my review posts are just that: reviews to help people make up their minds if they want to buy stuff. The whole high resolution scanning thing is just a bonus alternative to spreading the books out and taking photos. I have had some recent comments asking for full releases of artbooks. That probably will not happen, especially with commercially-released books.

The artbook is rather fan-servicey, which is keeping in touch with the nature of the Ninomiya-kun franchise. There are only really two female characters to pay attention to: the big one and the small one.

I really like the pictures where the character cosplay/role-play. Alice in Wonderland is always a winner.

The so-called “Character File” sections are pretty much what you would expect, with character illustrations in different styles.

I’ll also note that there is one picture in this artbook with top half nudity. Not shown here of course. I have a feeling it was thrown in for the sake of completeness.

I’m not sure what I can say about the art style, except that it reminds me of a number of other artists I like. What I am particularly a fan of is the luminosity in the characters’ eyes, which tend to be shaded really nicely.

The Ninomiya-kun illustrations are great. Indeed, this artbook derives some of the value from the fact that it is a gathered collection of these pictures, which would be scattered across various novels, magazines, telephone cards, etc. This provides unparalleled access to these assets.

That said, I really think they could have gone and given this artbook a bit more value by putting doujin/other works illustrations in. As it is, this is a Ninomiya-kun fanbook, but not a comprehensive artbook for this artist.

The colour section ends with a little how-to thing on the illustration process, which is much the same as many other artists’. The monochrome section contains pretty much the collection of pictures from the insert pictures in the novels, and little rough sketches.

So what's the verdict? I don’t know, make up your own minds. I am kinda leaning towards “not really worth it”, given the layout choices, the 1/3 monochrome thing, the relative thinness of the book, and the lack of other content. However, personally, I think it is worth it for the simple reason that I am a fan. I love the drawings, and having a collection like this is unparalleled, really, especially for a not-so-common artist like Takanae. So if you saw the illustrations and you are just struck by them, then heck yeah this is the book for you. If you are really quite indifferent to it all, then you should save up your money for something else. Like the Komatsu E-ji artbook which is coming out like…today.

And no, I don’t think I am going to get it. Fallout from Comic Market. :O