It's crazy. I made this order Friday night, and it's at my doorstep Wednesday afternoon. And I didn't even pay for shipping thanks to the campaign that Suruga-ya was running. The average cost of a book here is under 10CAD, all said and done, so I really can't recommend giving it a shot if you're looking for art books.
Anyways, these are the ones I grabbed, and I'd love to take a walk through each of them and why I got them.
Prince Universe - Mutsumi Inomata
This is the first, and oldest art book in the haul, and that age and position comes with reason. Inomata is an insanely tenured animator, dating all the way back into the end of the 70s. They've worked on series like City Hunter, Saint Seiya, Maison Ikkoku, and many many others. One of the best things about the art book is the age of the style, and not in a bad way. No, these drawings have aged like fine wine over the years and are very beautiful.
Hydrogen - Tsuruta Kenji
Need I really say anything? It's Tsuruta Kenji, incredible art and a healthy side of nudity are present in everything they do. Really though, I think what I like most about Hydrogen is its range, opening with a short manga and ending with a large amount of black & white line art. Though who am I kidding, his works that are done in color are still incredible, and there's something that I just love about his character designs.
Boogiepop And Others - Koji Ogata
Despite its relative popularity for the era, Boogiepop isn't something that really ends up talked about all that much. But I'm a big fan of it and its style/designs, so I had to pick up the art book from the illustrator for the light novels.
Nostalgia - Tsukiji Nao
Admittedly, I'd not heard of Nao before finding this art book. But I saw the cover and knew I wanted it, and now I'm in the middle of reading Adekan as its got me in its grips, and for good reason. Nao's art is incredibly beautiful, and I'd say the "best" out of this batch of art books.
Mix Noise - Misaki Saitou
Saitou is just a damn good artist. Their style presents a discernable age, and a very palpable edge that I just can't get enough of. They're not on the level of Nao, but it's a style of art that I could look at all day long. Side note, the art for the second was for the cover of a manga. Yeah, imagine seeing art like that on a manga. I'd immediately pick it up.
Okamarble -Okama
Despite my excitement and interest in the artist, I don't know if I'm the biggest fan of this art book. Okama is known for having storyboarded some pieces of the stunning Kubikiri Cycle ONA as well as doing some art for Arakawa Under The Bridge and even character designs for some other SHAFT series. I do think their art is pretty, I'm just not a fan of the more erotic nature of the book at large (which delves into full on nudity towards the end). So yeah, I don't think this is an art book for people that aren't die hard Kubikiri Cycle/SHAFT fans, but the art within is still really good.
Step2 - Hisashi Eguchi
Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely a fan of Hisashi Eguchi. I love their design sense, and am a massive sucker for their color design and style of shading/lighting. Buttttttt I got this art book because of the Sonny Boy art in it. I know, sue me, but this is just about the only art book out there that has Sonny Boy art in it from a staff member on the anime.
World of The Tapir - Shizuku
In a world where it feels like there's a near unlimited amount of great artists, how do you separate yourself? Well, what separates them for me is color design. Having fresh and unique art that plays on color and provides a strong sense of individuality is a surefire way to get my attention like World of The Tapir did. Not that the art itself isn't pretty, but the color design is what really singled it out for me.
Kaleidoscope - Keiko Takemiya
Being a part of the Year 24 group is introduction enough, I feel. But I'll keep going. Being a pioneer not of just shoujo manga, but manga in general, Takemiya has a pretty impressive bit of history behind her, which this book details. Not so much "art book" as it is "visual memoir", it's a very interesting piece that I'll be slowly digesting over time alongside it's timelessly pretty art.
1017 - Toinana
I...don't have anything to write for this art book. Toinana is an illustrator that I found on pixiv and so I stumbled across this art book. I love their character designs for how busy and creative they are, but I don't really have any sort of history to explain with them because I don't know too much, really.
Asai Genji / Kusanaga Rin Artworks
I've been a fan of Kusanaga Rin's artwork in The Faraway Paladin since I first laid eyes on the covers for the series, so imagine my surprise when I found out they had a penname. Even further, imagine my excitement in finding out they've done art for Fate (among plenty of other video games). If you want art closer to the video game side of JP culture then I can definitely recommend this one.
And so finally that's the end of the list. There's a lot of art for me to enjoy in these books, so I'll certainly be taking my time with them. But not too sow though, have to make sure I've got a clean slate for the next time suruga-ya has a free shipping sale. Seriously, even with the minor price differences between the JP and global website, the free shipping makes books like these a steal. Absolutely love art within books that are in outstanding or even borderline amazing condition, there's not really a way you could go wrong if you're looking for this stuff.
Also, for those that have read this far and want just a little more (literally a single image more per art book) I will have a video up on my TikTok account (yes I caved and made one, largely for art books) tomorrow morning EST, so feel free to check it out.
Animehouse (@animehouse_ca) on TikTok | 1.3K Likes. All things animanga links: linktr.ee/animehouse_ca.Watch the latest video from Animehous
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