February 10, 2006
Togashi Yoshihiro: Yû Yû Hakusho gengashû
You can't tell from any scan, but the drawing on the cover is printed in silver on paper with Yusuke's mazoku tatoo subtly embossed. That means this is a book you have to hold in your hands to appreciate, like any artbook ought to be. It's quite a lovely design, and I hadn't expected it at all. I took to it immediately.
Not that I needed any special persuation to adore this book. This is an artbook published well over ten years after the end of the series, appearing out of the blue after I had given up any hope. Well, maybe not entirely out of the blue. The publication of the complete edition of Yu Yu Hakusho had given me a faint hope again. There's no doubt that Shûeisha's current greedy obsession with digging out popular 90s titles and cashing in on them again is the root of this publication, but I'll be damned if I care. I wanted this for so long, and here it is! Wah! Excuse me while I squee like the fangirl I am.
That aside, I shall now try to look at this book objectively. It contains 42 new pictures, drawn for the recent complete edition reissue and exclusively for this artbook, and 42 full-page old pictures from the series' run in Jump (along with a smattering of small pics for the tankobon and promotion). Additionally, there are a few pages' worth of liner-notes on each picture. And ... that's it. It's a fairly thin book, not even 100 pages. Also, some of the pics from Jump are two-color printing (meaning black and red). There are also a few pics which are supposed to be full-color, but ... aren't.
All in all, this book is a scream from Togashi saying, "I HATE COLORING STUFF SO GO THE FUCK AWAY."
Yeah.
I'm still amazed he agreed to doing new color pics for the complete edition.
As for the quality of the colors, it's low. I say that as someone who adores Togashi's art, especially around the end of Yu Yu Hakusho, so I can only imagine what this book looks like to a non-fan. There are a few orthodox color illustrations among the old Jump covers, and the copic-colored new pics may appeal to more of a general audience, but ... this isn't CLAMP, and it sure isn't Kouga Yun.
Conclusion? This is a book for fans. This is a book for Togashi and/or YYH completists. And yes, I fall into that category. I personally adore the black and white cover pic. The rough Indian-ink drawing of the four guys makes my knees weak (especially Kuwa-chan's expression. Oh. My. God). Although he was very, very tired of coloring things when he drew it (and it shows), I'm just happy I own that Sensui & Itsuki color pic; the way Sensui is standing is just ... hot. As is Yomi, although the color choices in that pic is all over the place. Oh, the Shuichi & Yôko Kurama pic is actually hot and objectively pleasing. I think. Maybe. I'm biased.
Only buy it if you can forgive Togashi everything, and have already forgiven yourself for being such a sucker for the man. Like me, haha.
Category: Artbooks | Comments (0)
February 09, 2006
Kouga Yun: Your Eyes Only
I haven't properly updated this blog for more than a year now. (I honestly didn't expect that I'd be gone for that long, but the pull of the dark side has been strong.) I'll attempt to end my hiatus with run-downs of a couple of artbooks I've acquired more or less recently.
This is Kouga Yun's fourth artbook, three if you don't count ASIA which was a self-publication and only out for a limited amount of time in connection to an exhibition she did, and which goes for an insane amount of money these days (and no, I don't own it. Though I've been sorely tempted at many occasions). And if you don't count ASIA, this is her first artbook since 1989 (!). I imagine her break with Shinshokan and wandering from one publishing house to the next is what has caused this great break, because Kouga's art is quite well-suited for publication in artbook form. Her now stable (for all appearance, at least) connection to Isshinsha (formerly Sôbisha), combined with the animation of Loveless, most probably made this long overdue artbook happen, and for that I can't thank Isshinsha enough. Because needless to say, I've been waiting for this book to appear for a long, long time.
This artbook contains about 100 individual illustrations spread over 90 pages. About half of them are from her current hit Loveless, while the other half mostly collects recent color pages from Earthian and Ren-Ai Crown. There are also a few old pics form ASIA, and some Gundam illustrations she has done with permission from Sunrise, along with a smattering of other things. The selection covers mostly CG art, from what she calls her very first CG job to her most recent output. The ASIA pictures and one Ren-Ai Crown pic were done with color ink, though, which makes their inclusion here all the more interesting.
Although most people purchasing this book probably does so for the Loveless artworks, if I have to be I wasn't all that interested in that. What I really, really wanted, and didn't blink an eye paying 2400 yen for, were the five Michael and Raphael pics from the Earthian side-story she did in Crimson in 2002. Which makes the price ... nearly 500 yen a piece? Hahahaha. No, no regrets. They're beautiful.
As are the other illustrations and the general presentation of this book. It's a big and heavy hardcover book, with wonderful thick pages, a gorgeous layout which doesn't interfere with the illustrations in any ways (except maybe the two-page spreads, but not everything can be the perfection that was the Hikaru no Go artbook), complete and lovely liner-notes, and possibly the most gorgeous dustcover I've ever seen. The purple, red, and pink is exquisite, the paper has a wonderful feel, and the glitter details on the title and some of the butterflies is plain wonderful.
An absolute must for all Kouga fans, of course, but if you ask me, this is a necessity for anyone who has any interest in manga-style art at all. A beauty, through-and-through.
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