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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.
Category: Artbooks | Posted by Alicia at February 9, 2006 09:05 PM