Saa-chan's fangirlings » Reviews

Shoujo Planetarium

Saa-chan — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:23:21 +0000

Why not do another artbook review while I’m at it? Shoujo Planetarium is an illustration collection of Misakura Nankotsu. This collection is a gorgeous 100 pages of color. The illustrations are from PS2, PSP, PS3 games/magazines (?). Every page is a color illustration that takes up most of the page and a short blurb at the bottom. There is also a 18+ collection called Last Resort, which I didn’t get.

Price: 2800yen without tax

ISBN: 978-4-7577-5010-4

Without further ado, I present some of the gorgeous pages in this book~ Btw, if these seem brighter than the scans I submitted at animepaper, it’s because they are XD These are raw scans straight from my scanner :D

Jam – Asako Nishida Art Works

Saa-chan — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 02:06:46 +0000

This artbook is one of the new additions to my collection. I’ve been getting so many that I’ve been lazy (not to mention really busy) on writing reviews. Anyway, this illustrator did a lot of anime illustrations, including artwork for the series Vampire Knight. I’ve scanned most of the pages with Vampire Knight… and only Vampire Knight. Yeah, there’s this and that, so yeah, only Vampire Knight :p The other artworks included are gorgeous as well.

List price: 2800 yen without tax

ISBN: 978-4-7767-9452-3

I ordered mine from amazon.co.jp, but you can get it at other online shops too.

Here are those VK pages. Edited higher resolution scans can be found at animepaper.

Compilation artbooks

Saa-chan — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:33:18 +0000

I recently bought about 6 compilation artbooks, and I really like them all. I’m too lazy to talk about them all, so I’ll do one today.

Girls Girls Girls! 2 is a thick volume that collects lots of artworks from different artists. The pages are thick :D There’s a monochrome section in the back, taking about 1/4 of the volume or so. The list price is 2667 yen without tax.

Here are the spread pages (12 at the front of the book) from the Girls Girls Girls! 2 book. ISBN is on the back cover.

Pixiv Girls Collection

Saa-chan — Sun, 17 May 2009 02:00:31 +0000

I got this one a couple of months ago when it came out. Somehow, I ended up buying 3 copies x_x;; Anyway, I really like this compilation of the pixiv artists. Lots of styles that I like. This is a large volume with over 150 pages, full color. Pages are thick. Here’s a taste of what’s inside.

Click on the thumbs to enlarge~

Maou illustrations ~ review and scans

Saa-chan — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 03:45:12 +0000

Just got my copy a couple of days ago. It’s packed with illustrations manga style. Has about 100 pages of color. A pretty solid buy, especially if you’re a KKM fan. Anyway, too busy to do a full review, so I’ll just present you with some scans from the book.

Saiunkoku Monogatari Illustrations artbook

Saa-chan — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:29:40 +0000

Just got my package today, and I decided to scan a few pages before I get too buried with work and stuff. This artbook has about 70-80 color pages with full page illustrations. I think it includes all the artwork draw for the novel. There’s a section with black and white novel illustrations, 4 to a page. A very solid buy in my opinion. The paper used is very thick :D The cover is very thick too and has a cotton paper/construction paper feel to it. Anyway, click on the thumbs to enlarge as always~ I’ll try to do a better review on it when I have more time :3

Code Geass Illustrations Relation

Saa-chan — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:12:37 +0000

Illustrations Relation is about the same thickness as Illustrations Rebel and packed with full page illustrations and spreads. Very worth the money. I’ve scanned the index in the back like I did with Rebel for people who want to check out the contents before purchasing.

Somehow, the thumbnails won’t generate for these pages, so I’ll just post the links below.

Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4

Scans~ various stuff

Saa-chan — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 20:00:07 +0000

I’ve been gone for quite a while, but now I finally get some days off from school/work. Last rotation was kept me busy all the time. Anyway, I have stacks of stuff to scan, but I still feel really tired and unmotivated, so I just picked some stuff I like best to scan. First, we’ll start with some CLAMP stuff. Mutuality: CLAMP works in Code Geass is really pretty, but most of the book consists of black and white sketches. It has all the artwork CLAMP did for the series.

Next up is Kobato from Newtype. This time, I have Kobato Drop 11 for you as well as a few pages from Newtype featuring the anime.

== Download Kobato Drop 11 ==

I have some more stuff, but I’ll save those for later :D

Nabari no Ou artbook – Liricamente

Saa-chan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:51:08 +0000

Taking another break from studying XD I guess I’ll review the Nabari no Ou artbook. Liricamente is a hardcover A4 sized artbook. The price for this one is 2381yen. The cost to get it in your hands varies depending on where you purchase it. I think the average amount is about $35. The cover features Miharu and the back Yoite on matte paper. I like the feel of it (kinda like cotton paper). The inside cover is orange with some leaves and butterflies. The book is divided into 3 movements and has about 50-55 color illustrations, a couple of black and white images, and some sketch art in the back for a total of 80 pages (with all the pages counted). The pages feel thin to me, but I like the texture. It’s different from the typical thick pages. What I don’t like is that you can leave pretty obvious finger prints on the dark pages as you’re thumbing through, or as I was flattening it to scan. As far as the illustrations included, they’re pretty, but I have to say I’m not too impressed… I guess part of it stems from the lack of illustrations included. Overall, I’d recommend it you’re a nabari fanatic.

ISBN: 978-4-7575-2345-6

Rating: 3.5/5

~ sample images ~

== Download sample pages == front and back covers and 10 color illustrations inside, sized to about 1000×1500.

Okay, that break was way longer than I intended x_x;; Buy a copy of this artbook to support Yuhki Kamatani. You can find this artbook at yesasia, amazon.jp, akadotretail just to name a few places.

Junjou Romantica Illustration Collection by Shungiku Nakamura

Saa-chan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 03:09:06 +0000

This is a great artbook with tons of pretty illustrations. In my opinion it’s well worth the money. This is a softcover A4 sized artbook. The price is 2200yen. It’ll cost about $35 if you’re not in Japan or somewhere close. Colored illustrations take up 112 pages, and there’s a short comic at the end, bringing the total page count to 128. The dust cover is a bit unusual in that it has a plasticky feeling instead of the matte ones I’m used to. It’s not a fancy artbook by any means, but it’s solid with lots of illustrations (very good bang for your buck). Page thickness is average, nothing special. Overall, I highly recommend it if you’re a Junjou fan; you won’t be disappointed.

ISBN: 978-4-04-854184

My rating: 4.5/5

Now on to some sample pages~ click on to enlarge

== Download artbook part 1 == includes cover and first 18 pages (1000 x 1550 px) | mirror

== Download artbook part 2 == includes the next 18 pages (1200×1750 px) | mirror

== Download artbook part 3 == includes next 12 pages (1000 x 1550 px) | mirror

Please buy a copy to support the mangaka. You can get find artbook at yesasia, amazon.jp, jpqueen and lots of other online stores. Remember, these packs are intended to be a preview and not for replacing purchasing the artbook itself ^^;;